Chapter 22 - Miles
"All right, let's go over this again." Ayden laid his hands on the counter. He looked serious as he repeated everything over. "Cayden, Wesley, and Lucas, you are in charge of watching Poppy for the entire time of the party.
"How did I get stuck on watching after Poppy?" Lucas asked. "Do you really need three of us on her? It's one kid."
"She's a little escape artist, so yes," Ayden said, nodding. "I need three sets of eyes on her at all times."
"But why am I on her? Shouldn't Miles? Seems he needed the training."
I threw daggers at Lucas, who had a smug smile. "Clearly, I don't because he didn't ask me." I countered, rolling my eyes.
"No, he just put you in charge of the cake. I think that's probably the easiest job yet." Cayden said, looking bored.
"Hey, focus," Ayden said, grabbing our attention again. “I need her birthday to be perfect, and Wendy hasn't been feeling great with the pregnancy. I promised her we could handle it all. Now, let's talk about where we are going to do this."
"Why don't you just do it outside in the back? We have all the space, and I bet if we just turn the hoses on, the kids will think it's a waterpark." Cayden said, waving his hands.
Ayden rolled his eyes. "Poppy wants to have it at the park by our house. They have a large playground. She's crossing her fingers she's going to fly by then."
"You think she will?" I asked.
Ayden shrugged. "You know, there is a little part of me that wishes she would so she would stop jumping off of everything."
I snorted.
"About this cake," Ayden looked at me. "You promise the baker is going to do it right?"
I nodded. "Yeah, Luis is a great baker. I stop by her stand all the time at the farmer's market. I haven't seen her cakes, but her baking is amazing, so I imagine the cakes are just as splendid."
"I'll take it, better than anything I would bake." Ayden drummed his fingers on the counter. "Now, what did you all get her?" Ayden's eyes stayed on me as he asked this.
My eyebrows went up. "Why are you looking at me?"
"Because you're the one that bought her a damn drum set with speakers."
I couldn't help but smirk. In my defense, it was a joke, and I thought they would return them. I didn't realize that Poppy would get so attached.
"I bought her rollerblades," I said, waving a hand. "Your wife said if I bought her another stupid gift, she was going to put a hex on me."
Ayden smirked. "She doesn't know how to do that."
"Well, either way, I don't want to find out."
Ayden sighed, looking at the others. "And you guys?"
"I got her a baseball mitt."
"I got her that new Barbie doll that came out."
"I got a board game."
I heard feet coming up the stairs, and my head snapped towards it. I felt a tug in my gut, and my eyes took in Michael as he went up the stairs.
Everyone turned, and Michael froze as he got up the last step. His backpack was hanging over his shoulder, and his eyes scanned the space, taking everyone in.
I felt a tug in my chest, feeling that connection snapping into place. I swallowed, tightening my fingers on my coffee cup.
"Hey, Kiddo," Ayden was the first to speak up. "How was school?"
"Fine," he muttered, his eyes dropping to me. I could see the anger still simmering in them.
"You want to join us? We're just planning out Poppy's birthday party. Also, has your mom told you that you were invited?"
Michael nodded his head. "Yeah, she did."
"Good."
Michael's eyes snapped back to me, and his eyes narrowed. I adjusted myself, uncomfortable in my chair. After his running off the other day, I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew I had to do something. Silence wasn't going to make anything better.
"How was school?" I asked.
Michael scowled. "Ayden already asked that."
"Right," I said, nodding my head. I felt like I was grasping at straws with what to say. "What did you do today?"
Michael didn't answer. He sighed, pulling his backpack off. "Is my mom in her office?"
"She's on a Zoom meeting at the moment," Owen said, stepping out from the hallway into the kitchen space. He ruffled Michael's hair as he passed him. "She should be out in a few minutes. You can hang with us."
"I'd rather not," Michael said once more, his eyes going to me.
Cayden elbowed me, and I sat up. "Oh, come on. We're just chatting. You can join us. Any ideas on what Poppy would like for a cake?"
Michael crossed his arms. "Stop trying to be nice. I don't want to join."
I placed my hands up. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get to know you."
"Well, stop. You aren't my dad. You'll never be my dad, and I will never like you. So just stay away from me and my Mom."
Everyone fell quiet. I wanted to yell, but what was I supposed to say? He was my son, but he didn't know me. I had no actual authority over him.
"Michael, I'm trying here," I said softer. "I'm sorry if this is difficult for you."
"You don't get it," Michael said, taking a few steps closer. "My Mom is happy. We are happy. We don't need you. And I don't want you hurting her. My Mom has worked hard to get us here, and you aren't going to ruin it for us."
I opened my mouth, but I didn't know what to say. What could I say? I didn't know what they had been through. I didn't know what they had to live through to get here.
Just then, I heard a door open, and Laura stepped out of her office. Her eyebrows went up when she spotted Michael. "Hey, I didn't realize you were here. Are you chatting with the guys?"
"Can we go now?" Michael said, turning with an angry face to his mother.
Laura looked at us, confused, before Michael stormed past her towards her office. She turned to us. "What happened?"
I'm tempted to tell her what happened, but I know it won't help and will only make her feel worse.
"Nothing," I said. "He just got here."
She crossed her arms. "I feel there is more that I'm missing. Did he say something?"
I shook my head. "Nope, we're all good. You're pretty much done for today, aren't you?"
"Yeah, why don't you head home," Ayden added. "Don't forget about Poppy's birthday this weekend. She's excited to have Michael coming."
Laura looked at us, silent for a moment before she sighed. "All right, well then, I'll head home." She turned and headed into her office.
"You aren't going to tell her?" Owen said, standing next to me.
I shook my head. "No, it's just going to make her feel worse than she already does. This is just going to take time."
Laura and Michael stepped out of her office a few moments later, and Laura waved as they headed. All the guys looked at me.
"You okay?"
I wasn't. But whatever emotions I was feeling, Michael was feeling ten times more. I just needed to be patient.