Page 7 of Soothe Me, Daddy
“Yes.”
Henley pouted. “Why? I told you my whole sordid family past.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“What happened to being open and honest?”
Isaac grinned. “I thought you’d throw that back in my face.” He sighed. “Alright. Jeremy is the child next down from me, Sarah then Felicity. Felicity is married to Van and has something in common with your family. They’ve just found their surrogate.”
Henley clapped his hands together in small but fast movements. “Yay! That’s wonderful news! Oh, wow. I know you’re likely to already do this, but make sure you pamper Felicity throughout the pregnancy. She’ll feel the loss of not being the one bringing the child into the world.”
“How do you know?”
“When I first found out about our circumstances, I researched surrogacy and adoption, trying to figure out the differences and what that made us as a family. It was when I was a teenager and feeling a little…lost, I guess. I finally approached someone for more information, and they suggested I speak to a surrogate to get their side of the story. You know, why they chose to give another couple a family and all that. It was one of the things the surrogate said to me. People who were unable to carry their babies felt at a loss, useless almost, but they are the most important because they can rest and get everything ready for when the baby comes. Naturally, they’ll need their energy.”
Isaac was silent for a moment. “That was a brave thing you did.”
Henley studied his hands that were linked in his lap, a small smile playing on his face as he preened at the pleasure of Isaac’s words.
“I will say, though, my question was about how you knew I would already do it.”
How was he going to answer the question without giving away his obsession with Isaac? “I’ve noticed you bring gifts in for people in the office.” He wouldn’t expand on his answer.
“Hmm.”
Henley threw himself into the topic of work, asking questions about what would happen when they got there and what he would need to do. Before too long, they had arrived at the store, parking close to the staff entrance. Isaac slid a laminated sheet onto the dashboard, which Henley quickly picked up and read before replacing. It told the car park attendants that they were there for work.
Unclipping his seat belt, Henley exited the car. He left his backpack but grabbed his lunch bag before joining Isaac at the boot, where Isaac was going through several bits of paperwork. When Henley began questioning him again, Isaac pivoted to face him and rested both hands against Henley’s shoulders.
“Henley?” At Henley’s nod, Isaac said, “Breathe.”
Henley inhaled a shaky breath, exhaling slowly.
“Good. There is plenty of time to learn everything. Do not worry. Calm yourself. I will show you everything. Eventually.”
Nodding his head, Henley gave a cheeky smile. “Everything?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.
Isaac snorted and shook his head, returning to his papers, ignoring Henley’s words. Henley wondered how long it would take for him to get under Isaac’s skin.
When they entered the store, signed in and clipped visitor’s badges to their shirts, they were led to a sizable room filled with cardboard boxes, tables and a few chairs. Henley’s eyebrows rose at the sight of so many boxes, especially as he knew this was one of the smaller stores.
“Henley?”
Henley glanced across to where Isaac was placing his bag on the table. When his gaze connected with Isaac’s, Isaac spoke, “Breathe.”
Chuckling at the second reminder, he danced to the table. “Henley, reporting for duty, sir,” he pronounced, standing tall. He smiled at the snort that escaped Isaac’s mouth.
“Right, first things first. We have to go through all these boxes and sort them into alphabetical order.”
Henley’s eyes widened. “What?”
Isaac grinned. “Welcome to the world of executives.” Isaac strode over to the first box, opened it and pulled out a plastic covered item of clothing. “The best way to start is to open a few boxes first and sort them onto the tables into piles. Once some of the boxes are empty, we can start filling them up with certain letters of the alphabet. So, a and b together, c and d together, and so on.”
“Could they not have been put in the boxes in alphabetical order?” Henley pondered aloud.
“Possibly, but the warehouse works outtheirbest way to gettheirjob done as fast as they can while doing what they should be doing. Then it’s our turn to do our best job with what we have to work with.”
“Surely, it wouldn’t be too difficult to print the name labels off in alphabetical order; the clothes would be put in boxes the same way.” Henley opened a box several down from Isaac and started sorting.
