Chapter 6 #2
“Am I required to know how to play or be any good at it?” Daniel’s laughter joined his. “Those are two completely different ideas. I know how to play, but I kind of suck at it.”
“That’s fair. I do not suck at it, but I’m not super-competitive.”
Jacks actually snorted, and he shot the baby a look.
Be nice.
Am nice.
You’re a little nerd.
No, you.
Suddenly Jacks was in his arms, and Daniel was blinking. “You’re a little nerd, aren’t you?”
No nerd! Jacks was giggling madly, though.
“Isn’t it nap time for you, bud-bud?” he teased. “You can sleep in your movey bed while Daniel and I play”
Oh, goddess, that word conjured up all manner of yummy connotations, didn’t it? He could think of all sorts of things. If not strip poker, then strip ping pong.
Jacks squinted at him, offering him a deep scowl, and Hayden knew the baby was considering having an absolute meltdown.
Then something obviously occurred to the little one.
He wasn’t sure what.
In fact, he was pretty sure he didn’t want to know, but one way or the other, it didn’t matter.
Jacks cuddled in to him and started snoring, the sound patently fake.
Daniel stared at the baby, shook his head. “He’s just amazing. You do know that, don’t you? He’s like really amazing.”
“He is something else, isn’t he? Unfortunately, none of us know what.” He winked at Jacks and then put him down in the cradle that was in an alcove in the game room.
It wound up like a swing, rocking the baby side to side. At some point in the future, they would have to just get an outdoor swing built to use as a swinging bed for Jacks. Maybe they’d just let him sleep out on the porch.
Ha.
That was a thought. His son would set the world ablaze.
Jacks settled like a dream, and Daniel wound the crank, getting the cradle moving.
“I’m going to go get myself a drink. Would you like anything? I can take your tray back if you’d like.”
“Sure, to both, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t. You want a Coke or a glass of water?”
“Oh, let’s have tea. It’s going to get chilly earlier and earlier now. Summer’s losing her hold on us.”
“Yeah.” Daniel shook his head. “I’m looking forward to the snow, though.
I mean, I know that I’ll get tired of it, and I’ve heard all the things, but yeah, there’s going to be something fun about having our holidays here.
Which reminds me, we need to talk about Jacks’ Halloween costume at some point.
Are we going to trick or treat him here? ”
“Yeah. Everyone will set up in a different room.” Like he was going to take Jacks out into an unsuspecting public. “What would you like to dress him as?”
“A dragon.” There was no hesitation.
“A what?” Hayden blinked.
“He wants to be a dragon.”
The “he already is” almost popped out. Goddess.
That would’ve been monumentally stupid. And Hayden didn’t think he was stupid, so he just zipped his lip.
Then he took a deep breath before he opened his mouth again.
“That’s cool. I think we could probably do that.
A nice warm costume, too, in case we decide to extend the trick-or-treating to the outside. ”
Jacks let out an exaggerated little snoring, ha-hoo sort of sound, and he glanced over. No comments from the peanut gallery, you.
“Yeah, I love those little baby dragon costumes. The little hoods and then the little tails with the thing on the end. So cute.” Daniel bounced, looking at the ping-pong table. “Which side do you like?”
Of course, his brain immediately took that and rolled that question to the obvious side of the bed, not side of the ping pong table. God, he was crazy. But Daniel inspired that kind of thought in him. He was edible, and not in that I’m going to pick my teeth with your bones kind of way.
No, eat my Daniel, came from Jacks.
Go to sleep.
Sad part was he knew Jacks was asleep, really. He was just sort of babbling in his higher mind. Or was it his lower mind or his outer mind? Whatever it was that was not processing any real thoughts at the moment, just impressions and feelings. Psychology wasn’t Hayden’s strong suit.
“Uh, I’ll take the far end.” Hayden wandered over to the end of the table that had less room for someone to maneuver, the room being not quite big enough for the table and the other game stuff set up in there. That way Daniel had a small advantage.
“Cool. Did you need a paddle?” Daniel held up the two that he’d pulled down off the rack on the wall.
“Yeah, that seems like a good idea. This isn’t handball, right?” He shook his head at himself. He was such an idiot.
“Okay, so run me through the rules.”
“It’s really sort of like tennis. Did you ever play tennis? You serve the ball, and it has to go into the side over here at the back, opposite from where you’re serving. From then on, it’s just getting it over the net and not going off the table.”
“I think I can do that. I’m not the most coordinated guy on earth, but I’m not bad either.” Daniel winked and served the ball with a wicked shot, making Hayden jump to actually hit it back.
They volleyed, and he was impressed with the way Daniel moved. He might think he wasn’t very coordinated, but he was doing amazingly well.
Admittedly, Hayden was holding back a little, but he didn’t feel like he was letting Daniel get away with murder. He just felt like he was playing a game, and that was great.
So once again, it made him question Daniel’s origins. Maybe he should start asking a few leading questions.
“So, won’t your folks be upset if you don’t come home for Christmas?” Hayden asked.
“Did we talk about this already?” Daniel raised an eyebrow, holding the racket in his hand, all poised to make another serve. “Maybe not. Anyway, I really don’t have people. I’m people-less.” Poor guy, his cheeks were pink and his head was lowered so he could stare at the table.
“I’m sorry. Maybe we did talk about it, but I don’t remember. I was way more invested in your credentials and stuff when you came for your first week on the job.”
“Yeah, I was in foster care. So most of the people I stayed with, I didn’t live with for very long. The longest one was about eight months.”
Daniel finally glanced up to meet his gaze, those blue eyes, completely expressionless, but his freckles stood out because he was flushing. Daniel chewed on his lower lip.
“Well, now you don’t have to worry about it. You’re totally going to be here through the winter anyway, so you don’t have to be worried about upsetting anybody.” He grimaced. “That sounded awful, and I’m sorry. Of course if you had family, you would go home and spend Christmas with them.”
Daniel laughed at the sound, a little startled, as if he didn’t expect to find anything amusing in what Hayden was saying. “It’s always awkward when people find out I don’t have any family. So I’m used to people saying strange things. Don’t worry about it.”
“Thanks, I’ll try to keep my mouth shut about it from now on.” Hayden shrugged. “I’m really not very socially apt.”
“But you do a lot of conference calls and stuff, right?” Daniel finally served again, and the next volley started, this one less intense because they were still talking while they were batting the ball back and forth.
“I do, but that’s all business. I don’t have to worry about what I say there.
I make a few pleasantries. We talk about whatever it is we need to talk about.
I make a few more pleasantries, and we stop talking.
” Business he understood. Adding to the hoard, he understood.
This was the Dragon Way. He wasn’t used to having to be anything but straightforward.
“Huh. Well, you can practice on me.” Daniel beamed at him, and Hayden missed the ball on the next round. It flew past him, going off the end of the table. That smile had just stunned him into motionlessness.
“Cool, I will do just that.” Hayden winked, trying for suave and hoping it didn’t come off like he had something in his eye.
“Good deal.” Daniel served again, and Hayden just let himself play.
He had to figure out what was going on before it made him more crazy than he was already.