16. Chapter 16 #2
If we had a few more moments alone, I might have caved to her demands. Luckily, we were interrupted by Mason wandering out into the kitchen. Her chin-length hair stuck up in every direction as she rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand.
“Cameron, move.” Mason yawned.
She didn’t have to tell me twice.
Sophia released me, and I took a step back. Mason quickly filled my spot by wrapping her arms around Sophia’s neck and burying her face in Sophia’s breasts.
“Morning,” she mumbled to Sophia.
Delight slowly etched away the lingering suspicion on Sophia’s face. “Good morning, Honeybee. How’d you sleep?”
Mason’s response was some completely unintelligible mix of French and English that left Sophia and I both scratching our heads.
“Where’s Lucian?” Mason managed as she pulled away to look at Sophia.
Sophia smoothed Mason’s hair down, and Mason rested her chin on Sophia’s chest as she looked up at her.
“Masie, Lucian would rather die than be up before eight,” Sophia soothed.
That was barely an exaggeration. Before then, the only thing that could wake him was his kids. And even then, it wasn’t a secret that he preferred when they woke someone else.
“I have a doctor’s appointment. He promised he’d come.” Mason’s little pout pulled at my heart.
… With Dale letting me go, would I be able to go to her appointments ?
“Are you gonna get to see Rosie?” My mouth ran faster than my mind.
Mason had been having a lot of appointments since she got to Hartwood, about one every other week. And I had no idea what happened at any of them.
She didn’t bother to move away from Sophia as she looked at me. “No, that’s next week.”
Mason said that completely casually. But the idea of maybe getting to see my daughter had my heart racing. Plus, a week was enough to test Dale by missing church. If he were really letting me go, he wouldn’t care if I missed Sunday service.
“Why? Do you want to come?” Mason tipped her head as she spoke.
I wanted to tell her maybe, but Sophia’s stare was stabbing through me. So, instead of carrying on the conversation, I turned to make breakfast.
The table was set, the kids were dressed, and Lucian was nowhere to be found.
If he didn’t have plans, that would have been fine.
But, in addition to needing to be up to go to Mason’s appointment with her, he’d been talking about how he needed to go to his tattoo shop to work with his apprentice a bit.
Despite his burgeoning fame, he was determined to help Sera become an official tattoo artist. He said it wasn’t fair that she lost her money and time because he got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Plus… I was fairly certain he was going to have her take over running the shop because he was also dead set on not closing it—something about not wanting people to lose their jobs.
Mason offered to go wake him up, but I didn’t want her to worry about running up and down the stairs. Plus, she also needed to get ready for her day. So, I was the one tasked with getting the world’s heaviest sleeper out of bed.
When I got to Sophia’s bedroom door, I was fully prepared to just pick him up and piss him off, but before I even opened the door, I was greeted with his voice.
“Yeah, I know you fucking signed me. But, the contract stated I didn’t need to release music until after Mason gave birth.
Remember, the entire Love Me Atomically needs to be a duet.
It’s good for your career and Mason’s rebrand, and she has bigger fucking problems right now. ” Lucian’s anger was palpable.
Still, I was a little impressed with how disrespectful Lucian could be to someone signing his paychecks.
I slowly cracked the door to see Lucian with his back toward me, cell phone placed to his ear, wearing nothing but black skinny jeans and a leather belt.
The lean muscles in his back twitched as he moved, causing his dark tattoos to move.
Most of the art on his body was contained to his front, but he had the twins’ names and footprints on either shoulder blade.
He said the man who taught him how to tattoo did them for free as a sort of gift while Jas and Juni were still in the NICU.
He couldn’t bring his babies home, but it was a way for him to always have them with him.
“Yes, but I still have a day job,” he snapped to whoever was on the other line. “Don’t you give a fuck about small business owners?”
Lucian paced back and forth, talking as much with his free hand as he did his mouth.
“Yes–But I also have a doctor’s appointment to go to with your biggest money maker–No, I’m not carrying the baby. I don’t have a uterus. Are you fucking stupid?”
And that was my sign to intervene before Lucian’s mouth cost him his dreams.
I snuck up on him, and he jumped when I put a hand on his shoulder. “You aren’t famous enough to be a diva.”
His brows knit together as he glared at me before placing a hand over the bottom of the phone.
The black polish on his nails was chipped to hell.
Normally, he painted them once a week when he did Juniper’s nails.
It was like a daddy-daughter bonding activity, except Jasper sometimes wanted his nails done, too.
Lucian just didn’t have time to paint them recently, even though he made time for the kids.
“Shut. Up. Cameron,” he growled.
“Don’t come crying to me when they realize you’re too big of a pain in the ass to work with. ”
Lucian rolled his eyes and looked away. That’s when I realized I’d have to hit a little harder if I actually wanted him to listen.
So I pressed my lips directly to his ear before whispering, “It’ll probably make Mason sad if you get let go after she pulled so many strings to get you here.”
The glance Lucian shot me was still mean enough to let me know he was pissed off, but the softness in his eyes hinted at the fact he knew I was right.
His shoulders fell as he closed his eyes and exhaled.
“I can send you a few rough demos by the end of the day, but they won’t be studio quality,” he relented.
Apparently, that’s all whoever he was talking to wanted because the second he finished speaking, he hung up before hurling his phone at the wall.
“Fuck!” he shouted.
I placed another hand on his shoulder before wrapping my arms around his chest. Lucian was always warm, which made up for the fact he wasn’t necessarily the softest person to cuddle.
“Are you really pitchin’ a fit because you have to do some work?” I teased.
“Um, excuse you?” He snorted, turning just enough to make eye contact. “Because Mason’s record label doesn’t keep their word, I have to tell Sera she needs to put off tattooing on human skin today. It was supposed to be her first time, and now I look like an asshole!”
To be fair… Lucian was an asshole. But that wouldn’t help the situation. Also, I had a feeling Lucian just didn’t read the contract.
“Let’s think about it. Your shop doesn’t open until noon,” I said, lifting Lucian’s arm to look at his watch. “So, you have almost four hours to work on your music.”
“Uh, wrong. I need to go to the OB with Mason, and it takes half an hour to get there. Then her doctor is always an hour late, but God forbid if we’re fucking late.
Then, Mason and I also go to a nearby coffee shop to get her a little treat because she’s growing a baby and deserves it.
Also, by the way, her growth scan last week told us that Rosie is going to be fucking huge, so thanks for that. ”
I added that to the list of things in Mason’s pregnancy that I’d need to apologize for. Hopefully, size was all Rosie would get from me .
“And if all that wasn’t enough, I’m planning on proposing today after the appointment!” Lucian continued.
I could tell by how much angrier he sounded that his proposal was the major issue.
And… the selfish part of me wasn’t ready for him to have a more formal bond with Mason than I did.
Being the father of her child was one thing, but it’d never compare to the title of husband.
So, despite the fact I didn’t want to marry Mason, nor did I want to see Lucian NOT marry Mason, I decided to dissuade him.
“It seems like she always has a doctor’s appointment nowadays. Just do it after the next one.”
“Why are you talking like I’m not going?” A dry, humorless laugh punctuated Lucian’s question.
I held my palms up to let him know I meant no harm. “All I’m saying is Mason has other partners. Plus, she did the first twenty-something weeks of this pregnancy without you.”
And that seemed only to anger him more. “Okay, but she was in France and had a car. Mason has yet to get her own vehicle, still gets lost in the grocery store here, and deserves support. So if I don’t go, who will? You ?”
I looked away from him.
“No, of course not. Because you couldn’t even take her to the fucking hospital when you thought she was in labor.” He jabbed a finger to my chest.
My lips rolled in, and I shook my head. “What about Sophia? If she goes, Mason still has support, Seb ain’t near her, and you get your time to work. Everyone wins.”
Lucian’s annoyed stare told me he knew I was right.
“Fine, but you’re dropping Jas and Juni off at daycare.”
That was a trade I could live with. I just hoped Lucian’s day at work would make him a little easier to deal with tonight.