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“Oh yeah, I have to reset the alarm.” Caden pressed more buttons until the system was activated.
Sam drew Caden through the house and into the kitchen. The front lights had been left on and he flipped the switch lighting up the space from above the long island. The large, homely kitchen gleamed spotlessly. Sam liked Lincoln and Caden’s home even if he preferred his smaller apartment. He couldn’t imagine how much cleaning Lincoln had to do. Sam was quite sure that Caden never had to lift a finger around the house as it was a known fact that Linc enjoyed spoiling Caden.
Caden shuffled over to the fridge and pulled out a glass dish that he set on the counter. He seemed to know what buttons to use to preheat the oven. Once done he turned with a smile. “Drink?”
“Sure.”
“We have orange juice!” Caden told him.
Apparently orange juice was something that had been lacking in Caden’s life and he and Adam had never figured it out. Linc had been the one to tell them so now the fridge at the shop was always stocked with orange juice. Yep, spoiled, but Caden deserved all the orange juice he could ever want.
“Or water?” Sam asked.
“Of course, we have water. We always have water,” Caden whined. “And if you drink a cup of OJ then you have to have water with dinner. Those are the rules.”
Sam winked. “Won’t tell if you don’t.”
Caden shook his head sadly. “Daddy will know. He always knows.”
It was so hard to keep a straight face, but Sam nodded along with Caden. Poor Caden was forced to drink water because his Daddy cared about him.
After grabbing Sam a bottle of water and passing it over, Caden went to the cabinet next to the fridge and pulled down a blue sippy cup. He poured the juice into the cup but instead of screwing the lid on the cup, Caden picked it up and gulped down half. He refilled the cup before replacing the orange juice back in the fridge. He did put the top on his cup this time then looked over at Sam.
Sam lifted a brow.
“That only counts as one cup cuz the lid wasn’t on.”
“O…kay.” Sam knew that things didn’t work that way around here.
“Shush!” Caden told him.
The oven buzzed and Caden jumped.
Guilty conscience? Caden was going to tell on himself, Sam just knew it.
“Time to put dinner in the oven,” Caden told him.
Sam helped Caden get the lid off the dish and the glass container into the oven with the timer started before they took their drinks into the living room. Unlike his apartment, there were signs of little Caden everywhere around the house.
Caden dropped down to sit cross-legged in front of the coffee table before he pulled over his coloring books and crayons. He held out the Strawberry Shortcake book that Lincoln had bought especially for him and Sam sat beside his friend.
“Cartoons!” Caden said suddenly.
“You got it, buddy,” Sam often took the older-brother role with Caden, especially when Adam wasn't with him. Reaching behind himself, Sam strained for the remote on the couch before he powered on the television.
The Cartoon Network was already on and with an old Bugs Bunny cartoon on that would work for both of them.
“Thanks,” Caden said distractedly as he continued to color. It looked like he was working on some sort of unicorn picture. It was quite cute.
Sam allowed himself to sink into the warmth of the house, the good company of Caden by his side, the spicy scents coming from the kitchen, and just to have a moment not to have any worries.
Once he got home, Sam would have to face sleeping alone in his apartment. It didn’t seem that his mind could rest when Carson wasn’t holding him in his arms. That was a worry for later. At the moment Sam could color a pretty picture and eat dinner with his friend.
Sam’s phone chimed and he hurried to get it out of his skirt pocket.
Lieutenant Daddy: Sorry I haven’t been able to call. It’s been crazy today
Sam: Is everything ok?
