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“Can you show me?” I asked. “I’ve never been very good at staying in the lines of anything.”
“Yeah!” Rio looked so excited to teach me something he stood up before he began. He traced the entire planet with his tongue peeking out before he started shading it in, and I had to give him props. For a six-year-old, that boy knew how to color.
We ended up teaming up to convince Mia to let us color another one, and it was twenty minutes past his bedtime when she finally took him to get him ready for bed. Even if she made me pay for it later, it was worth it.
I took a quick shower and changed my clothes, feeling a lot better about my life than I had just a few hours earlier. I was comfortable, clean, full, and hopefully minutes away from sinking inside the woman who didn’t realize she was the love of my life yet, and things couldn’t have been better despite what was happening outside those walls. I snooped around a little as I waited for her to come back down, then sat my ass on the couch and sank down into it. The damned thing was Heaven. The soft, pliable blue microfiber swallowed me up and threatened to keep me despite what waited for me upstairs, and I actually started to drift off on the pillow that smelled like her.
It was peaceful.
“Who the hell are you?”
I sat up so fast I got dizzy. “Huh?”
The boy eyed me suspiciously and backed toward the stairs. “You heard me. Who are you, and why are you in my house?”
He was a teenager, so unless I’d fallen asleep on that couch for a very long time, it wasn’t Rio. “Uh ... I’m Ollie.” Fuck, does she have another kid? “Your m- Mia told me I could crash here.”
“Why?” He crossed his arms and clenched his jaw like he was ready to throw me out. “Who are you to her?”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck. “A friend. Just someone she knows from work, she’s doing me a favor. What’s your name?”
“Jago. You’re staying down here, right? I’ll sit on the steps la noche entera if I have to.”
I chuckled quietly at the thought of him sitting there all night, though part of me was appropriately afraid. Not that he’d hurt me or anything, he couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old and a hundred and thirty pounds soaking wet, but that I was getting off on the wrong foot with one of Mia’s sons. “Yes, Sir. She’s just letting me crash here because the pipes burst at my place and it flooded. She’s a remarkable woman.”
He turned his nose up at me slightly but relaxed. “Alright then. But if you move ... I’ll know.” He held his fingers to his eyes then pointed them at me, making me grin a little wider. Grumpy teens were my specialty since I’d grown up with one, so I knew exactly how to handle him. Or at least, how to take whatever he said in stride.
“I believe you. It was good to meet you, Jago. Do you like pancakes?”
“Pancakes?” Another boy, younger than Jago but not by much, popped out from the hallway. He had the same brown hair and round eyes that both Jago and Rio sported, but he was stockier than his older brother. “Did you say pancakes?”
I cleared my throat and tried to neutralize the surprise in my expression. “Uh ... yeah. Sure did, buddy. What’s your name? I’m Ollie.”
“Valentino. Are you the landlord? Why are you on our couch?”
“Just a little flooding at home. Nothing to worry about. You want pancakes in the morning?” I asked, exceedingly proud of myself for keeping my voice at a normal octave. Three. Three sons. Holy shit.
Jago ruffled Valentino’s hair as the boy nodded like a puppy. “Yeah! Alex will too, he loves pancakes!”
I blinked several times. “Alex? Who’s –”
“Alejandro!” Valentino yelled. “¡Vienes aquí!”
I couldn’t breathe as I waited for the fourth fucking son to come down the stairs. Sure enough, he was the spitting image of his older brothers but about a foot shorter than Valentino even though he looked like he had to be at least ten, maybe twelve years old. “H-Hola,” I mumbled, suddenly feeling like I was in way over my head – but this wasn’t a dealbreaker for me, not by a long shot. I was just surprised as hell and a little sad she felt like she couldn’t tell me. “I’m Ollie.”
“What kinda name is Ollie?” he asked, wrinkling his nose. “Are you here to get Carlo? I thought he already left for his friend’s house. Why are you here?”
Holy God. Christ Almighty, what is happening? I swallowed and smiled nervously. “My ... pipes burst. I’m just crashing on the couch. How ... how many people do I need to make pancakes for, exactly?”
Jago shrugged. “Six, seven including you, unless Carlo comes home early. He’s only ten, he doesn’t do well with sleepovers yet, but he keeps trying. I’d bet mom has to go get him before morning.”
I tried to count and failed miserably. Me, Mia, Jago, Valentino, Alex, Rio ... that’s only six including me, I’m still missing one and that’s not counting Carlo. My head was spinning and I was getting a little lightheaded, so I stood and carefully walked to the fridge to get some water. I chugged about half of it in one go, then forced a closed-lipped smile at the three boys staring at me like I was an alien. “Okay, then. I’ll make enough pancakes for ten just in case any of you want extras. Sound good?”
Alex whooped. “Heck yeah! Goodnight, Mr. Ollie! See you en la mañana!”
He sprinted back up the stairs followed closely by Valentino, but Jago lingered a few moments more. “You have what you need? Blankets and stuff?”
Finally, I relaxed a little bit. “Yeah, I do. Thank you for asking. Buenas noches, Jago.”
He nodded once and headed up the stairs, and I collapsed back onto the couch and rubbed my face. There’s no way that just happened. She told me about one kid, not friggin’ ... I don’t even know how many. Five? Six? And why not? Did I make her think I wouldn’t be okay with it or that I would judge her?
The thought made me want to die, so I got up as quietly as I could and snuck up the creaky steps to the hallway with the bedrooms. Thankfully, every door had one of those hanging chalkboard things with names written on them, and I finally figured out the name of the mystery person. ”Dinora,” I read out quietly. “Mia has a daughter, too?” I shook it off and tried to calm my rapidly beating heart as I opened Mia’s door as quietly as I could, then closed it and exhaled hard. When I turned to face her, she was looking at me like she already knew I’d figured it out.
I can be good. Nice and not judgmental at all. God, the last thing this incredible, strong, amazing woman needs is for me to come in here and handle this wrong. Don’t be a dick, Ollie. Don’t let your mouth do what it always does. “So, six kids, huh?” I asked, trying to keep my voice pleasant and conversational instead of filled with panic like I really was. “That’s gotta be interesting.”
That’s good, Ollie, good. Not dick-ish at all, right?
Judging by the look on her face ... I wasn’t so sure.
