Junkyard Dog
Page 19
“Good plan. I hate running. I’ll do it if I get to crush someone at the end, but just to run, no, I’d rather not.”
I lean my head against his shoulder and sigh. “I love you, Angus Fishhead Hayes.”
“Fishhead?”
“I don’t know your middle name, and I thought that one fit.”
“It’s Michael.”
“Oh, that’s much better.”
Hayes nuzzles my forehead with his lips. “What’s your middle name? You didn’t put it on any of your forms.”
“Don’t laugh.”
“I promise nothing,” he says, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s Corn.”
Hayes snorts. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
“I am,” I say, grinning at his expression. “My mother didn’t give me a middle name. She said the only one she liked was “Cane,” but she thought it might make me hate her. She wanted Pot for Honey and Moss for Peat.”
“What about the twins?”
“They’re both Eddison. I figured if they had good middle names they’d resent using their silly first ones. I think silly names make people stronger.”
“Didn’t help Honey.”
“Oh, I don’t know. There’s a tough chick inside her somewhere. She just hasn’t been introduced yet.”
Hayes kisses my forehead and then my lips. I moan at the taste of steak on his tongue, but he won’t let the kiss deepen.
“If we have a son, his middle name can be Peat,” he says, returning to his steak. “I do insist we spell it correctly.”
“What if we only have girls, or I can’t get pregnant because your sperm is faulty? What will you do for an heir?”
“First, girls can be heirs as long as they act like me. Second, there is nothing wrong with my sperm. Third, if all else fails, I have your kids. They’re smart, and I’m fairly sure I can turn Cricket into a no-nonsense badass.”
“She does have the bitchy thing down.”
“I like how she stares at people until they’re uncomfortable. I wasn’t even that big a jerk at her age. She’s advanced, I guess.”
Smiling, I take a deep breath and accept Hayes and I are getting married. I’ll be this man’s wife. I might even have more children. I hadn’t believed we’d arrive at this moment since Hayes can be a tricky man to read. Now he’s put all his cards out on the table and made clear what he wants.
THIRTY EIGHT - HAYES
Balthazar’s skin glows from yesterday’s spa treatment. I want to mock the old man for getting a facial, but I keep my mouth shut instead. Later, Candy and I can giggle at Dad’s expense. For now, I’m on my best behavior. Though I think I’m giving myself hemorrhoids from behaving for so long.
On our second to last day at Disney World, we take out two golf carts and spend the early morning enjoying a manicured course. Candy drives her cart as well as she does her car, meaning I have to veer out of her way repeatedly to avoid colliding. She flips me off and tells me to stay in my lane.
“She’s an awful driver,” Balthazar says, sitting next to me.
“I’m not marrying her for her driving.”
“Are you sure you want to settle down? Kids are a big hassle.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I mutter.
“You were good, but her kids might be evil. I’ve never trusted twins.”
“They’re good kids. They just like messing with people. They get that from Candy.”
“Lizzy Anne says Candy is a gold digger.”
Imagining the housekeeper relaxing at the pool, I wonder if I should have a few words with her when we get back.
“Lizzy Anne’s opinion doesn’t mean shit to me.”
“You ought to get a prenuptial. I saw on TV how you need one.”
“Well, if it’s on TV, it must be true.”
“Don’t mock me, boy,” he says, frowning under his goofy, wide hat.
“If I want to piss away my money on a woman I love, what’s it to you or Lizzy Anne?”
“Just looking out for you.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I like Candy,” Baltazar says. “She’s a horrible driver and will probably kill you while you sleep, but I think she’ll make a good mother to your kids. That’ll be important after you’re dead.”
Rolling my eyes, I look at Candy doing circles around the next hole. “Candy is my Gladys. I’ll be happy to die first, so I don’t have to live without her.”
Balthazar frowns at me. He’s probably pissed at me for comparing his precious wife to my future precious wife. Or maybe he thinks it’s strange to see me sentimental. Either way, I park the cart next to Candy’s and climb out.
“My grandpa crashed his cart one time,” Chipper tells me as I carry the club to where the ball rests.
“Old people aren’t great drivers. They’re usually better than your mother, though.”
Candy pokes me with her club and then plays swords with Cricket.
“No, Grandpa was drunk when he crashed.”
“Well, that would do it,” I say, leveling the club with the ball.
Chipper watches me hit the ball and then imitates me when I cover my eyes to see where it landed. Balthazar stands next to me and shakes his head.
“You’re rusty. I best take you golfing more often back in White Horse.”
I smile at his comment before hiding my grin by scratching my beard. Chipper scratches his chin like I did. He follows me around, imitating my every move. Chipper even decides to join me in my cart, and not because he’s afraid of his mother’s driving.
Candy and Cricket have no interest in golfing today. They keep mentioning how much better miniature golfing is and how this course needs more windmills. I consider telling them to wait for us at the hotel if they’re so bored, but the girls have fun goofing around in the cart and acting out scenes from Caddy Shack. At least for the first hour.
“We’re thinking about going back to the park and shop for souvenirs,” Candy says while adjusting my baseball cap. “You and Balthazar can spend quality time alone.”
“What about this little man?” I ask, patting Chipper’s shoulder.
The boy stares at me and then looks at his mother before finally focusing on his sister. He doesn’t know where he wants to go. He likely wants to go with his mom and sister but is afraid to leave my side.
“This kind of golf is pretty boring for a kid your age. Why don’t you go with your mom?” I suggest and then add, “When we get back to White Horse, we’ll go to a miniature golf course. I own one, you know?”
Chipper looks back at Candy. “We’ll go to his miniature golf course when we get home,” he tells her, and I realize the kid is nearly in tears.
Kneeling down, Candy hugs him and whispers something in his ear. He nods and a single tear spills down his cheek. Her fingers tickle at his gut, and he laughs. Just like that, he’s happy again.
“We’ll see you back at the hotel,” she tells me and stands on her tippy toes to kiss me goodbye. “Call me when you’re done here, so we can meet you.”
“Have fun. If anyone messes with you, call me.”
Candy walks to the cart before glancing back with a smile. “It’s Disney World, boss. No one is going to mess with us.”
Sitting next to her brother in the cart, Cricket says, “If they do, I’ll nail them in the balls.”
Before I can respond, Candy speeds away. I watch her make sharp turns and hear the kids screaming in delight. They’re as bad as she is.
“I don’t like her,” Balthazar says after taking his shot and missing badly. “I’ll take the penalty.”
“Why exactly don’t you like her?”
“She hassles Lizzy Anne.”
Picking up the balls, I walk to the cart. “Lizzy Anne’s job is to take care of you. Candy’s job is to make sure Lizzy Anne takes care of you. She stays on her ass, so I don’t have to.”
“She’s too rude about it.”
“That’s how Candy is.”
“No, she’s nice to me. She only gives Li
zzy Anne shit,” Balthazar says, sitting next to me.
“She’s only nice to you because she thinks she has to be. Candy is rude to pretty much everyone. She regularly hangs up on people for mumbling on the phone or if they mispronounce my name or a million other reasons. She annoys half of my employees and the other half straight out hate her. Lizzy Anne isn’t special.”
Balthazar says nothing until we stop at the next hole. He’s slow to leave the cart, and I suspect he’s already tired.
“So she’s like a girl version of you.”
“Yeah.”
“No wonder you love her. You’ve always been arrogant,” he says, winking at me and then sliding out of the cart. “Figures you’d want to marry yourself.”
After Balthazar realizes Candy isn’t gunning for Lizzy Anne, he’s on board with the marriage. No more talk of gold diggers or evil children. He’s a happy motherfucker even though I kick his ever loving ass the rest of the afternoon. The poor bastard finally gives up and watches me. I admit showing off a little for dear old dad. Clearly spending time with the twins has put me in a childlike mood.
THIRTY NINE - CANDY
The kids are exhausted by the time we finish shopping at Big Top Souvenirs in Fantasyland. I drag the bags to where we can catch a bus back to the resort. Hayes texts to say he’s an hour from finishing. I text back to say I need sleep and ask how he’s doing with his daddy/son time. He sends me the middle finger emoticon. My man is always eloquent.
Sitting on a bench, I hand Chipper the bottle of soda we bought in the store. He takes a gulp and hands it to Cricket. She drinks a little and leans against me.
“I love it here,” she mumbles.
“Me too,” an exhausted Chipper says.
“Me three,” I add and then decide the time has come to mention Hayes’s proposal. “Hayes wants to marry me and become a family.”
Cricket tightens her grip on my hand. “No.”
“Why no?” I gently ask, having assumed she wouldn’t be excited.
“I don’t want to move. I like our house. I want to stay where we are. So no.”
Chipper looks at me in the same way he did on the golf course. He’s torn between wanting what he has and craving what Hayes offers.
“I love him,” I explain as people pass us.
“He yelled at you.”
“He yells at everyone. He also apologized, and he never apologizes. He loves me, and I think he’s falling in love with you two too. That’s why he brought us here. To make you guys happy.”
“I don’t want to move,” Cricket whines, crying against me. “I like our house.”
Chipper can’t handle his sister crying and begins to sob too. I ignore all the people looking at us. Screw those idiots. Their kids were likely bawling earlier in the day. Now my kids get their turn.
“I was thinking about Dreamy,” I say, wrapping them against me. “She’s so scared of the new house, and it might take a long time before she gets used to Hayes’s house too. I think we should stay at our house some nights and his house other nights. That way, Dreamy will get used to the changes. Nightmare will probably need time to adjust too. He’s used to having the house to himself.”
Hearing about the animals calms their tears.
“If you marry Hayes, we’ll live in his house?” Chipper asks.
“Well, technically they’re both his houses. We’d eventually move to his bigger house. We don’t have to do it right away. I think Hayes needs time to get used to us living there. We all need to get used to new stuff so we won’t rush.”
Tears over, they rest against me and wait for the bus. Cricket takes a sip of the soda and then clears her throat.
“Hayes got us a nice room at the hotel,” she says. “That cost him a lot of money.”
“He wants us to be happy.”
“He scared that little kid yesterday when we were in line,” she says, grinning at me. “The kid kept staring at him, and he stared back, and the kid cried. That was funny.”
“He’s a scary guy, but he’s good inside.”
“Like Cricket,” Chipper says, and his sister sticks her tongue out at him.
“I like Hayes,” Chipper says as we stand for the approaching bus. “He’s nicer than Dad.”
“Yes, he is.”
Cricket helps me with the bags, and I see her already adjusting to this new reality.
“I wonder if Nightmare and Dreamy will fight,” Chipper asks once we’re on the ride back to the hotel.
“Probably. We’ll keep them apart if we have to. They’ll adjust with time, and we’re in no rush.”
The kids smile at me, and I feel a burden lift from me. Soon we shuffle into the hotel and take the elevator up to our room. The minute the air conditioning hits our sweaty bodies, we’re ready to crash. I drop the bags on the couch and walk into the kids’ room where two beds await. They crawl into one and then watch me full of hope I’ll take the other. I kick off my shoes and collapse on the second bed.
The kids laugh at my dramatic display before they get comfortable. A few minutes later, I hear them sleeping. I don’t take long to follow them into dreamland. Sometime later, Hayes returns to the hotel. I’m too tired to lift my head. I don’t want to call out to him and wake up the kids. I just wait for him to find us and hope he’ll curl up with me.
Hayes moves around the suite for what feels like forever before I feel the bed shift. His fingers slide up my spine and caress the hair from my neck. He kisses the exposed skin and then relaxes against me. I smile at how the four of us must look like a normal family after a long day on vacation. I doze off thinking this is probably the first time Hayes has been normal in his entire life.
FORTY - CANDY
On our last day at Disney World, the four of us try to get in every last bit of fun. We hit our favorite rides, eat at our favorite restaurants, and spend the evening watching the animals on the savanna outside of the hotel. I know we didn’t do a million things on the trip, but there’s no time to visit every sight and ride every attraction. Hayes promises the kids we’ll come back soon, and they believe him. They’re realizing he isn’t their father who talks a great game yet never comes through. Good or bad, Hayes is an open book. If he says something, it happens.
At our last dinner, Balthazar and Lizzy Anne join us at a long table at a Mexican-style restaurant. Hayes claims his father thinks I hate Lizzy Anne. I claim I don’t and spend a good part of dinner proving my lie.
Balthazar finally says we don’t have to pretend. Family doesn’t have to like each other. Lizzy Anne and I share a smile at the thought of being family. Then we spend the rest of dinner ignoring each other.
Back in the hotel room, the twins babble wildly at their grandparents about everything they've done on the trip. Grandma and Grandpa Eddison sound genuinely happy, yet I suspect they’re unsure about this man suddenly playing the father role. I know they’ll want to visit and meet Hayes. I know he’ll scare them initially, but they’ll end up respecting him. The Eddisons appreciate money and power and Hayes possesses both.
After the twins crash from exhaustion, I sit on the couch in the suite and look at my ring still in the box.
“We’ll get it resized in White Horse,” Hayes says, stripping down for bed. “I figured it was better to get a size too small than too big. I know how women are about their weight.”
Laughing, I watch him disappear into the bathroom and listen to the shower. Waiting for him to return, I study the ring and think about the last week. I never had a father yet never missed out. I spent most of my adult life without a man, and I never missed that either. I was satisfied because being unsatisfied meant becoming my mother. She gave up, and I refused to.
Now I had Hayes, and he needed me. Not to look pretty or fuck him. No, he needed someone to have his back. From following him around White Horse, I learned how many people viewed Hayes as indestructible. He was a flesh and blood man, though, and needed someone capable of letting him be weak when need be.
“I always thought people were full of shit when they said they needed a vacation from their vacation,” I say, closing and locking the bedroom door. “I get that saying now.”
“If you’re asking for a few days off when we return, the answer is no.”
Crawling on the bed, I smile. “You’re a tough boss.”
Hayes shares my smile and reaches out to caress my sunburned skin. “You look sexy with that burnt nose.”
I rest on my knees and drink in all of Hayes. With him wearing only boxers, I decide it’s time to get reacquainted with what’s hiding underneath.
“Hello,” I say, stroking his cock through the fabric. “Remember me?”
Hayes reaches out for me, but I shake my head. “Keep your hands to yourself. I need to concentrate. Oh, and no holding my head or shoving your humdinger down my throat or maneuvering me.”
“You’re finally giving me a blowjob, huh? Should I be worried?”
“For my safety?” I ask, grinning. “Sure. For your dick’s safety? Sure. This could go terribly wrong.”
I tug off his black boxers and stroke the colossal dick. Hayes says nothing and watches me like I might be a threat. I don’t blame him for worrying. I’ve given two blowjobs in my life, and I bit down both times. In each case, the dick was half his size and my mouth hasn’t gotten any wider.
“Be nice to me,” I tell the dick while my hand slides along its length. “I’m the sweet lady attached to the vagina you enjoy pounding.”
Hayes fights a grin, but he looks nervous.
“Shh, don’t cry,” I say and lick the drop of pre-cum.
Exhaling hard, Hayes is a minute from simply fucking me. The tension of having an inexperienced chick like me in control of his dick is palpable. I ignore him and focus on the hard flesh in my hands.
My tongue bathes the length of it and the damn thing twitches with appreciation. I smile and take another long lick before teasing the slit. I think Hayes says my name, but I’m too focused on staying focused.