Page 9 of Daddy’s Perfect Pair

I shake my head at their banter before speaking. “Peter, can you do something for me?” I ask, and I can hear him shuffling closer to the phone.

“Does it involve leaving the house? Cause that’s just a whole lot of yucky right now.” His voice has taken a higher tone, and I chuckle.

“No, little one, it doesn’t. Though I really hope you’re taking care of yourselves,” I say pointedly, and he sighs.

“I am… or was. It was a rough night with the family, and sometimes things get away from me.” My heart aches to hold him, knowing he had a rough Christmas.

I know I’m extremely lucky to have the loving family that Lilly and I grew up in, but knowing these two may not have, hurts something inside of me.

“I’m really sorry to hear your Christmas was rough,” I whisper into the phone, my chest feeling heavy. “But I’d like you to drink at least ten glasses of water today if you can. Hydrating will help the hangover a lot,” I explain, and wait for him to respond.

“I can do that, Trey,” he states with confidence, and I feel a little better just as Julie comes back on.

“Would you like to come visit us today?” Her question throws me for a moment before I can respond.

“I’d love to come visit you both, but only if you’re feeling up to it.” My voice is firm so they know I’m not joking, and I hear Peter clap his hands.

“Please! We would love to see you today! It would make everything sooooo much better!” He giggles along with Julie, and I know there is nowhere else I would rather spend the day.

“Alright, then. Send me your address and I will be there around two this afternoon if that’s alright? I have a few things to do before I come over.” I don’t need to explain that all those things are for them.

I feel the need to spoil them and make up for them having a shit Christmas yesterday.

“That’s totally fine. We can’t wait to see you, Trey,” Julie says, her voice filled with excitement, and I smile.

“Thank you, Julie. See you in a bit.”

I hang up the phone and within seconds, it’s beeping with a message from the group chat, displaying their address.

As I look at it, I can’t shake the feeling like this is the start of the rest of my life.

Their house isin a quaint little neighbourhood and just the right size for the two of them.

As I sit in the car looking at it, I can tell they’ve put their heart and souls into this place to make it a home, and I admire that.

I’m not sure how much Peter makes with his salary, or Julie with her online crafting shop, but it seems they’re doing a lot better than some twenty-one-year old’s. It’s clear they take pride in their work.

Getting out of the car, I bring the bags of stuff with me, and make my way to the front door before it opens. Julie comes running at me, wrapping me in a strong hug and almost knocking us over, and knocks the breath out of me.

“Whoa. Hey there, little one,” I greet her, chuckling as we catch our balance. I look up so see Peter smiling at the sight from the open doorway, and he looks rough.

Poor guy definitely isn’t good with alcohol consumption. It’s going to be something we will talk about if they agree to be mine.

“Hey!” She beams up at me when she pulls back. “Sorry, I get a little excitable sometimes,” she loudly whispers, and I smile down at her.

“It’s more than alright,” I promise as we head into the house, and Peter closes the door behind me.

“Are you moving in?” He jokes, looking at the bags as Julie brings me to the living room, and I chuckle.

“Not exactly.” I sit down on the chair across from where they sit on the couch. “I wanted to get you guys something for Christmas,” I state, before starting to pull the wrapped presents out of the bags.

The lady at the store thought I was insane when I asked her if she could wrap them up, but I just explained that we were having a late celebration and I wanted to make two people very happy, and she gladly went ahead and wrapped them up for me.

“You got us presents?!” Peter gasps, a look of shock and awe on his face that makes shopping in the mall on Boxing Day, completely worth it.

Julie is sitting on the couch and looks close to tears, and I wonder if I did the wrong thing, but she quickly puts me at ease.

“No one has really given us anything in a long time,” she whispers, locking eyes with me. “When we got married, it was against their wishes and they’ve all but cut us out of their lives since. Well, Pete’s parents still talk to us, but they always make their opinion known.”

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