Chapter Eighteen

ROBIN HAD taken the news better than Donny had expected. He’d been more upset that Jeff wasn’t staying with them for the next week than he had been about losing the house. Donny figured that part wasn’t real yet for Robin. Without seeing the house, it was kind of abstract.

Once he’d been told that Jeff would call every day and that they’d all be together again on the weekend, Robin had calmed down.

Now, four days later, Donny and the kids had a routine going with Samantha and Mike. It was weird, having other grown-ups around in the afternoon and evening, but aside from missing Jeff a whole lot, Donny was adapting as quickly as the kids seemed to be.

This morning, he was introducing Kimberley to smashed sweet potatoes with hilarious results. More of the food was coming back out than going in, but Robin was nearly in tears he was laughing so hard, and Donny couldn’t argue with that.

“You want to give it a try?” He offered the spoon to Robin. Maybe she’d be happier with it coming from her brother. She definitely adored him.

“I try.” Robin fed her a bite, so careful, and Kimberley drooled, pushing the yams with her tongue.

“You’re a natural at this. Must be because you’re her big brother.” God, he loved these kids. Good thing he was sweet on their father too. A surge went through him; he could have lost them all in that fire. He reached over and hugged Robin tight, not caring that they were both covered in the mashed orange mess.

“Isn’t that a… messy scene?” Samantha came in, smiled at them all. “I’m going out to the garden to get it ready for Halloween. Does anyone want to come with?”

Robin squirmed out his arms. “Me! Me! Halloween is candy.”

Donny chuckled. “If you don’t need me, I’ll see if I can’t get a little more food into Kimmie and then get everything cleaned up first.”

Samantha and Mike had been so good to all of them.

“We’ll be fine. Have you heard from Jeff today? I told him you three are welcome to stay as long as you need, but…. Well, he needs to come visit.”

“He hasn’t called yet. He will when he wakes up, I’m sure.” He checked his watch. It was almost ten; he’d bet Jeff would call soon. He hoped so. He missed his lover a lot, and he knew Robin and Kimberley did too.

They needed to sort out what they were going to do so he and the kids could be with Jeff, even if it was just a temporary solution.

Jeff always sounded so flat, so quiet on the phone. Tired. Distant. Depressed. He needed his family with him. Donny knew it was hard to look at the positive under the circumstances, but focusing on the negative and being depressed was no way to live.

“Just yell when he does, Donny, and I’ll send my grandson in.”

“Will do.”

He waved at Robin as the boy went out with Samantha and turned his attention back to Kimmie and her orange mess. “Okay, little miss. Let’s see about this before I break out the applesauce.”

She laughed for him, hands banging on the high-chair tray.

He laughed back and then tried tasting the sweet potatoes himself. “These aren’t bad. They could use a bit of spice, but still.” He took another little spoonful and slid it into her mouth.

She rolled those huge, pretty eyes and spit it right back out.

Picky.

Just like her father.

He should make Jeff do gourmet baby food for her. Maybe then she’d eat it. Chuckling at the thought, he grabbed the little jar of applesauce; he knew she liked that. She squealed happily, kicking for him.

Donny laughed again and started feeding her the applesauce. Jeff needed to be here—or rather, they needed to be with Jeff. There was no way the man could stay depressed with this little bundle of joy in his life.

He’d just finished with her when the phone rang. Jeff. Thank God.

“Hey, Jeff!” He smiled, wriggled his fingers at Kimmie.

Kimmie crowed happily, like she knew who it was.

“Hey, Don. How’s things going?”

“We’re missing you. How’re you?”

“Tired. Been working lots of hours.”

“Yeah? Have you found somewhere for us all to stay?” Jeff needed his family.

“Not yet. I don’t know.”

“I know you’re working hard—how can I help? I could find a place to rent.” He wasn’t going to leave Jeff to deal with this all by himself.

“I don’t know. I can’t…. I need to come out, see the kids, you.”

“We want to see you before Sunday. We could come to town for the morning tomorrow.”

“How, Don? I have the car. I’ll just… I’ll try to come out this week. I swear.”

“I can rent a car.” Jeff was not going to do this. He was not going to push them away in a funk. “We can be at Jillian’s by nine tomorrow morning. That’ll give us all some time together with the kids before you have to be at work.”

“And then what? That will upset Robin.”

“You think seeing you will upset him? He’s going to be thrilled. I think we should look at places to rent while you decide if you want to rebuild or buy. If he’s involved with that, it’s going to help him.”

“I… I don’t know. I’ll call you later, okay? I will. I just need to get in early.”

“No, you don’t need to call later. We’ll see you tomorrow morning.” He was not going to be fobbed off.

“I’ll call. I love you. I love all of you.” Jeff sounded so lost. So fucking confused.

It broke Donny’s heart when the line went dead. It made him more determined than ever that he’d take the kids to see Jeff tomorrow. Once Jeff saw how well the kids were doing, how well they could do without a house, that it was the people who counted, he might start coming around.

Mike walked by at that moment, and Donny called out to him. “Hey, Mike. I’m taking the kids to see Jeff tomorrow morning. You think you can get me to a car rental agency or something?”

Mike looked at him, smiled. “You can borrow the van, kid. I don’t mind.”

He smiled back. “Oh, that’d be awesome, thank you!”

“No problem. Can you bring Sam home some of that fancy chocolate shit she likes from the store on Vegas?”

“I’d love to. You need anything else while we’re in town?”

“I’ll get Sam to make a list.” Mike came over, kissed Kimmie’s head. “Hey, sweet baby.”

Kimmie giggled and grabbed Mike’s finger in her little fist.

“Cool. Thanks again for loaning me the van. Jeff needs to see his kids.”

“Yes. Yes, and his….” Mike cocked his head. “What would you like us to call you, Donny? His partner? Lover? Husband? Friend?”

“I like how partner sounds.” Mike and Samantha had been so accepting of him. It made him happy, knowing these were the people his kids had inherited genes from.

“Good deal. Anyway, he needs his partner too. He’s got to be at loose ends.”

“I think he’s burying himself in his work—he needs us to remind him there’s more to life than that.”

“Yep.” Mike grinned at him. “I believe my wife wants my help in the garden.”

“Yeah, I imagine she does. And I have a mess to clean up before she comes back in.”

Mike chuckled, nodded. “Indeed.”

He watched Mike go out and turned his attention back to Kimmie. “You hear that, sweetie? We’re going to go see Daddy tomorrow.”

Kimberley squealed happily and banged her little fists on the tray, sweet potato spraying. Donny laughed and picked her up, swinging her into the air.

They were going to bring this joy to Jeff. Whether he wanted it or not.