Hear Me, Daddy: Rainbow Room Book 2

by L. Michael

  “It was amazing. But I’ll tell you everything when we eat. Then I want to hear everything about your Daddy.” Ava held out her hand to help me off the floor. Then she looked at Des and frowned. “Wait. You’re not his Daddy, right?”

  Giggling, I looked over to Des to see his reaction. I’d never seen him so shocked, but then he burst out laughing.

  “I like Henry, but I see him as a sweet nephew. So no, I’m not his Daddy.”

  Des was friendly and funny, but he was more of a fun uncle, not a strict Daddy. Looking over at Sam, he probably thought the same because he seemed to find the thought of Des being my Daddy hilarious. When he caught me looking at him, Sam started to laugh again. Ava touched my shoulder, and I looked back at her.

  “So, it’s not Des. What about Ray then? Why is he here?”

  I could have told her the truth. But right there and then, I decided that it would buy me some time to avoid further interrogation.

  “Ray’s making pizza.”

  “Yes, I saw that, smartass. But what is he doing here?”

  “Umm…He wanted to make sure that I have pizza and not eat too many sweets.”

  There. That wasn’t a lie, because Ray had said that we should eat the fruit first. Okay, until Des used the candy to get my attention while I made notes for Sam. Glancing over at Sam, I saw him frowning and shrugged. I just wasn’t ready yet to tell Ava about Caden. Because as soon as she knew about him, she would interrogate him. Shit. She could make a CIA agent blush with her methods. God, I needed to warn Caden. A tap on my shoulder had me looking at my aunt again, and not only was the smirk back, but there was also a scary twinkle in her eyes. Yup, I needed to warn Caden.

  “Let’s go upstairs then. I think I’ll need to talk with Ray.” Ava ruffled my hair again before she looked around. “What are you guys doing here, anyway?”

  “I’m renting out the ground floor to Jakob and Sam. They need a place for their office.”

  “Oh my. Getting more social, finding yourself a friend, and a Daddy…” Ava grinned and did the eyebrow thing again. “Looks like I should go on vacation more often if that gets you out of your shell.”

  “I’m perfectly fine in my shell.”

  But my protest was halfhearted because Ava was right. It was nice to have a friend like Sam. Not to mention Caden was the best thing that had ever happened to me, and I loved having him in my life. But that didn’t mean I was ready to change my whole life.

  Stepping into the elevator, I saw that Sam and Des were watching me. Sam looked curious but was frowning. Des had a goofy grin on his face. He was enjoying that Ray was about to have a conversation with Ava. She would find out very quickly that Ray was not my Daddy. Ray was just too honest to play along with a lie. Thinking about that, I suddenly felt guilty. What would Caden say if I renounced him?

  We left the elevator, and Ava immediately made a beeline for Ray, who stood in my kitchen and talked with Miles. Oh, damn. Sighing, I took a deep breath and stopped her.

  “Caden is my Daddy.”

  Ava spun around and made sure that I was looking at her hands before she answered, “Caden? Caden, who?”

  “Caden Evans. I met him at the Rainbow Room.”

  “Caden?” Ava cocked her head to the side, a quizzical look on her face. Then her eyes lit up. “Caden, the hot lawyer?”

  “Please don’t call him hot!”

  “Why? He’s so hot.” Grinning, Ava came back to me and led me over to the sofa instead of the kitchen. She sat me down, then took a seat beside me and signed again, “I want to know everything, and then I want to meet him.”

  “Charlie likes him.”

  I don’t know why, but that was the first thought that popped into my mind to tell her. And Ava's smile brightened. She knew Charlie long enough to know that my cat hated everyone. The fact that Charlie liked Caden made Ava smile even more.

  “He must be an exceptional person if Charlie likes him.”

  “He is.” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling and possibly grinning like a lunatic. Caden was special. Very special. “I really like him.”

  “Tell me everything!”

  Chapter 22

  Caden

  The doors of the elevator opened, and to my surprise, I was greeted by Henry’s bubbling laughter. The sound of Henry's laugh, carefree, and happy made me smile. It was selfish, but I loved it when I caused those happy sounds. Curious about what was happening, I dropped my keys into a bowl, set the alarm, and walked into the apartment. My gaze found Henry. He was sitting on the sofa. Charlie was on his lap, and a woman and a dark-haired man sat opposite from him.

  It took me a moment to realize that the blonde woman was Ava, his aunt. I hadn’t seen her since Ray's birthday party about three months ago. The man sitting next to Ava saw me first and smiled.

  What’s his name? Morton? Max? No, Miles!

  Right, his name was Miles, and he was Ava's boyfriend. Smiling back at him, I loosened the knot of my tie and walked over to them.

  Usually, I tried to be careful not to spook Henry by sneaking up on him, but it wasn’t necessary. As soon as Ava looked at me and grinned, Henry's head whipped around.

  “Daddy!”

  “Hey there, Roo.”

  “Ava came back today!”

  “I can see that, Cupcake.”

  Laughing, I opened my arms. Henry got up and ran around the sofa to hug me. It was lucky that he didn’t just climb over the back of the couch to jump into my arms. Hugging him back, I ignored Ava’s snorting laugh. Snuggling my Boy was more important than everything else. Especially after a long day I had in court and the office. But while I was enjoying holding him tight, Henry started to wiggle after a moment and leaned his head back.

  “Guess what?”

  “What?” Whatever it was, it must be good, because Henry beamed at me.

  “Ava and Miles are getting married!”

  “Is that so?” Henry nodded so quickly I feared he would give himself whiplash.

  “Isn’t that exciting? They’re getting married! And I’m going to be Ava's best man!” Henry smiled proudly. Then he scrunched up his nose and frowned. “It would have been so cute if we could have had Charlie walking up the aisle to bring the rings.”

  Yeah, that wouldn’t be a good idea. Charlie didn’t hold back his hate for most people. Chances were good that he would attack more people rather than bringing the rings to the alter. And by the way, Miles groaned, he’d been on the receiving end of Charlie’s hate. Based on the fresh bandage on his wrist, not too long ago. To ease Henry's disappointment, I gently kissed him before I looked at him again.

  “But you’re going to be the most perfect best man, Roo.”

  “Thank you, Daddy.”

  Okay, so Ava knew about our relationship. Wondering if that was a good thing, I glanced at her. Ava watched us, but there was a tender look on her face. No anger or suspicion. She even laughed out loud when Henry hit my shoulder to get my attention again.

  “You’re going with me, right? Please, Daddy. You have to be my plus one.”

  “That’s not my decision, Henry. It’s up to Ava and Miles.”

  It broke my heart to disappoint him, but I couldn’t just invite myself to a wedding. That wasn’t going to stop my Cupcake. When he whipped his head around, I laughed.

  “I can bring whoever I want, right?” Ava’s answer had me laugh harder.

  “No. You cannot bring whoever you want, Henry. You can bring Caden because he’s your Daddy.”

  “Yay.” Henry turned so quickly around again that he stumbled. “See. I can bring you. Are you going with me? Please? Pretty please, Daddy?”

  “Pretty please with sprinkles?”

  “What? Why with sprinkles?”

  “That seems to be a common addition to a please in the Rainbow Room. Pretty please with sprinkles. Didn’t Sam tell you?”

  Henry erupted into giggles, and I didn’t get a pretty please with sprinkles. After a long moment, Henry calmed down eno
ugh to look at me.

  “Sprinkles are reserved for my dessert. Sorry.”

  “And rewards are reserved for good Boys.” Grinning, I shrugged. “Sorry.”

  “But…” Henry’s face fell, but then a twinkle appeared in his eyes. “We’re just talking about food, right?”

  “I think that is a discussion for later. After your aunt and soon-to-be uncle leave.”

  “Please. I don’t need to hear that.” Ava got up to join us. Tapping Henry on the shoulder, she waited until he turned towards her. “Why don’t you go with Miles and see what we brought you from our trip. I want to talk with Caden.”

  “He’s a lawyer!” Henry signed back proudly. “He won’t fall for your interrogation tactics.”

  “Of course not. I can tell Caden is a clever man.”

  “If you scare him away, I’ll never talk to you again!” Henry huffed and glared at his aunt. It was so adorable. It made me want to carry him to his bedroom to show him how much I appreciated his protective instinct.

  “Yes, I get it. You like him. I won’t scare him away, I promise. I just want to talk to him. Go with Miles.”

  I bit back a laugh when Henry puffed out his chest one last time before turning towards me. A warning speech was coming, so I stopped him with a kiss before he could start. Leaning back, I made sure he was watching my lips.

  “I’ll be fine, Cupcake, and we’ll just be in the kitchen. Don’t you want to know what they brought you?”

  The indecision was written all over his face. In the end, curiosity about his gifts won. With a sigh, he turned towards Miles.

  “Come on, Uncle Miles! I want to see my souvenirs.”

  Winking at Ava and me, Miles got up from the sofa and led Henry over to the dining table. There were two big bags and a big box waiting for him. Ava and I were forgotten by the time he reached the table and pointed to the first bag.

  “We bought something in every town we visited. I just couldn’t help myself,” Ava said, smiling at the scene before her. I understood her desire to spoil Henry rotten, and I would have done the same. Watching Henry unpack a little Big Ben figurine, Ava caught me by surprise when she touched my elbow and nodded towards the kitchen. “So, he gave you a key and the alarm code.”

  “We have a living arrangement.”

  “Is that so?” Ava led me over to the kitchen and the small kitchen nook. Sitting down, I watched her walking over to the fridge. It only took her a moment to come back with two bottles of water. “Care to share what this arrangement is?”

  “You’re not beating around the bush. I like that.”

  “Well, there is no point. It’s obvious something is going on.” Ava grinned and sat down in the chair opposite mine. Yup, Henry was right. It was like an interrogation, but I knew that she only meant well. “So…about this living arrangement?”

  “Henry and I agreed that we want to live together. So, we decided to give it a try.”

  “I’d say it’s too quick, but I knew that I wanted to marry Miles the minute I saw him.”

  “And he proposed.” Ava looked adoringly at Miles, who helped Henry unpack a package. “Congratulations to your engagement.”

  “Thank you. But don’t think that you can distract me with wedding talk. We’re talking about Henry and you.”

  “I wouldn’t dare.” Grinning, I held up my hands, and Ava laughed. Before she could say something, Henry squealed. Ava and I turned to look at him.

  “Daddy! I got Lego London!” Henry almost knocked Miles over when he held up his package. “Look, you can even open Tower Bridge! That is so cool! Can I build it with Uncle Miles? Please, Daddy?”

  I was about to tell Henry that we shouldn’t keep them for too long after their long flight back to the States, but Ava already held up her hand to get Henry's attention.

  “How about you build London with Miles while Caden and I make dinner? We had some amazing herb chicken with pasta in Italy. It’s easy to make, and you have all those lovely herbs in your garden.”

  “But no vegetables?” It wasn’t a surprise that Henry asked his aunt and not me, yet Ava didn’t let him get away with it.

  “Ask your Daddy, Henry.”

  Rolling his eyes, Henry turned to me and put on his biggest smile. “We don’t need vegetables, right, Daddy? Pasta with chicken is good, right?”

  “It’s your choice. There will be either a side salad or no dessert.”

  “Side salad, please.” Henry blew me a kiss before turning back to Miles and his London skyline. “But I want a big dessert if I finish my salad.”

  With that, he turned his attention to his project. It ended any discussion about salads or desserts. Well, someone wasn’t going to come tonight. That was for sure because he knew damn well not to turn his back on me, just to avoid a discussion.

  Ava read my mind because she laughed and shook her head. “I think you have better methods to teach him not to do that.”

  “Well, at least I’m not the only one he’s done that to.”

  “Oh, no. Believe me. Henry is just that good at it because he’s had years of practice.”

  It was easy to picture a teenage Henry, pouting and huffing about something Ava had said and him trying to ignore her to make the discussion stop. Even if I would punish him for it later, it was still adorable because Henry was doing it.

  “Come on. Let’s go and pick some herbs from the garden.”

  Following Ava to the roof garden, I wondered if Henry was aware that this was a real family dinner. It was his aunt, soon-to-be uncle, and us—his family. Earlier in the day, Sam had visited with Des and Ray. They measured out the ground floor, and by the messages and pictures I had received, they had had a lot of fun afterward. Ava was thinking the same, because when we stepped onto the roof, Ava turned to me with a smile.

  “It’s so good to see Henry so happy and carefree. He was having fun when we got here.” Turning towards the raised beds where Henry grew all sorts of different herbs, Ava continued with a chuckle, “I have to admit. I was worried when I saw Des throwing sweets at him. I worried that Des was his Daddy.”

  “Why?” Her comment surprised me. Des was the most admirable and kindest guy I knew. He was funny but could be protective and earnest, too.

  “Des is a big child. He needs a Little he can dote on and spoil. But Henry is…” Thinking about her words, Ava caressed the leaves of a sage plant. “Henry is special. He needs a strong Daddy—a Daddy who can be strong for him when he can’t be strong for himself. Someone who doesn’t mind his issues and can handle them. You know what I mean.”

  “I don’t mind the diaper changes. I know that there’s a difference between playing with them or being responsible for him like this.” Shrugging, I picked up a pair of scissors and handed them to Ava. “I love taking care of him, and the more diaper changes he needs, the more I can take care of him.”

  “Is it that simple for you?”

  “Yes.” There was no further explanation needed because it was that simple for me. Ava seemed to like what she heard because she turned towards the sage with a smile.

  “Good.” Concentrating on the sage, Ava caught me totally off guard when she suddenly asked, “Did he tell you how he lost his hearing?”

  “What?”

  “How he lost his hearing?” When I didn’t react, Ava turned her head and looked at me with a worried frown. “Did he tell you how it happened?”

  Brushing some leaves and soil aside, I sat down on the edge of a high flower bed. After I took a deep breath, I watched Ava cutting the herbs. Her shoulders were tense, and I could understand why. Even though she seemed to like me and to accept the fact that I was Henry’s Daddy, there was still a small chance that I couldn’t deal with his past.

  “I know everything.”

  “Everything?” Still frowning, Ava turned around and sat on the edge of the raised garden bed, watching me.

  “Yes. I know how it happened, who hurt him, and where he grew up.” The hurt that showed in her e
yes reminded me that Ava grew up there as well. “Ava, can I ask you something?”

  “You want to know how I got away.” It was a statement, not a question.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be rude or—”

  “No.” Ava took a deep breath. Then she smiled at me. “You love him, and I think it’s reasonable that you want to know everything.”

  “I do love him. But it is your story, not his.”

  “I don’t know if you can talk about it being his story or mine. It’s our story because it’s our family.” Ava took a deep breath before she continued, “And it’s quite similar. Both of us were second sons. We weren’t raised to be the perfect little soldiers who would lead the community one day. We had a little more freedom than Richard or Robert. If you can call what we had, freedom. But we never had the pressure to follow in the footsteps of our fathers.” Ava stopped and thought for a second. “Maybe that’s the reason why we both started to question things. Starting with ourselves.”

  “Henry told me about that. I mean that he started to question his upbringing at some point.”

  “He never really had a chance.” Looking away from me, Ava seemed lost in her memories, so I stayed quiet until she spoke again. “My grandfather had this illusion of a perfect world. But it wasn’t a world anyone else saw. Where everyone else saw the horror of what had happened, he saw something bigger. Something greater than America or Germany. He saw…” Shaking her head, Ava hesitated for a second. “I don’t know what he saw. But it was enough for him to help a German officer escape justice. He brought him here to help him create a place where his values could live on. He even arranged a marriage between him and his eldest daughter.”

  “And no one ever found out?”

  “The whole world was busy picking up the pieces after the war. Why would someone look for one officer?”

  “There were lots of Nazis who fled and people looking for them,” I argued quietly. It was apparent that it was a sensitive subject for her, and I didn’t want to hurt her.

  “True, but they never found them all, did they?”

  “No.”

  “Sometimes, the most dangerous people aren’t those with big names. Sometimes those who truly believe in their cause are the most dangerous.” Picking at the leaves in her hand, Ava was lost in her world again. “When I was born, everything was so new. I remember my family was suspicious of everyone. There was always a fear looming. My grandfather was afraid people would find out he was a traitor, and my father was always afraid he would get caught and taken back to Germany. They were always looking over their shoulders. And as the years passed, they felt more and more secure. I was born into a world of fear. Henry was born into a world of confidence.”