Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Bay needed a drink in the worst way.
He’d made it through the funeral, shaking a million hands of people he didn’t know and nodding solemnly as they cried, shared their stories about Tony and Cindy, and asked about the kids. And when he’d finally made his escape, there’d been the reading of the will.
Everything had been left to the kids in trusts that he was in charge of managing.
Everything but a generous yearly salary for Pete, the will stipulating that he was to be kept on as the children’s manny until Flynn turned eighteen.
Bay had no problem with any of that, especially the bit about Pete staying on.
There was no way he could care for the kids on his own.
And then there was the fact that Pete was the one the kids knew. It made total sense.
He hadn’t realized how tightly he’d been holding himself until the lawyer had left, though. Because the moment the door closed behind the guy, Bay felt like he’d been hit by a very large truck.
“Where did Tony keep his booze?” he asked Pete.
“Locked up in the dining room. The key is in the kitchen on the board.”
“Thanks. You want one?” He found the key easily enough and made his way to the formal dining room which looked like it was never used.
“I—” Pete nodded, just barely bobbing his head.
He found the bar and unlocked it. There were glasses there along with a small variety of hard liquors.
Grabbing two glasses and a bottle of whiskey, he set them on the table and poured them each a generous fingerful of the booze.
He would have liked to add a few more fingers, but he figured with four kids to look after, getting totally drunk was not in the cards.
And honestly, Pete seemed as if he was going to collapse, just crash into the ground.
He handed over Pete’s glass and took a swig of his own. Not too much, though, because he wanted it to last a few minutes, to just have some quiet time to imbibe.
“So what would you say if I suggested I order us supper?” He hoped to hell that would work out, that there was something they could get delivered that the kids would eat. Will’s prepped meals had not arrived yet. Besides, right now, even just heating stuff up seemed like too much effort.
“I would love that. All the kids would eat chicken fingers and fries, and it’s a treat for them.” Pete dug in a drawer and pushed a sheaf of flyers at him. “Local delivery.”
“Cool. What do you want?” He was sure there’d be something on a menu that had chicken fingers and fries that he would eat. Hell, he could put away a burger and fries like he hadn’t eaten in a week.
“I’d take a burger, if you eat them. Tony didn’t eat red meat…”
“Well, even if I didn’t, you can totally eat what you want—I would not be offended.
And I know about the no red meat thing—he started that when we were teenagers.
” Bay shrugged. Eat what you want, don’t eat what you don’t want.
As long as Tony didn’t lecture him, he didn’t care.
And Tony hadn’t, after the first couple times when they’d both been in high school.
“Then I’d love a burger. I haven’t had one in months.”
He grabbed one of the flyers that looked like it had what they were looking for. “They’ve got an all-dressed double burger here. That sound good?” He’d have one himself, too. Something greasy and delicious.
“It does. I guess it shouldn’t, but it does.”
“Comfort food,” Bay suggested. It didn’t matter if it was good for you or not, it made you feel good. Like a greasy food hug.
And he thought Pete needed a hug and some calories in the worst way.
He made the order—three chicken fingers, four children’s fries, and two adult meals.
“A half hour, apparently.” He took another sip of his drink. “Where are the kids?”
“The babies are asleep. Belle is watching Spongebob. Eric is playing Lego.”
“Okay. Okay, good.” He took another sip, letting himself relax more than he had in days.
Pete nodded and sat, head propped on his hand. “It’s been a long day.”
“It’s been a long fu-dging week.” He was getting better at not swearing here at the house.
“Yes. Endless. I keep waiting for it to be over.”
Bay shook his head. “Seven days may pass, but this is a long time from being over.” It was permanent, and the ramifications were going to continue on for a very long time. Because Tony and Cindy were not coming back.
“Yeah, I know. I just… where do you live? Are we going there?”
He shook his head. “I have a condo downtown. It is not kid friendly. Besides, this is what the kids know, right?”
“It is. It’s a solid house. Good schools. Lots of activities.”
Pete was beginning to relax. Bay could see it, as the booze did its job.
“So we’re good size-wise? I could look for something bigger in the same area. For when the kids are more ready to move… Or now if being here is going to hurt them.” He just didn’t know. They needed to talk to a family therapist, he thought.
“This is home, right? I mean, this is where they know everything, and it’s got the great basement…”
Bay tilted his head. “The great basement? What the heck is that?”
“That’s what Tony called the reno of the basement. The Great Basement.” A single tear escaped and slid down Pete’s lashes.
Bay didn’t know what to do, so he reached out and patted Pete’s shoulder. “Finish your drink. It’ll help.” That’s what he was telling himself anyway.
“Okay. Sorry. I’m sorry.” Poor Pete. The nanny needed a nap.
Ooh. Alliterative.
Maybe he was getting drunk after all. He finished his drink, but he didn’t pour himself another one.
“So what do we need to do to get you a break?”
“Huh?” Pete’s eyes were so damn green.
“You’re running on empty. You need some downtime. I know you said you’d not worry about time off until the kids were settled, but you’re not going to be any good to anybody soon if you don’t get a good night’s sleep. So do we hire a babysitter for a night or two or what?”
Pete looked totally confused, searching his eyes. “I don’t know. I don’t really know any babysitters. Just other nannies.”
“Well can one of them take over for a night? Don’t you feel like you need to sleep? To have a break?”
“I don’t know! I’m—I don’t know how to do this any more than you do!”
He stared at Pete for a long moment, then grabbed his phone, hit Will in his contacts.
“Yeah, Boss?”
“We need someone to watch the kids for a night or two so Pete can get some sleep.”
“Done. Might be tomorrow night before I can have someone there.”
“Tomorrow?”
“If you want someone reputable, yes.”
“Fine. Just get it done. Please.”
“You got it.”
He hung up the phone. “Someone will be here for tomorrow night. So you need to hang on until then.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just—”
Bay thought that, in his own way, Pete had lost as much as the children.
“Don’t apologize. This terrible thing has happened and we’re all dealing with it as best we can.” He rubbed his face. He was fucking heartsick and tired; he could only imagine how exhausted Pete was.
“So… are you going to move in here? I’m sure you have things you need from your home.”
“Yeah, Will is having what I need packed up and sent here. I’ll take the master. It’ll work as my office, too.” He wasn’t sure how he was going to do it, but he didn’t see that he had a lot of choice. Those kids were his responsibility now.
Pete nodded. “It’s nice in there. The basement is going to be good too, for relaxing.”
“Is it finished or does it still need work?” He hadn’t even had a full tour of the house yet.
And tomorrow, the packers were coming to box up the entire master bedroom.
He wasn’t even going to go in there until it was done, though.
He was thankful, yet again for Will. Best hire he’d ever made.
Ironic too because Will had been having trouble finding work because he was older, but his life experience was what made him so good at his job.
“The construction is done. We were working on it—there’s a game room, a media room, and an art space slash library.”
“That does sound like a great basement. So it still needs furnishing, I’m guessing that is the missing component?
” That would be easy enough. He had money to spare, and he didn’t plan on using any of the money Tony had left—that would all go to the kids for college funds and for when they got older.
Pete nodded, swallowing hard. “The three of us had made all these plans…”
“Well let’s make them come true then. Honor their wishes.” He wanted to make everything better. He needed to. It was who he was—he made things happen, made them work.
“I think… I think that sounds really nice.” Pete began to cry, and Bay wasn’t sure he even knew it.
He put his hand back on Pete’s shoulder, squeezed once or twice and patted it a few times. He didn’t know what else to do, but he couldn’t just ignore it either.
Pete seemed to be a good, decent type, someone who worried about the children, loved them, had adored Tony and Cindy… And they’d obviously believed in Pete, to make sure he stayed with the kids in the event they were gone.
“It’s going to be okay. You and the kids have each other. We’ll make it through this.” Even he’d figure it out sooner or later.
“They have you too, and you have them. Tony said you were a good man.”
He sort of doubted that… not that Tony would have said he was bad, but he knew he’d disappointed his brother more than once by not being available for family. A bitter voice at the back of his head said that this was Tony’s revenge—forcing him to be there for family.
“Food will be here soon,” he said because he didn’t know what to say.
“Excellent. I’m starving.” He got a quick, almost real smile. “I bet the kids will be over the moon.”