Page 38 of What A Croc
“Do you know where you’re going?” The receptionist, whose name I could never remember, asked.
Giving her a sheepish smile, I said, “Not really.”
“Follow me.”
Today was Aiden’s fifth birthday, and the daycare allowed parents to bring their child lunch and eat with them. He had asked me if I would do that, and I had gladly cleared a few hours from my schedule. I’d been worried about missing the time, since we were flying out tomorrow to go visit my parents, and I would be missing Friday and Monday. When I had voiced my concerns to Brendan, he had waved my worries away. The man was truly committed to what he called a life/work balance, and once again I was happy with my choice of changing jobs.
Following the young woman past Robert and the kids, his eyes lifted from the book and held mine. Giving him a heated look, and a huge smile, I winked as she shuffled me by them, waving at Aiden with the bags of food.
He jumped up, the crown he was wearing slipping over one eye, but Robert caught him by the arm and spoke quietly to him. I couldn’t hear what they said but I saw Aiden nod from the corner of my eye.
The young woman led me into a brightly lit break room. “Sit anywhere. I’ll tell Robert you’re here and he’ll bring Aiden back.”
Setting the bags and drinks down on the nearest table, I said, “I think he saw me.”
She smiled at me, “Great. I need to get back, but there are paper plates in the cabinet if you want to use them. Help yourself to utensils, and there are condiments in the fridge if you need them.”
“Thank you for your help.”
I busied myself getting some plates from the cabinet she had indicated, and putting our food on it. Chicken fingers and fries for Aiden, along with some apple slices to be healthy. A bacon double cheeseburger and onion rings for me, and a grilled chicken sandwich for Robert with a side salad because I knew he liked to eat healthier. That hadn’t stopped me from getting us all thick, creamy milkshakes.
I hadn’t told Robert I was bringing him lunch also, but wanted to surprise him. That and I liked feeding him. It made me feel like I was taking care of my omega in a tiny way.
“Daddy!” Aiden ran into the room, all smiles, his eyes shining brightly.
“Happy birthday, baby.” Hugging him, I kissed the top of his head, avoiding the pointy ends of his birthday crown so I didn’t get poked.
He slid into a chair, popping a fry into his mouth. “Not a baby. I’m five now.”
“So grown up.”
“I’ll leave you two to enjoy your lunch together,” Robert told me quietly, turning to leave.
“Wait, I brought you lunch.” He turned to look at me in surprise. “I thought you might want to eat with us.”
Aiden looked from me to Robert, blissfully unaware of the unspoken conversation taking place between us. “Eat with us, Mr. Robert.”
“Yeah,” sitting down, I pointed at the empty chair across from me, “eat with us, Mr. Robert.”
Robert looked uncertain, glancing at the doorway, then back at the food spread out before us on the table. “I got you a grilled chicken sandwich and a nice, healthy salad.” Picking my chocolate shake up, I took a strong pull on the straw. “And a shake. Because it’s Aiden’s birthday and we should have some ice cream.”
Aiden grinned around his chicken finger, nodding his head. I wasn’t above using my son as a ploy tactic if it got Robert to eat with us.
“It does smell good, and I am hungry,” he hesitated, but I could tell the moment he gave in. “Let me go see if someone can watch the rest of my kids for me.”
He scurried away, and I grinned around my straw.
“Daddy, do you like Mr. Robert?” Aiden’s innocent question had me nearly choking on my shake.
“Ah, Mr. Robert is very nice.”
“Is he your friend? He’s my friend.”
Nodding, I coughed, taking another sip of the cold ice cream and buying myself a few seconds reprieve.
I knew I was going to need to sit down with Aiden and discuss with him that I was dating his teacher. It was becoming harder and harder for me to act like I didn’t have feelings for Robert whenever he was near me, and I found myself wanting all of us to spend time together. For Aiden and Robert to get to know each other outside of the daycare. For us to begin merging into…into a family, I realized.
Yes, I wanted us to become a family.
