Chapter 18
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In his life, Marco had carried a lot of people. Being a firefighter, that was part of the gig. He’d carried all ages, from elderly to newborn. He’d even delivered two babies. So for the life of him, he couldn’t understand why carrying Isabella up the stairs was so different.
Maybe it was because, while they were watching a movie, the little angel had climbed up on his lap and fallen asleep. He’d never had a child fall asleep on him before he carried them. That could be the difference.
All he knew for sure was that he wanted to protect her from the world, to shield her from every hurt, to keep her safe.
Not just her, but Pauly, too. From the moment he’d opened the door and seen them on his doorstep, he’d been angry. Not at them, for them. He might’ve shushed Sydney, but she’d been expressing his exact sentiment.
What kind of father would send off his young children to a place they’ve never been, with a driver whose name they didn’t even know, without even making sure the person that they were sending them to, knew they were coming? The kind who abandons their wife and kids after their wife is hit by a car. That’s who.
Marco could feel his body tense with anger, so he put it out of his mind.
The kids were safe and didn’t seem at all traumatized. That’s what he needed to focus on.
He stepped as lightly as he could as he crossed to the bed and gently laid Isabella down beside her brother, whom Sydney had just finished tucking in.
“Okay, bud. I’m going to be right outside for a minute.”
Pauly yawned and nodded his head, his eyes shut, and less than a second later, he was snoring softly. Marco wished he could pass out like that. It was impressive.
Lady jumped on the bed and curled up between the kids at their feet.
It was one of the cutest things he’d ever seen.
He followed Sydney out into the hallway, and she shut the door quietly before turning to face him.
“Are you sure this is okay?” she whispered. “I hate that we’re kicking you out of your room.”
“You’re not kicking me out. I’m insisting.” The first six times he’d suggested the kids and Sydney take his room she’d refused. Finally, he’d had to pull out the “my house, my rules” card. He hadn’t wanted to play it, but she’d given him no choice. Changing the subject, he asked, “What did Devon say when you talked to her?”
When her sister called back after Sydney had left a message with the front desk, she’d taken the call in the backyard. He hadn’t had a moment alone with her since.
“She said that she was going to see if she could get a flight out of Palm Springs to either Sacramento or Lake Tahoe tomorrow, if not she’s going to rent a car. She wanted to leave tonight, but I told her not to drive while she was tired. So, she’s going to get here as soon as she can tomorrow.” Sydney started speaking rapidly as she explained. “And I have a call in to several services to get an emergency replacement that I will pay for until my sister can come get the kids. And we don’t have to stay here. I can take—”
“You’re not going anywhere, and neither are the kids. I’ll take care of a replacement. I’ll have someone here by nine a.m. tomorrow. It’s fine. Everything is okay.”
Her lips turned up at the corners, and for the first time since she’d come home tonight, the spark was back in her eyes. “You really have the whole, talk ’em off the ledge thing down. The calming tone. The eye contact. It’s impressive.”
“Thanks. I practice in the mirror.”
She chuckled and the sound washed over him like a breeze. He loved seeing her so relaxed.
“Auntie!” A sleepy voice called out. “Auntie!”
She closed her eyes briefly before cracking the door and poking her head in. “Be right there, sweet girl.”
She turned back to him and said, “Just let me get her back to sleep, and I’ll come down and clean up.”
“No. You take care of them. I’ll take care of the frat party cleanup.” He was only slightly exaggerating. Never in his life would he have imagined that two kids could make as big of a mess as fifty drunk frat boys.
To paraphrase Anchor Man, he wasn’t even mad. It was amazing.
“No. You’re not doing that. I just need to get them back to sleep, and I’ll be right down.”
“You’re exhausted—”
“I am not,” she countered defensively.
He didn’t want to point out the she had dark circles under her eyes. Or that Isabella hadn’t been the only one who’d fallen asleep during the movie. Sydney had nodded off several times. But he wisely refrained.
He continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “And since I’m the one that exhausted you last night, I feel it’s my responsibility to make sure you get a good night’s sleep tonight.”
Her lips twitched as she fought the smile that was trying to lift on her mouth. “Don’t try and be cute.”
“I don’t try,” he replied with mock-sincerity. “It just happens. It’s a curse, actually, to be this sexy and cute.”
The smile won and spread across her face. “I’m serious. This is not up for discussion.” She pointed her finger at him and lowered her voice in what he was sure she thought was stern, but he thought was adorable and endearing. “I’m cleaning up. You are not. End of story.”
He thought about pulling out the “my house…” card again, but decided to go a different route that he was pretty sure would be more effective. “So it’s okay for you to spend the night in a recliner taking care of Lady for me, but I’m not allowed to return the favor? That’s quite the double standard you have there.”
After several seconds of what he was sure was an internal debate, she begrudgingly agreed, “Fine.” Then she lifted up on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. It was chaste and innocent, but the heat of the connection spread through him like a wildfire.
“Thank you, again.” She said as she slipped into the room.
When the door shut, he stared at it, frozen for several moments.
How had one night shifted everything he’d ever thought he knew about his life? What if he’d made all the wrong decisions? What if what he really wanted was what was behind that door?
A family.
He’d always thought he was doing the right thing by not bringing a child into this world when there was no guarantee that their parents would stay together. But he realized now, he was protecting himself. He was the one that couldn’t go through another broken family.
Fuck.
Lifting his arms, he ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled slowly. At some point, he was going to need to address that realization, but not tonight. Tonight all he needed to do was clean up downstairs and go to bed.
He headed down the stairs, careful to keep his size thirteen feet from stomping. It took him about a half hour to pick up the front room, dining room, and clean the kitchen. The whole time he was imagining Sydney doing all of this by herself and caring for Devon. By the time he was finished, he wanted to kick his own ass. He should’ve been there for her. He should’ve talked to her after the reunion.
He was still frustrated as he headed back to the guest room and he saw that Pops’ door was cracked and his light was on.
He tapped his knuckles, knocking lightly so as not to wake him if he was asleep.
“Yeah, come on in.”
He walked in to find his grandpa sitting up in bed watching something on his iPad. He’d gone to bed several hours ago and was usually out for the count by this time of night. “You feeling okay?”
“Just some aches and pains. Nothing too bad.”
Marco had to take Pops self-diagnosis with a grain of salt. He had to put it through the Pops filter. He’d describe a massive heart attack as a little chest pain.
“Did you need me to get you something?”
“Nah. I’m fine.”
“Okay, well, I’m bunking in the guest room. So, holler if you need anything.”
He started to leave, but Pops stopped him.
“Hey, son.”
“Yeah?”
“You did good tonight. With the kids and with Sydney. The way you handled it, made me proud that I had a part in raising you.”
Pops also had a compliment filter. As much as Marco’s grandpa was supportive and loving, he wasn’t big on praise and compliments. His philosophy was, if you’re supposed to do something, do it and do it well. No one needs to pat you on the back for it.
So, coming from him, this meant a lot. “Thanks, Pops.”
“You know this is temporary,” Pops stated ominously before lifting up his iPad again.
“What is? Life?” Marco guessed.
“That, too.” Pops chuckled. “But I was talking about a redhead being under this roof. If you want to make it a permanent situation, you’re gonna need to speak up.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Do you love her?”
He’d never had a conversation like this with Pops. They’d never talked about Marco’s relationships. Probably because one-night stands don’t count as relationships.
“It’s not a hard question,” Pops prompted impatiently.
Marco sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“No, son. Life is complicated. Love is simple. And it’s not something you throw away, no matter how complicated life gets.” Pops returned his attention to the iPad, indicating that the talk was now over.
As Marco got ready for bed, he was trying to figure out how he and Sydney could make things work, if that was even something she wanted. She lived in Sunset Canyon. With her sister. Who needed her. He lived in Hope Falls and had just committed three years of his life to his dream job here. And that dream job didn’t really allow for much else in his life.
He was sure that Pops had intended his mic-drop moment to make everything clearer for his grandson. But instead, Marco was now more confused than ever.