Chapter 13
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Axel
“Daniela!” I beam when I spot her in the hallway. “How are you doing? Holding down two jobs?”
“We’re hiring for Oskar’s position now,” Daniela says. “He’s missed.”
“Who would have thought strait-laced Oskar would run away and leave you in the lurch?”
Daniela laughs. “I’m happy for him.”
“Same. So, I need your help.”
“About removing Enzo from the first line? Nope. I only do paperwork.”
“What? No! Enzo is one of the country’s great hockey players.”
Daniela gives me a look. “He is.”
“So, you know how all our forms have a dependents section?”
She stares at me.
“For the insurances? Health, life, dental?”
“I know.”
“Knew you would. Well, I always skipped that section, but guess what, I now have a dependent!” I beam at her.
Her mouth drops open, then she smiles. “You got married, Axel?”
“What? No way!” I frown, then my mind goes to the women I met in the hotel bar last night. Imagine if I’d flown to Niagara with one of them. I shudder. “Way better. I have a son!”
She blinks. “Congratulations!”
I smile happily. “It’s pretty awesome. He’s two and a half.”
“That’s quite a discovery.”
“And I thought New York would be boring.”
“You have a game this afternoon.”
“Yeah, those are fun. Anyway, about the dependent section… I need to fill it out!”
“I can help you with that.”
“I know you can. Gotta make sure he’s my heir if anything happens to me.
Put me down for the max amounts of everything.
Better connect him up with a financial investor too.
Let compounding do its work.” I lean closer to her.
“He still doesn’t know about numbers, so he’ll need someone to navigate financial things. ”
Daniela smiles. “That would be quite a task for him. You can get a lawyer to make a will for you. I’m pretty sure you signed up for the lawyer service during your last enrollment period. You can use him for all non-hockey related things.”
“Good idea. See? That’s why I knew you were the right person.”
“Just call the firm when you get back to Boston and tell them you need a will. They’ll be able to help you with your requests. They can set up a trust for your son. Do you have a financial advisor?”
“Oh, I’m good with my money. Bought thirty dollars of bitcoin back in middle school.”
Her jaw drops. “Good move.”
“Yeah. Got it for the fancy wallet. It’s awesome. Held it too.”
Actually, I’ve bought a lot of equities since then, but it’s best to keep that on the down low. I’m just lucky. I love figuring out what will be big in the future, then turning that research into helping people. Daniela probably heard of some of my foundations. Like…
Well, it doesn’t matter.
“I’m happy for you,” Daniela says.
I grin. “Awesome. Thank you, Daniela. I need a doctor for him too. He got into a car accident, and his mom died. And now…” I hesitate.
I don’t want to share my son’s health concerns with everyone.
“Well, Enzo says he’s slid from his development achievements.
No biggie, everyone wants a break from time to time, but, um, he probably needs to see if there’s anything we can do to support him. ”
“You need a pediatric trauma specialist.”
I brighten. “That sounds perfect.”
“I’ll research some names for you and get them back to you after the hockey game. I can add your son as a dependent too. I’ll need his name.”
I hesitate. Shit. I don’t even know. Does he have a middle name? And his birthday? I don’t know.
I take out my phone and text Enzo. The last messages are about me asking why he’s not speaking to me and what happened, and I grimace.
ME: Hey Enz… What’s Luca’s full name and birthday? SSN?
ENZO: Luca Dario Bellanti. February 2nd. I’ll have to get back to you on SSN.
ME: Thanks, Enz. I’m signing him up to be my dependent. Hooking him up with a pediatric trauma specialist too.
ENZO: Really? Thank you!
I give Daniela the details I have, then promise the SSN for later.
“You’re going to be a great dad, Axel.”
“I have a nanny interview in fifteen. Any hiring tips from an expert?”
“Your son will be living with you?”
“Of course.” I bite back a smile. Daniela is brilliant, but sometimes she asks obvious questions. “I’m his father.”
Maybe if Enzo had parents, they would want custody. But Luca’s only relatives are me, Enzo, and my family—once I tell them. We’re going to take good care of him. I’m sure of it.
I hurry to my hotel room before the bus leaves to go to the arena.
I press the Zoom link I sent to Evan’s contact earlier and soon see a smiling middle-aged woman.
“Patricia?”
“Yes.”
“It’s nice to meet you. Evan told me good things about you.”
She brightens. “I used to nanny for Stella when she was younger. He and his former wife were very busy and needed extra help.”
I look down at my list of questions. This is seriously weird. But I have a son, and I need childcare.
“My son is two and a half,” I explain to her. “He recently lost his mother in a car accident. He was in the car with her. She was still alive when they went to the hospital. He’s traumatized. He’s not talking and he, um, is having accidents again. He apparently didn’t before.”
I hate that I should have known what Luca was like. I hate that I’m telling a stranger that I don’t know my son well.
“His mother used to live in LA, and I…” I don’t want to tell her that Luca was conceived with a donation I made after thinking about it for ten seconds. I want Patricia to live with my family for a while, and I don’t want him to ever have any doubt about how important he is.
Maybe it’s premature to say I love him, but even though I only learned he existed yesterday, all I want is for him to be happy. He is sweet and shy and struggling, but I’m here for him now. It feels like love.
“I’m used to blended families,” Patricia says.
“Are you also comfortable with, uh, same-sex attracted people?”
Her eyes widen, and my cheeks warm. I hastily take a sip of water.
She’s probably googled me. In fact, if she used to nanny for Stella, she might follow hockey. Boston is a sports town, and she might have been watching hockey for years. That’s not important.
She probably thinks I’m bisexual. She can assume whatever she wants to assume.
I’m pretty sure Enzo wouldn’t be comfortable with her assuming anything though.
I’m not even sure that Enzo is gay, but it’s good to make sure he’s in a comfortable environment just in case.
If he is gay, he hasn’t announced it to anyone, and that’s my sign not to ask or speculate about it.
“I know Luca’s young, but, uh, they say kids are sponges…”
She smiles. “They are.”
“I have gay and bisexual friends and—”
“My brother is gay. I would never criticize anyone for falling in love with someone of the same sex. Love is precious.”
I try to nod knowledgeably, but it occurs to me that I’ve never fallen in love. Is that weird? I’m twenty-eight. That’s probably weird. I wonder if Enzo’s ever fallen in love.
My gut prickles, and I force my mind away from that thought. Thankfully I’m conducting an interview and don’t have to imagine Enzo staring at someone with delight and murmuring how that person is so important to him.
“Mr. Knight?” Patricia asks.
I blink. Okay, I did get a bit derailed. I force myself to smile, though my lips feel tight, like I’ve been drenched in one of those chemicals found in mortuaries.
“Please, call me Axel.”
I glance down again at the list of questions I prepared for the interview after I asked the internet for advice on hiring nannies, and we go through them.
Patricia seems cool and she’s available.
“Can you start tomorrow?”
Her eyes round. “I can.”
“I have a bedroom for you,” I say. “We want a live-in nanny. Like, um, Mary Poppins.”
She smiles. “I’ll do my best. I can’t sing, but I’m excellent at putting on Mary Poppins music.”
I chuckle. “Excellent.”
“I’ll take care of your son. I’ll give him a happy, warm environment,” Patricia promises.
I bite my lip. “My son’s uncle will be living with us. He—well, I guess you’ll find out, he plays for the Boston Blizzards too. He’s new.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Your son’s uncle is Enzo Bellanti?”
I stiffen. Shit. I should have given her an NDA.
“I would appreciate it if you kept it quiet,” I say. “And I guess this needs to be a three-month trial, just to make sure you two click too.”
“Of course.” She gives me an odd look, and I wonder if she’s remembering that I made a big deal about being okay with same-sex attracted people. I probably worded that wrong too.
I close my eyes. I’m not doing the best job, but I need to be the best. Luca needs me. Enzo too.