Chapter 2 #2
Will waved that away. “I’m serious. Where do you want to sit and what to do you want to drink, to eat?”
“I—” He swallowed hard, the world sparkly around the edges. “Please don’t be nice to me.”
Bay frowned, but Will nodded and patted his arm. “Then I won’t be, but you still have to sit.”
“All right.”
Will went to Bay, murmuring softly, and Pete went to sit in the kitchen, staring out the back door. It was about to be summer—the children were going to need to be busy…
The next thing he knew, a glass of water was set in front of him and Will was at the counter making a sandwich.
“Do you like cheese with your ham?” Will asked.
“Uh-huh.” Did he? He thought so. The world seemed so distant.
“How about mustard and lettuce?”
“Sure. Thank you. You don’t have to…”
“Just sit.” Will brought over the finished sandwich and patted his back. “Now eat. You’re looking a little peaked.”
“I just… It’s been a long few days, you know?”
“I can only imagine. And you’ve been the only one here dealing with it. And four children who just don’t understand. I think you’re holding up incredibly well. But you’re not alone anymore.” Will patted his arm again, then glared at Bay.
Maybe they were lovers…
“I don’t—”
“Oh, please, Bay. This man lost his friends, and he’s alone with four kids. You need to do better.”
“You’re my employee, Will.” Bay’s voice was hard.
“I keep your life running smoothly so you can make your business work. And after ten years of doing so, I think I’ve more than earned the right to tell you when you’re being an idiot.”
Bay looked sheepish.
“Please don’t fight. It’s okay. I’m okay.” Was he crying? He might be crying.
“We’re not fighting. I’m giving him some home truths. It’s the only reason he’s kept me employed this long.” Will gave him a wink.
“I have kept you because you’re preternaturally efficient.”
“Eh—you say po-ta-to, I say po-taaa-to.”
Bay rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”
“Point being, you need to listen to me on this. The man and those kids need you here. So working from home or scaling back—or even both! are a must.”
“The business—”
“Will survive. It runs itself, which lets you go and grow it. So it doesn’t grow for a while. It’ll still keep running, making you money. You are needed here.”
It was like watching an amazing tennis match, and he knew he was sitting there, mouth open.
“I’ll take it under advisement, old man.”
Will snorted. “You do that. I’m going to explore the house, if that’s okay with you, Pete.”
“Of course. The kids are dozing in front of the TV, and the baby is upstairs in one of the bedrooms on the right.”
“I’ll not wake anyone or disturb anything, I promise.” Will headed off.
“Well, that was Will,” Bay said.
“I—Wow.” What else was there to say?
“Right?” Bay shook his head. “So now you see I mean it if I say if you need anything or need me and can’t get a hold of me—just get in touch with Will. In fact, even if you can get in touch with me, Will might be a better option. He’s just the most efficient man I have ever known.”
He nodded. And they were on the employee, not family level. It made sense.
Pete cut his sandwich in half and offered one side to his new boss.
“Oh, are you sure you don’t want the whole thing?”
“Totally.” His stomach ached and it just felt too hard.
“Thanks.” Bay took the half sandwich he’d offered and munched on it. “You need to eat the rest of yours, though, or you’ll be in trouble with Will.”
“I would hate to do that.” He wasn’t even being facetious.
Bay nodded. “You would.” Then he sighed and rolled his neck. “This has been the longest day in the history of days. But I would keep living it forever if it meant tomorrow wasn’t happening.”
“Yes, I’m so sorry. I—has someone dealt with the… details?”
“Will set everything up. I think he dealt with the lawyer, too. About the will…”
“I did indeed,” Will noted as he came back in.
“The reading is tomorrow evening at four here at the house. I figured that would give the family an out after the funeral. Pete, would you like me to arrange for someone to pack up the master bedroom? Everything can be boxed, labeled, and stored for when either you, Bay, or the children want to go through it. I figure the kids might want some of their parents’ things when they’re older. ”
“I… I guess so? I haven’t opened the door.”
“I don’t have to if either of you would prefer to do it yourselves?”
Bay shook his head firmly. “God no. I don’t want to deal with it right now.”
Pete just shook his head. “He was my best friend, but… I didn’t go in their room.”
“All right then. I’ll get a company to come in, inventory, pack, and store it in the attic.
That way no one has to deal, but it won’t just disappear forever.
I do think you’ll be able to add a home office to the room, Bay.
Unless you can use one of the smaller rooms. They all have beds in them, though. ”
“We’ll worry about that later. Let’s focus on one thing at a time.”
Oh, thank god. He could breathe.
“As you wish,” Will noted. “Next on my list is meals. There’s a company that delivers prepped meals for the fridge and you just need to warm them. What kind of eaters are the kids?”
“They’re pretty good, honestly. Belle is the easiest. Eric defaults to green beans and chicken nuggets, if you ask him. Merida loves eggs and hot dogs and french fries best.”
“Okay, I’ll give that list to the company. What about you, Pete? You have any favorites? Any no-nos? I already know what Bay won’t eat.”
“I—I like food. My favorite is pasta, I guess?”
“Excellent. It’ll be easier with a fridge and freezer full of food. One less thing to worry about, you know?”
“You always think of everything, Will,” Bay noted.
“Life experience. Aka, I’m old.”
“I feel that.” He felt like he was a thousand years old, at least.
Will gave him a look. “You are not old, though I understand the sentiment at the moment. If you guys need anything else before the reading of the will tomorrow, just give me a call, okay?”
Bay nodded. “Thanks, Will. You are, as always, very much appreciated.”
“Yes, thank you for your he—”
“Mama! Mama!”
He stood and headed to Merida. “Petey’s here, baby. I’m right here.”
She held her arms up to him, and he lifted her. “Come on, let check your Pull Ups.”
“So cute,” he heard Will say. “Poor sweet baby.”
“Bot?”
“How about a sippy cup of milk?”
She nodded, thumb sneaking into her lips.
“Should she be doing that?” Bay asked.
“Probably not, but she’s self-soothing. She’s stressed out.” He knew she was looking for her mom and dad.
“Yeah, I imagine we all are.” Bay sighed. “What is it she wants? A bot?”
“Yes, but she’s a big girl, huh? She can have a sippy cup and some… eggs?”
“Eggies!” she cheered.
“So what’s a bot?” Bay asked.
“It’s a bottle. We’re a little mad because Flynn still gets one.”
“Ah. Playground politics, eh? Funny how some things never change, at least fundamentally.”
“People are people, no matter what, I guess…” And siblings fought, some more than others.
“Yeah, I guess.” Bay glanced at his watch. “Are the others going to want to eat too?”
“God, what time is it? I need to get them all back on their schedules.”
“Almost one. I can help? I mean, just tell me what to do. I’ve dealt with anything that was time critical for work. Tomorrow, I have the funeral at eleven, and then the reading is here at four. Just fyi, schedule-wise.”
“Can you help me get them fed and outside for a breath of fresh air? I need to change sheets.”
“If you can tell me what to do, I can do it.”
“I’ll put chicken nuggets in the oven. Do you want to cut up fruit?”
“Sure, I can do that.” Bay went over to the fridge, looking for the fruit, he presumed.
That should be easy, because there were berries, grapes, and bananas on the counter. All easy for the kids.
Bay found the berries in the fridge and took them out. “Do I need to cut these up?” he asked, frowning.
“Just top the strawberries, please, and halve the big ones?” The kids would fuss otherwise.
“Okay. Okay, sure.” Bay nodded and started working on the strawberries. “Their own plates or just all on one?”
“All on one is fine. They can pick and choose.” Pete chuckled. “Even the little ones have opinions.”
“Yeah? Huh. Everyone gets a vote, eh?”
“Yes, exactly. Everyone gets a vote.” Sort of. His vote was the final one, at least right now.
“Does anything get done that way?” Bay asked, piling all the blueberries into a large bowl and working on the strawberries.
“They’re little ones. We deal in accident-free days and nutrition, not mergers.”
Bay chuckled. “Right. See? All my experience is with the merger side of things, not the kid side.”
“That sounds way harder than kids.” He wasn’t a business person.
Bay shook his head. “Kids are far less predictable. And if you don’t know anything about them…” Bay shrugged.
“True. Well, they’ll learn to love you and vice versa.”
“You think? I’m not their parents. I’m not you.”
“Their parents are gone. Flynn and Merida will never know them, maybe Eric will have a passing memory. Belle’s the only one who will really know.” And it broke his heart.
“How long before they stop looking for Tony and Cindy, do you think?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never dealt with this, but I do have a call into a child psychologist I know.”
“Good deal. Anything they need. I mean it—anything.”
Pete nodded. They needed their parents. That was what they needed.
They were going to have to make do with him and Bay.