Page 60 of Daniel's King

“Thought you could use this. No heirs and graces here, just a proper mug of coffee.”

I took the mug from him and placed it down on the table in front of me, just to let it cool down for a while.

“Thanks.”

I looked up at Arthur as he sat there waiting for me to say something. He always preferred me to start the conversation; then he knew where to take it.

“I hope you didn’t mind me calling you Dad earlier. I know we spoke about it before everything happened, but we didn’t really agree that we would use it in normal everyday conversation. I just thought with you calling me son, that you were happy to continue.”

The smile was still there as he spoke. “Of course I don’t mind. I was worried how you would react to me calling you son, so to hear you call me Dad was the best reaction I could have received. I know it’s been hard for you all your life, growing up without a father, and feeling you needed to hide your sexuality from everyone. Your mum—no, both of us—just want you to be happy.”

He took a sip of his coffee before he continued.

“I can see how Daniel makes you feel. It’s clear all over your face. I guess your mum just wants a little more reassurance that Daniel truly loves and cares for you. Their conversation has absolutely nothing to do with what happened. Jayden told us everything. He knew you would find it difficult to explain, having just lived through the experience yourselves. He just wanted to put our minds at rest that it had nothing to do with Daniel, and you weren’t in any danger. Please don’t blame Jayden. He cares for you deeply.”

I couldn’t be mad at Jayden for telling Mum and Arthur. How could I be? It had made our lives that much easier, not having to explain the whole situation and go through all those emotions again. I knew I would have to thank Jayden when I saw him next.

“I’m not mad at Jayden. I don’t think either of us wanted to go through those emotions again, so he has saved us from that.”

Arthur just nodded his head, understanding what I was saying, before he continued. “So, how are you, anyway?”

“I have never felt so happy and alive. I never thought I would ever find someone that I loved as much as I do Daniel. He is amazing. So caring, loving, and…I don’t think I should say any more.”

Arthur let out a laugh. “No, I think there are some things that should be kept between the pair of you. I might be open-minded to your relationship, but certain things should be kept between yourselves. Just like certain things between me and your mum shouldn’t be shared.”

When he gave me a wink, I realised exactly what he was getting at.

“Oh, God, Dad. No, don’t make me think about that.”

He roared with laughter at my reaction. I sat there for a moment in shock, but then I just had to join him and laugh away. This was what I had wanted all my life. A man that I loved, along with a dad that I could speak to. I knew there would always be things I couldn’t talk to either him or my mum about, but just knowing that I had a father figure to guide and help me gave me such comfort, especially as Daniel and I had already discussed the option of adopting children.

Neither of us felt the need to have biological children of our own, and we knew there were so many children, like Amelia, who needed parents. Luckily the world was more open-minded to same-sex couples adopting children, and I knew that Sienna would help us in any way she could. Just having someone around who had brought up children gave me hope that both of us could be good parents, with their guidance.

“Anyway, as I said, as long as Daniel is making you happy and allowing you to be who you want to be, that is all that matters to us. Now, I think it is about time we caught up. It’s been ages since we saw each other and had a good natter.”

I chuckled at Arthur’s comment. It had been ages since we had done this. I had quite often gotten together with him and had a good chat, even when I was younger. I guessed I had always been looking for that father figure, and as Mum had known him for a long time, he was always around.

We just sat and chatted for what seemed like ages, catching up on everything that was happening in their lives, and I mentioned that me and Daniel were looking to adopt. As always, Arthur said he would do everything he could to help.

He was even trying to get Mum to slow down a little with the work. He had already spoken to Sienna and Jayden without her knowing, trying to get some help for her now that I was gone. He knew that she would kill him if she found out, but he wanted both of them to spend time together while they were still able to. He had a lovely cottage in the lake district, along with a house here in London, so they didn’t have to worry about somewhere to live. The only reason he was living here was so he got to spend time with Mum, or he would never see her. I couldn’t fault his devotion to my mum. He had always been there for her. I guessed he had just been waiting for her to see and realise that they should be together. That they both needed companionship, and why shouldn’t that be with each other?

It had taken her a long time to realise and get used to the idea before she finally agreed. I was just glad that Arthur had never given up. Many men had come and gone in my mum’s life. Some because they didn’t want to be lumbered with someone else’s child, others because they just didn’t want to wait for mum to be ready to move on. But Arthur had always been waiting in the background until the time was right.

I hadn’t realised how much time had gone past while we had been chatting. It wasn’t until the door opened and I heard Daniel’s voice that I suddenly realised I had completely forgotten he was still talking with my mum.

“It’s fine, Agnes. They are both in here, completely oblivious to how long we’ve been missing. You do realise your mum could have murdered me in the past hour and you would never have known, don’t you?” He sat down beside me and took my hand in his, bringing it up to his lips and pressing a kiss onto it.

I watched as my mum followed in behind him with a huge smile on her face. That was it. My life was complete. She had accepted my Daniel, and I had a dad who accepted him as well. There was nothing more I could want.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Daniel

Iput on a brave face for Richard, not wanting to worry him, as I knew he was already starting to lose it when Arthur had said that his mum wanted to see me alone. The truth was, I was absolutely petrified of what she was going to say to me. I hoped that our relationship was strong enough to get through any storm after the past few weeks, but if his mum really didn’t want us to be together, then most children would respect what their parents wanted.

I followed Arthur out to the kitchen and walked in the door to find Daniel’s mum beavering away in the kitchen, cooking the Sunday roast.

“Darling, this is Daniel, Richard’s partner.”

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