Page 98 of Begin Again, Part 2

Aiden squirmed, tears shimmering brightly in his big eyes, his lower lip quivering as he asked. "Mommy? Nanny?"

"Brenda isn't here."

That wasn't the answer Aiden wanted to hear. His tearful sniffles turned into disgruntled screams in a matter of seconds.

"Hush now, baby," Liam gently cooed at him. "Brenda's not here, but your mommy is. Let's go find her."

Aiden nodded amidst his shaky sighs as Liam carried him to the master bedroom and placed him on the bed beside a still-sleeping Eden.

"See, there she is, the most beautiful mom in the world."

Ever so gently, his mini-me kissed Eden on the cheek and patted her hair before turning to him. "Sleeping."

"Yeah, she is."

Now that he'd confirmed his mom hadn't left him, Liam could see a visible change in his son. He was still wary, but a little more amiable, as he followed him around while he picked up the clothes strewn on the floor and tidied up the room. When he stepped into the walk-in closet to throw on a T-shirt, Aiden hovered behind him and peeked inside the room from the doorway, gazing at the rows of clothes and shoes.

"Come in." Liam waved him over.

Aiden reluctantly took two small steps inside before running back to the bed. They did this a few times, with Liam calling him inside and Aiden running off. But each time, his son stepped further into the room, and it wasn't long before he was toddling beside him. For a little while, Liam forgot the shitshow about to unfold as he gave Aiden a tour of the closet.

"These will all be yours someday," he said as he picked his son up and showed him the rows of Cartier and Rolex timepieces.

"Which one do you like?" he asked.

Aiden pointed at the stainless steel Rolex with a diamond-encrusted face.

"You have expensive taste, kid! You are indeed my son," Liam chuckled and kissed his cheek, bringing their tour to a close.

They returned to the bedroom, and he crouched down to Aiden's level, asking as he ruffled his hair, "Are you hungry?"

"Mommy?" Aiden pointed at the bed. Without waiting for Liam's reply, he checked Eden again and smiled with satisfaction when he found her still sleeping.

"Can we go eat now? I'm hungry," Liam announced.

"No," Aiden shook his head and touched his bottom. "Potty."

"Right, the first order of business. Let's go," he laughed as he carried him to the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, after a messy potty stop and an equally messy clean-up, they drifted to the kitchen, and Liam set Aiden down on the floor while he looked through the fridge.

"Don't go anywhere!" he warned him softly.

When he turned to the counter with a carton of milk in his hand, the cold fingers of dread gripped his heart when he didn't see Aiden.

"Kool-Aid? Aiden? Where are you?" Liam called out as he checked the dining area, trying his best to keep the panic from his voice. A thin line of sweat ran down his spine as he tried to remember if the sliding door leading to the lap pool on the patio was locked.

When he found Aiden in the living room, Liam couldn't help but laugh as a gigantic wave of relief swept through his body, his rubbery legs threatening to give out on him.

"Nemo," his son chuckled and pointed at the colourful fish floating in the in-wall aquarium.

"No, that's not a 'Nemo'. Those are fish," Liam hunched down and drew him in his arms.

"No, Nemo!" Aiden shook his head, his lower lip jutting out stubbornly.

"I'm pretty sure that's a shoal of fish, but let's agree to disagree, okay?" Liam chuckled as he stood up and made sure the sliding door was locked before returning to the kitchen to get their breakfast ready, childproofing the place suddenly at the top of his priority list.

Apart from cereal, there wasn't much to feed Aiden. So Liam pulled out two bowls and dumped a ton of cornflakes, milk, and honey.

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