“And that’s my condition. I don’t want to be ‘Mr. Zave.’ It’s too formal for every day. I’ll start to think I’m a banker or something.” I chucked Maggie under the chin and gave her a wink.
The smile that spread across Ronnie’s face lit up his eyes. “I agree. But I like my girls to show their elders respect, so how about Uncle Zave?”
“But I’m not their—”
Maggie squealed and jumped into my lap, flinging her arms around my neck. “Uncle Zave, now you’ll be with us forever and ever and ever.” She smacked a kiss on my cheek then wriggled down to the floor. “I’m going to tell Mae.”
“Don’t wake your sister!” Ronnie called after her. “You can tell her later.”
But it was too late, and a moment later, we heard the squall that can only come from a baby startled from sleep by an enthusiastic big sister.
But instead of being upset, their daddy continued to smile at me across that table. “I’m real glad you decided to stay with us,” he told me. “My girls are very lucky to have someone like you around all day while I’m at work.”
I started to say something, but he waved me to silence.
“Let me finish. I know it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, but the moment you walked in the door, it was like there was no time in between. Lauren and I were very happy, and I miss her every single day. I miss her when I see her in her daughters...and when I roll over at night to that cold side of the bed. I miss her at dinner and on Saturday nights when we used to have our ‘date night.’ We’d go to a movie or dinner...sometimes picnic on the living room floor if we couldn’t get a sitter.”
My heart broke for him. Not having asked him out in college was my biggest regret so far in life...and I had a few regrets. But if he hadn’t married Lauren, he wouldn’t have Maggie and Mae, and I couldn’t imagine those two bright lights not being in the world.
Still, I wasn’t sure why he was telling me all of it right now. But he went on.
“My point is, I had a huge crush on you in college. You probably didn’t know…”
“I knew,” I murmured.
“But you probably thought I was just a silly kid. I’m sure you had omegas climbing all over you every day with similar feelings.”
“No.”
He paused and stared at me. “I wanted to say, that was then. This is now. And a lot of water is under the bridge. I’m a grieving widower with kids who depend on me for everything. But for some reason, I wanted you to know about my silly puppy love thing.” His smile was sweet, and sad.
I wanted to enfold him in my arms and protect him from any more pain. Promise to take care of him and his girls forever, but that wasn’t going to happen. So instead, I stood up and held out my hand. “To set the record straight, the crush was mutual. But it’s good to know.”
I closed my fingers around his and, what started out as a handshake, ended with us standing there, hands clasped, in silence.
Then in came Maggie, carrying her sister, and we both leapt into action because that baby was way too big for Maggie to haul around, and we told her so while doing everything to get the day going. The ship of possible romance had sailed for Ronnie and me, but this was an awful like being a family.
Dangerously so for my heart’s sake.
Chapter Nine
Ronnie
“Ronnie, Mr. Johansen called and would like to meet with you at four.” Paul stood in front of my desk, waiting for my response. He was a decent enough administrative assistant, but there were some days when he was oblivious to my mood, and today was one of them. He’d come over to my desk no less than five times in the past hour, and I had to get a presentation done, one that took far more brain power than I had available.
“Please call Mr. Johansen back and let him know that time has already been blocked off and that I would be happy to see him in the morning.” And by happy, I meant I would do so begrudgingly. Mr. Johansen always took something that could be decided in five minutes and turned it into an hour or longer. And given that I had a get-it-done-and-then-go-home type job more than a nine-to-five job, that drove me bonkers.
“I told him it was open, sir.”
Of freaking course, he did.
“I will be there.” I sighed, and he scampered off.
I picked up the receiver on my desk phone. Poor Zave had been with us for just about a month, and, in that time, I’d had to make this phone call far more times than I would have liked. He was never an ass about it, instead bending over backward to make it work.
Still. I hated it.
I dialed, and he picked up quickly and spoke in a hushed voice. “Hello.” Someone was sleeping. It was officially the world’s worst day.
“Hello,” I replied.
His footsteps echoed through the phone, my guess to walk away from a sleeping Mae. She had a tooth coming in and was far less jovial than normal. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Emergency meeting at four though, so I will be late.” I’d been trying to work seven to three so I could spend time with Maggie before bed each night. It hadn’t gone as smoothly as I had wanted.
“No worries. I can make dinner.” He was so agreeable it had me feeling extra guilty. Time to man up and tell my boss this wasn’t working. I kept telling myself I would wait until my review, but as more and more things like this happened, I knew it would have to be sooner rather than later.
“You don’t have to make dinner. I can pick something up.” Our arrangement was that as soon as I got home, I was on parenting duty, and that included dinners. He wasn’t my maid, he was the manny and there for the kids when I needed to work. I didn’t pay him enough for more than that and had to be careful not to accidentally take advantage of his good nature.
“Pish.” He sounded just like Maggie, who was copying her teacher. It was adorable.
Not that I could think of him that way. Nope, we had cleared the air pertaining to anything more than boss-employee when he officially took the job. Sure, we had both had crushes on each other back in the day, but that was the past. No more. Not going to happen. He was my employee.
So what if his smile when I came home warmed me from head to toe. So what that I woke up hard as a rock anytime my nocturnal musings wondered his way. So what that he was every bit as hot as I’d remembered. No, that was a lie. Age had done well by him, and he was hotter.
None of that mattered. What did matter was that he was making things at home that Maggie and Mae needed. The girls were thriving and happy, minus the teething pain anyway. He took Maggie to story hour and the park. He did all kinds of fun science things with her that had her babbling on and on with excitement while we ate dinner. And, at the end of the day, he would bow out and let me have time with the girls, not once overstepping his boundaries.
That last part was bittersweet. I liked spending time with him, both while the girls were awake and after bedtime. It made the house so much less lonely and felt like family. Which was why it was good that he went to his room as I got home, rarely sticking around for more than a quick chat and only seeing me later on the night of his favorite reality show about cooking. Not that I’d ever really watched if. Being in the same room with him—alone—was distracting.
“I can grab Thai,” I insisted, knowing his weakness for fresh rolls. “And you will eat with us for the trouble.” When the phone went silent, I immediately added, “Unless you have plans.”
He’d had plans exactly once since he moved in. And as wrong as it was, I was glad about that. The thought of him finding another omega to get it on with stung although it was all hypothetical. I was a selfish bastard. He should go out and have fun. He wasn’t the one with a family at home to take priority.
I sucked as a human being.
“Can you get extra of that creamy peanut sauce?”
“I can get you all the peanut sauce.” The happiness that filled me carried along with it a side of guilt. I needed to encourage him to go out and not be glued to the house. Sur
e, there was a learning curve to the job that included figuring out how to not be exhausted all the time, but he’d fit in like he’d always been there. “I will try to get out of here and home by five thirty.”
“See you then. And, Ronnie?”
“Yeah.”
“Maggie is going to ask you tonight to sign up for a thing at the library. I already told her it was 100 percent up to you, but I wanted you to know that it is on Saturday when the library is pretty packed, so if you want her to but worry about Mae and germs, I got you covered either at home or with Maggie.”
“Ronnie, sir.” Paul was in front of my desk again. I swore he was part ninja. Or I was so super focused on Zave that I missed all the things in front of me. I was going with ninja.
“Thanks, Zave. I need to go.” I hurriedly got him off the phone so that I could listen to Paul ramble on about the ineffective copy machine repair man and my need to use the printer down the hall if I had any big projects.
By the time I got through with dealing with that and my meeting, I had strengthened my resolve to push Zave to be a little more social. It was better for both of us. Probably. Better for him, for sure.
Chapter Ten
Zave
Manny Guide Page 6: Your personal life is not a matter for discussion with your employer.
“Really, I don’t mind,” I protested as Ronnie shooed me out of the house. It was Saturday morning and while technically one of my days off, it was also the day for the special dinosaur crafting at the library, an event Maggie had been looking forward to all week. “I don’t have any other plans.”
He paused in the doorway, Mae strapped to his back, Maggie at his side, bags big enough to pack for a trip to Europe shadowing his eyes, and frowned. “Well, you should have plans! We can’t monopolize all your time. Go brunch with friends or something.”
I tried not to feel hurt. “But I love dinosaurs. And you aren’t monopolizing my time.”
“It’s okay to mo-polize Uncle Zave’s time!” Maggie stomped her foot. “He loves science.”
“I do!” I held my ground. Truly, I had no other plans or actual interest in making any. Most of my friends were coupled up and doing family things this morning. Alpha honey-do lists. Then they had their kids’ sports and dance recitals and grocery shopping...all the activities. If I went out by myself, I’d just wander around the park or something. Maybe have a coffee. And I’d much rather do dinosaur crafts. Or, if he preferred to craft himself, despite his sad abilities in the area, I’d hang out at home and chat with Miss Mae.
Ronnie hesitated, and I winked at Maggie and grabbed for the opening. “How about this. I’ll go do science with Maggie then bring her back and go run some personal errands afterward.” Like...buy new socks, or something. But maybe he’d have a rest while we were gone. “If Mae doesn’t have a nap, she’ll be very cranky, and the library isn’t as restful as you might think when it’s full of little kids making dinosaur sounds.”
“Rawwwrr,” Maggie put in helpfully, tucking her arms in like a T-rex.
“How long did you say this event is?”
I had him, and we all knew it.
“Two hours, including refreshments.” I went in to close the deal. “How about if I bring home some street tacos from that new truck that’s always parked across from the library for lunch?”
He sagged, giving in. “As long as you let me pay.” He fished some bills out of his wallet and passed them, along with Maggie’s hand, to me. “And take my car. I know you swear yours is well maintained, but it’s old, and I worry about you breaking down and getting stranded.”
“Sounds like a deal.” I didn’t want to give him time to change his mind, so I scooped Maggie into my arms, something she only tolerated when she was sleepy or thought it was to her advantage like now. “Be sure to grab a nap yourself if you can, too. You’re working awfully hard.”
His smile held so much gratitude. “So have you. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how clean the house is and organized. That’s not your job, you know.”
I shrugged. “It’s something to do while Mae naps and Maggie is at school.” I watched as Maggie buckled herself in then checked to be sure it was fastened correctly. “Good job. Wave bye to Daddy. Dinosaurs await.”
We were gone closer to three hours, as it turned out, because everyone in town was in line for the amazing carnitas and al pastor tacos from the new truck. With good reason. But finally, we pulled up in front of the house, the whole car smelling delicious. I turned to face Maggie in the back seat. “Now, maybe don’t mention the churro we split on the way home.”
She frowned at me. “I’ll tell him we didn’t have a churro.”
Great, now I was encouraging deception. Plus, if she burst in and announced we didn’t have a churro, he’d know we had. She flushed bright red whenever she tried to fib. Something Ronnie and I counted on while we tried to teach her not to fib. And a fine example I was being. “No, we don’t ever say something untrue to Daddy, but maybe he won’t ask.”
She beamed. “It was a yummy churro.”
Indeed it was. I helped her from the car, along with the project she’d made that morning. I carried the giant bag of tacos.
When we got to the front door, I put a finger on my lips. “Let’s be quiet in case Daddy is napping. Or Mae.”
“Shhh!” She copied me and then tiptoed inside, peeking around. “Daddy is sleeping!” Her version of a whisper left a lot to be desired, and Ronnie, who was sacked out on the couch with one arm over his eyes, stirred.
“Do I hear a dinosaur?” he asked. “I’m afraid to look…”
“Rawwrrr!” Maggie flew across the room and flung herself on him. “I am a T-rex, and I’m going to eat you up.”
He chuckled and they wrestled, giggling until she stopped, abashed. “I bent my picture!” She held up the drawing of a group of dinosaurs enjoying swamp plants. I knew that was what it was because she told me. “Is it ruined?”
“No, ma’am,” I said and took it from her. “I’ll smooth it out and put it on the fridge right now while you tell Daddy all about the library.” As I did that and set out plates and glasses for our lunch, I listened with half an ear to their conversation as well as happy coos and chirps from Mae’s room down the hallway. The sun beamed through the big kitchen windows, and the scent of late spring flowers scented the air. Along with grilled meats, cilantro, and onions. I paused, looking out, just to enjoy being right where I was at this moment. It might not be the fantasy I’d had about being a real family with this omega, but it was the closest I was likely to get.
After lunch, I’d head out for those socks and try to think about how I could keep a little distance between me and this family before I set myself up for a world of hurt. My hottie omega was going to find another alpha one day, and when that time came, I’d leave because he might be over his crush on me. But what I felt was much more than puppy love.
“Zave?” I jumped startled, not having heard them come in.
“Yes?”
“Why does Maggie smell like cinnamon?” He came up behind me and leaned over my shoulder. “Breathe.”
I did and he sniffed. “ Ah-hah! You fiends. Where’s my churro?”
“We only got one,” Maggie chirped. “But we didn’t eat it, or we did, or I forget.”
“Well, then,” he said, suppressing chuckles, “I know where we’re going after lunch.”
Somehow, we all ended up making it a group excursion on the beautiful breezy afternoon, me pushing the stroller with Maggie skipping alongside back to the taco truck with a side stop at the library to show Ronnie where we’d done the crafts—the science stuff—and checked out books on dinosaurs. I never got the socks. Not that I needed them.
Chapter Eleven
Ronnie
I’d barely made it two blocks from the house when my phone began to ring. I was already running late for work thanks to hitting the snooze one too many times. I’d stayed up far too late the night before scouring the I
nternet for ideas for Maggie’s birthday. An online search I began after working up a frenzy in the kitchen. Past Ronnie had made some bad sleep choices, to be sure.
Lauren had always come up with Maggie’s party themes when she was alive, and I didn’t want to let my daughter down after her birthday extravaganza the year before had to be canceled. Not that she blamed me or even noticed for that matter. The heaviness in our lives overshadowed all else. But I noticed, and I wanted to make good.
And now I was tired, hangry, and nowhere closer to knowing what to do for my sweet girl—and the phone was ringing.
I pressed the button on my console. “Hello.”
“Ronnie, it’s Sally.” Sally who all but disappeared after ditching me for her deadbeat son.
“Hey, Sally,” I funneled in my calm, not wanting to give all of my frustrations for the day over to her.
“I hate to bother you, but Johnathan called from jail, and I— Can I drop the kids off.” She had to be kidding. Her son was in jail? Her enabling needed to end.
“Sorry, Sally, but I am already on my way to work.” At least she hadn’t brought them to the house.
“Hello.” Zave’s voice filled my ear. Damn her. She had brought them to the house and was going to spring it on me when it was too late to say no. “May I help you?”
“Gramma Sally,” Maggie screamed in excitement. “You brought friends.”
Crap. I felt so completely helpless.
“Sally, that is my manny. You can’t just drop the kids off there.” And just like that I was talking to no one.
I ran through my day’s schedule in my head. Three meetings. Fuck me. I turned the car around. Zave was made of amazing, but there was no way he should be responsible for her grandkids. I was sure they were decent enough kids—probably, but still.
I pulled into the driveway just as Sally pulled out of hers. So much for putting a stop to things.
A Bundle of Mannies Page 4
