Secret Daddies (Reverse Harem Daddies)

9. Maya

9

MAYA

“You ready, honey?”

As we made our way toward set, I could tell that Matty was practically about to explode with excitement. I was surprised he had managed to contain himself thus far, but the moment we set foot on set, I was expecting him to launch into hyper mode, and I couldn’t blame him.

If I were his age, and on the way to meet some of my favorite movie stars, I was sure I would be just the same way. He had been bugging me nearly nonstop since Taylor had done me a solid and helped me pick him up from school when he was ill, and I knew there was no way he was going to drop it until he got what he wanted.

And honestly—there was a part of me that wanted nothing more than to be able to indulge him. God only knew how little I’d been able to give him over the years, all the things he’d had to miss out on. If I could gift him something as incredible as this, then who was I to argue with it?

Taylor had been the one to get it all set up, clearing a half hour on my day off so Matty could meet Taylor, Lee, and Devon properly—and trust me when I say it was not lost on me that he was going to be meeting his father for the first time, even if neither of them knew it.

I had tried to figure out some way I could do all of this without having to introduce him to Devon, but I couldn’t think of any way to pull it off without making it clear that there was some kind of history between us, and that was the last thing I needed right now. Things had been getting complicated enough as it was with the three guys, and I didn’t want to draw any suspicion that there might be more going on beneath the surface than I had made clear—as far as everyone knew, Devon and I had only just met each other on this set, and I wanted to keep it that way.

Yes, I knew it was reckless, letting Devon meet Matty like this, but I just didn’t have it in me to deny my son the chance. Maybe I wanted Devon to look at this kid and realize that he was his son—I didn’t know what I intended for him to do with that information, exactly, but I would figure that out if the time came. I just needed to see them together, to remind myself that this was real—that he really was his son, and that Devon and I had really had something, even if it felt so far removed from everything going on between us now.

We arrived at the entrance to the closed set, where Nathan, the security guard, was waiting—he was an imposing guy at first glance, but the moment he saw me with Matty, a smile cracked wide over his face.

“You’re here for the visit, right?” he greeted us, leaning down to greet Matty with a playful handshake. Matty pulled back a little behind my legs, clearly not entirely sure how to interact with this giant of a man, but I laughed and nodded.

“Yeah, we are,” I replied. “I think we’re meant to be meeting them in the production trailer. Can we head straight through?”

“Sure thing,” he replied, stepping aside and gesturing for us to head in. I took Matty’s hand, and he hung on to it tight, as though making sure I wasn’t going to go anywhere—he might be excited, but he was nervous too. I couldn’t blame him. All of this could be intimidating when you were new to it, let alone when you were such a fan of the world it was helping to bring to life.

I glanced down at Matty as we made our way toward the production trailer. He was wide-eyed, staring around at everything he could see. People were hurrying past with costumes draped over their shoulders, a few actors were in costume as they hung out near the coffee machine, and the director was deep in conversation with one of the special effects guys near a set that depicted this crazy alien world. I guessed, to Matty, it must look something like magic. To me, it was only work, but I loved catching a glimpse of it through his eyes, a swell of pride rising through me.

“Pretty cool, huh?” I remarked to him, and he nodded, clearly a little too dumbstruck to speak.

I led him through the buzzing set toward the production trailer, which was at the back of the lot, hidden away from most of the chaos. Hardly anyone seemed to notice that I had my son in tow, too caught up in their day-to-day to care much about anything else that was going on, much to my relief. I knew I was getting some seriously special treatment here, with Taylor going out of his way to set this up. There were probably dozens of people who worked here who had kids who would bite their hands off to get a chance to meet the stars, but I was the only one, as far as I knew, who’d actually gotten to do it.

We reached the trailer, and I planted my hand on the door, glancing back toward Matty to make sure he was ready. He gripped the straps of his Trio-themed backpack, his jaw set tight, as though he was preparing to walk into battle. And then, he nodded up at me, and I pushed the door open to introduce him to his heroes—and his father—for the very first time.

He froze for a moment as he stood in the doorway, staring between all three of them—Lee, Devon, and Taylor, sitting around a table in the center of the room, each of them holding a coffee and dressed down in their day-to-day wear. I could feel Lee grinning in my direction, trying to catch my eye, but I avoided it, not wanting to let myself get distracted by his flirtation now of all times.

And then Matty suddenly bolted inside, racing toward Devon and throwing his arms around his legs.

“Hey, little guy,” Devon laughed as he rose to his feet, patting Matty on the back lightly as Matty clung to him for dear life. I could only stare, trying to take in the sight before me—my son, hugging his father for the first time. The two of them together, after a lifetime of having no idea the other existed. Of course, Matty wasn’t hugging Devon because he was his dad, he had no idea of that. He was just hugging him because he was one of his heroes, because he was making sure he was actually real, but seeing his little pudgy arms holding on to him like that…

I bit back a swell of emotion and pasted over my reaction with a laugh, taking a step forward and gently untangling Matty from Devon’s legs.

“Hey, sweetie,” I murmured to him. “I think you should introduce yourself first…”

“Yeah, I’m feeling very ignored,” Lee joked playfully as he dropped down to his haunches in front of Matty, flashing him a big grin. “What’s your name?”

“Matty,” Matty managed to squeak out, and Lee pushed a hand through his hair before offering it to my little boy.

“Well, it’s sure good to meet you, Matty. I’m Lee. And you already met Taylor, right?”

Matty lifted his gaze to Taylor, and nodded.

“Yeah, he picked me up from school,” he replied, sounding a little proud. I slipped down into one of the seats around the table, and Matty scrambled up into my lap—not something he made a habit of these days, but I guessed he wanted the comfort of something and someone he knew, given that he was surrounded by some of his biggest heroes in the world.

The guys were so sweet with him, asking him questions, even offering to sign his backpack for him—Matty just stared as the three of them passed it around the table, each adding their names to the cheap fabric. I could never have imagined when I picked that backpack for him that it would be turned into a collector’s item with their signatures on it, but I was so grateful for how kind they were, how patient. It was clear that the reason they had landed these roles wasn’t just because they were good at their on-screen jobs, but because they could keep up the fantasy for kids off-screen too.

But the whole time, I couldn’t relax. Not entirely. Because I found myself watching Devon, keeping an eye on him as I tried to work out just how much he had pieced together. I hadn’t told them outright how old Matty was, but it couldn’t be that hard to work out, given that Taylor had picked him up from school. Did Devon know? Had he figured it out, that this was his son? That the timeline matched up for Matty to have been a product of our brief affair? I didn’t have a damn clue, but I wished I had the nerve to ask.

Soon enough, the half hour that the guys had all put aside to meet with Matty came to an end—and, judging by how exhausted Matty looked, he was probably glad for that. The excitement and anticipation had worn him out, and I could tell he would sleep like a baby tonight.

“Thank you!” he blurted out to all of them as we headed for the door once more. He was clutching his backpack like it was the most precious thing on earth, and I ruffled his hair fondly.

“Yeah, thanks, guys,” I told them. “I really appreciate it, you taking time to hang out with him…”

“Anytime,” Taylor replied, smiling kindly as he waved Matty off. He seemed to know exactly how to handle my little boy, likely because he was a father himself—I wondered if Lee and Devon knew that, or if he had kept it from them too.

Anyway. Lana was picking Matty up for me after this, and I was picking up a few overtime hours on set this afternoon—I was sure Matty would spend the entire time babbling to Lana about meeting his heroes, and I had primed her as best I could to let her know that he would probably be a ball of excitement.

No matter how complicated my relationships with these three men seemed to be, I was glad that I had managed to give Matty something he could treasure, a memory that he would never forget. For so much of his life, he’d had to hear me telling him no—and God, did it feel good to tell him yes once in a while.