Chapter Three
Tenor had been given a credit card and carte blanche to do what he wanted to the second floor of the house. So he’d hired painters and had the floors redone. And he’d bought furniture for the nursery, and for one of the other rooms, turning it into a playroom. Two weeks in and he was happy with the progress they were making. Really, all they needed was the furniture delivery.
He went downstairs to cook something for dinner. Gianni made great food, but Ten liked cooking, so he’d put in an order for a bunch of stuff and now he was making dinners. Sometimes Daniel ate with him, often not. The guy was burying himself in his work—it was how he coped with being scared, Ten thought.
He often ate with Matt. He had a lot in common with the older man, who was looking forward to his granddaughters’ arrival with a quiet glee.
Ten hummed as he cut the baked potatoes in half and dug out the cooked flesh. Twice-baked potatoes were a favorite and went great with steak. They also reheated well, so if Daniel didn’t come eat with them, the food wouldn’t be wasted.
He heard soft footsteps, and then Daniel passed by, quiet as a mouse, earphones on, grabbed a Diet Coke and a pickle from the fridge, then headed out the kitchen door to the backyard.
Ten put seasoning on the steaks, then brought them out to the grill on the deck. “Hey, boss man.”
Daniel looked up at him, smiled. It never ceased to surprise him how young Daniel looked. He knew better, but the man looked like he was in his midtwenties.
“You listening to something interesting?” Ten asked. He rolled his eyes at himself. Obviously, or the man wouldn’t be listening to it, would he?
“My latest score. I want to make sure it sounds as intended. The orchestra was tight.”
“Is tight a good thing or a bad thing?” Despite his name, he didn’t know that much about music aside from what he liked and didn’t like.
“Good, in this case. How are you settling in?”
“Very well, actually. And the renovations are progressing really well. Have you noticed the new wall color in the hall? And the carpet?”
“I haven’t, no. I’ve got a set of stairs from basement to the third floor so I don’t bother anyone with my hours. I’ll have to come and see.”
Frankly, he thought Daniel might be less worried about the triplets’ arrival if he did more to prep for it, but he guessed that’s what he was getting the big bucks for. “You wanna come now? The steaks can wait. I can show you what I’ve done with the nursery and the playroom, too.”
“Okay. If you want. Sure. Why not.”
He thought Daniel was a little lost, a little caught in himself.
“Come on.” He set the steaks beneath the lid of the grill and headed back inside. “I really like the rug I went with.” It was a spray of rainbows—colorful, bright, happy.
“Yeah? Cool. I wasn’t sure if you were going with tile or carpet or what.”
“It’s an industrial carpet. Softer than tile, but durable. The paint on the walls is washable too.”
“I imagine washable is important with my girls. I scribble on the walls a lot.”
“Do you?” That was rather charming.
“It’s an easy way to score big pieces.”
That was hilarious, really. This fastidious man, drawing on the walls. They went up the stairs, the walls a dark blue in the hallway, the bright rug keeping it from feeling small.
“The biggest room is just missing a bit of furniture to be ready as the nursery, and I turned the next biggest into a playroom. Again, we’re just waiting on furniture.” He had to admit, he’d enjoyed not having a budget.
“Wow. Look at that. It’s definitely not white anymore.”
“No, it’s not. And see how all the little glass tables and vases and shit have disappeared? Those were begging to be trouble.”
“Did they get some use somewhere? We can donate them.”
“They’re packed away. I didn’t want to just get rid of stuff without talking to you first. I like the idea of donating them.”
“That’s fine. I’ll set Matt on it. It can do some good somewhere.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it can.” He went to the nursery. “Ready to see where your girls are going to sleep?”
“I guess.” Still, Daniel didn’t come in.
“I’ve got bassinets coming, along with a double crib that they should all fit in. As soon as they start trying to climb out, that’s when you switch them to a real bed, but we’ll worry about that when we get to it.” He did a presentation arm like on the game shows. “Isn’t the mural great?” The walls had been painted to look like a field with unicorns and rabbits.
“Oh my God.” Daniel stepped into the room, eyes wide. “That is fucking amazing.”
“Isn’t it?” It had fucking better be—it had cost a fortune. It was worth it, he thought, to finally get some enthusiasm out of Daniel.
“Yeah. Yeah, it really is. We need a sound system. The girls need one so I can play them music.”
“Did you want something that goes through the whole house? Or individual systems in certain rooms?” He could totally get whatever Daniel wanted put in. He was starting to get used to this money being no object thing.
“I have two systems set up house-wide. I’ll have speakers set up in these rooms with controls. I want the girls to live surrounded by music.”
“That’s great—sharing the things most important to you is a good thing.” He showed Daniel where the bassinets and crib would be.
“Are you going to have dressers? And those things for changing diapers? I want to help with that. I want them to know me. I don’t want to…” Suddenly Daniel clammed up.
“These are your kids, and I’m here to help. I can’t do that if you don’t talk to me. What were you going to say?”
“Nothing. Nothing, I’m just jabbering. What color are the beds?”
Nothing? Nothing, his ass. Still, it wasn’t his place to keep hounding over it.
“Well, the bassinets are yellow, pink, and blue—I figure we can assign each one a color and that way we can always tell them apart. The crib is white.”
“Good deal.” Daniel looked around the room again. “You’ve done a good job.”
“Thanks. It’s been fun, really, getting to put together a dream nursery. I only got one changing table. I figure just one at a time, you know?”
Daniel nodded, then headed back out, chewing on his bottom lip, eyes a million miles away.
“Penny for them,” Ten said when it was clear Daniel wasn’t going to say anything.
“Huh? Oh, just admiring. It’s a nice space. Worth the money.”
“I’m glad you’re happy with it.” He went to the next room. “The furniture is coming soon, and I thought maybe we could go together to pick out the toys and stuff. They’ve got some really neat toys for all ages these days.”
“Shouldn’t we see what they’re like first or does it not matter?”
“We can absolutely wait on the toys. There’s a few things we’re probably going to get regardless, but it can all wait.” He was happy Daniel had an opinion on something.
“You’re the expert. If they need toys before they come home, they’ll have toys.”
“They don’t need them before they come home. I just figure it might be easier for us to go get them before they’re home.” Three kids to the stores was not going to be a walk in the park.
“Oh. Oh, I see. Yes. I wouldn’t want them to get sick by being out. We can also order in.”
“No, not them getting sick. I was thinking more it not being easy to take the three of them out at the same time, you know? It’ll take some getting used to.”
“Yeah.” Suddenly Daniel looked so scared, so alone. The image disappeared in a heartbeat, the pale man offering him a smile. “It looks amazing. Thank you. Enjoy your supper?”
“Thank you—I’m glad you approve of what I’ve had done. And Matt’s joining me for supper—there’s more than enough if you’d like to join us.” They were going to have the next at least fifteen years together, likely more. He wanted to get to know Daniel better.
“I’ll see. I have some things to…”
“Danny, please.” That was Matt, quiet, sure. “Come be social. You’re worrying yourself to death. You’ve done everything right. You’re going to be a great dad. We’ll figure out triplets, but tonight let’s just have a couple glasses of wine and a great steak.”
“You totally don’t need to be worrying yourself so hard. It’s totally doable. Hey—there’s three of us and three babies so they don’t have us outnumbered, and we have fine motor skills. Not to mention it’s a gorgeous night out there and my twice-baked stuffed potatoes are worth making the time for.” He hoped he was sweetening the pot enough.
Daniel looked between them, then grinned and shook his head. “Outnumbered. It sounds good. I could use some company.”
“Score one for the nannies!” Ten put his hand up for Matt to high-five. The older man regarded him for a moment, then smacked their hands together.
“I’ll set the table out on the deck as you’re doing the cooking,” Matt offered.
“I’ll pick a wine.”
“Perfect. Unless anyone wants their steak really murdered, they’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.”
Daniel headed to the little room that served as a wine cellar, and Ten headed to the back with Matt. “Thank you, by the way. He seems so…”
“Scared?” Matt nodded. “He’s terrified. It took him five years of planning to decide on a surrogate, on a plan. Then this.”
“This being three instead of one.”
Matt nodded again. “Yeah.”
“He’s got great help—and once those babies come and he holds them, he’s going to fall in love, and while the worry won’t go away, it won’t be important anymore.”
“I know that and you know that. We just need him to know.”
“So how do we do that?” He turned the gas on the grill on and hit the starter, smiling when he heard the hiss of the gas catching fire.
“He’ll figure it out. He needs time. He’s a very solitary man—he has me and Elle and her little band of hangers-on, and that’s it.”
“Elle?” It was the first time he’d heard the name.
“Danny’s best friend from high school. They were band geeks together. She’s a big, strapping Viking of a woman, an amazing composer, they collaborate a lot—her wife is a model from Tunisia, believe it or not. She half grew up here with us.”
“What does Elle say about the babies?” He put the steaks on, added more seasoning.
“She’s excited for him. She’s hosting a baby shower soon, I think. Elle and Tishia have a little girl that’s six. I think babysitting her made Danny pull the trigger on the surrogate.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting them.” He was trying to figure out about Daniel by talking to the people in his life instead of him. It was weird. He was going to have to figure out how to draw the guy out of his shell.
“I’m sure they’ll stop by soon. Someone will need to use the studio, or just to have a cup of tea and a chat.”
“I’ll have to introduce myself when they show up.”
“They’ll be here this weekend to discuss the shower. I’m not sure I need a baby shower.” Daniel shook his head but smiled. “Regardless, they’ll be coming for lunch either Saturday or Sunday, depending on Tishia’s schedule.”
“Cool.” He hadn’t even realized Daniel had come back. “You don’t mind me meeting your friends, do you?”
Daniel blinked at him, wide-eyed. “Why would I? I’m letting you help raise my babies.”
“Just checking.” Honestly, they needed to spend some more time together so he felt like he wasn’t just someone Daniel had hired.
“I brought up two bottles. One’s a little drier than the other.”
“So we should start with the other one first and move onto the drier one second, right?” He didn’t know a whole lot about wine, but that seemed right to him.
“Works for me.” Daniel opened the bottle, then fetched glasses from a cabinet next to the grill. “Acrylic. Keeps things from getting dangerous.”
Ten made a mental note to get a bunch of childproofing items and put the grill cabinet on the top of the list. At least they didn’t have a pool here. So much to do, so many things, but it was all good work. And he knew it didn’t matter how much he prepared, there’d be something he’d forgotten when the kids showed up.
He flipped the steaks and went to get the potatoes out of the oven.
Soon they were eating, and Daniel seemed to enjoy every bite. One glass of wine became two over the steak and Daniel opened the second bottle, obviously willing to stay.
“What are you most looking forward to?” he asked Daniel. Focusing on the positive couldn’t be anything but helpful, right?
“Seeing them, I think. Seeing what they look like.”
“Cool. I can’t wait to hold them. And smell them—babies smell amazing.”
“They smell all right,” Matt muttered.
“I did say babies,” he countered. “They sure do start to stink as they get older.”
“My daughters are not going to stink.”
“I’m gonna let you change all the diapers, then. Now boys do stink worse than girls—I’ll give you that.”
“Except for my Danny. He was a fastidious little one.”
Somehow that didn’t surprise Ten at all. “From what I understand, I was quite the stinker. I didn’t do baths, but I did do digging in the dirt.”
“Danny could spend hours with his blocks, singing with the radio.”
“What do you know about your surrogate?”
“She’s not the woman who provided the eggs. I chose her through an agency. Marsha is a professional surrogate. This is her eighth successful pregnancy.”
“That’s great. What about the woman who provided the eggs?” Who had Daniel chosen as the mother of his kids and why her?
“180 IQ, dark hair, blue eyes, plays guitar and piano, perfect pitch, no known genetic diseases.”
“Oh, you’re stacking the deck for genius musicians, I see.” At least Daniel should have a lot in common with the kids if that was the case.
“I am. I don’t care if they want to be scientists or teachers or anything, but they’ll be raised with music.”
“That’s cool. I think one of the amazing things about kids is the potential. They can be absolutely anything.”
“Yeah.”
Matt smiled at Daniel, the look warm. “Like you, my little prodigy.”
“Shut up.” But Daniel looked pleased. “You could have just walked away.”
“No. No, the day that I told your father I would become your legal guardian if something happened, that wasn’t going to be a thing.”
“I would have taken on any of the Wilson kids in a heartbeat if something had happened to their parents. I think it’s a nanny thing.”
“Well, good thing you’re both here. I can die happy.” Daniel stuck his tongue out at Matt.
“Nobody’s dying.” Not on his watch.
“No. We all need your music, Danny. The world needs your songs.”
Daniel blushed, but he looked pleased.
“So what do you do for entertainment?” Ten asked.
“Like… you mean in the studio?”
“No, I mean when you’re not working or sleeping. For fun.”
“I read a lot. I do a lot of crosswords and puzzles.” Daniel’s lips quirked. “I shop online and buy weird coffee.”
“Weird coffee, huh? I game a lot. Are you into that at all?” Ten asked.
“Like video games?”
He nodded “Yeah, exactly that.”
“I’ve played some, but it gets old, playing alone, so I stopped.”
“So now you have a game partner. I’ve got a bunch that you can play online, too. The partners are endless.” Ten did enjoy gaming.
“Yeah… Maybe. I’m not sure about the random crazies. I’ve heard some awful things.”
“I’ve had good luck with it. But you and I could totally play together without bringing in any random crazies.”
“I’d… I can try. Why not?” Daniel gave him a warm smile.
“That’d be great. How about tomorrow afternoon?” He’d love to have a gaming partner.
Daniel glanced at Matt, who nodded and looked at his phone. “Your calendar is open the rest of the week, except for Elle over the weekend.”
“I’ll be done with work around two.”
“Terrific. I’ll make sure my extra controller works and have a choice of games available.” He was excited about this. He really did want to get to know Daniel better before the triplets showed up.
“Sure. I’ll probably suck at it. I haven’t played more than Bejeweled and Candy Crush in years.”
“I’ll be gentle with you.” He gave Daniel a wink.
“Don’t let him fool you. Danny’s a smart guy. He has a knack for things.”
He liked the way Matt jumped in to defend Daniel. It spoke to Ten. The deep love the men had for each other would serve Daniel well too. He knew what it was like to be loved by a father.
Matt poured more wine into their glasses and Ten took another sip before saying, “Oh, hey, you guys want some dessert?”
“There’s dessert?” Daniel’s eyes lit up. “What?”
Oh, maybe he’d found Daniel’s weakness. “Strawberry shortcake. I made it earlier this afternoon.”
“That’s my favorite.”
“No way!” He laughed. “What a happy coincidence.”
“Did you tell, Matt?”
Matt shook his head. “Nope. I didn’t even know he’d made it.”
“That’s cool. Seriously. It’s my favorite.”
“Then I’ll go serve it up.” He was pretty tickled over the whole thing, actually.
“Do you need help?” Daniel’s offer surprised him.
“Sure, that’d be great.” He grabbed a few dishes and headed into the kitchen.
“I’ll find a lighter wine to go with dessert, hmm, boys?”
“Oh my. Are you trying to make me drunk, Master Thorpe?” Ten fluttered his eyelashes outrageously, playing the flirt for a laugh.
“Nope. That’s me.” Matt headed to the wine cellar.
Daniel cackled softly. “Are you a cheap date, Tenor?”
“Yeah, I really am.” Cheaper than anyone knew, really. He was essentially a virgin.
“Well, don’t feel pressured. You don’t have to drive, and you’re home and safe.”
“I am home and safe, which why I’ll totally have the dessert wine with my strawberry shortcake. I want the full experience.” He brought the dishes into the kitchen, Daniel following him with another bunch.
“I’ll even make sure you get upstairs.” Daniel was a charming man when he let himself relax.
“I’m going to hold you to that.” He began filling the dishwasher.
Daniel went to a console near the wall, and suddenly the house was filled with music—not loud or disturbing, just full.
“Oh, that’s nice.” He swayed gently to it as he grabbed the plate of shortcake. It would probably make more sense to portion it out in here at the counter.
“It is. Thanks.” Daniel grabbed forks.
He dished them each up a good-sized piece, placing them on the pretty dessert plates. He hadn’t done anything for the babies in the kitchen yet—that was going to have to be next on his list. They would need plastic dinnerware and utensils, sippy cups, child locks in place for all the cupboards and the fridge and stove… He stopped himself. He would make a list tomorrow. This evening they were all relaxing.
They were being adults. Learning one another. He hoped they’d all be relaxed and comfortable with one another by the time the girls came.
Maybe they’d even be friends. He hoped so. They had a lot of years together before his job was done. It would suck if they were like two ships that passed in the night. Some parents didn’t get close to their nannies at all, but Ten believed it was better for the kids if the nanny was more or less another member of the family.
He grabbed the three plates of dessert and headed for the back door, figuring that Daniel would open it for him.
Daniel got the door and they managed to get outside with everything more or less intact. It was a good thing they hadn’t needed extra wineglasses, though, or it would have been a disaster.
He set the strawberry shortcake plates down where they’d each been sitting as Daniel opened the wine and filled their glasses.
“Did you take lessons or something or do you just know your wines instinctively?” Ten was honestly curious. He knew very little about wine beyond some he liked, some he was less fond of.
“I dated a sommelier in college. He taught me a lot.”
“Oh, that’s a great story—far better than doing a class or something. Can I ask an impertinent question?” He didn’t wait for an answer, he just asked. “Was he a bit—or a lot—stuffy? Sommeliers always seem so hoity-toity.”
“He wasn’t, really. He was passionate, though. He really cared about the wine, and well, I didn’t. He left me for a chef. They own a restaurant in Vancouver now.”
“That’s kind of neat—not that he left you, but that he got together with a chef. It sounds like a good match.” Kind of like a conductor might be for Daniel. The thought niggled a little for some reason.
“It wasn’t ugly. We just sort of drifted apart. We had our own first loves, huh?”
Ten chuckled. “Yeah. I guess you’ll know you’re really in love when you find someone more important than the music.”
“I’ll know I’m really in love when I find someone who understands I am music.”
Ten shook his head. “No, that’s when you know said person is legitimately in love with you.”
“You think? I think I’m about to have three daughters and I will no longer be a catch.”
“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I think your three daughters will make you even more of a catch than you already are.” Ten realized as soon as he’d said it that maybe he shouldn’t have—this was his boss, after all. But he had been honest and he hadn’t said anything nasty, so he was going to own it. Even if he shouldn’t be telling the boss he was a catch.
“I doubt that, but what does it matter. I probably won’t want to have sex until they’re in school, right?”
“Danny!” Matt looked at him, shocked.
Ten chuckled. That was probably like thinking of your parents—or kids—having sex. Not something you really wanted to do. He didn’t have any relationship like that, though, with either of these men. So he could totally answer. “I bet if you wait that long, you’re going to be desperate for it.”
“Either that or I’ll be a virgin again and I’ll forget how.”
“Danny! Stop it! No sex talk at the table.”
Ten had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing out loud. As it was, he wound up snorting, and that set him off, the chortles spilling from him. Daniel’s laughter followed right behind, the sound surprising and hearty and strong.
He met Daniel’s eyes as they shared their amusement, and it was fun, enjoyable. Now there was what he’d been looking for. A connection. A way to bond.
“I guess we know who won’t be doing the sex talk with the girls,” he noted when the laughter had faded away.
“Like I know anything about girls and sex,” Matt harrumphed.
“I’ll do it. I’m not scared. I want them to be able to come to me and talk.” That was the first time he’d seen Daniel not seem scared about the arrival of his triplets.
“Excellent. I’m happy to help. I had to do the talk with four girls and a boy. In a lot of ways, though, it’s best to let them come to you—they’ll let you know when they’re ready. And yeah, them feeling able to come and see you to talk, that’s the goal.”
“The period talk will be the hardest, I think, but Elle and Tishia will be there to help too.”
“If needed. Schools have pretty decent sex education classes these days that cover things like periods, changing bodies, puberty.” Ten glanced over at Matt and had to bite the insides of his cheeks again. The man was going to have apoplexy if they carried on this topic of conversation for very much longer.
“Sure, and they’ll have friends to help screw them up too, right?”
“Yep.” He’d been the one all the kids and their friends had come to when he’d been with the Wilsons. He thought it was maybe because it was easier to talk to a grown-up who wasn’t their parents. “The key is to just be honest and make it seem as normal as possible.”
“Well, it is. Normal, I mean.”
“Oh, I know. But it always seems to get wrapped up in embarrassment and giggling and awkwardness.” He nodded toward Matt. He thought it might also be a generational thing.
“Ah. Yes. Giggling. I love that about Brittany. She’s my goddaughter, you know?”
Ten nodded, smiled. “Girls are great gigglers.”
“She sure is. We’ll need to get a little bed for her for when she spends the night.”
“No problem. We can set the last bedroom upstairs up as a guest bedroom for a little girl. How old is she again?”
“Brittany is six. She’s going to be a first grader.”
“That’s an exciting and scary time for a six-year-old. I can totally design a room for her that she’ll still like in a few years. Then when your girls are ready for their own rooms, we can redecorate.” He made a mental note to add designing the room to tomorrow’s list of things to do.
“She spends the night maybe once a month. I just want her to know she’s still welcome.”
“I think that’s a great idea. You’ve got great instincts, Daniel. You’re going to be just fine as a dad.”
Daniel smiled at him, then clinked their glasses together. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” Grinning, he took a mouthful of his wine. “How’s your shortcake?” They’d gotten distracted and hadn’t gotten around to eating their dessert yet.
“It looks amazing. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I hope it tastes as good as you’re expecting.” He’d hate to disappoint Daniel after he got this excited about the dessert.
Daniel ate eagerly, devouring the sweet. He liked the way Daniel enjoyed his dessert even better than he liked the dessert itself. It was nice, having people to enjoy his food again.
Matt chuckled, shook his head. “You do like that, don’t you?”
Daniel didn’t bother to answer, but he did increase his happy eating noises, and Ten laughed softly, then focused on his own plate and started eating his dessert.
It really was good. Really.
They all chowed down, not saying anything else until their dessert was done. Ten even went so far as to wipe his finger across the bottom of his plate to collect the last bit of cream.
“I love this. Thanks. What a treat.” Daniel leaned back, face up to the stars.
It softened the already lovely features, and Ten found himself looking, admiring. Daniel was fine—classy and classic, yet somehow impish.
He found himself still, smiling as he watched. Then he realized what he was doing and shook himself.
“I guess I should clear up.” He stood and started doing just that.
“You’re not the housekeeper. I’ll help.”
He wasn’t the housekeeper, but he was the paid help, and he was spending his days doing fun things, renovating with unlimited funds. Planning, preparing for sure, but he was being well-paid for it. “Seriously. I’ll throw it in the dishwasher.”
He’d actually be able to start a load with their dessert dishes. He hummed, making short work of the task.
The music swelled and crashed around him, and it was beautiful.
As the music faded, he turned to Daniel and smiled. “Was that one of yours?”
“A cowrite. Me and Elle. It’s a love story.”
“It was grand.” He leaned against the counter and smiled at Daniel.
“Thank you. That means a lot.”
“Yeah, well, you’re very talented. Like honestly, truly.”
Daniel shrugged, smiled. “It’s what I do.”
“Well, it’s pretty amazing. You’re pretty amazing.” And he was turning into a goofball.
“Hush. Come on back outside. It’s nice.”
“It is—a gorgeous evening. I like it when it turns out to be nice after a hot, muggy day or a rainy day or whatever. It kind of redeems the whole day.”
“Yeah. I love being able to sit outside. I have a firepit and heaters for the autumn.”
“Cool. We’ll double-check them before the kids come—make sure they’re safe.” There was just everything that needed to be looked at, checked out.
“Well, I mean, they’re fire, but… I really like them. They’re custom made, and I sit out there a lot…”
“I’m not saying you can’t have them. Just that we’ll have to check them out and possibly make a few adjustments.” Now he wished he hadn’t said anything—he hated to unrelax Daniel. It was his impression the man was often stressed out.
“Oh cool. Cool. It’s just important to me.”
“Having kids doesn’t mean having to give stuff up, just making sure you do it safely.” A light breeze blew, and he enjoyed every moment of it.
“Mmm. Matt must’ve gone to bed.” Daniel picked up his glass and sipped.
“I think we scared him away with our sex talk.” He chuckled again at the memory of that look on Matt’s face.
“Yeah, he chooses to believe I’m a virgin.”
“It’s funny, isn’t it? How old-fashioned that seems these days. But then, Matt does strike me as an old-fashioned kind of guy.”
“Well, he’s my father, no matter that I don’t call him that. I guess that’s weird.” Daniel’s lips quirked. “Not that normal is the word of the day.”
“Yeah, I think normal went out the window a while ago for the three of us. What happened to your parents?”
“Drunk driver hit them. He was seventeen. It ruined his life. He spent ten years in prison. I remember when he got out. He’d been kicked in the head, and he was broken, brain-damaged.”
“That’s awful. All of it.”
“Yeah. I mean, I don’t remember them. I do remember him, and that sucks.”
“You mentioned being really young when it happened.”
“Four. Matt was always there. Always.”
“You were lucky to have him.” The man definitely was Daniel’s father for all intents and purposes.
“Yeah. I don’t know anyone but him.” Daniel smiled over, the expression so tentative. “He’s a good father.”
“Then you’ve had a good role model and you’ll be a good father, too. You’ve got this. And you’ve got help. You’re not in this alone. Not by a long shot.”
“I know. I mean, I was going to hire a nanny regardless, but three? Three little girls at the same time? It makes me want to throw up, but I couldn’t… how could I not take them?”
“Hey, Daniel.” He reached out and took Daniel’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “They’re yours—of course you took them. And sure there’s three all at the same time, but I’ve raised more than one kid at a time and trust me that the most important thing you can do is love them and do your best. Everything will shake out in the end, and the less frazzled you let it make you, the better.” Ten tried very hard to stay as calm as possible—kids knew when you weren’t.
“I get that way. Stressed. I can’t help it.” Daniel didn’t pull away. So neither did he, he just continued to hold the man’s hand, offering comfort.
“What helps you de-stress? I mean in the moment, not something you go and do to relax, but something you can do when you’re in the middle of the stressful situation?”
“I put my headphones on and close my eyes.”
“Okay, we’re going to have to find something else.” That totally wouldn’t work where kids were involved. No checking out when they needed you. “Something quick and easy that won’t take you away from whatever you’re doing at the time.”
Daniel leaned back again. “I don’t understand. I’m sorry.”
“Well, if the kids are fussing and you’re getting stressed, you can’t put on your earphones and close your eyes. You’re going to have to come up with something like, say I say ‘breathe’ and you stop for a moment, take a deep breath and then go on, feeling calmer. That’s just an off-the-top-of-my-head example, but I figure if you have coping mechanisms already in place when the girls come, it’ll make things easier.”
“Yeah. I’ll research it and see what to do.”
“You’re going to research de-stressing techniques? Cool. If you need to practice any of them, let me know.”
“Okay. Sure.” Daniel gave him an uncomfortable look. “What was your other family like? You can have them visit here if you want. I can stay in the music room.”
“I’m not going to chase you into your music room in your own house. You could totally meet them.” He shook his head. Daniel had very little contact with anyone not in his inner circle, did he? “As what they were like—well they were fairly typical. Two parents who both worked, five bright, happy kids. I was treated as one of the family and I’ve been out to have lunch with a few of the kids a couple of times. I think they might find it weird to come visit my new family, though. And God knows they’re all so damn busy.”
“Ah. Yes. I guess that would be weird. When I turned eighteen, Matt married his lover, and they were together until John passed away.”
“I’m glad he has you—the kids are going to benefit from having a grandfather, and he’s going to stay young having them in his life.”
“Yeah. I hope so. I feel bad that he didn’t feel like he could marry John before I grew up.”
“Maybe he thought you needed his focus because you didn’t have anyone else.”
“Maybe. He never made me feel like a burden, even though I know I was.”
“Kids aren’t burdens, Daniel. Responsibilities, yes. Burdens, no.”
“Even for you? Even if it’s your job?”
“Even for me. I love my job. Your girls are going to be a joy, I promise.” He couldn’t imagine doing this job if that wasn’t true.
“I hope so. I hope I’ve done things right.”
“You’ve got the money to afford taking care of them, their needs, their schooling, etc. You’ve hired a nanny. You’re doing everything right. The only question is, do you want them?” Ten asked, knowing the answer was absolutely yes.
“They’re my children. I want them home as soon as they’re cooked.”
“Then you’re doing it right, Daniel.”
“Thank you. I… This is the scariest thing I’ve ever done.”
Ten nodded—he had no doubt it was. “It’s also the best thing you’ve ever done.”
“I sure hope so. It’s weird to not really be a part of the pregnancy. I go to the appointments, but… it’s not like we’re friends.”
“Just a transaction, yeah? I’d love to come with you to the next appointment, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t see why not. I’ll make sure Marsha’s cool with it, but I don’t have a problem with it.”
“That’d be really cool.” He hadn’t been invited along to any of the Wilsons’ kids scans. Not that he’d expected it or anything, but it was cool having this chance. “Do you have names picked?”
“Melody, Harmony, and Kyrie.”
“Oh, those are lovely names and so perfect for you.”
Daniel beamed at him, obviously pleased.
“So, I’m guessing that you knew from when you were pretty young that you wanted to do something with music?”
“I was a band geek. I knew. I mean, I really knew.”
“That’s great. Not everyone figures it out that early. Hell, one of my kids still doesn’t know and has changed majors four times in two years.” He shook his head. Anita needed to take a gap year or something. Step away from the stress of having to decide what she wanted to do with her life.
“Yeah. I knew. Me and Elle, we never faltered. We went to conservatory together, and we played and we learned to write.”
“That’s great! When you can follow your bliss, it’s a good thing.”
“It is. It really is. Why did you decide to become a nanny?”
“Well, I was a camp counselor and I really enjoyed it. Then when I came out, my folks wanted nothing to do with me. They kicked me out. I needed a job, and when I found the Wilsons, it seemed like they were heaven sent. I was with them until less than a year ago.”
“Wow. So your whole life, pretty much. I hope you find it okay here.”
“So far it’s been an easy job. A great job. I have to admit that having carte blanche on spending to make this place kid-ready has been a lot of fun.”
“I work hard and I was lucky. I had a huge nest egg to start on.”
“I wasn’t judging,” he promised.
“I do. I have guilt sometimes.”
“Yeah?” He tried to figure out if he would have guilt if he had a lot of money or not. “How so?”
“Just that I had help, you know? I didn’t have to scrabble to make ends meet; I just had to learn my craft.”
“Well, I would say that you were lucky and shouldn’t feel guilty for that, but you only had that money because you lost your parents. That’s not lucky at all. I don’t think you have anything to feel guilty about.”
“Thanks. It doesn’t matter one way or the other, right? It is what it is.”
“Yeah, exactly. So feeling guilty about it is irrelevant.” He gave Daniel a wink. “Anyway. Like I said, I’ve been enjoying the job so far, and I can’t wait to meet the kiddies. They’re going to be amazing.” He was sure of it.
“We’ll have to see. They won’t even have personalities for a while, right?”
“No, they will! It’s totally amazing how much of their personalities they’re born with. Some babies are timid, some are happy, some are grumpy, some bold. And they’re born with it and manifest it right from the beginning. That’s how we’ll be able to tell the girls apart.” It had always truly amazed him how much of their own person each baby was.
“I hope so. What if I name them and then discover in ten years I’ve messed them up?”
“Are you planning to name them Toaster, Violin, and Eggplant?”
“Huh? Seriously?”
“Well, then, I don’t think you’re going to discover in ten years that you’ve messed them up because of what you named them.”
“Oh.” Daniel began to laugh, the sound just merry.
He grinned. Laughter did look good on Daniel, and he was pleased that he was the one to bring it out in the man.
This was the best night he’d had since he’d come here, the first time he’d felt like they could be a family.
“Say, did you want to come up to my room and play some Outbreak or something? I’ve got several cooperative games.”
“Sure. Sure, why not? I’m not sleepy yet.” The easy answer pleased him.
“Cool.” He got up and stretched.
“Thanks.”
“Oh, you’re welcome. It’ll be fun to play together.”
“Usually that means something else for me.”
He shot Daniel a look—was the man flirting with him? Then he realized Daniel meant music and he chuckled. “I bet.”
“Yeah. Exactly.” Daniel grinned over.
He flicked the light on his sitting room, wondering what Daniel would think of his changes. He still had the leather love seat, but he’d also picked up a matching easy chair. He’d painted the walls. Three were navy blue and one was pink. He’d wanted to do something for the girls.
He had a bookcase full of books, and a computer on the little table in the corner.
Daniel looked around, frowning deeply, then shook his head. “That’s sort of weird. You painted the same blue as my rooms.”
“Yeah?” He chuckled. “It’s a good blue. I did the light pink in the girls’ honor. Watch, they’ll all like blue better.”
“I’m sure. Blue is amazing.”
“Yeah, it is. My bedroom is the same color.” He grabbed the controllers and handed one over to Daniel, then sat on the love seat and grabbed the remote to turn on the TV.
“Are you competitive?” Daniel asked him.
“I can be. We’re going to play cooperatively this time, though, right?”
“Yes.” Daniel smiled at him, nodded.
“Okay. Let’s be competitive together against someone else!” He laughed and loaded the game, made sure they were connected to the net, and put them out to be available for a game. “You want to practice while we wait for other players?”
“Sure. Yeah. I don’t want to embarrass you.”
“Stop it—you’re not going to embarrass me. Have you played this one before?” He’d assumed Daniel had because he said he gamed sometimes. Still, winning didn’t matter, it was the companionship and getting to know each other that did.
“Maybe? I mostly do strategy games…”
“There’s a fair bit of strategy in it. And the movements are fairly standard.” He explained what buttons moved your character and which ones ran the weapons and soon enough they were playing. Daniel either had played it before or was a quick study because he was doing well in no time at all.
Better than that, there was the ease with which they worked together. That boded well. Daniel would pick up the enemies that he missed and vice versa. It was grand.
They played together just the two of them, and then they picked up a game against some other players on the internet, working well together, laughing and having the best time.
Soon it was close to midnight and Daniel yawned. “Five is early, huh? Really.”
“You can’t sleep in one day?” He couldn’t help but think that Daniel’s strict schedule was going to be shot to hell by the triplets.
“I guess no one would notice. No one but me.”
“And you don’t give yourself a weekend or a break now and then?” He’d been taking Monday and Tuesday off the two weeks he’d been here. Not that he’d had such a busy schedule the rest of the days he was working. But those were the days he slept in and did whatever he felt like. Next week he had plans for lunch on Monday—getting together with a few of the nannies from his old neighborhood. He felt some sympathy for Daniel. The guy seemed lonely.
“No, I love my work. I’m always in that space.”
“I love my work too, but I still like some time off.” He shrugged. “Whatever works for you, man. You do know that babies will screw with your schedule, eh?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be all party pooper.”
“Nah—if you need to get to bed, you need to get to bed. It was a good time, though, wasn’t it?” He offered Daniel a warm grin.
“It really, really was. I’d like to do it again if you would.”
He was more than pleased by the request. “Yeah, I definitely would.”
“Me too.” Daniel reached over and shook Ten’s hand.
A handshake? He used the connection to tug Daniel toward him and gave him a hug, a good, long one. Daniel took a deep breath, then hugged him back.
The guy was more solid than he looked and he was a better hugger than Ten had anticipated. He approved. Ten liked the contrast between Daniel’s delicate appearance and his hidden strength.
He realized suddenly that he’d been hugging his boss for far too long and he wasn’t sure how to let go without it being super awkward.
It then became apparent Daniel was asleep, breathing slow and easy, resting against him. Oh man, that was… really kind of adorable, actually.
He moved slowly, managing to get Daniel back onto the love seat without waking him up. Then he draped a cover over him. He hoped it wasn’t too uncomfortable for Daniel, what with the way his feet were hanging over the edge of the seat, but the only other solution was putting Daniel in his bed, and even though it was huge, he didn’t think it was a great idea. He wanted to keep this job.
Daniel settled in with a soft little sigh.
He fought the urge to kiss Daniel’s forehead, but he did whisper, “Good night, dear prince,” before moving into his room and going to bed.