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I couldn’t keep myself in the living room. I loved the way these two interacted, plus I wanted to know Ben’s bedtime routine if we ever got to the point of Anna letting me keep him overnight. So as quietly as I could, I snuck into the hall.
As I got to the bathroom, I heard Ben’s voice. “So, he’s really my dad?”
“Yeah, baby. He’s your daddy, and he loves you very much.”
“But I don’t understand. Rex’s dad has been around since he was a baby, right? Why hasn’t my dad? Did he not want us?”
My heart shattered as I heard the sadness in his voice. “Oh, no, honey. He loves you very much, and now that he’s home, I’m sure you two will hang out more. Are you happy?”
He didn’t respond, but I could see the nod of his head through the crack in the bathroom door. It didn’t take long to finish his bath and head to his room. I dipped down the hallway when I heard them coming out. I didn’t want them to know I’d been eavesdropping.
Doors opened and closed in his room, and I imagined she was getting him pajamas. “Hey, Mama?”
“Yeah, baby.”
“Can Dad tuck me in tonight?” I couldn’t explain the inexplicable joy I found hearing those words slip from his mouth.
“I’m sure he would love to, bud. Ace?” She called for me, and I came as quickly as possible without seeming too awkward and exuberant. I’d been standing outside the bathroom door listening to their conversation for goodness sake.
I popped my head into his room, and the scene before me had me choking in a breath. Ben sat in the middle of his twin bed while Anna sat on the corner. She smiled at me as I walked in.
“I heard someone needs tucked in around here. I wonder, whoever could that be?”
Ben giggled. “It’s me, Dad.”
“Oh, of course. Silly me.” He giggled some more as I walked toward him. I thought it would be weird, but everything seemed so natural with these two. Like, somehow, we’d always done this sort of thing.
“So, tell me how this tucking in thing works.” I said to Ben.
His eyes widened. “You mean you don’t know how to tuck me in? You’re a grown up. They’re supposed to know these things.” His laughter was adorable.
I admired Anna at that moment. She’d been doing this by herself for five years. Imagining that it hadn’t always been easy tore at me. All these years and she could’ve told me. Leaning over the bed, I pulled the blankets up to Ben’s neck and made a big ordeal of tucking him in.
The giggles started again, and, dammit, I couldn’t help the smile that broke my lips apart.
I kissed him lightly on the forehead, expecting that to also be weird, but it felt right. “Goodnight, little man. Maybe tomorrow we can do something fun together. How’s that sound?” My eyes found Anna, and, yet again, tears threatened to pour from them.
My eyes found Ben again as he nodded enthusiastically “Yes!”
I backed away from the bed and watched as Anna did the same thing I’d just done. She got up and started walking toward the door, only to turn and look at me. “You coming?” She smirked at me.
“Not yet, but I plan to be very soon.” Once we got outside of Ben’s room, I spun her and pulled her into me, letting my mouth crash into hers. She kissed me back fiercely, and it was all I could do not to go all caveman and throw her over my shoulder.
“Need you.” She whispered against my lips.
“What about the rules?” I cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Rules were meant to be broken, right?” She winked as she grabbed my hand and tried to get me to follow her. I did so freely. At the end of the hall, she stopped outside a door I assumed was hers.
She bit her lip. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”
“Oh, I fully intend to do this. Do I need to explain to you how all in I am again? I swear, I will.”
She tossed her head from side to side lightly. With her hand on the doorknob, she opened it. I let my eyes roam around the room.
It was nothing special, but it seemed so familiar. The smell of her perfume hung in the air, and I closed my eyes to breathe it in. I loved the way she smelled. A queen size bed sat against the back wall with two night stands beside it. To the left of the doorway was a dresser with a small tv on it.
Anna was a simple girl. She wasn’t like the women I’d come to know on the road. They’d screw you for your status or what you could do for them, and she would never be that person. She was way too kind. Which is why I’ve only ever been with Anna. I may be seen with different women all the time, but none of them were actually warming my bed.
