I opened my door to go for a run and there stood Luella and Alaric, dressed in jeans and T-shirts with giant smiles on their faces. I took a step back into my room. “What?”

“Happy birthday,” they yelled, popping streamers at me. Alaric ran over, holding up a card for me to see, the words happy b-day Dad written in giant yellow letters. It took me much longer than it should have to process this.

The last time I’d celebrated my birthday was…ten years ago?

Luella was holding a blueberry muffin with a candle on top of it. “We wanted to surprise you, if you’re busy—”

“No.” I blew out the candle. “I’m not busy, thank you.”

“We planned everything,” Luella translated for Alaric, though I’d understood that one.

“Really? What’s the plan?” I took a bite of the muffin. “Did you make this?”

“Yeah, you like it?”

I stuffed the rest of it in my mouth, and Alaric laughed as I picked him up. “Are you laughing at me?”

He nodded. “You are the muffin monster.”

“Says the boy who had two,” Luella signed.

“You had three, Mommy.”

“Three?” I looked at her. “The real monster here is you.”

“You ratted out your mom?” She gasped before tickling him. I moved him out of her reach, trying to protect him.

“Mommy.” Alaric giggled.

“Spare the boy,” I said to her.

“Fine, but only because we have so much to do today,” she said.

“What are we doing?” I asked.

She grinned. “I remembered how you were afraid of the food truck—”

“I was not afraid, just cautious,” I cut in.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Cautious. For your birthday, we are going to spend the day doing normal everyday fun things.”

“What is normal?”

“It’s a surprise,” Alaric said as I put him down.

“Are you ready to go?”

“Give me a second to get out of my running clothes—”

“Nope. You’re fine like this.” She took one arm, and Alaric took the other, pulling me out of my bedroom. “We are expanding your horizons.”

“And here I thought I was well versed in the world,” I muttered.

Finnick was waiting, dressed in a suit.

Luella hopped—yes, hopped—right in front of him. “You can take the day off.”

“Ma’am, wherever it is, I can take you there,” he told her.

“That’s not going to work. I want to take the king out of the castle so he can see the world, he can’t do that being driven around by you.”

“I’m sorry, did you call me the ‘king’?” I asked, wondering if she’d lost her mind. “Besides, Finnick should be around just in case…for safety.”

She sighed. “Finnick, you were in the military, right?”

He nodded once.

“So that means you could follow us without us noticing. You can still protect us.”

He looked at me, and I nodded. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the keys.

“I’ve already arranged a ride for today.” She opened the front door. Russell stood next to a very old blue Ford pickup truck.

“Why is that in front of my house?”

She ignored me and walked up to Russell, who handed her the keys. “Thank you for letting me borrow this. I swear to bring it back in one piece.”

“Enjoy your day, Ms. Luella. Please take pictures of his reactions for me.”

“Of course.”

“My reactions?” Where were we going? Mars?

I said to Russell, “You aren’t going to tell me what’s going on?”

“And come under the wrath of Ms. Luella? Surely you can see she is a woman on a mission.”

“Me too,” Alaric said loudly. “Mommy and I are on a mission together.”

Luella smirked at me, sharing a high-five with them. She opened the door. “After you, gentlemen.”

“Just so you know, Alfred would never conspire against Batman,” I said to Russell, who laughed.

“Good thing I’m not Alfred and you’re not Batman. Besides, you’re already having fun. Enjoy your day.” He walked back toward the house.

I couldn’t deny I was interested to see what had her all excited and liked that she had planned it out for me.

We got into the truck, Alaric in the middle.

“You know how to drive a stick?” I asked her.

“Doesn’t everyone? I could teach you if you would like.”

“I used to race. I know how.” I didn’t know many women who drove them anymore. She did look disappointed though. I should have said ‘no’, it would have been interesting.

“Teach me,” Alaric signed.

“When your feet can reach the pedals.” She ruffled his hair.

Starting the engine, it sounded like an old man wheezing and gasping for air at first, and then became a soft humming sound. She drove around the water fountain and out the front gate.

“Open the glove compartment,” she said, and turned on the radio loudly.

Three pairs of sunglasses were inside. Alaric put his on and leaned back.

“When did you plan this?” I handed her the rose-colored pair before putting on my own.

“Just enjoy it, birthday boy.” She started to bang her head, her hair whipping everywhere and Alaric copied her.

It only took a few seconds for them to break into song, butchering the words, but they didn’t care.

“You aren’t singing.” Alaric yelled.

“I. Don’t. Know. The. Words.”

“So? Make up your own.”

He said any random thing that came to mind. They were completely wrong but seemed to fit the music anyway. If you can’t beat them—I opened my mouth and sang.

I read the sign over the long, low building. “Bowling?”

We were a good fifteen minutes outside the Hamptons and gone were all the million-dollar beach homes. In their place was a normal town.

“You’ve never been here, right?”

I'd never been bowling, and it wasn’t a dying wish of mine to go either. When we walked in, the place smelled like cheese. It was pretty much empty, with the exception of some old ladies in matching pink bowling shirts.

“What size shoe do you wear?”

“Eleven and a half, why?”

Alaric put his foot against mine. “Your feet are huge.”

“Give it time, you’re going to be special-ordering shoes soon,” I answered, and he looked at me, confused. “Never mind.”

“Here you are.” She held up a pair of worn out red-and-gray shoes, which she’d gotten from the acne and brace-faced teen behind the counter of the bowling shoe rentals.

“You’re not serious.”

She handed a pair to Alaric, who already had his shoes off. The bored teen behind the counter took them and handed him a slip. Alaric gave it to Luella before stuffing his feet in the rented shoes. He looked at me like he had no idea why I was objecting.

“Should we add shoes to the list of things Dorian Rhys-Gallagher is afraid of?” The grin on her face spread as she handed me the shoes.

I put them on, scowling.

“You’re so brave, now you need to pick out your bowling ball.” She pointed. Alaric stood there in deep thought.

Picking one at random, I followed him to the lane next to the old ladies. Alaric, being the conversationalist he was, walked right up them, much to their excitement. He even pointed to one of their hearing aids and his own.

“Your son is just so cute,” one of them gushed to Luella.

“My aunt calls me a heartbreaker,” he said aloud, I was proud that he felt more comfortable using his voice.

“We are still working on that pride thing,” Luella replied, placing her hands on his head.

“You should be boasting yourself. What a fine family you have.” One of them tilted down her glasses and looked at me over. I could now scratch being checked out by someone’s grandmother in a bowling alley off my list of things that make me uncomfortable.

“Thank you, ma’am, enjoy your game,” Luella said. She sat behind the monitor and typed our names. “Alaric, you want bumpers?”

He signed and spoke, “I’m not a baby, Mommy.”

“What about you, Dorian?”

“I think I can manage. All I have to do is knock the pins down with the ball, right?”

How hard could that be?

LUELLA

He was horrible.

It was almost funny how bad he was at this. Even Alaric looked away when his ball went into the gutter.

“Maybe we should put the bumpers up,” Alaric signed for me, his expression pained.

I pretended to crack my knuckles and neck before going to stand next to him.

“I’m awful at this.” He smiled, totally shocked, reaching for the ball again.

I placed a hand on his shoulders and pushed down. “You are way too stiff. Having proper posture is great, but you need to relax. Wiggle your arms.”

He stared at me as if I were insane.

“Like this.” I showed him and then took the ball from his hands.

“Lulu—”

“Wiggle, Dorian.” I kind of liked bossing him around.

He shook his hands. “Next?”

“No, shake it like you mean it.”

“Daddy, like this.” Alaric wiggled like he was dancing.

“Okay, just think about something that makes you completely relax.’’ After a few seconds, his body language changed. “That’s it.”

“I’m thinking about something that makes me relax,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine.

Ignoring how my heart started to race, I handed him the ball. “Just like you skip rocks over a pond, you throw.”

“Skip rocks?”

“You haven’t done that either?” I gasped.

“Just joking,” he snickered at me.

This time the ball went down the middle perfectly, giving him a strike. You would have thought he’d won the bowling championship of the world with the fist pump he did, something I was sure he learned from Alaric.

“Mommy. you can’t make him that good. Now how do I win?” Alaric pouted.

“What did he say? All I got was ‘do I win?’” Dorian asked.

“Nothing,” Alaric replied.

“That doesn’t seem like nothing.” He looked at me.

“If you haven’t noticed, Alaric is just a tad bit competitive.”

“Yep, he’s a Rhys-Gallagher. My family liked two things: winning and celebrating a win.”

“Well, I’m going to beat both of you so you can appreciate defeat and learn to smile through a loss.” I lifted my bowling ball.

“You would crush me on my birthday? You are cold, Ms. Thorne.”

Alaric grinned. “I’m winning.”

“For now.” I stuck my tongue out before moving forward.

Seconds before I let go of the ball, Dorian yelled, “Watch out.”

The ball flew into the gutter. Alaric and Dorian gave each other a high-five.

“Really?” I crossed my arms.

Dorian shrugged. “I can be cold too.”

“It’s on.”

DORIAN

“You have no shame,” I said to her en route to our next destination.

She bobbed her head and whistled with the music. On her shirt was the winner button she got after blowing Alaric and me out of the water.

Alaric crossed his arms. “I want a rematch.”

“I second that,” I added.

“Winning isn’t everything, Alaric. I promise I’ll cheer for you either way.”

“And what about me?” Dorian asked.

“I will cheer for you too.”

“Good. Where else are we going?” I stuck my hand out the window, enjoying the breeze.

“We will be there in a few seconds. Don’t worry, you get to keep your shoes on this time.”

If we ever went again, I was buying my own pair to wear. She giggled like she knew what I was thinking.

“Here we are.” She parked.

“The aquarium?”

“I remembered the fish tank in the penthouse.”

“Will there be sharks and alligators?” Alaric excitedly signed before taking off his seat belt.

“Yep, and you can even touch the alligators.”

Luella got the tickets while Alaric pulled my hand impatiently.

Inside, the majority of the light came from the tanks that lined the walls. The first thing we saw were baby seals. Alaric put his face up against the glass, and a seal came up to his face. He giggled, waving at them. I stared at the small school of rainbow fish swimming past my face.

“Dad.” Alaric yanked on my arm.

“Huh?”

He pointed to a dome for us to stick our head into. We stood inside it, and it was like we were underwater, this time looking from above at the seals as they swam.

“That one is weird. What is it?” He pointed.

“A jellyfish.” I didn’t know the sign for that. “And it’s not weird, just different.”

“Jelly-fish.” He signed for me. “Like SpongeBob? But they are pink.”

I really had no idea how to break it to him that SpongeBob was not a good source of aquatic information.

“There are some that are pink too,” I answered. He wrapped his arms around my neck, resting his head on my shoulder.

My heart felt heavy in that moment, and I knew I truly loved him, no matter what. He was mine.

“Can we go see the alligators now?”

“Alligators?” I remembered the sign from their conversation near the car. “Where is that?”

When we stepped out of the underwater viewing dome, Luella took a picture of us.

“We weren’t ready.” Alaric tried to adjust.

“I know, that’s why I took it. Candid shots are the best.”

“Candid?” Alaric looked at me.

“Pictures you don’t know are being taken.”

“Then when do you know to smile?”

Lulu translated, but I followed along much better now.

“The trick is to always be smiling,” she said before taking another photo.

“Can we see the alligators now or do you need more photos?” I asked her.

“Can’t I do both?” She beamed, and she was cute.

Forcing myself to look around, I saw the line for the exhibition. Luckily, there were not that many people waiting, and Alaric rushed over the moment he saw a woman in cargo shorts holding up a baby alligator.

“You guys go on without me,” Lulu said. When I turned back, she was waiting at the entrance staring at the reptiles, completely terrified.

“Are you scared?”

“No,” she lied.

“Then why are you standing here?”

“I wanted to get a few pictures of the fish.”

“We can come back.” I took her hand, pulling her in.

She jumped back when she saw the snake exhibit, her face bunched up in disgust. “Dorian—”

I laughed. “Come on, you’re safe.”

“Mommy, look.” Alaric came over holding a spider in his hands, and I took a few steps back, shivering in disgust.

“Yeah, I’m feeling really safe,” she muttered.

“Can we keep him?”

“No,” Luella and I both said quickly.

He pouted and left.

“I can’t believe you’re afraid of spiders.” She shook her head at me.

“There’s a snake behind you.”

She jumped, grabbing on to me. “Get it away!”

When I laughed, she glared but still held on to me.

“You watch out for the spiders, and I got the snakes, deal?”

She stuck out her hand. “I like the way you think, Mr. Rhys-Gallagher.”

“I am a genius,” I said, shaking it.

Rolling her eyes, she followed Alaric. The minute she pulled away, my arm felt cold.

“Your wife dropped this.” One of the workers handed me her camera. How did she not even notice?

“Thank you.” The moment I took it from her, I realized I didn’t try to correct her, it hadn’t crossed my mind to.

It felt wrong to claim her, especially after everything she had been through, but in a way, she felt like mine too.

You’re in deep, Dorian.

But I didn’t care.

LUELLA

I had one more place I wanted to take him, but Alaric was exhausted, so I drove us back to the house. When I parked, Dorian got out, lifting Alaric with him as he went, and it was then I noticed Finnick pull up behind me in the Mercedes.

“Were you with us all day?” I asked when he stepped out.

“Yes, ma’am, from the bowling alley to the aquarium and your lunch.”

I’d totally forgotten about him. I reminded him, “Luella or Lulu is fine.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled at me, and I gave up.

“Please relax, we aren’t going anywhere else. I feel like I dragged you around all day, and you had no fun.”

“Honestly, ma’am, you have no reason to worry about me.”

I went inside, where Russell stood waiting. I handed him the key to the truck and my camera. “Thank you again.”

“No problem at all.” I walked toward the stairs. “And ma’am?”

“Yes? And I said you could call me Lulu.”

He looked at me kindly, shaking his head. “I’m not sure I can, especially when you felt very much like the lady of the house today. I’m glad to see you with your head held high.”

Before I could respond, he was already walking away.

The lady of the house? Like Mrs. Rhys-Gallagher?

I tried not to think about it. Instead, I quietly went up the stairs so as to not wake Alaric. In his room, Dorian took off Alaric’s shoes and socks, then tucked him in. He even gently took off his hearing aid since he knew Alaric hated sleeping with it. I had done it so many times, it was almost surreal watching another person take care of him.

I moved to close the bedroom window and stopped to appreciate the white baby breaths in the distance. It was like a carpet of white in the backyard. Even in the darkness, they looked stunning.

“Lulu?” Dorian whispered, coming up beside me. “What’s wrong?”

“Your garden is beautiful. But why baby breaths?”

He was silent for a long time before gently brushing his hand over mine on the windowsill.

“They were my mother’s favorite. It’s getting cold, let’s go.” He led me out into the hall. “He had a lot of fun today.”

“I’m glad, but I hope you did too. I know it wasn’t much but—”

“The only thing that could possibly make the day better is this.” He kissed me.

When his lips touched mine, I wrapped my arms around his neck, and his snaked around my waist, holding me tightly. When he bit my bottom lip, I moaned, opening my lips for him. His tongue entered my mouth and we backed up until my back was pressed against the wall. His hands slipped up my sides to cup my breasts, squeezing them through my shirt.

“I don’t want to stop,” he said.

“Neither do I.” I really, really didn’t want to.

His eyes met mine. “Just one more kiss.”

This time, I couldn’t keep from grabbing onto his hair. He squeezed my ass and pressed against me. I could feel how hard he was, how badly he wanted this. Wanted me.

“This was a mistake.” He pulled away. “Kissing you only makes me want you more. I want you in ways I can’t even begin to describe. I want to know everything about you, and at the same time explore every inch of your body with my tongue.”

“Show me, don’t tell me,” I said softly, kissing him. He grinned and lifted me over his shoulder. “Dorian!” I laughed.

“Goodnight, sir,” Russell called from downstairs.

Oh my God!

“Good night!” Dorian called back, and I smacked his back, covering my face, unable to stop laughing. All of a sudden, I felt my back hit the padding of the bed, and he was over me.

“Are you blushing, Ms. Thorne?”

“No,” I lied, putting my arms around his neck.

“Liar.” The grin on his face grew as he kissed me again. His tongue entered my mouth, electrifying all of me. Pulling at his shirt, he broke away just so I could remove it for him while his hands started pulling off my pants. One by one, in between kisses, we stripped the clothes off each other until we were both naked, our skin pressed against each other.

He kissed the sides of my face tenderly, before kissing down my neck, down to my breast, kissing them both before moving down the rest of my stomach. His kisses were soft, so sweet, they sent a shiver up my spine. When he kissed between my thighs, I couldn’t help but gasp, my body rising off the bed. He didn’t stop there. I felt his lips on my legs, he even kissed my feet.

“Dorian...” I whispered, but I sat up, and I wasn’t sure why.

“What’s wrong?” he asked above me.

I could only shake my head and reach up to pull him down for another kiss. How could I explain when I wasn’t even sure why I was like this either? As his arms wrapped around me, my heart ached, everything felt hazy, like the sweetest of dreams.

Oh no.

“Shit,” I whispered, which was completely unromantic.

“What?”

I stared up at him, my mouth slightly opened, my heart racing, and just told him the truth. “I think I’m falling in love first. You’d think I’d be a little bit more guarded by now.”

I closed my eyes, not able to look at him, but he just stroked the side of my head. “Believe me, Lulu, you aren’t first.”

When he put his forehead on mine, I opened my eyes, only to see him waiting. His beautiful blue eyes looked nowhere else but at me. His hand on my hip, our lips hovering each other, he slid inside me. I gripped on to his shoulders and squeezed as I felt him fill me.

I kissed his jaw before whispering, “Happy Birthday, Dorian.”

“Thank you,” he said before thrusting forward. Wrapping my arms and legs around him, he made love to me.