Chapter 10
It was very early when Julian woke up in the armchair in Danny's room. Julian was rubbing his neck, and Danny was already up, playing quietly on the rug next to his bed.
"Good morning," Julian told him.
"You're awake. Good morning, Julian. I heard Rob," Danny told him.
"He must be up too. I'll be right back, OK?" Julian told him and leaned down to kiss the top of his head.
Out in the hallway, Julian saw Rob coming up the stairs. "I have coffee on. Good morning."
"Good morning. Thanks for taking care of things," Julian said and he went to the master bedroom to get ready and tried not to dwell on how nice it was to have him here and see him first thing in the morning.
He came out with his phone in hand, reading a text about the furniture delivery. On the way back to Danny's room, he saw that Rob was hanging out in the doorway. The way he leaned against the doorjamb accentuated his broad shoulders and slim hips, the curve of his ass.
Hadn't Julian been dreaming last night about getting closer to the lean strength of that body, mapping the contours of his muscles? He groaned inwardly. It would be better for his peace of mind if that had been one of those dreams he forgot as soon as he woke up.
When Julian joined him, Danny called their attention to something out the window. Julian could guess what it was, but Rob went over to see.
Danny pointed outside. "There's a big truck."
"The furniture is here early. I wasn't expecting them before breakfast," Julian said. "They're taking away the old furniture and delivering the master bedroom furniture as well as a few things I ordered for Danny's room." Julian smiled at Danny, who was distracted by watching the big truck pull up in front.
"Looking forward to seeing what you got," Rob said with a grin. "I'll go open the front doors and Danny and I can watch them working after he gets dressed. Right?" Rob looked down at Danny, who gave him a tentative nod.
Rob handled the delivery until Julian got Danny ready. Then they switched places so Julian could direct the setup of the new furniture.
This morning, Danny wasn't as brave as he was last night. Holding on to Rob's hand, he watched the furniture being carried. He seemed amazed by the show of strength, repeating, "Super strong!" as the men passed by.
Once it was all done and tips handed out, Danny was curious to see Julian's room. He stared at the simple, dark stained, shaker style furniture blankly, like he didn't understand what the fuss was about, but it got Rob's approval.
"That's nice. Suits the house and it suits you," Rob said with a nod. "But those guys made me feel like I need to go lift some weights right now."
"You are in great shape," Julian said and hoped it didn't sound inappropriate. His thoughts echoed his dream and that was definitely inappropriate.
"What do you say, Danny? Am I super strong?" Rob asked him.
Danny looked at him thoughtfully. "I don't know."
Now Rob turned to Julian. "See. I need to pump some iron until the answer is yes."
Julian shook his head and offered his hand to Danny. "Let's go see what they put in your room."
In there, a new colorful desk was sitting under the window instead of that old, dark one. Julian was ready to transform that room, but Danny had already grown attached to a few things, like the striped comforter, and he wanted to keep the round, brass lamp. To tempt him, he got him a new striped comforter with bees and beehives on it.
More things were waiting to be unwrapped, including two new lamps. One was a classic one in the shape of the spinning globe, the other with the solar system on metal bands.
They unrolled a round, green, yellow and blue rug with frogs jumping and sitting on lily pads. Rob set up a chalkboard that came with a box of colored chalk, and he wrote Danny's name on it in big letters. More cheerful than before, the room already looked more like a child's room should.
The rest of what Julian ordered were just framed, funny posters of animals like a crocodile with a bird perched on its nose, a zebra sitting down, and a giraffe with its head sticking out through the top of a tree.
"We'll just lean them here and put them up later," Julian said and he lined them up against one wall.
"I can do that, with Danny's help of course," Rob volunteered.
Danny wasn't in any hurry. He sat on his new rug in front of the pictures and got the animal book out so he could look for the animals from the posters.
"He's busy," Rob said to Julian then he spoke to Danny. "You hang out here, then. I'll be in the kitchen getting some coffee. I'll get you when it's time for breakfast."
