Chapter 9 #2
Taking a deep breath, he pictured Rooster’s proud smile and said, “Yes, I’ve found myself a very nice man recently.”
Questions exploded all around him, some coming from other tables where residents must have been paying more attention than he’d thought.
“What’s his name?”
“What’s he look like?”
“Does he have a good job?”
“Do you love him?”
“Is he sweet to you?”
“When can we meet him?”
Laughing, Emmett grabbed a chair and took a seat. “His name’s Gray, but his friends call him Rooster.”
Just as Emmett started the rice cooker, singing about wanting a hippopotamus for Christmas, his music cut off.
He frowned and glanced around for his phone, finally finding it over by the mail he’d brought in when he’d gotten home and dumped on his and Roni’s small kitchen table.
Assuming it was Rooster calling, he skipped across the hardwood floor, almost slipping in his socks and giggling as he caught himself on the edge of the table.
The sound died in his throat when he saw the name on his phone screen.
Mom
Swallowing, he gingerly picked it up and answered before it could head to his voicemail. “Hi, Mom.”
“Emmett, are you planning on coming to Christmas Eve dinner or not? I can’t very well plan a meal without knowing how many people will be in attendance,” she said, voice tight with irritation.
Just the sound of her annoyance was enough to have his belly tightening unpleasantly. She was acting like she’d already asked him and he hadn’t given an answer, but this was the first time he’d talked to her since Thanksgiving.
And he’d told her then that he’d be there for Christmas Eve. Like he was every year.
“Yes, I was planning on coming,” he said, his voice a little softer than he wanted. He just couldn’t seem to find his courage when he talked to his parents, especially when they acted like he was being difficult.
“Okay,” she said, and he winced at her sigh. Was that not what she wanted to hear? “Did you hear Emily is pregnant again?”
He nearly got whiplash from the change in subject, though he really shouldn’t have been surprised.
His siblings were his parents’ favorite subject to talk about, at least to him.
There was a pang of hurt at the casual way she told him the news.
He wasn’t close with his sister, but would it really be too much to ask that she send him a text letting him know something as important as being pregnant?
“Um, no, I hadn’t heard,” he mumbled, thumbing at the junk mail on the table and telling himself not to cry. If he cried every time his family left him out, he’d never stop.
“They’re very excited,” she told him, driving the knife deeper. “Emily says she hopes they have another girl, but I think a boy would be nice so they could have one of each. Especially since they don’t think they’ll have anymore after this.”
He made a noise of agreement but then sort of tuned her out as she kept going about the upcoming baby and his brother’s promotion at work.
As she talked, he finished preparing dinner, keeping an eye on the clock.
Rooster would be there in less than fifteen minutes, and he’d wanted to have everything ready for him when he arrived.
The salmon was half-done by the time she slowed down, and he cleared his throat. “Um, I wanted to let you know… I might bring someone to Christmas Eve dinner.”
He wasn’t sure if he would have the guts to actually ask Rooster to go, but he knew it would be worse if he didn’t mention it and showed up with an unexpected addition.
Things were still pretty new between them, and Rooster had a long history with Emmett’s family that might make things awkward, so he’d have to be prepared for the possibility of Rooster saying no if he got up the nerve to ask.
“Hm? Okay, dear,” she said absently, then said something to someone else, her voice muffled. He wasn’t surprised when she spoke to him again and said, “I have to go. Judy from across the street just popped over.”
“Sure. Bye, Mom.”
And then she was gone, and he was left standing in his cozy, safe kitchen, feeling like his insides were curdling.
He tried to remind himself that a lot of people had it worse than him, that his parents had never physically hurt him or anything like that.
They just didn’t… like him. Or understand him, maybe.
Either way, he’d told her he might bring someone to a holiday family dinner for the first time in his life, and she’d barely even noticed.
He was on autopilot as he finished dinner and greeted Rooster when he arrived. The two of them sat down to eat, and he knew he was being too quiet as Rooster told him about his shift, but he was stuck in his head, thoughts swirling all around and drowning him in bad feelings.
They’d barely cleared the table when he blurted out, “Can I have Emmie time?”
Rooster finished rinsing off the plate in his hand before turning to him, wiping his damp hands on his jeans. He studied Emmett’s face for a moment and slowly nodded. “Of course, baby. Let’s go to your room, and I’ll change your clothes.”
Some of the tension leached out of him, and he let Rooster take his hand and lead him up the stairs to his room.
The stars on the ceiling were glowing, and he smiled at them before Rooster turned on a lamp.
Familiar, comforting hands cupped his face, and he closed his eyes, letting out a breath.
Rooster kissed his forehead, then his nose, and then his lips, so gently they felt like butterfly kisses.
“Stay right here. Don’t move.”
“Okay,” he said on a sigh, eyes fluttering open.
Rooster went over to his dresser and crouched to open the bottom drawer, where he kept his little clothes, movements sure and without hesitation. He didn’t ask what Emmett wanted to wear because it wasn’t up to him. Nothing was anymore.
He let himself start to sink into that space in himself where Emmie lived, and he could let go of the stress and anxiety weighing him down. Even with the phone call from his mom so fresh, he didn’t have any trouble slipping into the headspace.
He wiggled his toes on the fluffy rug under his feet and frowned down at his socks. Socks were dumb. Why was he wearing socks? Especially ones so plain and boring? He couldn’t feel the softness with his toes like this.
Dragging a foot backward on the rug, he giggled as the gross gray sock slipped over his heel and he was able to kick it off. Just as he flopped his other foot in the air to try and remove the sock without using his hands, a shadow fell over him.
He had to crane his head back to see Daddy’s smiling face. He was so handsome when he smiled, his cheeks bunching up and making little lines appear by his eyes. “Hi, Daddy.”
“Hi, Emmie. What’re you doing, silly boy?”
“I don’t like socks.”
Daddy nodded in understanding, and Emmie fell against him, wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. His daddy was the best. And he smelled good. And he was the bestest cuddler in the whole world.
Lips pressed to the top of his head, and he wiggled in happiness. Daddy kisses were the bestest too.
“Let’s change the rest of your clothes too, then you can go play.”
“Will you play blocks with me, Daddy?” he asked as he straightened and held his arms up. He wanted to build the biggest castle ever for Snowball to protect.
“Sure, baby.” Daddy grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up over his head, stopping when just his mouth was free and biting at his chin.
Emmie laughed and squirmed, arms trapped above him. “Daddy! Now you’re being silly!”
“I suppose I am,” Daddy said and kissed the spot before pulling his shirt the rest of the way off. He ran a hand over Emmie’s hair, smiling in a way that made Emmie’s belly feel all funny. “There’s my sweet little boy.”
Emmie beamed at him and sucked his tummy in a little when Daddy started working on his pants, wanting to watch what he was doing. Daddy crouched and pulled his jeans and undies down his legs. He rubbed his face against Emmie’s tummy, making him giggle at the scratch of his beard.
“I got your favorite undies,” Daddy said, leaning over to grab them off the corner of his bed. He held up the purple briefs with green around the waist and leg holes, and Emmie vibrated with excitement.
“So I can match Snowball!”
“Yes, but you have to keep your pants on this time,” Daddy said firmly, tugging the undies up his legs. “It’s too cold to run around without pants.”
Emmie sighed and petted Daddy’s head, laughing when he patted the bun on the top. “But how will Snowball know we match if he can’t see?”
Daddy looked up at him and then over at where the dragon was lying on his pillow. “I think he’ll know.”
“Oh, yeah.” Emmie laughed again, rocking on his toes with the urge to go grab Snowball and give him a hug. But he had to wait until Daddy was finished. It was really hard to be good, but Emmie tried really hard for his daddy.
Thankfully, Daddy was quick about finishing dressing him, pulling on his Spider-Man pants and matching top before cupping his chin and tugging him forward for a soft kiss that melted Emmie’s belly from the inside.
“Okay, go play, baby.”
He raced across the room and snagged Snowball, tucking him under his arm for safekeeping, and then ran downstairs. “Come onnnnnn, Daddy!”
There was a small closet off the living room that Roni let him use to store some of his toys, and he knew his blocks were in there from when he built a town the other day.
Woofie had attacked it and knocked everything down, but Emmie and Snowball had found a cure to turn him nice again, and they’d all rebuilt it.
He set Snowball on the couch and fell to his knees, dumping his blocks onto the floor and starting to sort them by color. Daddy was in the kitchen, but it didn’t take too long before he joined him, his fingers a little wrinkly from washing dishes.
Emmie pushed a pile of blue blocks in front of him. “You gotta do the moat, Daddy. I’ll build the castle.”
“Whatever you want, baby.”
There was something in his voice that pulled Emmie up short, scratching at big him, but he pushed it away, turning and crawling into Daddy’s lap and giving him another hug.
This was all he wanted. It was everything he needed.