Trevor
When I came back, Peter and Luka were staring at each other, and Peter was singing some lullaby to him.
I’d not heard those lyrics before, but the tune sounded slightly familiar.
The sight did strange things to my insides that I couldn’t quite explain. Not to mention Peter had an amazing voice.
I stayed in the hall watching the two for a moment longer. “Your mom told me you have some kind of magic touch with dogs and babies. I think she may be right.”
Peter glanced up from the baby and winked, but didn’t stop singing. When he finished the verse, he said, “My mom is a little biased when it comes to me. I wouldn’t put much weight in her beliefs regarding my magical abilities.”
I chuckled. “She does adore you, I caught onto that pretty quickly after we met.”
Peter smiled as he looked back down at Luka.
“Maybe I need to hire you to babysit from time to time.”
“I don’t know if you can afford me. Last I checked my mom paid my babysitter fifteen dollars per night, which, of course, I thought was highway robbery.”
I laughed. “I might be able to afford that. How did you know how much your mom paid your babysitter?”
“I asked her, of course. She was my teenage neighbor, and I was more than pissed that my mother had hired someone to watch me. At nine years old, I was convinced if my friend Paul could be a latch key kid, I was more than old enough to take care of myself while my mom went out. I remember confronting my neighbor about taking advantage of my mom. She wasn’t very amused.”
I chuckled. “I’m guessing that goes with parenting, and I remember being nine and thinking I was grown up.”
We chatted about childhood until Aunt Doris and Leonardo came back down the stairs, both laughing and talking a mile a minute.
“Mr. Richmond said he’d like to use our home for his kickoff party since it’s the inspiration for his store’s design. What do you think, Trevor?” she asked with the look of a star-struck teenager.
“That sounds fun… when do you think this party will happen?”
We all turned toward Peter, who shrugged. “I’m not sure. The designs will take several months to finish and get Mr. Richmond’s approval. Then the building can take up to a couple years depending on how complex it is. To be safe, I’d plan for two years.”
My aunt appeared crestfallen. Leonardo noticed. “Why don’t we do an introductory party in early fall. That will begin to build some excitement for the store? I could even hire a few models to demonstrate what the clothing line will look like.”
Aunt Doris’s face changed until she was beaming. “That sounds great!” she replied. “We can have the house ready for a fall party, and that gives us plenty of time to get the parking permits pulled for the event. How many people do you think will show up?” she asked Leonardo.
“It could be hundreds. I’ll keep it pretty narrow in scope though, maybe just focus on Atlanta’s VIP’s along with the press. Exclusive tends to make things more appealing for the press anyway.”
I thought my aunt might end up bursting at any moment with excitement.
“Sounds like a fun plan, Mr. Richmond. Does my aunt have your number just in case she has questions?”
When she turned toward me, I winked at her subtly. She sent me a nasty look, but I ignored her as Leonardo gave her his phone number.
“This is my mobile number when I’m in the states, but here’s my card with my European number, as well as my email address. If you send me an email, we can make plans between now and then.”
I glanced at Peter, and both of us just about laughed out loud at how obvious the two of them were being. Peter stood up and handed Luka back to me. “I bet the two of them will have a date planned by tomorrow,” he whispered as he put Luka in my arms.
“More like by tonight,” I whispered back.
Aunt Doris escorted Peter and Leonardo out into the entryway. Peter said goodbye and walked out while Leonardo lingered in the doorway a little longer. I couldn’t hear what he and Aunt Doris were saying, but I could guess.
When she came back into the parlor, she had a blush on her cheeks.
“So when’s the date?” I asked.
“Why do you think I have a date?” she asked with some venom.
“Oh, sorry, did I misinterpret how you two were looking at one another?”
She huffed, but when she landed in the chair across from me, a smile crossed her face. “For your information, it isn’t a date. We’re going to meet tonight at the restaurant next to his hotel to make preliminary plans for the party.”
I quickly glanced down at Luka to keep my smile from being too obvious, but she caught it anyway.
“You think you’re clever, don’t you? Well, I noticed you and young Peter Reed seemed to be getting along pretty well. So, there’s that!” she said with mirth in her voice.
“I don’t have a date, though.”
“Because you won’t give him a chance,” she said. “He’s mighty cute, Trevor. Mighty cute,” she repeated.
“Again,” I lifted Luka slightly as I spoke. “I remind you my hands are a little full at the moment.”
“Pish posh,” she said, surprising me with the old expression my grandpa used to use. “we both know you’re using Luka as an excuse. Go out with him, if for no other reason than just to have a night out to let your hair down. You’ll be a better parent if you let yourself have a little personal time, Trevor. Luka doesn’t need you one hundred percent of the time, and you totally need to do something for yourself.”
I sighed and stared out the window. “I’d feel guilty the entire time I was out.”
“Well, you shouldn’t feel guilty about me. I love looking after Luka, at least when he isn’t screaming his lungs out.”
We both laughed. Aunt Doris continued. “Promise me if he invites you out that you won’t say no, even if it’s just for lunch.”
I didn’t tell her he’d already invited me out for a drink. Instead, I just nodded. “If he invites me, I’ll consider it.”
“That’s all I can ask.” She jumped up and kissed the top of my head then kissed Luka. “I’m going to go see if any of my steampunk outfits still fit. I think this meeting calls for one of my old designs. Ooh, I’m so excited.” She all but skipped to the stairs then danced up them.
I kissed Luka’s head. “I think your Aunt Doris is a little star-struck.”
Luka gave me an expression that looked a whole lot like, “well, duh!”
Peter
It took everything in me not to laugh as I drove Leonardo back to my office. He was like a teenage boy who’d just developed his first crush. Doris was a beautiful woman, and she’d definitely inherited the same dark complexion and bright blue eyes that stirred me when I looked at her nephew.
“I’d think a model like yourself would’ve been dripping with women,” I said off the cuff.
Leonardo turned toward me with wide eyes. “Not all women are created the same,” he replied. “The beautiful Doris is special, unique en son genre.”
“One of a kind,” I translated, and the older man patted my back like I was a child. “I’m thinking her nephew is unique en son genre as well,” I replied.
“Ooh, you like the boy, huh?”
I nodded. “Yeah, very much, but he won’t give me much time.”
“Does he like men as well? He has a baby, no?”
“He does, but he’s bisexual. I overheard him when Luka’s mom gave the baby to him.”
Leonardo looked at me strangely. “You would be willing to date a man with a newborn baby but no mama to care for him?”
I thought for a moment. “I guess. I haven’t really thought about it. I just like Trevor.”
“Parenting was never for me,” he said. “Babies require too much time and energy. I’ve always enjoyed being selfish too much, and if I became a papa, I’d have to give more to the baby than to myself.”
“That’s true,” I ag
reed. “I never thought having a child of my own was possible since I’m gay, so I never really thought about it. But I’m not opposed to it, something about being able to give so much of yourself to someone you love. It sounds fairly poetic to me.”
Leonardo smiled at me again. “Any father who has a newborn baby he is caring for by himself would be a fool not to grab onto you and not let go. Besides, you are a very handsome man. If I liked men, I’d try to date you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at that. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Maybe you can convince his aunt to help fix me up with him. I’m not doing a very good job on my own.”
“It’s a deal. I’ll talk to her tonight about it.”
“Tonight?” I asked. “You already have a date with Doris tonight?”
“Well, of course,” Leonardo exclaimed. “I’m French or mostly French. My grandpapa would disown me if I let such a beautiful woman get away from me.”
I laughed again. “Trevor was right. I said you’d have a date with her by tomorrow, and he said it would be more like tonight.”
Leonardo gave me a surprised but amused smirk. “You and your amour bet on when we’d have a date?”
“Yep, and I lost.”
Leonardo laughed that rich, deep laugh that I’m sure caused many women, and men for that matter, to swoon. “I think I like you more now Peter, than I did before. You are a romantic like me.”
I smiled at the thought but was immediately hit with a pang when I remembered I hadn’t been that much of a romantic, considering I let one love go without a fight. I resolved then that if I was ever lucky enough to love another man, I’d never let him slip through my fingers, no matter who stood in the way.
Trevor
Luka and I came downstairs the next morning to find my aunt dancing around the kitchen. At first, she didn’t notice us, so I just leaned against the door frame and watched her. Luka finally gave us away when he gurgled then burped.
When Aunt Doris saw us, she danced over and hugged us both.
“I take it the date went well,” I said.
“Oh, it went really well,” she said as she twirled back over to the eggs and bacon she was frying on the stove.
I chuckled and took Luka into the parlor for our morning rocking. We’d come up with a routine that worked well for us. I’d feed him his first bottle in the morning. He usually didn’t wake up until I was finished with my shower so it worked well.
Then after he finished his bottle, I’d wander downstairs while I burped him. Something about the jarring of the stairs seemed to be the best way to burp him anyway.
Aunt Doris would usually fix breakfast unless she was headed off to do something she’d volunteered for or if she had to work at the shop. Then I would hand Luka over to her for her morning dose of loving. Luka loved mornings and seldom threw his profound fits, instead, saving those for later in the day. God help any of us if we tried to take him out of his comfort zone in the afternoon or early evening.
“So, tell me all about it,” I said as Aunt Doris handed me a plate and took Luka from me.
“Oh, the date wasn’t all that special. We met at his hotel restaurant, but we have so much in common! We ended up talking until late in the evening. Did you know his mom is French and his dad is British? I think I probably read that somewhere, but I’d forgotten until he told me. Anyway, his dad died when he was little, so he and his mom went to live with his grandpa in Paris.”
“That explains the French accent,” I replied, only half interested in hearing about my aunt’s new boo.
“Oh, isn’t it the sexiest accent? I love the French. They just have the most romantic personalities.” She glanced over at me and smiled. “He kissed my hand several times. But oh my heart, before I came home, he pulled me into an embrace and kissed me like no man ever has.”
She signed and nuzzled Luka.
I finished my breakfast while she talked and stood to wash off my plate and put it in the dishwasher. “Thanks for breakfast,” I said. “And I’m so happy you and Mr. Richmond got along so well. Are you going to see him again?”
My aunt smiled a mischievous smile. “Why yes, and I need to talk to you about that. Leo needs to meet with Peter tonight about the designs, so I invited them both over for dinner. I thought that way, we wouldn’t have to get a sitter, and we could both spend time with two sexy men.”
I gave my aunt a suspicious look, and she had the good grace to blush. “You’re playing set-up, aren’t you?”
She pulled a blank look of innocence. “Honey, I have no idea what you mean.”
That was all the evidence I needed. We may have originated from Croatia, but my aunt had embraced the southern belle persona with gusto. Instead of steampunk, I’m surprised she didn’t have a wardrobe full of hoop skirts.
“Just remember, I only promised to consider going out with him. I never promised anything more,” I said.
“Hey, can you watch Luka for a bit? If we are going to have Peter and Leonardo over for dinner, I think I’m going to make Grandpa’s scampi alla busara. You know he’ll haunt us if we don’t serve his signature dish.”
“I’ve got the baby, but Leonardo said he’s bringing over wine and dessert, so no need to buy those.”
“Perfect, I’ll just make the shrimp then and pick up some nice bread if the French bakery around the corner isn’t already sold out. We should probably serve soup too, but I don’t want to cook all day to make Grandpa’s cream soup. I’ll see what they have at the grocery today.”
“Sounds great! We’ll be here cuddling, won’t we, little Luka?” I heard her crooning to him as I darted out the door.
As I started grandpa’s old car, I thought just how lucky I was that Aunt Doris was there for me. I couldn’t imagine having to pack Luka up just to make a quick run to the grocery store. As I drove, I thought about Lisa again and how difficult it was for single moms like her to survive. Part of me would always resent her for leaving Luka and not at least trying to be part of his life, but another part of me understood.
I went into our little neighborhood store and was greeted by a number of grandpa’s older friends and acquaintances. When they heard I was making his scampi recipe, the lady behind the counter darted out back and within minutes had everything I needed. I guess fifty years of making the same dish and buying the ingredients in the same store had its perks.
I received a wary eye, however, when I told them I needed some sort of soup to serve with the meal, but they didn’t give me much grief as they packaged up their potato soup. I knew my grandpa would be disappointed, but seriously, I was raising a baby, and I had a crap ton of work to get done before Peter and Leonardo showed up for supper.
I was lucky because the little bakery around the corner still had several loaves of French bread left. It was the best bakery in town, and since opening a couple years before, they tended to sell out of everything before ten. The scampi used bread instead of noodles, so I needed good bread. Grocery store bread just wasn’t going to cut it.
I’d finished the shopping so quickly I thought I should take advantage of the time and run over to the park. I packed the shrimp into the refrigerated bag we kept in the car and drove over to the Springvale Park. I’d fallen in love with the park when I was a boy, and my grandpa and aunt would take me there to hang out or play on the playground.
I got out and walked directly to the lake and sat on the same bench I’d sat on with Grandpa last time I was here. Luckily no one was out and about yet except a few kids on the playground, so I had enough space to have the talk I really wanted to have.
“Grandpa,” I said quietly, hoping no one could hear me. “I need some guidance. As you probably know, I now have a baby of my own, and although Aunt Doris is helping out, I worry that I’m not going to be enough. That I don’t have what it takes to be a good dad. I keep having the same nightmare over and over that I somehow broke his arm. Like dad did to me.”
It was the first time I’d admitted that ou
t loud, and the emotions around that dream crept up on me with a vengeance. Before I could stop myself, I was crying, and I was not shedding delicate tears. No, I was crying like a crazy person.
Before I knew it, a hand rested on my shoulder. My first thought was grandpa. But when I looked up and saw Peter’s face, I was full out mortified.
“Fuck,” I said out loud, quickly wiping at my tears. “I thought I was alone.”
“You were. Sorry, I drive through the park to get to work. When I saw you get out of your car, I followed you.”
“Well, shit. Now you think I’m insane?”
“No, I don’t. I know you have to be under intense pressure raising Luka on your own.” Peter came over and sat next to me, then put his arm around me and pulled me to his chest. Damn, if that wasn’t the worst thing he could’ve done. I came here to have a pity fest, and I sure didn’t need anyone to witness it. But the stress of raising Luka, learning to be a dad and now fuck, Peter… Peter was part of the stress. Thinking about dating again was what pushed me over the edge.
Instead of pulling away from Peter, like any sane person would, I let him hold me while my tears flowed. Luckily, I wasn’t one to linger on my emotions for long, and so after I got my cryfest done and over with, I pulled back. “I’m so sorry, Peter. You caught me at a really bad time. I should be getting back.”
“Wait, I’m the one who should be sorry for getting in the way of a moment to yourself, but when I saw you were upset, I couldn’t help it. It seemed like you might need someone by your side.”
I wiped the tears then let my head fall back on the bench. “Peter, I’m in no shape to be dating anyone right now. When my aunt told me you and Leonardo were coming for dinner tonight, I sort of flipped. On the one hand, I rushed to the store to buy ingredients for dinner, and on the other, I’m an emotional train wreck.”
Another Chance With Love (Chance Series Book 2) Page 7