Page 100 of At His Beck & Call

Lissa

Henry decides he’d like a bath instead of a shower. I fill up the tub, making sure the water is warm but not too hot. We play a little game of Would You Rather while he’s soaping up.

“Would you rather have a pet dragon or a unicorn?” I ask.

“A dragon, of course, Mommy,” he responds. “They’re fierce and could protect us.”

My heart jumps. Does my little guy worry about protecting me?

“Would you rather eat ice cream for breakfast or pizza for dessert?” Henry asks.

“I’ve always liked ice cream at any time of day. Especially chocolate.”

Henry nods in agreement.

When he’s done with the bath, he tells me it helped his tummy hurt less, and that makes me smile and be grateful that we’re here.

Oliver knocks on the bedroom door after we’re done, and when he comes in, he finds Henry on the floor, pulling a book out of a huge mahogany bookcase.

“Look at this one, Mommy!” He holds up The Velveteen Rabbit.

“Oh, I love that book. My mom used to read that to me.” I can almost see my mom’s sweet face while she tucked me in and then curled up with me, ready to read me a book.

“I’m glad you found that, Henry,” Oliver says. “I have a little collection of kids’ books there, actually. Books that my mom used to read to me and others I’ve found over the years.”

I walk over and lean down, looking at the titles of the books. There are lots of them I recognize and some I’ve never heard of. They all seem to be in perfect shape.

“How many books are there?” I ask.

“Oh, maybe a couple hundred. It was a bit of an obsession for a while.”

“A couple hundred!?” Henry says, unable to contain his excitement. He loves reading and always wants to drag me to the library for more books.

“Yes. You’re welcome to borrow some if you’d like, Henry. Just be extra careful with them. Some of them are first editions.”

“Ohhh, that might not be a good idea,” I say quickly. “I’d hate for us to mess one up.”

Henry gives me a little sad face.

“No, that’s totally fine. Books are meant to be enjoyed. Just think of it as your own private library, Henry. Take some, and when you’re done with them, just bring them back, and you can take more.”

Henry’s face lights up, and I can’t help but giggle. He spends the next fifteen minutes picking out the books he wants while I change and take my makeup off in the bathroom.

Oliver has left me some pajama pants that are far too big, but I tie them tightly around my waist and roll the legs up. He’s also left me a soft, black T-shirt that smells like him. It almostswallows me whole, but I don’t care. At this point in the night, I just want to be comfy.

When I come back into the bedroom, Henry is lying on the big bed with Truman curled up beside him. There’s a small stack of his chosen books on the nightstand. He looks absolutely exhausted, his eyes already starting to close. I know he had dinner with Bethany, and I decide the best thing for him right now is sleep.

I can hear the clink of cutlery in the kitchen, and I go over to Henry, pulling the covers up as Truman comes to sniff at my hand.

“You okay, sweetie?” I ask. “Are you comfortable?”

He nods, his eyes already drooping as he snuggles into the enormous bed. “Can we stay here?” he asks.

“Yeah, baby, I think we’re going to stay here overnight so the storm can pass.”

“Okay. But can we stay here forever?”

My heart clenches, forgetting how quickly kids can get attached to things.He falls in love so fast.