Come Back Around

by BA Tortuga

  He was going to have to have some more saltines for the rest of his supper, though.

  Chapter Five

  REID sat out on the front porch steps, drawing and crying, drinking one cup of coffee after another. He had his music up so loud he couldn’t see. All their songs, one after another—the song that was playing when they met, when they danced the first time, when they got engaged and married.

  When they found out they were going to become dads.

  He set his iPad beside him and dropped his head in his hands. Then he let himself sob.

  Reid never heard anyone coming, so the hand on his shoulder had him jumping out of his skin. He jerked to his feet, going down on one ankle hard. “Fuck!”

  “Shit. Reid? You all right?” Those hard hands caught him, still as much cowboy as businessman.

  No. “I think so. Sorry. I was trying to be quiet. Are the girls okay?”

  “They’re sleeping hard. Travel day, huh?” That crooked grin was so familiar.

  “Yessir. They’ve been real good.” He stayed in the shadows. Mat read people’s faces like he read a book, and there was no way he’d get away unnoticed with tears still on his cheeks.

  “They have. Thanks for letting me have them tonight. We read all the new books your folks sent. How are they?”

  “Happy. They love it out there. I can’t believe they really moved.” They were ready to live their own lives, they said. They lived where Mickey Mouse did, so they were pretty sure they’d see their grandkids. They were right…. “They bought a little condo.”

  Were they making small talk?

  “Wow. I just… Florida. Your parents are always so Texas to me.”

  “I know. They say they’re happy. They’re going to travel a lot.”

  “Uh-huh.” Mat chuckled. “I bet they travel to Texas. A lot.”

  “I hope they come see me.” He bet it was going to be Pappy and Granny back home.

  “Your dad likes his chicken fried steak.” Mat was grinning, sharing the old joke.

  “No shit on that.” He didn’t know what to say next.

  I still love you?

  I miss you?

  I might be happy with a blowjob?

  Mat stared at him, eyes glinting in the light from the cabin windows. “I… I guess I’ll go check on the girls.”

  “Okay. I… did you need something?”

  “No. I mean, I heard you. I think. I was just checking.” Mat took a step toward him.

  “I—” He leaned forward, the pain in his ankle sharp enough to make him wince.

  “Here. Let me help you back inside, no? I didn’t mean to scare you.” Mat grabbed him and hoisted him right up.

  “Oh.” He dropped his phone, the earphones popping out. “You Save Me” was playing. “God.”

  Mat’s sharp intake of breath made time stand still, and they stood there, clutching each other, for endless moments.

  “Papi? Why are you playing Daddy’s song?”

  Lucia’s voice shocked them both, and Mat let go of him and down he went, agony slicing through him as his leg buckled and he smashed the hell out of his privates.

  “Oh God. Luce, go get my ice pack from my little fridge, please?” Mat bent right back down to help him. “Sorry. Sorry. Jesus.”

  “Did I break my—” Balls. “—iPad?”

  “I don’t think so, querido. I think you’ll be fine.” Mat was laughing at him now. Laughing. Butthead.

  He snorted, managing to rescue phone and iPad before limping to the bench.

  “You don’t want to go inside?”

  “Here, Daddy. Did you hurt your head?” Lucia came back with the ice pack.

  “Uh… Matty?” He was just lost.

  “Thanks, baby girl. Go check on your sister, and I’ll be right there.” Mat effortlessly took control. He always had. As soon as Luce disappeared, Mat had him up and moving again, lying on his bed in seconds. “Balls or ankle for the ice?”

  “Like I can ans—ahh!” His eyes crossed as Mat pressed the ice against his sac.

  “I know. But it will help. Give it a few, then switch it to the ankle.” Mat bent to kiss his cheek, stunning him into immobility, at least until Mat slipped out of his room.

  He slumped back.

  God hated him.

  God really hated him, and he didn’t want to think about the state of the family jewels.

  Chapter Six

  MAT woke up with a pair of hands patting his cheeks. “Papi. Papi, wake up. Hung-ie.”

  Oh God.

  He grabbed his youngest, his papi’s girl, who looked just like Reid with her strawberry blonde curls and blue eyes, and started tickling her.

  She squealed for him, wriggling like mad in his hands. “No pee!”

  “Uh-oh!” He rolled out of bed and ran her to the hall, plonked her down before stepping back into the bedroom. “Pee first. Then food.”

  “Pee first. Silly Papi.”

  Luce was sitting up, frowning deeply. God, it was going to be hellish getting this one up for kindergarten.

  “What’s up, kiddo?” he dared to ask.

  “Where’s Daddy?”

  “In his room.” Luce was old enough to know that now. He wasn’t going to mince words.

  “Okay. I’m going to sleep in with him. He misses me.”

  “You don’t want breakfast?” Reid’s squashed parts might need more time. He’d felt so bad for Reid after he’d fallen. That was Mat’s only excuse for kissing him.

  “Kinda….”

  He hated the constant worry and confusion on his oldest girl’s face.

  “Do we need to talk about all this later?” He wanted her to be able to tell him anything.

  “Nope. Daddy says no drama for Aunt Jenny’s marrying.”

  “Wow, none at all? What will you do?” He gave her a horrified look.

  “Save it up for my teacher.”

  Smartass!

  “I like it.” He hugged her up. “Go potty. Then we’ll see if Daddy wants you to bring him breakfast in bed.” Reid had been generous, letting the girls stay with him. He could return the favor.

  “Oh, all of us? Please, Papi? Just once?” She broke his heart.

  “Honey, if Daddy says no, we have to be okay with that, huh? It’s his bed.” That broke his heart too. Christ.

  “He won’t. We’re a family. You and Daddy and me and Dani.”

  Dani. Shit.

  “Dani?” He tugged Luce out of the bed, moving fast. “You done?”

  He looked in the bathroom—no three-year-old. Dammit. The door to the outside had never opened. She would have passed them.

  He heard her little voice as they passed the adjoining door.

  “…and I sleeped with Papi, and I so hungie, Daddy.”

  “Well, we need to feed you.” Reid sounded sleepy.

  “Daddy!” Luce broke away and threw the door wide. “Can we have breakfast in bed with you and Papi?”

  Oh, his love. Reid had cried himself to sleep. The tear tracks were still obvious.

  “Hey, baby. C’mere and kiss me good morning.”

  Nicely noncommittal. Reid held out his arms, and Mat wanted to jump into them. Instead, he hung back, leaning in the doorway. “I could call for breakfast.”

  “Is that how it works? You just call?” Reid held the girls close, but those eyes watched him like a hawk.

  “That’s what they told me when I got here, yeah. If you don’t want to come up to the dining room, just call.” His cheeks heated, his body warming too.

  “Should we invite Papi to stay, ladies?”

  “Oh, Daddy! Please!” Dani bounced, and Luce nodded, her eyes huge.

  “Thanks.” He knew this was awkward and hard, but it was so important to the girls. “What do we want, mi’jas?”

  “Pancakes and sausage!” Dani said.

  “No! Bacon and blueberry muffins!”

  “How about pancakes and bacon, then?” Reid suggested.

  “Yes!” they both shouted
, and Reid grunted.

  “Luce, you need to hit the potty. I’ll go call and come right back, okay?” He and Reid would need some eggs too. And coffee.

  “Sí, Papi.”

  “Good girl,” Reid murmured.

  He slipped away so he could take a deep breath and get his game face on. The kids didn’t need him freaking out.

  He was about to call the kitchen when a text came in from Reid.

  Is this okay with you?

  It’s fine. Are you ok? He could just quietly disappear if he needed to. Tell the kids he got a call.

  My balls are black and so is my ankle. Please get coffee?

  You know it.

  Ugh. Poor baby. He called up to the main house, using the little laminated card by the phone. There was a picture of a latte and a pastry that had to mean kitchen, right?

  “Good morning, Mr. Harris. How can I help you this morning?”

  “Uh, I need breakfast for two adults and two children. Pancakes and bacon for all, and then for the adults we need eggs as well. And coffee, milk, and juice…. And could you send a bowl of oatmeal or hot cereal, just in case?” If his stomach rebelled, he would need bland.

  “Of course. How do you prefer your eggs?”

  “One over easy and one scrambled hard, please.” He knew how Reid ate everything.

  “Cream and sugar with the coffee?”

  “Please.” They would both doctor it a bit if it was bad.

  “It will be delivered in about half an hour.”

  “Oh, next door, please. I’ll be… next door.”

  “Of course. In Mr. Porter’s rooms?”

  His cheeks flamed again, even if no one could see him. “Yes, thank you.”

  In Mr. Porter’s room. In Reid’s room.

  “Papi! Come watch tooners with us!” Dani grabbed his hand and tugged.

  “You’re loving that door, huh?” He hung up and let her tow him like a boat.

  “Come. Daddy and Sister are waiting. Daddy made room for us.”

  “Did he?” His heart was thudding as if he’d run a damn mile.

  “Uh-huh.”

  Sure enough, Luce was snuggled up to Reid, and there was a space waiting for him. Right there. Half the bed, sure, but it was a queen. Just—

  Okay. He could do this. “I ordered.”

  Luce patted the bed. “Papi. Come sit with me?”

  “You bet.” He grabbed a throw blanket off the chair to put over his lap.

  “No, in the bed.” Dani slid in the covers and held them up for him.

  “Okay, kiddo.” That was fine too. He needed to hide a bit. The kids would stay between them.

  Reid wasn’t looking at him, was dozing off and startling awake.

  He frowned, wondering if Reid was a little fevery, as flushed as he was. Maybe he just hadn’t slept.

  Mat had slept like a baby with his girls right there with him. Better than he had in ages.

  The girls were watching TV, Dani in his lap, Luce between them. Dani chewed on her fist, eyes on the screen, totally mesmerized. Lucia, on the other hand, kept patting his belly, then Reid’s arm. Such a little mother.

  He felt it when Reid relaxed, falling into a deep sleep, lips parted, hand sliding over to stroke his leg.

  He hardly dared to breathe. God, this was enough to make him cry, it was so good. All they needed was their golden retriever, Dolly.

  Dani snuggled in, her little body going heavy, and even Luce calmed down. He closed his eyes, hoping breakfast was later than not. This was too good to waste.

  Maybe theirs would be the last delivered. Please God.

  He’d almost dozed off when the knock did come at the door.

  Reid started up, then grimaced.

  “I’ll get it,” Mat murmured.

  “Breakfast!” He’d forgotten how the world was full of noise with the girls there.

  Grinning, he got the door open, even with Dani clinging to his leg, and managed to find a spot for the tray the burly deliveryman brought in.

  “Good morning. I brought the kitchen to feed two hungry girls.”

  “Yum. Dani, they brought the whole kitchen!” He winked at the guy. “How about the end of the bed?”

  “Perfect.” A second cowboy brought a tray with the drinks, and the smell of coffee was perfect.

  “Thanks so much, guys.” Reid smiled, and no one seemed to be waiting for a tip, so Mat closed the door behind them.

  “We should see what’s under there, huh?”

  Reid sat up, laughing at the piles of pancakes and bacon, the fruit carved in roses and stars and suns. “I hope you girls are hungry.”

  “Flowdies!” Dani grabbed a bit of pineapple. “Pretty!”

  “And stars! Daddy, tell the baby to get a plate.”

  “Papi!” Dani frowned at Lucia. “I not a baby!”

  “Are too!”

  “Girls,” he snapped at the same time Reid did, making them both grin at each other.

  “You be good or everyone goes to eat at the table,” Mat added.

  “No, Papi, please.” Luce settled in next to Reid, frowning deeply. “I’ll be good.”

  “Okay. I’ll load up plates.” He would let Reid sit and rest as long as he could.

  “Thank you, Papi.”

  “I help?” Dani came up to him. “I can.”

  “You so can.” He filled a plate for Luce. “For your hermana.” It was plastic. If she dropped it, no big. There was no butter or syrup yet.

  She was so careful, and it pleased him beyond words that Luce didn’t tease or hurry her baby sister along. She carried that plate like it was Coronado’s gold, and then she came back for her own plate. He gave her an extra fruit star.

  “See, Papi? Not a baby.”

  “No, I see that.” He handed a loaded plate to Reid. That would let him take some Tylenol.

  “Thank you, Matty. I appreciate it.”

  “Not a problem.” Mat took a pancake, some eggs, a bacon, and his amazing-looking oatmeal. Then he gave the syrup to Reid to dole out. Oh, and coffee. So definitely coffee.

  Reid helped the girls easily, keeping the meal peaceful, good-natured. He had to admire that. Shit, that was one reason Reid had the girls 90 percent of the time. He was so much more patient.

  “Dani, feed me a bite of bacon?” Reid asked.

  “Here, Daddy!” Dani held up a syrupy bacon strip.

  “Nom nom nom.”

  God, he loved to see them play. Mat nibbled, keeping it easy on his stomach, and just watched. His girls. His husband, because even as hurt and angry as they were, Mat still loved Reid and Reid alone.

  He needed to know if Reid had another lover, if that was why he could afford a full-time nanny. Watching Reid now, he found it hard to believe, but who the hell knew?

  Reid was nibbling on Dani’s fingers, making her squeal and laugh for him. Those beautiful blue eyes glanced up at him, dancing and warm.

  Mat smiled back, dropping the questions and engaging in the fantasy. Just for a while. He grabbed more pancakes, in fact. His stomach felt fine.

  “Papi likes his pancakes, doesn’t he? It’s good to see you eat, Matty.”

  “It feels pretty good.” He could heat up the oatmeal as a snack later.

  Reid’s eyes dragged over his body, and Madre de Dios, he could feel that hunger. His breath caught, his heart beating away in his ears. No one had ever made him ache like Reid.

  They made eyes at each other while they ate, Luce and Dani giggling and tussling over the last bacon.

  “We need Dolly to eat it!” Dani complained.

  “We totally do, but she’s at home with Marta keeping her company.”

  “How’s Marta? And Dolly?”

  “Dolly is getting fat!” Luce made wide eyes. “I think she’s eating Dani’s carrots.”

  “Carrots, cookies, whatever she can grab.” Reid rolled his eyes.

  “Oh, man.” He missed that silly dog, and he’d thought about getting one for him, but he was away so m
uch….

  “She’s in good shape.”

  “I believe you.” Reid took care of people. Of dogs.

  Reid had taken amazing care of him, to be honest. A pang of guilt speared through him, but Dani flopped over into his lap, her mouth full of food, which she showed him, and that was the end of contemplation.

  “I don’t want to see your breakfast, mi’ja. Shut it.”

  “Lo siento, Papi.”

  “Just chew.” He stroked her hair, which had syrup in it.

  “This coffee is so good. I thought hotel coffee was supposed to suck.” Reid leaned back against the headboard, smiling, drinking deep.

  “I always heard never let a cowboy make the coffee. Now, the cook here is so not a cowboy….”

  “The rainbow-haired guy is definitely the least stoic cowboy kind. I like the look, though. Maybe the girls and I should go rainbow.”

  “Nah. It’s too hard to maintain.” He winked.

  “Like you’d know, beautiful vain man.” Reid snorted and rolled his eyes.

  “Hey!” So he used product in his hair.

  Reid’s grin was wicked as hell, teasing him mercilessly.

  “Papi does like his moisturizer,” Luce chimed in.

  “We live in the desert.” He chuckled, munching his last bite.

  “I’m not sure what it means, Matty, that our kindergartener knows about moisturizer.”

  “We live in the desert,” he repeated. “And my mom is psycho about it.” She did have nice skin, really.

  “I like lotion, Papi. With sparkles.” Dani sounded so damn happy.

  “I know. I like it too. On you.” Sparkles made working hard. People stared.

  Reid met his eyes, and the laughter there? Oh, shit.

  They grinned wider; then all of them were laughing. The girls maybe didn’t know why, but yeah. They were laughing together, the four of them.

  “What on earth are you doing, mi’jo?” His mother’s voice snapped into the open window, and all the laughter stopped like a faucet had been turned off.

  “Mama?” He went to the door of Reid’s side. “What are you lurking under windows for?”

  “I was looking for you and my granddaughters. I hear you finally got a chance to make sure they weren’t being mistreated.”