Chapter 13
THEO
Theo slipped into the house quietly. He’d had a late board meeting, followed by some unexpected work, so he hadn’t made it home for dinner.
He’d felt a pang of sadness when the clock passed six, Jack and Nina’s usual dinnertime, and he’d imagined them at the table without him.
But then he’d turned his attention back to the task at hand and tried to put both of them out of his mind.
It was almost nine thirty now, and he tried to be quiet to avoid waking Jack, who usually went to bed around eight thirty. As he passed the living room, he spotted Nina on the couch with her laptop and a bowl of popcorn. She took off her headphones and smiled at him, waving him over.
“Welcome home.”
She was wearing leggings and a loose T-shirt — her pajamas — and her black hair was pulled back in an elastic. A few strands had fallen loose to frame her face, and her cheeks were pink. She seemed relaxed compared to the worried woman he’d first met a few weeks ago.
“Hey.” Theo went and sat next to her. “How was dinner?”
“Good. Jack had fish sticks, French fries, cucumber and carrot sticks — all the ‘stick’ foods,” Nina said, chuckling. “Then we played some games, and he went to sleep.”
“I missed him,” Theo shook his head. “That’s too bad.”
“There’s always tomorrow.” Nina smiled at him. “I saved you some dinner, if you want some.”
“Fish sticks?” Theo asked.
“No, my dinner. I had stir-fry with veggies. It isn’t fancy, but if you haven’t eaten yet, I can heat some up for you.”
“Yes, please. But I don’t want to disturb your work; I can do it myself.” Theo stood, ready to navigate the kitchen on his own.
“No, no. It’s fine. I was almost done anyway.” Nina shut the laptop and stood too, leading the way to the kitchen. There, she opened the fridge, where a covered plate was waiting, and put it in the microwave.
“What was up at work today?” Nina asked, turning to lean back against the counter.
“An emergency board meeting.” Theo sighed and folded his arms. “Our CFO went on a sudden early maternity leave with pregnancy complications, so we needed to scramble to replace her.”
“Is she okay?” Nina asked. The microwave beeped and she took the plate out, setting it on the table for Theo. He sat.
“She’s fine, just on bed rest for the last trimester.”
Nina winced. “Poor thing. My third trimester was a struggle enough, and I got to waddle around. I can’t imagine being stuck in bed.”
Theo glanced at Nina. It was surprisingly easy to imagine her with the soft round stomach of pregnancy, one hand resting on her baby bump and a gentle smile on her lovely features. Now, though she was wearing plain pajamas, she looked as beautiful as if she were in an evening gown.
“I can’t imagine what best rest would be like,” he said honestly. “I need my work. I would hate being stuck in bed.”
“You’d go stir-crazy.” Nina laughed. “But I think I could use a few weeks on bed rest now. Chasing a five-year-old isn’t easy.”
“Nothing about parenthood seems easy,” Theo admitted. “Honestly, it’s hard to imagine pregnancy at all.”
Nina chuckled. “It’s the most magical and uncomfortable thing at the same time.”
Theo smiled. “That seems like a good way to describe it. Do you…” he trailed off, unsure why he was even asking this, “do you want more kids?”
Nina sighed and rested her elbows on the table.
“Yes and no. I love Jack more than anything. I loved him when he was a baby, with his baby-powder scent and the way he’d fall asleep on me like a sack of potatoes.
And the way he’d stare up at me with those big blue eyes…
I’d love to have another baby. Just like I love Jack.
But it’s enough of a struggle to raise one kid on my own. There’s no way I could handle two.”
“And you’ve never considered dating again? For real, I mean.”
Nina shook her head. “No. I always thought it would confuse Jack. And I was always tired from working and raising a kid on my own, so I wanted to give the little energy I had left over to him.” Her expression turned sly. “I hear you have quite a dating reputation, though.”
“Aha,” Theo paused with his fork halfway to his mouth and glanced at her. “Well, I have been known to date a little.”
“One of the moms told me that you show up to every event with a new lady on your arm,” Nina said. Her eyes were twinkling, but Theo winced.
“Sorry.”
“Why?”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you sorry?” Nina smiled. “It’s not like we’re really together. Why should I care if you like dating around?”
“I just… I hope you know I wouldn’t date while you’re here,” Theo said.
In truth, the thrill of a new woman each week had started to wear off.
The shine was particularly disappearing the more he spent time with Nina.
Somehow, while she played with Jack in jeans and a sweatshirt, or made pancakes in her pajamas, or winked at Theo as they shared a joke, she looked more beautiful than any of the women he’d dated.
Even though the two of them weren’t really dating.
“I hope not,” Nina said. “That would ruin the ruse, right?”
“Right.”
“I just wonder… you truly never found anyone you wanted to settle down with in all that dating?”
Theo sighed. “No. Or, more accurately, I really wasn’t looking, and neither were the women I was dating. We all understood that it was just a temporary, fun thing, not something long-term. I never wanted that.”
“Right.” Nina nodded. “You told me. Epsilon is your baby, and all that.”
“Exactly.” Theo took another bite. As he chewed, he searched for a way to change the topic.
Discussing his dating history was making him uncomfortable, though he wasn’t sure why — Nina was right that they weren’t dating.
He quickly landed on the obvious option and gestured to the plate with his fork. “This is really good, by the way.”
“Thanks. Want to know my secret ingredient?” She leaned forward, blue eyes twinkling.
Theo couldn’t hide his smile, “Is it love?”
She burst into laughter. “No. Oyster sauce.”
Theo chuckled too. “I guess that makes more sense.”
Nina stood, stretched, and went back to the kitchen. As she got the mug out of the cupboard, she glanced back at Theo over her shoulder.
“There’s still a lot I don’t know about you. Have you always lived in Boston?”
“No, I grew up in Springfield,” Theo said. “How about you?”
“I grew up in Seattle,” Nina told him. She put the mug on the counter, started the kettle, and turned to lean against the counter and look at Theo.
There was something in those blue eyes, and Theo wondered what had sparked her sudden interest in his backstory.
They hadn’t discussed much of this before.
“Wow, you’re a long way from home.” Theo tilted his head. “What brought you here?”
“Jack’s dad. He got a job with a company in Boston and begged me to come with him. I did, and then…” She shrugged. “He left us.”
“And you stayed?” Theo was impressed. “I would have hightailed it back to Seattle.”
Nina chuckled. “I was eight months pregnant, so there was no ‘hightailing’ anywhere. And I’d been making friends with other moms-to-be and settling in, so it just felt right to stay. What brought you to Boston?”
“College,” Theo explained. “I went to college just outside the city, and I liked it a lot more than Springfield. Plus, I started my business while I was studying, so I got tied to the city pretty quickly.”
“You started Epsilon in college?” Nina asked. The kettle boiled, and she poured water into her mug.
“I did.”
“And you’re…”
“Thirty-four now,” Theo answered her unfinished question.
“I’m thirty-two,” Nina told him. She sat back down, her head tilted as though trying to look at him from a different angle. “So, you really started Epsilon yourself, as a college student.”
Theo grinned. “You don’t believe me?”
“I truly, honestly thought that the company came from family money,” Nina said. Theo laughed.
“No. Haven’t I told you? Boston old-money families don’t like me. That’s part of why I needed you.”
“But you’re so…” Nina waved a hand.
“Sophisticated? Handsome? Sexy?” Theo joked. She rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of pink in her cheeks.
“I mean, you have that ‘wealthy arrogant’ thing down.”
“Arrogant again,” Theo put a hand to his chest. “Must you always wound me like this?”
Nina laughed. “Sorry, sorry. You really do seem less arrogant now. After seeing you build a sugar-packet fort with Jack, I’m much less annoyed with you.”
“Glad I could do my part.” Theo chuckled, too. He ate the last bite of stir-fry and got up to put his plate in the dishwasher. He probably should have headed to his office to work, but instead he started making a cup of coffee.
“Are you really drinking coffee after ten at night?” Nina asked.
“The caffeine doesn’t hit me very hard,” Theo explained. “And I’m going to work after this.”
“Of course,” Nina smiled. “There’s that arrogance.” He took the mug from the machine, added a little cream, and came to sit with her again. He was just about to take his first sip when he heard a sound from the hallway.
He and Nina turned at the same time, and Jack was in the doorway. He was wearing his superhero pajamas, his face was red, and tears were streaming down his face as he sobbed. Theo’s eyes widened. He hadn’t seen anyone this upset in a long time.
“Did you have a bad dream, buddy?” Nina asked, opening her arms to Jack.
It was hard to say which of the adults was more surprised when Jack ran instead to Theo and held his arms up.
Half out of instinct, Theo scooped the little boy up and hugged him tight.
Jack’s face was warm and damp with tears, and he snuggled tightly into Theo’s arms, still sobbing.
“Pat his back,” Nina instructed. Theo patted Jack’s back rhythmically.
“Sorry he came to me instead of you,” he said.
“Why?” Nina smiled slightly. “He clearly feels comfortable with you, which is a good thing. Kids can’t have too many caring adults in their lives.”
Jack kept sobbing.
“Buddy,” Nina said gently, “SuperJack, did you have a nightmare?”
Jack nodded against Theo’s shoulder.
“What happened?” Theo asked.
“Bad robots came and took you away,” Jack said, pulling his head away to look up at Theo with tear-filled blue eyes. “I tried to pow them, but they were too strong.”
“Don’t worry,” Theo patted his back again, “it was just a dream. I’m okay. You’re okay.”
Jack’s sobs subsided, and he rested his head against Theo’s shoulder.
“Don’t let the bad robots come,” Jack mumbled. “Don’t let them take you away.”
“I won’t.” Theo glanced at Nina, who gave him an encouraging smile.
“Just rock him a bit,” she instructed. “Keep patting his back and talking. Once he’s asleep, we can get him back to bed.”
Theo nodded. As Nina instructed, he rocked the boy back and forth, patting his back and mumbling nonsense.
After a while, Jack grew heavy in his arms. His small chest rose and fell evenly, his eyelashes were still spiky with the tears that had streaked his cheeks.
He seemed to weigh more in sleep, as though his limbs took on a new weight.
“Okay,” Nina said quietly. “Now we can take him up. Are you okay to carry him?”
Theo nodded. Together, they stood and walked carefully up the stairs to Jack’s room.
Theo hadn’t gone in there since Jack and Nina had moved in, and he was surprised to see how homey it looked.
The walls were covered in posters and pictures.
The bed had a superhero bedspread. There were toys and books on a shelf and kindergarten homework on the desk.
A superhero nightlight glowed from one of the outlets.
Nina pulled back the sheets on the bed, and Theo gently laid Jack down, careful not to wake him. She covered him up and kissed his cheek. For a few minutes, both adults looked down at the sleeping boy, then Nina nodded, and they slipped out.
“Are you okay?” Nina asked as they went back downstairs.
Theo nodded. “I didn’t expect that. I hope I didn’t mess up.”
“You did great,” Nina smiled, “you made him feel safe, and that’s all that matters.”
“Does he have a lot of nightmares?”
“Not really. But he does have a subconscious fear of losing people. I think it comes from his dad having walked out before he was born, though that’s not how I tell the story when I talk to him about it.
Still. It’s probably where the superhero thing comes from; he wants to have the power to protect the people he loves so they won’t leave. ”
Theo nodded again, but his heart grew heavy in his chest. He understood Jack’s fear of being left alone better than Nina knew.
His dad had also left when he was around Jack’s age, and the memory of the man he’d worshipped walking out the door still played in the back of his mind now and then.
Though he loved his mom, and she’d been both mother and father to him as best she could, it wasn’t the same.
The worst part was that he was going to leave, too. Bad robots wouldn’t take him away, but once he’d made his deal with Charles Ackley, Nina and Jack would leave. Would Jack think Theo was abandoning him, too?
“You look worried,” Nina said.
Theo snapped back to the present and looked down at her. “I was just thinking about… work. I’d better get a few things done, or I’ll never sleep.”
“Okay.” Nina’s brow furrowed, and Theo got the feeling that she saw through him. Still, she didn’t say anything else as he picked up his coffee and headed back down the hall to his home office.
This fake family was starting to feel very real, and Theo didn’t know how to handle it.
For now, he’d bury himself in work and try not to think about Jack falling asleep in his arms or Nina’s warm smile as she talked him through what to do.
He’d try not to think about how their conversation in the kitchen had felt natural.
He’d try not to think about them at all.