“Haven’t got it out of your system, yet?” Caleb asked dryly, moving over towards him. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and a clean towel and handed them over to Aleki, who finally paused to look at him.
“Got what out of my system?”
“Whatever is worrying you.”
“Don’t know what you mean.” Aleki gulped down half the drink then upended the rest over his head.
Caleb sighed. “Don’t be a dick.”
“What?”
“We all know something’s wrong. Well, maybe Wolfe doesn’t. But Vivi does.”
Aleki stiffened and faced Caleb full on. “What do you mean she knows something is wrong?”
“She’s noticed the way you’ve been watching her kind of intently. She’s worried that she hasn’t spent much time with you since we got here. She wants to spend some time with each of us. What’s eating at you?”
Aleki wiped his face with the towel. “I just, I thought I would get over this feeling that she might disappear on me again. Like I failed her.”
“You couldn’t have known about her father. Or anything that was going on. It wasn’t your fault.”
Aleki nodded, blowing out a breath. “So she wants to spend some time alone with each of us?”
“Yeah, I told her we were going to start taking her out on dates.”
“Even Wolfe?”
“Well, I haven’t actually told him that.” He was leaving him to last. You never knew how Wolfe might react to something. He could either completely refuse or plan something so elaborate it made the rest of them look like chumps.
30
Vivi glanced up as Caleb and Aleki entered the playroom. She was sitting on the bean bag, reading a book about age play by CJ Bennett. It was an amazing story about three daddies who lived on a ranch in Texas.
“Hi,” she said a bit shyly.
“Where did Wolfe go, jelly bean?” Caleb asked.
Aleki just watched her and she couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking.
“He got a phone call and went out to take it.” She pointed at the double doors leading outside.
“Good girl for staying in here,” Caleb told her warmly.
She blushed. “Wolfe told me I had to stay put and that if he had to come searching for me, it was five spanks for every minute he spent searching.”
“What a meanie,” Aleki said, but he was grinning.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m starting to think you like watching me get spanked.”
“I’m starting to think we need to do it more often, brat,” he countered.
“Nuh-uh.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I is a good girl.”
“Course you are.” Caleb smiled at her, running his hand over her head.
Hmm. Somehow, she thought he was humoring her.
“What are you reading?” Aleki asked, plopping down on another beanbag.
“It’s a book by CJ Bennett. About three daddies on a ranch and a Little who comes to work for them.”
“Think this book is one of Wolfe’s favorites,” Caleb told her.
“It is? Wolfe’s favorite?”
Caleb nodded. “Yeah. Think he’s read every one of her books. I think he treats them like a manual on Daddy/Little relationships.”
She giggled.
“Have you finished your painting?” Aleki asked, staring over at the picture.
“Uh-huh, can you guess what it is? Daddy is having trouble.” She sent Caleb a sly look.
“Really? It’s obviously a princess castle with flying unicorns guarding it and a beautiful garden.”
Caleb turned to look at the painting and Aleki winked at her. She had to hold back a giggle.
“That’s right! It is. How comes you couldn’t see that, Daddy?” she asked Caleb with mock-innocence.
Caleb turned and gave them both suspicious looks. “What? Is it really? No, it’s not.”
“It is.” She deliberately widened her eyes. “Daddy, can you really not see it?”
“Maybe he’s not magical enough,” Aleki suggested. “I think you have to have a bit of magic in you to see it.”
Caleb shook his head. “I know you’re messing with me.”
She made her lower lip tremble.
Caleb pointed a finger at her. “Don’t do that. No pouting.”
She sniffled pathetically and turned to Aleki. “What will we do? Daddy doesn’t have any magic.”
Aleki sighed. “It’s a sad state of affairs. Do you know why he doesn’t have any magic?”
“He was on the naughty list and Santa took it away from him?”
“Hey, I was never on the naughty list,” Caleb protested.
She gave him a skeptical look.
Aleki shook his head. “No, he was far too good to be on the naughty list. That’s the problem. He’s always too good. And he’s not a believer.”
“He’s not?”
“Nope. Do you know he doesn’t believe in fairies or unicorns or even mermaids?”
She gave a mock-gasp of horror. “How can he not believe in mermaids?”
Caleb just stared at them both, his hands on his hips.
“What do we do?” she asked Aleki.
“We need to think about how to give him some magic back.” Aleki tapped his finger against his chin. “We might need a magic ceremony.”
“With glitter.”
Aleki shot her a look. “Of course.”
“And magic wands.”
“Couldn’t do the ceremony without them,” Aleki agreed.
“And will he need to wear a tutu?”
“Hmm.” Aleki pretended to ponder that. “Yes. But what color?”
Caleb waggled a finger at them. “You two are trouble. No tutu.”
She pouted.
“Jelly bean, you put that away or I’m going to make you face the corner until it disappears.”
“Well. That seems mean. We’re only trying to help, right, Aleki?”
Aleki stared at her for a long moment then he smiled. “Why don’t you call me Papa, baby girl?”
She took in a sharp breath then smiled. She knew her smile was enormous as she nodded. “Okay, Papa.”
“Good girl.”
Caleb was watching them warmly. Then his phone rang and he drew it from his pocket with a frown. “Excuse me, I’ve got to take this.”
As soon as they were alone, uncertainty filled her. But Aleki smiled and patted his lap. “Come sit with me.”
She threw herself at him and he let out a breath of air. “Whoa, baby. Easy. We don’t want to damage anything important.” He winked as she blushed.
“Sorry.”
He arranged her so she was facing him with her knees bent, her legs on either side of his. “Actually, that’s my line.”
“What?”
He took her hands in his. “I’m sorry if I’ve been acting a bit distant sometimes. Having you here, it feels so fucking right. But sometimes I feel like this is a dream and you’re going to disappear on me. When I look at you, I remember how you’ve lived for the past eight years. If only I’d forced you to tell me what was going on back then . . .”