41. Piss off
CHAPTER 41
Piss off
CALUM
A ringtone jerks me awake. The weight crushing my body stops me from rolling over to the other side. Peering down at the figure curled against my body, everything rolls into my mind.
Cathie is here. I kiss her cheek, but she only stirs, tilting her head as if to give more of herself to me for a proper kiss. My hand slides under her boob, and I trace a circle around her pink nipple. Her body has changed. If I thought she was sexy two years ago, then I was ignorant.
She’s sexier now. More feminine.
I detangle myself from her before my dick takes over. Speaking of dicks, the fine man stands at attention, the tip leaking with pre-cum. My eyes drop to her butt, and blood flows to my cock. She never has to seduce me. Her existence is a drug. I put on the first item I find, which thankfully, is my shorts. Her phone lights up. Before it rings, I hit the volume button.
Pete is calling. Shooting a glance her way, I head to the bathroom to answer the call.
“Hey, it’s me. Cathie is asleep,” I say once the door shuts behind me.
Crossing over to the sink, I drop the phone on it, turn on the tap, and splash water on my face. I’ll need to check up on the boys. They should be in Yorkrinth already.
“Oh. Where’s she?”
“Bed.”
“You two slept…” Pete trails off.
“In the same room?” I complete for him. He stays quiet and I add, “Yeah. Same bed, Pete.”
The silence elongates, and I grin at the mirror. We only cuddled, but he doesn’t need to know that. He’s probably torturing himself with thoughts of what we did the whole night. We will fuck. We will kiss. We will make babies. We will be happy. He doesn’t need to mind his daughter’s sex life, but I need him to know that this time, I’m taking everything as much as I’m giving them to her. She owns me. All she has to say is the word. I won’t cower or hide away.
“Where’s Mace?” he whispers.
Opening and closing the drawer until I find a toothbrush, I grab the toothpaste and squirt some on the brush.
“In the room,” I reply.
He inhales. “With you two?”
“What?” Oh. The implication of his words dawn on me. He thinks we had sex, and I won’t correct him. But he has to know I won’t put Mace through that torture. “No. Mace wasn’t there. He was in the other room. We wouldn’t do that with him here. Give us more credit.”
Pete forces out a laugh that rings so fake. I drop the toothbrush on the sink and stare at the phone. Is there a reason for calling his daughter as early as 8 am? Is it considered early? With the boys, we wake up whenever. Practices are usually in the evenings. Except we have a tour or performance, we never rehearse in the mornings. Lucas loves his beauty sleep too much.
“Hey, Pete. I’ll let her know you called, okay?”
“Sounds good to me. Just wanted to check in.” Part of me feels like there’s more to it, but I won’t ask. I move to hit the red button, but his voice stops me. “Calum, are you still there?”
Turning my back to the mirror, I lean against the sink. His voice takes on that serious note. I don’t know what to expect when the Jenkins are involved. But my heart speeds up its rhythm.
“Yeah?” I whisper. “I’m here.”
“Okay.” I drum my fingers against my thigh twice before he says, “I said it before, but thanks for coming back and sticking around. You didn’t ask. You probably don’t care, but you have my blessings. As long as you make her happy, I’m in support. The past few months have been rough on her, especially last month. She might be mean. But don’t be too hard on her.”
Mean? The note of encouragement is coming a month too late. We have crossed that bridge. But he is wrong about the part of me not needing his blessing. To win the daughter, I must be in the Dad’s good book. He’s Cathie’s first love. She respects his opinions, and I respect that.
“I won’t. Thanks.”
The call ends. I stay there a little longer to brush my teeth. On entering the room, Cathie is still asleep. I plant a kiss on her shoulder, drop her phone, and grab mine before exiting the room to check on our boy. Mace is awake, staring at the ceiling. I love him. I love how attune he is to his mum’s feelings. He seems to know when she needs quiet. Not that he’s flawless, he can be too loud on some mornings and nights, but he’s ours and that makes him perfect.
“Papa is here,” I mutter with a wave. “Papa. Say it.”
Mace closes his fists around his legs and blinks. He opens his mouth and blabs in a language only Cathie understands. They do that a lot. Talk in baby jargon. It’s crazy when you hear it. But when you watch their interaction, it’s beautiful. I lift him from his crib and rub my nose against his.
My baby. My son.
“Did you sleep well?” I ask.
Mace grunts. I take that as a yes and pat his butt to check if he needs a diaper change. I had the best sleep in months. Cuddling is more therapeutic than people know. Do it naked with the woman you love, and you will unlock a different level of tranquillity. One we never experienced under Pete’s roof because of the lingering fear of being caught in that position.
“Mama is asleep. She needs the rest.” He smiles, and I tell him, “We cuddled. Naked. ”
We work in silence. I set up his bath, clean him up, and change him into clean clothes. He never protests. He’s easily my favourite male on the entire planet. The boys will freak out when they see him. Will Cathie allow me to leave the house with him? They need to see the little man they will spend the rest of their lives protecting.
All done, I toss him up in the air and catch him. The boy laughs. He loves it when I do this. “It’s just me and you for now, Macey.”
Mace replies to me in his language. I hug him to my chest and descend the stairs to get him breakfast. He wiggles in my arms, his sign for me to drop him, but I don’t. His walking has improved. While his milk heats, I text the group. Our last chat was yesterday. I empty the milk into his feeding bottle like I’ve learned to do. Mace grabs it and races around the kitchen. We spend the next few minutes playing stop running , but his little feet never stop.
Giving up, I plonk down on a stool and arrange the bowls on the countertop. Mace stops by the fridge. He isn’t good on his feet yet, so every few intervals, he leans on something firm for support.
“Mace? Dad’s here when you’re ready to go.”
Dad. I’m a dad. Papa Mace. I grab my phone with newer excitement and text the group again. None of them reply, so I start a group video call. It rings for so long I’m confident they won’t pick up. Lucas does, and Sam declines. But their faces appear on Lucas’ side of the call.
“Call us later, man. It’s way too early,” Lucas grumbles.
My cheeks tilt in a smile. “Yeah, later.”
“I fucking hate Yorkrinth,” he continues.
Sam chuckles. He rubs a hand over his face and his brows do a wiggle. I laugh, and he waves at the camera. He must still feel sleepy because he’s never this excited on a regular day.
“Why did you come then?” I tease.
They could have waited until it was time for the tour. But that would mean me going to them. This is better for me, and I can’t express in words how much I appreciate their support.
“Because I fucking love you, bro,” Lucas replies. My heart melts. His words are enough to do that, but the sleepy idiot has no clue. He blinks at the screen like he has no idea how the call happened. “Now get off my fucking phone and let this fine man sleep. We earned it. Piss off.”
“I love you guys too,” I tell them.
“Yeah,” Sam murmurs. Lucas’ hand moves. I assume to end the call, but Sam swats his hand. They glare at each other. Lucas reminds him it’s his phone. “We weren’t there the last time you needed us, so this is us making it up to you. We are here for you, man. No pissing off.”
Sam’s green eyes bore into mine. I try to smile. It was such a long time ago. When I was in rehab. I was mad then, but no more. I have only love in my heart. Well, except for my mother. I’ll talk to her, but not now. When looking at her doesn’t remind me of all her crimes.
“You know, I don’t hold it against you guys anymore,” I remind him. Sam nods. Lucas grunts out something and rolls off. Sam’s entire face covers the screen. “Thank you for coming.”
“Does she know we are here?” Sam asks. I place the phone against the bowl, so my hands are free. “Is she coming to meet us here? What about Mace? Did you find out about his father?”
“Yeah, I did.”
His brows furrow. They haven’t asked about Mace. They were more interested in getting me to talk to Cathie. If only they knew. I owe them a lot for pushing me until I relented.
“So? Is the father still in her life?” Sam asks. I nod, and he stands. His environment changes. The walls grow familiar. They are at Caleb’s house. He’s silent for a few seconds until he finds his earbuds. My gaze drops as someone hugs my leg. Mace. “And you are fine with that? Calum, do you think you can handle that? I mean, can you handle another man’s son?”
“Yeah. I’m even watching him right now.”
“Oh, yeah?” His voice holds doubts. Knowing Sam, he won’t talk about it now until he can’t handle it anymore. I lift Mace to my lap and hold the bottle to his lips. He suckles faster. His eyes lift to mine, and my heart flips in a way Cathie never made it do. “He looks like you.”
“Yeah. Talk to you two later?”
“Yeah. Sure. Come around. We need to start practising anyway, before Scott has a seizure.”
Laughing, I say, “Sure. Later.”
The call ends, but I stay in the kitchen until Mace finishes his breakfast. I know Cathie lets him eat solid food, but I’m not sure if that’s appropriate for mornings. It’s another thing to learn. Heading to the living room, we goof around. I watch my son watch babies dancing on TV. When he shows a sign of being tired, I carry him to the room for a proper nap.
In his crib, Mace gawks at me. “You want Daddy to sing for you?” I ask.
Mace pouts, and I take that as a yes. I run the tip of my index finger up and down the sole of his foot. His eyes close. I belt out the lyrics of Tangled sheets , switching the lyrics, making the words up on the spot. But every word I sing is the truth. I love him more than I have ever loved anyone. And I’ll spend the rest of my life making him and Mama Mace happy.