Page 21 of Love Me, Daddy
“Good morning, sweet boy. Did you sleep well?” Loren braced himself on his elbow, tracing Nathan’s stomach with his free hand.
Nathan’s mouth curled in a content smile. “Yes, thank you, Daddy. Our bed is comfy.” He snuggled his head into the pillow and closer to Loren’s naked chest, taking a deep breath.
“I’m glad you think so. I am going to spend the day at the library today. I have a bit of work to complete by the end of the week.”
Nathan opened his eyes, blinking sleepily. “What should I do?”
“You can do whatever you’d like to do, Nate. Make yourself at home.” Loren kissed his nose. “What would you like for breakfast? Pancakes? Toast?”
Biting his lips, Nathan replied, “Pancakes, please, Daddy.”
“Pancakes, it is.”
Nathan reached up a hand to cup Loren’s cheek but hesitated before he made contact. Loren covered the hand and pressed it to his cheek, turning to kiss Nathan’s palm, the scratchy stubble tickling the sensitive skin.
“Are you okay?”
Nathan’s gaze roamed the expanse of Loren’s face, noticing the dips and valleys in his skin and loving every one of them. Loving? What was he thinking? He cleared his throat. “Yes, Daddy. I’m okay.”
“Good.” Loren leaned down and kissed Nathan once more. “Let me get breakfast done, and we’ll shower and get you dressed for the day.”
After circuiting the house once more, he decided to go and visit Robbie and Daisy again. Not wanting to ruin his new clothes, he re-dressed in his old street clothes, as he called them now, and packed a few pieces of fruit and a couple of yoghurts, along with some tinned meat, into his backpack and, grabbing the spare set of keys from where Loren had pointed them out, he locked the house and drifted down the road.
He did have a small amount of money in his pocket, but he didn’t want to waste it on a taxi; therefore, he took a meandering stroll, watching as the houses changed to shops, then to high-rises. In no time, he was at the fence, cutting his way across the open space and knocking on the door in the pattern they had all agreed on.
Daisy opened the door hesitantly, beaming when she saw him, making him feel settled once more.
She pulled the door wider. “Come on in. Why didn’t you come in? You know you’re always welcome here.”
“I wasn’t sure if you two had planned to find somewhere else to stay. I didn’t want to intrude on someone else.” Nathan glanced around. “Where’s Robbie?”
Daisy went back to her blanket, sitting against the wall. “He went to see if there were any job openings listed at the shelter.”
Nathan raised his eyebrows. “I thought he didn’t want to?” He made himself comfortable on the floor, stretching his legs out in front of him and setting the backpack down.
Daisy stared at her hands, rubbing them together in slow motion. “He doesn’t, but…”
Nathan frowned when Daisy stopped talking. His stomach cramped. “Daisy? What’s wrong? Why is Robbie searching for work when you both have been vocal about being happy as you are?” His breathing came faster. His thoughts were on the worst scenarios, one being Daisy was ill, and they needed the money for medical expenses. Surely, they would ask him for help if they needed something. He was in a better position to help them now, and he would be able to get a job himself to help pay for it.
Daisy peered up at him, tears in her eyes, a small smile on her face. “I’m pregnant,” she whispered.
Nathan stared at her, mouth flapping. All of the difficulties they were about to face ran through his mind. He could now understand why Robbie was out looking for a job. “Wow. Congratulations?” He said the word as a question because, although he’d seen her contentment, he wasn’t sure if it was something they were happy about or not.
Daisy snickered. “Yes, thanks. It’s a happy thing. Unexpected but happy.”
Nathan moved over next to Daisy and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Kissing the side of her head, he murmured, “You’ll be great parents.”
“Thanks, Nathan.”
“Have you talked about what you plan to do?”
“A little. Enough that Robbie is job hunting. We’re not sure what the plans about housing are yet. We need to speak with the shelter and see if they have any ideas of what we could do and where we could go. But it’s little yet; we have a bit of time to sort things out.”
Nathan squeezed her shoulders and rested his head on top of hers.
They stayed in that position for a short time until Nathan remembered what he’d brought with him. “I come bearing gifts.” He reached for his bag, pulling out the food and showing Daisy.
She pressed her nose against the oranges and inhaled, eyes closing. She held the oranges as if they were precious, which, in some ways, they were. “Thanks, Nathan,” she repeated. Still holding the fruit, she settled back against the wall again as Nathan placed the other items on the small box next to him. “How are things with Loren?”
