8. Declan
Chapter 8
Declan
E very day when I come home from work, I store my service weapon in a hidden locked cabinet in the living room wall by the front door. I have weapons strategically stored away all around my home – safely locked away in hidden compartments in furniture and wall safes.
Last night, I opened each of them to make sure they were all fully loaded and that the locks were secured. I don’t know what’s going on with Riley, but I want to be prepared for anything, and I also want to make sure little four-year-old hands can’t get to them.
With everything loaded and secured, I checked on Nicholas and Bella and found them snuggled together out cold. I then peaked in on Riley and saw that she was also fast asleep. I wanted to just stand guard right in front of their bedroom doors and protect them, but I also knew that would be creepy and unnecessary. So instead, I walked around my home and made sure all windows and doors were securely locked and that the alarm system was armed and at the ready.
Instead of sleeping in my bedroom across the house from their rooms, I grabbed a pillow and blanket and crashed on the couch just outside of the hallway. I wouldn’t feel comfortable sleeping all the way across the house from them. I don’t know why – this place is more secure than Fort Knox, but I guess it’s just the cop in me. It took a while, but my eyes finally got heavy enough for me to fall asleep.
I don’t know how long I was asleep, but my senses wake me up. Something’s not right. I can feel someone watching me. I control my breathing so I don’t let this stranger know I’m awake and aware of them as I try to formulate a plan.
I’m just about to jump up when a little hand touches me. “Mr. Declan?”
Then Bella licks my face which startles me, and I scrunch up my nose.
The little voice giggles.
I open one eye and spy Nicholas and Bella staring at me.
“Mr. Declan. Can I go swimming?” he asks me.
I look at my watch and see that it’s already six-thirty in the morning. I scratch my unintentional growing beard. "Good morning. You want to go swimming now? Do you even know how to swim?”
“I can put my head in the water. I got a certificate for it,” he answers proudly.
I sit up, “You did? That’s pretty impressive.”
He nods proudly as he stands eye-to-eye with my dog. His arm is around her shoulder as if they’ve been best friends for years. Bella is loving every second of it. “Is your Mommy still sleeping?”
He nods, “Yes, but we need to be quiet. She doesn’t sleep that much.”
This kid is a wealth of knowledge. “She doesn’t?”
“No. She’s tired a lot.”
“Okay, then. We’ll be quiet so she can sleep. Deal?” I hold out my hand for a high-five.
He gives me a giant smile, as if we’re co-conspirators, and slaps my hand. “Deal!” he whispers.
“Okay, so before we go swimming, we should eat breakfast first. Do you like eggs or cereal?”
He takes a second to think about it, “Eggs! With cheese.”
“You are in luck. Cheesy eggs are my specialty. We need to feed Bella, too. Will you help me?”
He nods.
“Okay, then we need to go wash our hands first.” And I have to pee like a racehorse.
We wash our hands and then I show him how to pour food into Bella’s bowl. It is kind of a mess, but Bella’s not complaining. She’s gonna love having him around.
“Ready to make breakfast for us and your mom?”
“Yes!” He pumps his little fist into the air, and it melts my heart.
I’m in big trouble here.
Nicholas and I decided not to wake up Riley since she was still sleeping when we finally finished making cheesy eggs and bacon. Instead, we ate out on my screen covered patio so that we didn’t have to whisper anymore. Also, because Nicholas isn’t really good at the whole whispering thing.
In order to get him to eat, I had to first use the old phrase, ‘if you want to grow up to be big and strong like me, you need to eat all your food’. He then gobbled it all up. The incentive to go in the pool once he was finished helped, too.
With Riley still sleeping—I suspect she really needed it—I’m sitting here watching Nicholas splash around on the steps in the pool while I sip my coffee. I refuse to take my eyes off of him. He claims he can swim – but he’s four and also thinks he’s a superhero. So, there’s that.
“Hey,” Riley says as she comes out to the patio through the sliding glass door with a cup of coffee in her hands. I had made a fresh pot before Nicholas and I came out here figuring she’d want some once she woke up.
“Hey.” I stand up and pull out a patio chair for her. “Want some breakfast? We’ve already eaten.”
“Hi Mommy! I’m swimming!” he calls from across the pool.
“Hi sweet boy. I see that. Are you having fun?”
“The best!” We both watch him jump onto the second step and splash around.
“He claimed he knew how to swim, but I swear I haven’t taken my eyes off of him the entire time he’s been in there. Neither has Bella.”
She smiles at me. “He’s taken a few swim classes but no, he does not know how to swim.” She takes a sip of her coffee and then raises her cup. “Thank you. Nectar of the gods.”
“You’re welcome. Figured you could use it. Do you want some breakfast?”
“Um, no, but thank you.” She looks hesitant. “You don’t have to cater to us, Declan. You should have woken me up when he got up.” She points her coffee mug towards her son.
I’m watching him play in the pool mostly, so I don’t sound defensive. “I don’t mind at all. We’ve been having fun.”
“I see the disaster in the kitchen. He must have helped you,” she laughs.
I nod, “He did, but it was fine.”
“I’ll clean it up once I finish my coffee.”
“Nonsense. We messed it up, we’ll clean it up.” I motion to Nicholas.
“Yeah.” She laughs, “Good luck with that.”
It’s good to see her smile – something I haven’t seen in a very long while.
We sit there in silence – her drinking her coffee as we both watch her son try to convince my dog to get into the pool without any luck. Bella has her limits and water is one of them. In her world, water is for drinking and that is it.
Finally, Riley breaks the silence between us. “I see you slept on the couch last night. Any particular reason why? We didn’t kick you out of your bed, did we?”
“No, not at all. My room is on the other side of the house. Since I don’t know what we are dealing with, I wanted to be close to you two in case you needed me.”
“Thank you. That’s sweet,” she says softly.
Nicholas is now out of the pool and playing with his trucks in the grass. Bella looks relieved and lies down next to him as he drives his trucks up and over her body.
I turn to Riley, “Wanna tell me what’s going on? What we’re dealing with?” By the look on her face, I’m not too sure she’s going to answer me, but she changes her mind.
“It all started with a picture I posted on social media when I found out I was pregnant with him five years ago.”