Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Bay climbed out of the Uber and grabbed his suitcase.
He gave the driver a wave and dragged himself up the stairs.
He was fucking exhausted after six days in Europe.
He’d been in a different city every day, meeting after meeting keeping him from even appreciating where he was.
In the old days, he would have gone to his penthouse and crashed until midnight, had a meal and then gone back to bed.
Now he had no idea what he was walking into it.
He let himself in, wondering if he should call out or something.
There was quiet music playing and some kind of strange scent on the air. It was pleasant but odd. And when he walked in, he’d be damned if everybody but the baby was sitting on the floor on a yoga mat, stretching and humming and breathing.
The baby was on a sling on Pete’s chest as they all leaned and stretched and breathed.
Well, now he couldn’t say anything or he’d startle the crap out of them, right? So he very quietly set his bag down and all but tippy-toed to the kitchen to grab something to eat. He was starving.
“Namaste, guys.” Pete grinned and waved to him. “Okay, Belle go tell your Uncle Bay hi! He’s home! Eric, yay! You know what that means right? What did we decide?”
“Pizza night!” the little boy cheered, and little Merida clapped for him.
“That’s right, pizza night. Welcome home, we missed you.”
Okay, that was lovely to come home to—smiles and happy kids.
“Did you say pizza?” he asked Eric, making his eyes go wide. “Really?”
He picked Belle up to hug her when she came over. He was trying hard to win her over.
“I missed you guys, too. It was lonely.” It really had been, which was an odd feeling and not something he was used to, though he’d been on a ton of business trips on his own.
“Pizza! Really! We have been counting until you came home!” Eric pointed to a chart that was a pizza, and every day except today had a piece of pizza on it.
He had to chuckle. And now he wasn’t sure if he’d actually been missed or if they’d just been anticipating pizza. “Well, then, let’s order some pizza because I am starving.” His stomach actually growled, loudly, confirming his words.
“I’m on it. What would you like on yours? The kids are cheese only.”
“I love a meatlovers, but in the end, I’m pretty easy. As long as there is cheese and crust, I’ll be happy.” Hell, he’d have the cheese only like the kids if that was all there was.
“Let’s get a meaty one for us, then. I love sausage.”
“I’m a sausage man, too,” Bay noted, trying to keep the smirk off his face.
Pete glanced at him, cheeks going pink. “Are you now?”
“Yes, sir.” He gave Pete a wink. God, he had to be tired to be flirting with the manny like this. Pete was the only reason the kids were making it through this at all; he didn’t want to give Pete any reason to leave.
Of course, Pete didn’t seem to be stressed out. More excited he was home. It was surprising how good that felt. He’d thought he’d be wishing for his penthouse and his king-sized bed, but this, incredibly, was better.
“Are we eating pizza at the table?” He didn’t know if it was the kind of thing that included eating in front of a movie or something.
“I thought we could eat outside. The picnic table is all cleaned off.”
“That sounds like fun, doesn’t it?” he asked the kids.
Merida cheered, “Fun!”
He grinned. She was always so cheery and enthusiastic. He hoped she never lost that.
“We’re going to start going to the library on Monday. There’s storytime for the littles and a Lego club for Eric. I am going to learn about gardens.” Belle was so serious, so sure of herself.
“That sounds fascinating. I know school will be over in a couple of weeks—are you going to start a garden as a summer project?” He’d tell Pete to get her anything she needed for that—dirt, tools, seeds, whatever.
He wanted to encourage her to explore. He thought that would be good for her. Keep her mind busy.
“Uh-huh. I’m gonna make a garden. Just a little one in the backyard. I want to grow happy things.”
Happy things. That was so sweet. He looked up to meet Pete’s gaze, sharing his thoughts as best he could. This was definitely good for her, he thought.
Pete nodded. “I think that growing things is amazing. I’d like to grow some tomatoes. I love tomatoes.”
“I like salsa,” he noted. With a good chip and some guac and sour cream. That counted as at least tomato adjacent, right?
“Oh me too.” Pete’s eyes lit up, and Bay knew that they were going to be doing Mexican for their next adult meal. He could tell.
“Beer goes far better than wine with Mexican,” he noted. In fact, beer went very well with tacos and burritos and all that. He’d missed the last adult night and he had to admit, he had really missed having that evening with Pete. He’d come to count on that.
“True. I’ll make sure we have your favorite.”
Oh, that was an interested look.
“You know what my favorite is?” They’d had plenty of wine, but not beer, as far as he could remember.
“You like an Alexander Keith, I bet.”
He did a double take because that was bang on, and not because Tony had liked that, either. Tony was a Labatts man all the way, which just… gross. “Are you like the beer whisperer or something?”
“Could be. I have the magic beer touch…”
“The magic beer touch.” Bay laughed, feeling the tiredness start to drop away.
Pete winked at him, and little Merida ran to beg Bay to pick her up.
He lifted her up. “Hi there.”
Man, when he’d first come here, he would have run in the other direction, but today he’d just picked her right up. It was crazy.
“BayBay! Luff!” She hugged him tight, and then cuddled in with a sigh, patting his chest.
Damn. He had to blink back sudden tears, a wave of emotion passing over him. He kissed the top of her head.
“Does someone want to take Uncle Bay’s suitcase to his room? Pizza is on the way.”
“I can do it,” Bay said. “It’s pretty heavy.”
“I’m big! I can do it!” Eric insisted.
Bay looked to Pete for reassurance it wasn’t asking too much of the little boy.
“You can do it.” Pete smiled at Eric. “You are amazing.”
Okay then. He gave Eric a smile. “Thank you—I appreciate the help.”
“You’re welcome, Bay-Bay. I’ll get it there. I’m so excited that you’re home. It’s pizza night! Is every night going to be pizza night when you’ve been away?”
“Uh. Maybe?” He didn’t want to agree to something Pete might not want. He might be the kids’ guardian, but Pete was their main caretaker, hands down.
“We’ll decide next time he goes away. It’ll give us something to look forward to.”
“There we go.” He watched Eric grab his suitcase and head for the stairs. At least it was the carry-on size and not the big one. “So what have I missed, guys?”
Belle smiled at him. “I got a hundred on my spelling test, and I read a book about horses. We’re going on a field trip next week to the zoo.”
“I pottied in the potty,” little Merida said.
And Flynn’s answer was just a fart, long and loud.
Bay tried not to laugh, he really did, but he just couldn’t help himself, the sound ringing out from him.
“Bay-Bay, the baby pooted.” Merida was full of giggles.
“He did.” He managed to get himelf under control. “I’m sorry, Belle. You got a hundred? That’s awesome. You’re a very smart girl, aren’t you?”
She beamed at him. “I am! Did you wanna go to the zoo with us? You can be one of the helper moms if you want.”
His first instinct was pure panic. But he made himself take a deep breath. “Would you like me to?” He would be there for her because he and Pete were all she had.
Her eyes went wide. “Oh yes, I would love that. I don’t want anybody to think that I’m there without somebody that loves me.”
“Well then I would like to go with you.” Look at him, putting on a brave face. He was going to have to get the download from Pete on what was expected of him. “When is it? Because I’ll have to tell Will to put it in my calendar so he doesn’t schedule any calls for me then.”
“Pete knows. He has all the information. He signed my permission slip.”
Pete nodded and offered him a warm smile. “I do know. I will make sure that everything is arranged, and that you have all the information.”
“Sounds good.” Don’t let them see you sweat. He repeated it to himself over and over. “Now what am I doing to help with dinner?”
“You’re going to get comfortable, put on some shorts and a T-shirt, and we’ll all go sit outside to watch the kids play. You can tell me about your trip.”
“Okay, I can do that.” He gave Pete a smile and headed upstairs to get changed. This was so different from usual, but he thought he liked it.
He got changed and grabbed the bag in his suitcase that was the gifts for the kids and headed back downstairs. Everyone was already out in the backyard, so he joined them there.
The baby was in a little pen with an umbrella next to Pete’s feet, Merida and Eric were playing in the sandbox, and Belle was swinging and singing.
“This looks very idyllic.” He sat in the bright blue adirondack chair next to Pete’s and set his bag of goodies next to him.
“Until it gets brutally hot, these babies love being outside in the yard.”
“It’s a nice yard. I can see why it sold Tony on the place.”
“Yeah, he liked that, and he loved the fact that there were six bedrooms. There are two master suites, which you know, and we had that amazing basement.”
“We’ll get it finished—the way we want it. It’s ours now.” He needed to remember that. They all needed to remember that.
“Yes. It is… ours, huh?” Pete’s eyes were bright red.
He reached out and put his hand on Pete’s arm, squeezed. He let it sit there, keeping them connected.
He wasn’t sure what was building between them, but he knew it was. He could feel it.
Merida squealed, breaking the quiet, and he smiled at her. She held her hands out and opened and closed them, so he reached down and lifted her up onto his lap.
“Bay-Bay!” She kissed him, smacking him happily.