24. Zach
24
ZACH
“ D o you want me to take your temperature?” George asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “I doubt it’ll be different from the last time we checked.”
He nodded, concentrating with a pout as he wrote on the little clipboard he was using as he played doctor with me. “How do you spell temperature ?”
“Just write temp . That’s an abbreviation. T-E-M-P.”
“Okay.” He smiled. “Rest is best,” he advised. “I’m going to make my rounds and I will check with you later.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied, dutifully playing along.
When Blake and Grandma Jenny left earlier, I had a second of panic. I had never been entrusted with a kid. Which was a stupid thing to think. I had been entrusted to have my troops’ back. I’d helped my former comrades with cuts and scrapes. That one time we all drank untreated water, my God, the shits and runs we all suffered…
After a while, I realized that I didn’t have to change a single thing about how I acted around George or treated him. He seemed mature for his age, but still silly. So long as I listened to him and was honest, even in this make-believe episode of him being my doctor as my stomach ached, I was fine. He was fine—really. The first hour of Blake being gone, we’d watched a movie. And once it was over, he sprang up full of energy and insisting he felt better.
He did. He wanted to play and color and draw and build. I, on the other hand, wanted to stay seated or lying down. And he was cool with that. He wasn’t a punk, trying to do something he knew he shouldn’t. He didn’t talk back. I wasn’t sure if he had a tablet or screen to play with, but if he did, it seemed he favored hanging out with me.
Amanda was a good topic to talk about. He gushed about her babysitting him all the time, clearly fond of her. And he asked me about her, quickly learning that he might know more about my sister than I did. When I explained why I wasn’t close to Amanda, he asked more questions about being in the military, which I kept brief. And then, when I said I wasn’t in the army anymore because my shoulder got hurt, he asked to see the scars from surgery.
He was a curious boy, which entertained me, but little quirks he had seemed too familiar. How he’d crinkle his brow if he was confused, making that little V above his nose. Those dimples that were impossible to miss when he grinned. Even his habit of tapping his temple as he thought hard, like when it was his turn with checkers.
Maybe he got them from Amanda since it sounds like he spends so much time with her.
Another possibility struck my mind, but I couldn’t ask him about it.
Blake came home, yawning and so clearly tired, but she smiled at the sight of us in the living room. “Hey, honey,” she greeted as George ran up to hug her. He nearly knocked her over. “Whoa!”
“Easy, kiddo,” I warned as I stood from the floor where George and I were trying to build a pillow fort.
“I missed you, Mama.”
“I missed you too. You sure do seem better,” she commented as she ruffled his hair.
“I do! I’ve been taking care of him.” He pointed at me, and I waved hello.
She frowned, approaching me and feeling my brow. I wanted to lean into her and hold her close, but even standing seemed too taxing for her. “How are you?” she asked softly while George ran further back in the house near the den to find more pillows for our fort.
I shrugged. “Just no appetite. I’ll live.” I snuck a quick kiss on her cheek, catching her cheek rising in a smile.
“Can I help?” She hugged me, caressing my back with the tips of her fingers. I wished I hadn’t put my T-shirt on now, because I loved the touch of her skin against mine.
“Want some water? Soup?”
I smiled, touched that she could be so sweet. So nurturing. Even when she was so exhausted, she’d put my comfort and well-being first. “I need you to go to bed. You’re about to fall over.”
“It has been a long day.”
I kissed the top of her head. “And I didn’t let you sleep much the night before.”
“True.” She yawned, proving my point.
“George?” I called out. “You bring the things to the fort. I’m going to tuck your mom into bed.”
Blake opened her mouth to protest but I covered her mouth with my hand.
“You’re going to tuck her in?” George asked.
“Yeah, she’s tired. When someone’s tired, they should go to bed, right?”
“Yeah. That’s smart. Good night, Mama. Zach can tuck me in.”
I smiled.
“Her bedroom is down the hall,” George said.
Blake blushed and I grinned. I know. “Okay. Thanks, kiddo.”
“You don’t have to stay,” she said as I took her hand and led her through the house.
“I can,” I said, cautious about plowing into her life and calling any shots. “I am happy to.”
Just so long as I don’t overstay my stay.
Or… want to stay for good.
“You’re tired.” I steered her into her room.
“And you’re sick,” she argued. “I should be taking care of?—”
I turned her quickly, silencing her with a hard kiss. She melted under my touch and sighed by the time I released her.
“And right now, it’s time for me to take care of you.” Without planning any funny business, I stripped her out of her clothes and asked her what she usually slept in.
“You mean when you’re not around?” she teased, pointing to the top drawer of her dresser.
I got a pair of flannel PJs out. The fabric was worn and soft, printed with cartoon images of reindeer for the season. Keeping my back to her, I gave in to a huge smile. I like the sound of that. Of her only sleeping naked when she was with me. As if I were the only man she wanted in her life…
The illusion of making that happen hung just within reach, but it seemed like such a huge leap to take. Not with her. I was confident we could build something lasting here. It was a leap of faith for myself—to consider staying in Vernford and settling down after a lifetime of not doing it at all.
I helped her into her PJs. She yawned and tried to get her intricate braids undone as I buttoned up her shirt. My dick perked to attention, getting stiffer when I brushed my knuckles over her breasts, but I didn’t let my desire control this situation.
When she staggered toward her bed, giving up on half her braids and leaving it like a messy bun, I led her so she wouldn’t fall. Her eyes were already closed as she climbed under the covers I held open for her.
“I told Cole I’d be at the school early tomorrow,” I told her.
“Okay.” She nestled onto her pillow. “My alarms will wake me for George. Don’t let him stay up too late so he’ll still wake up on time for school.”
“Yes, sweetheart.” I blinked, furrowing my brow.
How… domestic of me. Tucking my woman into bed, calling her things like that. When we were fucking, it slipped out. It had this time, too, and it caught me off guard. I couldn’t call her my sweetheart if I was taking off in a couple of weeks. Long-distance relationships were a joke. It would never be enough with someone like her.
She didn’t react, already sleeping. I leaned over and kissed the top of her head before I walked out and shut her door.
Out in the living room, I saw George trying to keep the fort up. “You just need to reinforce that side,” I advised as I joined him, keeping him busy so Blake could sleep. He was clearly rested from lying around earlier, enjoying some sort of post-sickness second wind.
We built and rebuilt together, and I was relieved that my version of this stomach bug just meant slight cramps and no appetite because of the minor nausea. A fort, I could handle. I gave him advice on where the weak spots were by asking him what else he thought might work instead of just telling him what was wrong.
“You know what?” George said once we sat inside the fort and shared a ‘late-night’ root beer as a treat. “You’re good with kids.”
I bit back a chuckle. He was a kid himself saying that. “You think so?”
George nodded matter-of-factly.
Now would be the time to have them, to start a family. Since I no longer had commitments with the military, I was free to settle with dependents. My first purpose to fulfill, as soldier, wasn’t an option. But was a family the next step after years of no relationships beyond a sporadic one-night stand here or there?
“My dad was a stern dad,” I said, opening up. “Very strict, but I knew he was loving too.”
George stared at me, then sighed. “I never had a dad.”
Yes, you do. Now that we were on this topic, I struggled to ignore that niggling, nagging voice getting louder in the back of my head. I couldn’t be sure about how the time added up, but this kid reminded me of… me.
“I worry that someday, I’ll be stuck with one like Rory.”
I rubbed his back. “Nah. I can’t see him ever coming back here.” Fuck, I’ll stay long enough to scare him off if that’s what your mom wants.
“But Mama doesn’t spend time with men. She doesn’t go on dates like Sara does sometimes.” He smiled up at me. “You’d make a good daddy.”
Talk about a hit to the heart. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, my chest too tight with… love? I was fond of this kid already, and I knew it was an honor to hear such praise from him. He meant it.
Once more, as I watched him color for a little longer, I tried to talk myself out of the impossible scenario my mind couldn’t let go of.
What if I’m your father?
Can George be my son?
I knew he was five, and when I counted the difference between now and Kevin’s death, I realized he would’ve had to have been conceived before Blake and I had that hot night of passion to get through the grief.
I had to know for sure, though. If we didn’t share so many similarities, I wouldn’t’ve let the idea take root in my mind.
I vowed to ask Blake as soon as I could get her alone again.
Because if I was, she had a lot of explaining to do for why she’d kept this a secret.