Chapter 22
Meli
The initial visit for Kirk with Blake had gone much more smoothly than I could have ever imagined. I could tell that Blake was not holding things against me any longer and that made me very relieved and happy. He had put me at ease by inviting me to stay for dinner and I felt utter relief that he wouldn’t be taking Kirk out of state. I had to learn to trust Blake. He wouldn’t do things that hurt our son; I knew that in my heart.
I was getting ready to leave and go pick Kirk up when I saw Blake’s number come up on my cell. My heart was hammering a little, I had to admit.
“Hello?”
“Bring your bathing suit and don’t eat first.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Just do as I ask, would you, Silver?”
“Okay, let me grab that and I’m on my way.”
“Oh, and bring Kirk’s, too.”
I shrugged and went off to gather the items before heading toward the restaurant. They were waiting for me in the parking lot. Kirk had a huge smile on his face and I realized how much I missed him, and Blake.
Blake walked to a black SUV and opened the back door, lifting Kirk inside and buckling him into a booster car seat. He opened the passenger door and with a wide sweep of his hand, motioned to me to enter.
Without questioning him for once, I did as requested, and soon enough we were riding through the Louisiana countryside. There was an undeniable charm as we passed beneath boughs draped in moss and past old mansions of another time when architecture was stately and their grounds were works of art. Shrubbery and plantings were carefully manicured, although it was obvious they’d been far more glorious at another time. This was not where I’d been brought up, but it definitely exuded such a strong sense of history that you felt included.
Blake was signaling a left-hand turn and pulled into the circular drive before one such stately mansion. Unlike many of the others, this place had been meticulously maintained. Its covered porch roof was held atop eight massive, fluted columns. Deep windows banked the front on the first two floors. Roses ascended lattice on either end of the porch and the home was perfectly symmetrical.
Blake pulled up to the door and shut off the engine. “We’re here,” he announced, looking around at Kirk.
“Where?” Kirk’s question was simple and direct and identical to my own.
“Do you like it?” Blake’s enthusiasm was infectious.
“It’s really big, Daddy,” Kirk bent forward to look upward through the window.
Blake was staring at me and I realized with a start that he was waiting for my opinion. “What?” I asked him.
“What do you think, Silver?”
“I think it’s a magnificent specimen of the old south and I agree with Kirk, it’s huge.”
“Huge enough?” He was persistent in his questioning.
“For what?”
“Come inside.”
“Blake, what are you talking about? You can’t just walk into someone’s house.”
“It’s okay, I have the key,” he grinned and held up a keyring.
I could tell we were going to have to cooperate with whatever scheme he was up to in order to get through this, so I acquiesced and got out as he opened Kirk’s door, unbuckled and lifted him out. We approached the front door through a neatly-edged driveway of white crushed shells and Blake unlocked the front door and pushed it wide.
The interior was breathtaking. A high-ceiling rotunda formed the foyer and a broad staircase leaned against both walls and ended on a mezzanine with floor-length windows overlooking the back of the property. From where we stood, the house seemed to be a direct mirror of itself from left to right. To our right was a sitting area with banking fireplaces and to our left, the same space was dedicated to being a study. As we moved throughout the house, the rooms were identically opposed and simply allocated to individual functions.
“Well?” He was asking me again.
“Blake, spill it now. This is getting to sound like a game.”
“Not yet. Let’s grab those swimsuits,” he grinned and turned to go out to the car, returning with our clothing. He motioned to the back of the house and we found a massive in-ground pool with a slide and water features. He pointed to a small building to one side. “Kirk, run in there and get changed.”
Kirk grabbed his trunk and skipped off to the building, reappearing a few minutes later in his trunks with his shoes and socks on. “Son, you can leave the shoes and socks behind.”
Kirk looked to me for permission and I realized he’d seldom run bare-footed. I’d taken him for swimming lessons at the YMCA, so I wasn’t worried about that, but this was a wholly new experience for him. I nodded and laughed, encouraging him to jump into the water.
Blake handed me my suit and I followed Kirk’s lead and emerged to walk to the edge and test the temperature. It was perfect. Somehow I knew Blake had already made sure of that.
I dove in and Kirk was laughing and paddling toward me when I surfaced. Blake emerged from the pool house in his trunks and joined us. I admired his physique as he dove in and felt a stirring in my feminine parts.
For more than an hour we swam, splashed one another, raced, and played with the pool toys. I finally had enough and exited, grabbing a towel from a stack sitting on a wooden rack near the pool house. It was huge and I wrapped myself completely and snuggled back onto a chair. Blake was tossing Kirk into the air to land in the water and Kirk was squealing with delight. I was experiencing an inner sense of peace and stability unlike anything I’d ever known. I felt like I didn’t want it to end.
Blake set Kirk on the pavement and patted his bottom to urge him to get dressed. He grabbed a towel and sat next to me.
“Here’s what I want,” he said simply. “I have an option to buy this house, contingent on what you and I decide right here and now. As you might have noticed, this house is identical, east end and west end. Just like the ranch house was. What I’m proposing is that you and Kirk move in one end, and I will take the other. We’ll each use this as our company headquarters and have offices and a shared conference room. That way I can be with him, and you, and we can make sure he always has at least one parent available … sort of make up for the lost time.”
I opened my mouth to begin to protest and he held up his hand. “Just a minute, before you shoot me down. I know you have a house and you can keep it or sell it, as is your choice. Maybe you’d like to donate it to charity as a home for unwed mothers … there seemed to be a few of those I saw as I drove past. We will share title on this house even though I pay for it with first right of refusal if either party wants out. This is not a move on you for sex; it’s an invitation to give Kirk a sense of family and unity. I will have your back and you will have mine. You’re strong, a survivor, and I trust your instincts. We will be his parents; nothing more, unless you want it otherwise. You know that I do. What do you say, Silver? Will you and Kirk live here with me?”
I could tell he was holding his breath. I turned away from him and watched Kirk come out of the pool house, his wet bathing trunks dripping down the front of his otherwise dry shirt. My instinct to protect him was the strongest emotion I’d ever experienced. I turned back toward Blake, and nodded.