Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Katya
Unfortunately, a trip to Leon’s bedroom became impossible very quickly.
After washing up and seeing the kids off to bed, a poorly timed phone call disrupted what could have been a continuation of our evening.
I would have been more upset about it, had it not frustrated my husband so greatly.
He clearly didn’t want to leave, and I don’t think he would have if it wasn’t important.
He’s been dealing with something that he hasn’t wanted to talk about since his long work day that had him leaving before the kids woke up and not coming home until they were back to sleep again.
Despite taking days off since then to help with Leo being sick, it’s been obvious that something is still on his mind.
Of course, part of me is curious, wanting to ask again about what’s clearly been bothering him.
But my mom always said that sometimes made men need to solve a problem before they can talk about it.
Keeping their work details to themselves isn’t always the marker of bad communication or hiding secrets from you; sometimes they just need time before they’re willing to share.
So my curiosity will have to wait a bit longer to be fulfilled—at least as long as I can manage without blurting more questions out.
My impatience may get the better of me eventually. Especially since whatever is going on seems to take a lot of hours away from us.
Leon isn’t home when the kids and I come downstairs for breakfast, or if he is, he’s nowhere to be seen.
It feels a bit silly to admit, but I was hoping to wake up and find him before the kids did.
We could share a few kisses and talk over morning tea or coffee, smiling silly at each other while thinking about last night.
But alas, I wake up cold and alone, using my time as I normally would to get ready for the day.
Leo and Bastian are sleepy and moving slowly in their pajamas as usual when I start putting together food for the three of us.
With Bastian, his difficulty waking up is normal and expected.
With Leo, it’s less obvious unless you know him.
He isn’t heavy eyed or excessively yawning, he’s just more quiet than normal.
Either way, the both of them will be entirely new boys once they’ve finished eating.
A fact I prepared for by preemptively changing into a cozy outfit that will give me plenty of mobility once the boys perk up and inevitably want to run around the house.
“Daddy working, Kat?” Leo asks, padding up to me in the kitchen and leaning against my leg while I stir the oatmeal on the stove.
I never imagined that oatmeal would be a kid’s favorite breakfast, but Bastian and Leo request maple, apple, cinnamon oatmeal at least once a week.
And thankfully, it only takes ten minutes to make.
I smile down at him, adoring the way he freely clings to me without fear or the need to request permission.
“I think so, little love. I’m going to call him when we finish breakfast to see if he’s coming home soon.
He hasn’t told me that he’ll be gone all day so I think we’re going to see plenty of him today. ”
“Dats good,” he decides, nodding absently.
“I think so too,” I agree, reaching down to ruffle his soft hair.
“Kat, where is your daddy?” His question hits me out of nowhere and I blink, trying to process it. “Not Line-us. You real daddy, where is he?”
It appears Leo digested the concept that Linus is my stepfather better than Chloe ever has. And he’s four.
“Well,” I start to reply, swallowing hard as I decide how to phrase my answer.
I’ve done my best to not think about my father since marrying Leon and moving in here.
My guilt and previous fixation on him and my past had been eating at me for far too many years, and putting my focus fully into my new family and new life has been astoundingly helpful in that area.
But I always knew that it would come around again.
“My daddy passed away when I was little like you. I was ten, that’s double Bastian’s age, you know?
But I was still very young, and very sad when it happened.
My mama remarried Linus when I was fourteen, and he’s been my stepdaddy ever since. ”
Leo looks up at me, his innocent blue eyes shining. “He died like my mama?”
“Yes, sweet boy,” I reply, throat going thick with emotion. “He wasn’t sick, there was an accident, but he died just the same.”
Calling what happened an accident doesn’t churn my stomach as bad as it might have before.
If I’m being honest with myself, I think it would be obvious to know why.
I would never blame Leo or Bastian for doing what I did that night, even if it led to tragedy.
The guilt I carry has always been misplaced if you ask my mother, but digesting your father’s death and the role you may have played in it isn’t something that children are capable of.
And once you’ve decided you’re at fault, the blame doesn’t wash away easily.
“And your mama marry Line-us like you marry Daddy?”
“That’s right,” I agree with what I hope is a reassuring smile. “Our families are very similar, isn’t that nice? We can understand each other better this way, I think.”
“Nice,” Leo echoes, hugging my leg gently. “Breakfast time?”
Looking down at the stove, I realize that the oatmeal is ready to be taken off the heat and breathe out a sigh, glad that I continued to absentmindedly stir it while talking to Leo.
“Yeah, buddy,” I agree, shutting the burner off and lifting up the pot to move it away. “It’s going to be warm but I’ll plate it up and get you both some apple slices to eat while it cools, okay?”
“Good idea,” he approves, spinning on his feet to go back to sitting with Bastian.
I have to chuckle to myself, seeing how quickly he switches from a somber sympathy for me and my loss to a boy who’s ready to eat in good spirits. And thankfully for all of us, breakfast goes over perfectly smoothly with no more mentions of death or difficult topics.
When I send them upstairs to wash up and get changed, I clean up the kitchen quickly before pulling out my phone to call Leon and ask him how long he’ll be without the kids present to listen in.
If he has to stay late, I’d rather be able to frame it in a way that doesn’t immediately disappoint them.
Before I can get my phone out and pull up his contact, the sound of the front door catches my ears.
A sound that pulls Bastian and Leo to the scene before I can even leave the kitchen, judging by the sound of two excited squeals.
The volume of their voices and the abnormal length of their shrieks has me rushing to the front room just in case someone else has come into the house.
I quickly realize that it’s not someone else who’s come along with Leon, but something else.
“Thankyouthankyouthankyou, Daddy!” Leo chants, bouncing up and down as he looks up at his father. Beside him, Bastian is buzzing with excitement like I’ve never seen before, and it’s easy to see why.
My husband, dashing and handsome as always, is standing in our entryway holding a bundle of golden fur.
A tiny golden retriever puppy is squirming in his arms, the tiny tale attached to its body wagging at lightning speed.
He or she is feeding off the excitement of our boys, clearly thrilled to be in the same vicinity as little humans who are dying to meet it.
“He’s ours?” Bastian asks, voice dripping in wonder as he steps closer. He cranes his neck trying to get a better look at the puppy, lifting up on his tippy toes for added height.
“She is,” Leon replies, correcting Bastian’s assumption as he does.
Crouching down, he keeps the puppy steady while allowing the boys to come closer and pet her little head.
“She’s still very young, only three months old, so we’re going to have to be very gentle and patient with her, okay?
We have to take very good care of her since she’s a member of the family now. ”
Looking up at me, my husband catches my gaze and searches like he’s crossing his fingers not to find me upset with him.
All he receives is a blinding smile and teary eyes.
We talked about a puppy before, and how we might need to wait until things have settled down before considering a pet, but ultimately I left the decision up to him.
He knows his kids better than I do as of right now, and he’d know if having an animal in the house would help or hinder them.
It seems he decided it would help after all.
He’d never come home with one otherwise.
“Yes, yes,” Leo agrees, bobbing his head and reaching out to touch her ear with the gentlest caress. “We take such good care of you, puppy.”
“Does she have a name?” Bastian asks, giggling as the golden retriever pup licks and nibbles at his hand.
“Not yet,” his father replies, looking between his sons. “You two will have to come up with one together and agree without fighting, hmm? If you bicker about it, Katya is going to pick.”
“We no fight!” Leo declares with a determined look drawing his pale eyebrows in. “What we name her, Bastian?”
Contemplating how to answer, he shrugs his little shoulders. “She looks like a princess.”
“I think Spaghetti,” Leo suggests with a goofy grin.
To their credit, neither Bastian nor Leon laugh at his silly suggestion.
I, for one, think it’s adorable.
“Princess Spaghetti sounds like a lovely name,” I chime in, alerting the boys to the fact that I’m in the room.
Leo spins around and claps when he sees me. “Kat, you see what Daddy bringed us?”
“Did you know?” Bastian asks quickly, sneaking his question in before I can answer his brother.
“I didn’t know,” I reply honestly, joining them in getting a closer look at the precious puppy. “Your daddy is surprising all of us today. He’s sneaky like that, isn’t he?”
“So sneaky,” Leo agrees with glee. “Princess Spaghetti likes her name, I think!”
As if to prove him right, she wiggles free enough of Leon’s hold to pounce at Leo and lick him right up the side of his face causing him to yelp and break into a fit of giggles.
“She likes me,” he cheers, cooing as he leans down to kiss the top of her little head.
“Of course she does,” I agree, patting his head softly. “She loves both of you very much already, I can tell. Did you ask your daddy if he bought any toys for her yet? Or food and other puppy supplies?”
“You got applies, Daddy?” Leo asks, almost demanding.
I cough to cover my snort, knowing he’s going to be a very attentive dog owner as he grows.
“Yes, Leo,” my husband replies with a chuckle.
“She has plenty of toys and supplies in the car. Why don’t you take her into the living room with Katya to play while I bring everything inside, okay?
She already went pee before we came in, but she might have accidents until she gets bigger so we’ll have to keep her off of the furniture for now, right? ”
“Okay, Daddy,” Leo agrees quickly.
Instead of passing the pup to either of the kids, though, he hands her to me. Her fur is so soft and pale colored, and despite her small size she has a bit of heft to her. Princess Spaghetti seems perfectly happy to be passed along, sniffling me happily and wiggling in my arms to explore them.
Leo and Bastian practically skip all the way into the living room, and I make sure to shut the pocket doors behind us so that the new puppy can’t escape and run outside while Leon is coming in and out with all her new things.
While the backyard is fenced in to keep the kids safe while they play and will make for a perfect area for Princess Spaghetti to run around, the front of the house is more driveway than it is yard.
The puppy would need to make it past Leon, and about a dozen guards on the property before she could run off into the public road, but it’s a chance I’d rather not risk at all.
I hope Leon is prepared for me to helicopter parent this precious little baby because not only would it break my heart if she was hurt on my watch, it would devastate the kids.
“Okay, let’s let this little Princess explore, shall we?”
“Little Princess Spaghetti,” Leo asserts, grinning as he nods in agreement.
“Yes of course.” I chuckle, putting the puppy down slowly.
Part of me wonders if the little thing’s nickname is going to be Princess or Spaghetti, or if Leo will insist on using her full government name forever.