11. Lars
ELEVEN
LARS
Lars pushed the curtain aside to look out again.
“Daddy, why Unc Aaron sitting in his car?” Chloe asked, grabbing the window frame and standing on her toes to see outside.
“I don’t know, honey.” He scooped up his three year old. “Let’s go find out.”
He grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch to wrap around her. His other two girls were quiet—Allie watching Frozen for the hundredth time this week and Maddie napping in her Pack ’n Play nearby.
“We’ll be right back, Allie,” he said.
The six year old gave him a thumbs up—her new favorite thing—over her shoulder without looking away from the screen.
She was lying on her stomach on the floor, her little feet kicking in the air as she sang along.
He couldn’t help but smile, especially when Chloe started wiggling and saying, “Daddy…” in the exaggerated way she liked to do when he wasn’t moving fast enough for her.
No one could move fast enough for his busy bee. Unlike her sister, she could only bear to sit and watch TV for about ten minutes before she was bored and wanting to play.
With a chuckle, he apologized and headed outside.
Aaron still sat in his car holding his head.
Lars had the brief thought that maybe he shouldn’t have brought Chloe along to check on him, especially after their recent fight, but there was no way she would go back now.
She wouldn’t go inside without Uncle Aaron.
But still, something was clearly wrong. Despite his anger a few days ago, Lars worried about Aaron. He’d seen him leave the bar with a random guy last night, and it was safe to assume they’d gone somewhere to hook up. Was this about that? Had he been hurt or… God, he didn’t even know.
Lars quickened his pace, concern coursing through him.
He was one of the only people in the world who knew Aaron was bisexual, and he was about ninety-eight percent sure he’d never been with a man before.
At least nothing more than a few blowjobs almost a decade ago.
Had last night gone further than he wanted? Had it been too much for him?
A thousand questions rushed through Lars’s head, all boiling down to needing to make sure his best friend was okay. Apart from his family, Aaron was the most important person in his life. Lars could always feel the man’s pain as if it were his own.
When he tapped on the window, Aaron startled and looked up. Misery filled his hazel eyes. Lars had grown accustomed to seeing that the past several months, ever since the wedding, but it had started getting better. What happened to make it return?
Aaron quickly masked his emotions as he glanced at Lars’s daughter.
He smiled and removed his seatbelt before opening the door.
The second he was standing, Chloe lunged.
He took her with a laugh, careful to keep the blanket around her.
It was another cool evening, and Lars feared they’d seen the last of the lingering warm days.
“My little monster.” Aaron kissed the side of her head. “Hi.”
“Hi, Unc Aaron.” She wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. “Why you sit in the car so long?”
“I’ve…” He looked at Lars. “Had a bad week.”
Lars sighed and nodded, understanding to an extent. He still felt like something more was going on though. “What made you come here?” He hadn’t meant for it to sound harsh. “I just mean, did something happen today?”
“Charlie and Aiden again,” he said, lowering his eyes. “But that’s not the main reason. I was hoping maybe for a sleepover.” He smiled, knowing that was the magic word.
Sure enough, Chloe gasped and whipped her head to the side, wide eyes finding Lars. “Please, Daddy? Can we do a sleepover?”
Lars chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief.
This girl was so attached it was ridiculous.
But he loved it. He loved how close they were, how much his friend cared about his girls.
“Well, how can I say no now?” He winked at Aaron and leaned into the car to grab his stuff, but he only found Aaron’s phone and laptop bag.
Standing with the two items in hand, he looked in the backseat. “Where’s your other bag?”
“I, uh… had to get out of there fast,” Aaron said with a wince. “Things were progressing that I didn’t want to stick around for.”
Nodding, Lars grabbed the keys and shut the door. “I’m sure we can find you something to wear when you start to stink.”
Aaron laughed and playfully smacked the back of his free hand against Lars’s stomach as they headed to the house. Lars knew they needed to have a serious conversation. There was a lot to get out, but not right now. For now, he was grateful for the lighter mood.
“Can we go to the park?” Chloe asked.
“Not tonight.” Lars held the door open for them.
“But—”
“Nope. It’s almost dinner time.”
Pouting, she looked up at Aaron. “Please, Unc Aaron?”
Aaron bit back a smile, shooting a glance at Lars, who shook his head. “Sorry, Little Monster. Daddy said not tonight. Maybe tomorrow.”
“Hi, Uncle Aaron,” Allie said, rolling over with a grin, waving. Only he could get her to look away from her favorite movie.
“Hi, sweetheart.” He went and sat on the couch, shifting Chloe to his lap. As he asked the girls about their day, Lars watched in awe. It never failed to amaze him how good Aaron was with them, how much they adored him.
“I’m gonna start dinner. Mel’s upstairs working on some sort of report and proposal for a client.”
Aaron gave him a nod but continued listening to Allie tell him about what she did in school on Friday. Leaving him to keep an eye on them, Lars went into the kitchen. He set Aaron’s stuff on the island before heading to the freezer.
Pulling his own phone out, he started some music before getting to work on the mac and cheese and chicken nuggets.
Not the most nutritious dinner, but Allie had decided to start being picky, and he didn’t feel like arguing tonight just to get her to eat.
He would steam some carrots too—the only vegetable she would touch this month without having a complete meltdown.
Even Mel was giving in at this point a lot of the time. Miss Healthy Eater herself had finally agreed that it was more important that Allie had something than nothing.
Humming along, he was so focused that he didn’t hear Aaron come up behind him.
When he turned and nearly ran into him, he let out a “shit!” before his eyes widened at the sight of his youngest daughter in Aaron’s arms. He quickly looked to make sure the other two hadn’t followed and heard him.
Especially Chloe, who thought it was hilarious to echo curse words.
“Sorry,” Aaron said with a soft laugh, bouncing Maddie. She had her head on his shoulder, one hand clenching a small pink blanket. “She woke up and was looking for you.”
“Aw, come here.” Lars reached for her, and she easily went to him. She was the only one of his girls who still chose him over Aaron. He swept some of the light curls from her face. “Did you have a good nap?”
She buried her face against his neck.
“I don’t think she was ready to wake up, but Chloe got a bit too excited telling me about the butterfly she saw yesterday while working outside with her grandpa.”
Lars laughed. Of course she did. “It’s way too late for her to be napping anyway. She didn’t this afternoon though, and she’d been awake so early this morning.” Tilting his head toward the oven, he asked, “Will you check those? Should be about done.”
“Yeah.”
While he did, Lars stepped out of the way. Maddie reached up to rub one eye, and he swayed slightly from side to side. “Still sleepy?”
She nodded. He opened the fridge to pull out the sippy cup he’d set inside when she fell asleep. “Want your water?”
That perked her up a little bit. As she grabbed the cup and began drinking, Lars reached around Aaron to turn the stove burners off for the carrots and mac and cheese.
Aaron pulled the tray of chicken nuggets out and set it on top of a dish towel before turning to grab some plates.
They had this down pat. Even before Aaron moved in this past spring for a few months, he’d been around a lot. He was like part of the family.
All the more reason to get past what had happened the other day.
“So, what’s really going on?” Lars asked quietly. “Why did you look so upset when you got here?”
Aaron glanced at the doorway before focusing on divvying up the food. “Apparently, you’re not the only one who thinks I’m selfish.”
Lars slowly shook his head, guilt rushing through him again. “You’re not, Aaron. I was just having a bad day. We’re both dealing with things, and I took out my frustration on you.”
“But you were right.” Aaron faced him. “I always make it about me.”
As he returned to plating the food, Lars asked, “Who called you selfish today?”
Was it the man he left with last night? Lars had a lot of questions about that situation, but he didn’t want to pressure his friend into talking about it if he wasn’t ready.
“Charlie,” he said. “She told me I focused on myself in…” He paused, looking at the clueless eighteen month old. “Bed and that she had to… fake it at times.”
Lars opened his mouth before shutting it again. What did he even say to that? “I can’t imagine that’s true,” he finally managed, watching the man cut up a piece of chicken into small bites for Maddie.
“Girls, dinner,” Aaron said louder while carrying their plates to the table. He then returned for his and Lars’s. “Charlie literally told me it was.”
Sitting Maddie in her high chair, Lars grabbed her plate, set it on her tray, and gently eased the blanket from her grasp. Chloe and Allie ran in, fighting over who knew what.
“No! It my turn!” Chloe screamed, eliciting a cry from Maddie.
Allie opened her mouth, no doubt to yell back, but Aaron quickly stepped in, lifting her into his arms. “Whoa, whoa,” he said quickly. “What’s going on?”
As they both began arguing again, talking over one another, Lars swept a hand over Maddie’s hair in a soothing gesture. He leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head, whispering, “Shhh. It’s okay.” Straightening, he focused on the other two. “Enough. One at a time.”
Chloe looked at him with big tears in her eyes then back to Aaron. When she wrapped her arms around herself and lowered her head, Lars couldn’t take it anymore.
He went and picked her up, wanting to comfort her as much as get to the bottom of this. “What’s wrong?”
“Allie s-said we watch Frozen t-two now.” She sniffled, hugging him tightly. “But I get to pick. It’s my turn.”
“But we have to watch both,” Allie said.
Aaron visibly clenched his jaw, as if holding in a laugh, and Lars narrowed his eyes in silent warning. He swore it was like he had four kids in the house sometimes.
“It doesn’t matter; we’re done with screen time for the night,” Lars said, attempting to set Chloe in her chair. When she held on and started whining, he sighed. “Not tonight, Chloe. You have to eat and take a bath, then it’s bedtime. You both have school in the morning.”
Her overdramatic crying only worsened. Aaron set Allie in her chair then held out his hands for the ornery middle child. She shook her head though, which surprised both of them. Lars could practically see Aaron’s heart break. The pain in his eyes made Lars’s own chest ache.
“We’ll be right back,” Lars said, carrying her out of the room. He sat on the couch and patted her back. “Chloe.”
“I wanna pick a movie.”
“You can tomorrow.” He turned her to sit sideways on his leg. “What’s going on? Why are you crying?” He knew it was something bigger. It had to be for her not to let Aaron hold her. “What’s wrong?”
She buried her face into his shirt. “She always picks.” She sniffled. “And Unc Aaron pick her up, not me.”
He glanced up to see his best friend in the doorway, guilt filling his gaze.
Lars just shook his head. “You know he loves you too. You have to share him.”
“He loves her more.”
Before Lars could respond, Aaron was there, kneeling in front of them. He put a hand on her arm. “That’s not true. I love all of you the same.”
She shook her head. “But I thought I’m your favorite.”
He reached for her again, and this time, she didn’t fight it. Aaron sat on his heels to be at her height, standing her in front of him. He brushed her damp cheeks with his thumb. “You are my favorite three year old ever.”
Lars smiled, grateful his best friend always knew exactly what to say.
Standing, Aaron ruffled her hair. “Come on, Little Monster. We made macaroni.”
At that, she grinned at him before running into the kitchen once more. Lars stood to follow with Aaron.
“Thanks,” he said quietly.
Aaron shrugged it off. “Her thinking I don’t love her as much was literally the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever heard. I would’ve done anything to make sure she knows that’s not true.”
Lars grabbed his arm to stop him just outside the kitchen. “You want proof you’re not selfish? Look at how you are with those three.” He held his friend’s gaze, hoping Aaron saw how much he meant the words. “A selfish man wouldn’t put them first as much as you do.”
“That’s different,” Aaron said. “They’re kids.”
“So?” Lars shook his head. “They’re not your kids, but you treat them like they are. You love them like they are.”
With a sigh, Aaron nodded and lowered his head.
“We have a lot to talk about, but let’s eat first.” Lars playfully smacked his arm. “Once the girls are asleep, we’ll figure this out.”
Aaron met his gaze again. “There’s more I need to tell you. Something… happened last night.”
Lars gave him a smirk. “Oh, I know.”
As he started toward the table once more, Aaron rushed after him. “Wait. What do you mean you know?”
“I went out with Harper last night.” Lars took a seat. “We saw you coming out of The Tavern.”
He could have sworn Aaron’s cheeks blushed. Aaron stared at him, his jaw hanging open for a moment. “You… saw me?”
“Yep.” Lars scooped up a bite of macaroni and cheese.
Aaron visibly swallowed before sitting next to Chloe. “Oh.”
“Like I said, we have a lot to talk about.”
As they dropped the subject and began eating, Lars relaxed into their routine.
He would deny it, but he missed having his friend here all the time.
Another reason he didn’t like that he’d moved in with Aiden.
The older Barnes brother was his friend too, but something akin to jealousy flared to life when Aaron chose to live there instead of staying here.
He glanced at Chloe who ate and giggled beside Aaron, and he realized he knew exactly how she felt. He hated feeling like a second choice. Especially where Aaron was concerned.