Chapter 1-2
962 Words
“Papa! You’re home!”
Lance looked up from the stove in the kitchen. Holly was running toward the front door to greet a tall, muscular man, who quickly stretched out both arms to pick her up and embrace her. It was Adam Williams, Lance’s boyfriend for the past eight years. They had dated right after college and had been inseparable ever since. Now they had two kids together.
“Papa! Me, too! Me, too!”
Lance shook his head and chuckled at the sight of Nathan demanding the same treatment from Adam, who gamely lifted the boy with one arm, while the other still balanced Holly. Lance was still amazed at Adam’s strength, even after all these years.
He washed his hands and stepped out of the kitchen to greet his lover properly with a kiss. “Hey, love.”
“Hey, babe.”
“How’s the store?”
“Busy as usual.”
Adam owned a rather successful toy store catered mostly for younger kids. Granted, its size was not humongous, but it was always crowded with plenty of children around. Adam’s muscles might be huge and intimidating, but Lance knew that Adam was a giant teddy bear. The man was a fair businessman and a kind employer. All of his employees had enjoyed working there for years, while most of the children who came in did not find him frightening at all.
“Dinner is almost ready, love. Why don’t you bring the twins into the bathroom to clean up. Everything will be ready in about fifteen minutes.”
“Sounds perfect, babe. Okay, kids. Your dad has commanded. Washing-up time!”
The twins giggled joyfully and chattered a mile a minute while Adam responded only with a word or two.
Lance returned to the kitchen to plate up the stir-fried vegetables from the skillet before transferring the baked chicken from the oven. He placed everything on the table and waited patiently for Adam and the twins. When they were all seated, they began to eat.
“Dad, Papa said that Holly and I can stay up late tonight, but we need to ask you first.”
“Can we, Dad? Please? Nathan and I will be really, really, really, really, really good.”
He glared at his lover, who was sheepishly grinning at him, before softening his gaze to look at the twins. “Nine o’clock,” he intoned firmly.
“But, Dad…”
“Papa said…”
Lance’s steely gaze quickly shut down any further protests from them. “Nine o’clock,” he repeated. “And you both have to eat one extra spoonful of vegetables each.”
“Dad, that’s not fair…”
“I hate vegetables…”
“Two extra spoonfuls of vegetables each,” he remarked calmly, but the twins knew well enough not to say another word even though they pouted adorably. He scooped up exactly two tablespoons of vegetables onto each of their plates before asking Adam about his day.
“Long and tiring, but I’m not complaining. We’re able to live comfortably, partly thanks to these customers.”
“That’s true, love.”
“What about you, babe?”
“Remember Megan?”
“The one who often stays behind for hours after all of the other kids have been dismissed? That Megan?”
“Yeah, it happened again.”
“That’s…wow, this must be the sixth time this month alone.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Dad, Papa,” Holly interrupted. “Megan is nice. I like her a lot. I wish I had a sister.”
Lance noticed that his daughter was looking a little down, so he decided not to reprimand her for barging into a conversation that did not involve her. “Holly, you can play with Nathan, though.”
“Dad, it’s not the same. Nathan is a boy just like Papa and you.”
He could see this was really bothering her, so he took her hand in one of his and tilted up her chin with his other hand. Both Nathan and Adam had stopped eating as well.
“Look at me, sweetheart. I love you very much, and Papa loves you, too. You know that Nathan also loves you very much,” he assured her, noting that both Adam and Nathan were nodding vigorously in agreement, which in turn resulted in a small smile on Holly’s face. “Would you like to play with some of the girls from the preschool next week? I can call their parents and ask for their permissions.”
“Yeah, Dad.”
“Dad, can we ask the boys, too?”
“Yes, Nathan. No promises, though. I need to check with their parents first, alright?”
He sighed in relief when the twins nodded almost simultaneously, then made a mental note to arrange for the play date as soon as possible. A part of him felt guilty that he’d not realized Holly’s loneliness, with her being the only girl in their household.
When dinner was over, he gathered the twins and cuddled with them on the couch to watch one of their favorite animated movies, while Adam volunteered to wash the dishes before joining them. Lance smiled joyfully and relaxed further, enjoying a cozy and blissful Friday evening at home with his lover and their twins.
* * * *
Michael face-palmed himself. He was sleepy, yet he had been tossing and turning in bed for a while. His mind kept repeating what Megan had mentioned at dinner, that she had been happy earlier today because both Nathan and Holly were “really great.” She had friends to play with at preschool and she was not as lonely as she usually was at home.
That had felt like a slap on his cheek. He should have paid her more attention. Instead, he had allowed his own loneliness to consume him, unconsciously choosing to throw himself deeper into his work, earning even more money to provide everything for his daughter and to ensure a good future for her, but consequently abandoning her to fend for herself at home.
His guilt was eating at him. He made up his mind right then that he would come home on time for dinner every weekday and spend the rest of the evenings with her. He also vowed to do some father-daughter activities on the weekends with just the two of them.
Unconsciously, his thoughts also drifted toward Megan’s preschool teacher, Lance Johnson. Maybe Lance’s twins could come to the house once in a while. After all, Michael had an indoor swimming pool in the building behind the backyard. The plan had nothing to do with his desire to ogle his daughter’s gorgeous teacher. Nope, not at all.
- Writer
