Page 38 of Saul

I thought about it. “My head doesn’t hurt. My cheek does, and my shoulder, but not my head.”

He handed me a travel cup of water complete with a straw and I had a vision of the little blue sippy cup he’d given me in the hotel. The one I’d thrown at the wall. The mess he’d cleaned up while I had just thrown a tantrum, then gone to sleep. I took a long drink and glanced at the plate, and my belly rumbled. He’d made toasted cheese sandwiches, which were my favorite, but he’d cut them up into small, bite-size triangles. He picked one up, and I opened my mouth automatically. His smile at my show of trust made my heart stutter.

“What about you?” I asked after I’d eaten my third piece.

He grinned. “I ate mine while I was making yours.”

I blinked. “How long did I nap for?”

“It’s a little after six. You probably needed longer, but I wanted you to be able to sleep tonight.” I chewed and swallowed the next two before I had another question.

“What happened?” He knew what I meant.

“He was arrested for DUI. He got a good lawyer, and I believe he’s out, but there isn’t much they can do unless you want to press charges for assault. I would support you all the way, you know that.”

I glanced down at the comforter. “He’d get a fine.” I was pretty sure aggravated assault had to involve a weapon. And we’d also been together for over a year, and he hadn’t hit me before.

“I want to forget about him.”

“Let’s leave this one to Chris,” Daddy said cryptically, and popped the last bite into my mouth. I startled at the sound of the doorbell.

“It’s a delivery. You’re fine.” Daddy said and got out his phone, then showed me the app to see a delivery driver unloading a bunch of boxes. He had to make three trips. “I’m going to put this on your phone.”

“What is it?” I knew we had to talk about “us”, but I didn’t think I was ready.

“I ordered a bunch of stuff we need. I don’t need to sign for anything, so let’s get you settled so I can bring them in and you can open them.”

“I can?” I asked in surprise. Daddy nodded, helped me out of bed, and practically stood guard while I peed and brushed my teeth very gently because my cheek really hurt. Then he took me into the cute living room. There was a straight-back chair and footstool in one corner, angled in front of an old TV, but there was a squishy sofa that looked perfect, and Daddy steered me to it. I took my blanket and Tiny, and let Daddy settle me on the couch. To be honest, I was eager to see what was in the boxes. Eager for the distraction.

Daddy brought them all in and brushed a kiss on my lips. “Pick one.”

I pressed my lips together to stop the smile because big smiles hurt my face, but I could admit to being a little excited, so I pointed to a random box. Daddy reached for it and set it on my lap, slit the tape with his fingernail, and sat on the sofa next to me. “Go on then.” I delved in eagerly and drew out a clear bag with a My Little Pony bathrobe in it. I gazed at it in astonishment.

“I know you have some shorts like that, so I thought…” Daddy trailed off. “We can send anything back,” he added in a rush. “Get something else. You can—”

“I love it,” I whispered and drew it out of the bag, hugging its softness to me. I’d never had a new bathrobe like this. The plain one I currently had I think cost me all of seven dollars in a clearance sale. He nodded and wiggled his fingers for it. Pouting, I passed it over. “I was going to put it on.”

“Nope, I’m going to run it through a quick wash and dry so its good for next to your skin. It’ll be ready in an hour.” He stood and picked up two other packages. “Open those while I do this.”

I giggled because one was a matching pair of slippers and the other had some My Little Pony socks.

I pointed to a huge box in the middle when he came back, and Daddy pushed it across the floor so it was in front of me. He broke the tape seal, then left me to it. I had to get on the floor for this one and I gaped when I saw what was in it.

It was the biggest art set I had ever seen. And not just drawing and coloring. There were at least three full dividers of craft supplies. I looked up in absolute astonishment. “How did you know?”

“Ricky,” he said quietly. “He told me that was your favorite part of your job, and that you loved creating.” He waved around the room. “We have a lot of walls to fill.”

I launched myself at him and Daddy caught me carefully, mindful of my shoulder even if I wasn't. “Baby, I wanted to kill him.” I knew who he meant. Of course I did. But I wasn’t going to think about that now. If I could get away with it, I wasn’t ever going to think about it at all.

But some little voice in my head told me it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Chapter eighteen

Saul

I’d been awake for a while the next morning, going back and forth wondering if I was doing the right thing. I wasn’t used to this sort of indecision. And it had hit me suddenly that I didn’t know what to do except to barrel through like I’d done on the island. And Calvin didn’t need that. He needed me to be gentle. And who was I to think I knew what gentle was? I’d insisted he come here instead of going to his best friend’s house because I wanted him close, but there was a healthy dose of ego in there as well, and neither of those reasons meant I was putting Calvin first like I should have done.

I was an egotistical, selfish bastard that didn’t deserve someone like Calvin, and the thought I was mixing up being a Daddy and being a bully terrified the crap out of me.

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