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Troy held one of them until the other was a couple of feet away. Then, he loosened his hold. His heart raced. What the hell? His first minute into babysitting and he already had to stop a fight? “Stop it, you two. What happened?”
“He broke my Transformer,” Henry said, pointing at his brother, then at the robot toy tossed on the floor with the arm missing.
“Don’t fight, boys,” he said, remembering all the times he’d heard the same sentence from his father. His mother would throw her hands in the air while he and Mateo wrestled, and his father would enter the room and the two of them immediately looked at each other and stopped. “Why would you do that? It’s just a toy. I can fix it.”
“He started,” Henry said.
“No—”
“Take a turn. Doesn’t matter who it belongs to, tonight you’re sharing it. These are our house rules,” he said in an even tone, hoping those two wouldn’t pick up on his second guessing. He excelled at faking things, at showing coolness when he felt differently. Important skills in the business world, and turned out, whenever one had been goaded into babysitting.
“Fine,” said David.
The other boy grinned.
Trouble averted. A strand of male pride surged through him. He’d text Lara asking about her whereabouts, but he’d also mention he was doing a good job. His chests welled—why did this matter to him? Why did he want to impress her?
He grabbed the Transformer figure off the floor, studying it to see how he how to fix the lost arm again.
“Charlie, no,” one of the boys screamed.
Troy turned in the direction of his voice, only to find Charlie toddling her way out of his living area past the French doors and into the terrace—dangerously close to the pool. He dropped the Transformer on the carpeted floor. His eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets, heart drumming in his chest. Fuck. How did she get there so quickly? With a few long strides, he scooped her off the floor and lifted her to his arms.
She cooed, excited, and her brothers came to them, concern in their eyes.
“She’s good,” he said, ushering them into the house and closing the doors behind them. Relief poured over him, and he ran his fingers down his face. “How about some pizza?” he suggested, and the boys squealed in response. Ordering pizza wouldn’t be so hard, and hopefully he could bribe those boys with food so they wouldn’t tell on him that their sister had meandered by herself to the pool area.
While he ordered pizza on his app, memories of his own childhood popped in his mind. He and Mateo loved playing in the backyard together. They usually dashed to the treehouse right after school and stayed there, building toys and sometimes wrestling each other, until their father called them to eat. His mother would always be in the kitchen. Even as their father made more money and hired a housekeeper, their mother usually stayed in the shadows, watching them. Their father had always been the one who played with them more, who read them books, even if they had to wait until he came home from work.
Pride swelled inside him. Would he be a hands-on father like his had been? Hell, he still was… no wonder he’d come to visit him unannounced in Tulip. He wanted to check on him, to probe a little about reaching out to Mateo.
“Helloooo,” said Lara, entering the kitchen, and putting her bag on the console table. She walked up to him, smiling, and the boys quickly ran to her, excited. She glanced at them, and a flicker of surprise flitted in her eyes, but she recomposed. “How are my favorite twins doing? And my little princess?”
“We missed you, auntie,” Henry said.
She ruffled his hair while David hugged her waist. “I missed you guys too.” Lara glanced at him and mouthed an “I’m sorry.”
He waved her off, enjoying watching her with the kids. They were drawn to her to her endless energy, and she engaged them, in a way children loved. In a way most people loved, he told himself. He could think of a few grown men who would feel captivated by her.
Catching himself in his own ruse, he shook his head and willed the thoughts away. Lara’s aptitude with little ones didn’t matter to him. Dwelling about it would be a waste of time. He walked up to her and said, “I ordered pizza. Should be here in thirty minutes. I’ll go take a shower.”
“Can you join us later?” David asked.
Troy inhaled. “Hmmm… sure.” He’d imagined his taking care of them ended the moment Lara, the one who had officially offered, entered the house. But sharing slices of pizza with them wouldn’t hurt, right? Plus, he had to eat. Might as well be practical about it.
Wearing some casual shorts and a blue T-shirt, Troy sprung down the stairs. He’d showered, then texted Mateo, asking about a good time for them to talk. No answer yet.
He’d give him a couple more days. Then he’d call—and if Mateo didn’t answer, he’d have to drive to LA to see him. Realistically, Mateo had all the right in the world to be mad at him forever. But pragmatically, they had to resume talking soon. Having to email Mateo’s assistant about things related to work was getting old. And his father wouldn’t let Troy return to command the business until he smoothed things out with his brother.
He found everyone at the breakfast nook, the same table where he’d had sex with her a day prior. Somehow, it seemed so long had passed since then—even though it hadn’t. Not rationally. Yet seeing her with Charlie on her lap, cutting smaller pieces of pizza for the little one while the boys wolfed down their slices, did something to him.
An arrow lanced through his chest, squeezing his heart. He’d never imaged himself domesticated, with a wife and children. He knew he’d mess that up too. Even if he didn’t understand why or how, some things didn’t change. Innocent people didn’t deserve to suffer because of his failures of character.
“Do you watch them often?” he asked, pulling up a chair next to her.
“Yeah, ever since they were little. Thanks for filling in, I totally forgot about tonight.”
He grabbed a slice of Hawaiian and put it on a plate. “No problem.”
