Chapter 4
“Last load to be donated has been dropped off, and thanks to you, Esther, the apartment is spotless.” Trey’s grandmother had been a huge help, and I was pretty sure we’d gotten her talked into moving soon too.
“You’re very welcome, and Oscar.” Shit, here it comes.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“You do right by my grandson, you hear me?”
“Esther, that is a promise I can make. Trey comes first for me.” She gave me a look that clearly showed her doubt, and I didn’t blame her one bit. “Life threw me a lot of balls to juggle at once, and the one I dropped, I’ll spend the rest of my days making it up to.”
“I’m gonna hold you to it.”
“Hopefully from the cabin next door.” I gave her a cheeky wink. Chuck and I had already drawn up the plans and run them by Trey to see if we’d missed anything. Basically, a mirror image of Chuck’s mom’s but with the layout flipped.
“You’re serious about that?”
“Very.”
“Trey mentioned it, but I wasn’t sure if it was a real possibility, or my grandson’s wishful thinking.”
“Real and in design. All you need to do is say yes and the building begins.” I wanted this for my angel.
It was important to him to have her nearby.
Family was everything to us, and with her up there, she’d see me keep my word to always put Trey first. “You can stay with us while it’s being built if you’d like.
We have an extra room.” Samian could stay in one of the other cabins if he decided to come up for the summer.
“Know a good real estate agent?”
I couldn’t help myself. I picked her up and swung her around. “You have no idea how happy you just made us, Esther.”
“What are you doing to my grandmother?” Trey asked as he came running up to us. “Put her down.”
“Esther, I’ll let you tell Trey the good news while I make a couple of calls for you.” I walked out toward the box truck we were using for the move to give them a few minutes alone, though Trey’s happy squeal said it all.
“Hey, Chuck.” They’d just left after helping me haul off the last load.
“Everything okay? Need us to turn around?”
“No, nothing like that, and thanks again for your help.”
“No worries. Whatcha need?”
“Looks like Esther’s on board with moving up north. She asked for a good agent. I know you’ve got a few contacts. Can you shoot one over to me?”
“You bet, and I’m glad to hear that. As soon as we get home, I’ll send it. Let us know when you get to the cabins tomorrow.”
“Will do. Thanks, Chuck.” The balls were in motion and working in our favor. Hopefully, it stayed that way. For far too many years it had felt like for every step forward, life shoved us back ten. Wouldn’t it be great if whatever deity was in charge quit riding us like a prized stallion?
Dear aliens, if you can hear me, I swear, our life isn’t exciting enough for your reality show.
So, if you could show a man some love, please change the channel.
That thought alone broadened my smile. I mean, could you imagine a bunch of aliens up in space, a bucket of whatever their equivalent of popcorn was watching Alien Reality TV?
Likely making bets on what the stupid humans would do next.
Goddess above, that made more sense with each passing day…
The memories of all the hard-fought days our grandmother and I shared when she was alive came from this very apartment we were saying goodbye to.
From how we were paying for groceries to our biggest concern—that our parents would one day show up and try to take Tae and Samian away from us.
Then Grandma passed away and all that fear became even more real and landed on my shoulders.
Never once had I regretted taking care of my brothers.
The life we had wasn’t all shopping trips and video games, but I’d made sure they had everything they’d needed.
Clean clothes, three square meals a day, and help with their homework.
None of which our parents had ever provided. Chuck always threw extra work my way when he knew we were struggling. Never met a better man than him. No matter how you looked at it, removing us from that situation in the broken-down trailer was a blessing.
Now that Tae and Samian were both legal adults, the fear was gone, replaced by another, that random siblings they may’ve had after we were taken away were out there looking for us.
I hoped like hell there weren’t more. No one deserved to live the fucked-up childhood the three of us had somehow survived.
“Daddy!” Trey called out, not caring who heard. It warmed my heart to see that brilliant smile on his face as he wrapped his arms around my waist. “Grandma’s moving with us!” Esther stood nearby, watching our interaction.
“Yes, my angel, it’s wonderful.” I hugged him tight and gave him a kiss. “Esther, I’ll have a number for an agent to you in a few minutes. When you’re ready to start packing and move, we’ll take care of that for you too.”
“Better watch it or you’re gonna have a spoiled old lady on your hands.” I adored this woman and her snark.
“I look forward to it, my queen.” I bowed.
Esther rolled her eyes. “Alright, smartass, it’s time for this old lady to head home. Looks like I’ve got a lot of crap to go through.” She gave us each a hug. “Let me know when you get to the new place tomorrow, please.”
“We will, Grandma, I love you,” Trey told her.
“Love you too, sweet boy.” Trey and I waved as she drove away then headed inside. We kept Samian’s mattress out, since we were using it in his room at the cabin, along with what we’d need in the morning. All easy to throw in the box truck before we headed out in the morning.
“Pizza sound good?” One of Trey’s favorites, and I knew my tired boy wouldn’t argue about it. “You were such a big boy today, helping Daddy.”
“Mmm, pizza,” he moaned. If we weren’t so tired, I’d see how many other moans I could extract from that mouth. “Thanks for talking to Grandma. I’m so excited to build her a new place. She deserves it.”
“Yes, she does.” I placed our dinner order on the app.
“Is there any furniture you can think of that she will want to bring? I’d like to make her new stuff for the cabin.
Would she like that?” It was sad, after all these years, I didn’t know much about the woman who raised him.
But that was all about to change, and I couldn’t wait to get to know her better.
Hopefully, she didn’t have any issues with our lifestyle.
It was important to me that Trey never had to hide any part of him or our relationship again.
“Umm.” He thought long and hard about it. “The living room furniture is old and so is the bedroom furniture. She’ll want to bring her hutch for sure, though.”
“Do you have a picture of it? I’d like to try and match the finish on the new pieces we make.
” The creative juices were flowing. I loved designing and making new furniture.
We’d done most of what the cabins had now.
Trey enjoyed helping and was always eager to learn my likely-not-by-the-book woodworking skills.
Trey thumbed through his phone, looking for a picture of it while we waited for our food. I worked on a few emails, one of which was from the mayor of Taylor Ridge. He wanted us to start with the outbuilding at Judy’s rescue first if we could.
“Trey, what do you think about working at Ms. Judy’s starting on Monday?” We had to walk it with her and work out the layout and materials list, but he’d get to play with the kitties while we were there.
“Yay! I love all the kitties, Daddy.”
“I know you do, Angel. Have you ever had a pet before?” If he had, he’d never mentioned it.
He shook his head. “No, Daddy. Grandma couldn’t afford the extra mouth to feed, she always said.”
I’d ask Ms. Judy to keep an eye on Trey while I took measurements and see if he bonded with any of them.
Huh, I wonder what would be involved with building an outdoor cattery by the playground Chuck and I were putting together for the boys?
Then the cats could get some outdoor time while Tae and Trey played.
Okay, so having time to be the Daddy Trey deserved was turning out to be more fun than I’d imagined. Kinda like living the childhood I never had through my boy. Huh, I wonder if all Daddies felt that way.
With his belly full, shortly after we had showered and laid down, Trey dozed right off.
Me, on the other hand, had a mind that refused to shut off.
Not sure when, but at some point, I managed to get a nap in.
Up before Trey, I gave up on trying to fall back to sleep and instead, ran out and picked up breakfast and plenty of coffee to fuel the long drive ahead.
“Morning, my sleepy angel.” He’d only begun to stir as I stepped inside the apartment. “Daddy brought breakfast.”
“And coffee?” he asked through a yawn.
“Like I’d ever forget, silly boy.” As much as I loved Trey, he wasn’t his friendliest until he’d consumed the elixir of life. “Go potty while Daddy gets us set up.” He rolled off the mattress, then onto all fours before struggling into an upright position. Yeah, it was gonna be a long day for sure.
Dressed and somewhat awake, Trey sat beside me on the mattress. I did my best not to laugh as his eyes rolled back when he took that first sip.
“Ah, much better. Thank you, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome. As soon as we’re done, we’ll finish loading up and get your SUV onto the car tow dolly, then we’ll head out and I’ll follow you. If you need to stop for any reason, just pull over safely and I’ll be right behind you.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Alright, let’s get going. I’ll drop the keys off at the office on the way out.”
Within a half-hour, we were done and on the road.
It was bittersweet leaving the only life I’d ever really known.
From getting me and my brothers out of that mess to moving in with a grandmother we hardly knew.
We had to trust her. It was either that or foster care, and the likelihood the three of us would get to stay together was slim.
Thankfully, she was a loving, caring person who only wanted the best for us.
When I really thought about it, I wasn’t really saying goodbye, just merely leaving our temporary housing.
Now that we’d all grown up and found our own paths in life, we were starting anew with our partners.
Tae’s was with Chuck, and Samian was in college and well on his way to finding his own.
I was ridiculously proud of him, proud of both of them for going after what they wanted.
Then there was me and Trey starting our life together in our new home. Not an apartment but a house we’d made into a home—as a couple.
My boy’s excitement fueled mine, and I couldn’t wait to see what lay ahead of us.