Page 9 of Never Too Late for Love
After lunch, Bob sat at the table and worked with KC on one of the early learning reading books she was devouring at a scary rate. By the time they put her in school, she’d likely be reading at a second or third grade level. They all took an active role in helping her with her schoolwork, but Landry and Cris were both involved on a conference call with their LA office, and Tilly was also on the phone with someone in London, leaving Bob.
He didn’t mind. He loved helping her with her schoolwork and spending quality time like this with her. They also had math workbooks they were using, but language seemed her natural calling. As she easily read her way through another section, when she finished she smiled up at him.
“Père, why don’t you wear a ring?”
The question threw Bob for a loop. “What do you mean?”
She pointed to his bare left ring finger. “You don’t wear a ring like Mommy and Daddy and Poppa do.”
Oh, shit.
His first instinct was to yell for backup, but he couldn’t. He wouldn’t interrupt a work call unless there was blood or broken bones or fire or an imminent zombie invasion.
The current plan, as he knew it, was at the one-year anniversary of him being officially collared to them, they would then make things “official.” More “official” than they already were with the paperwork they had in place. Including presenting him with a matching wedding band. Maybe even him legally marrying Cris, if that was what the triad wanted him to do.
Lying was forbidden in this house. Obviously, they kept any explanations age-appropriate, perhaps skirting or diverting around some topics as needed, but never, ever to lie.
Not even to KC.
All this flashed through his mind in a heartbeat, and he finally said the only thing he could think of.
“I have a necklace. See? Exactly like Daddy’s. Poppa, Daddy, and Mommy gave it to me. It’s just as good as a ring.” He showed her.
She knew about it because how many times had she played with his, or Cris’, while sitting in their laps? She’d even commented once on how they matched, grabbing both and pulling the men by the necklaces to lean in until she could compare them side-by-side. At the time, Landry had smiled and told KC it was because he wanted them to match.
Through their actions, Bob and Cris and even Tilly, to a certain extent, had shown KC that Landry was the head of their household. That it was his word that ruled. Even to the point of deliberately deferring to Landry when it wasn’t necessary, just to illustrate the point, responding to KC when she asked certain questions with a reply such as, “I don’t know, let’s go ask Poppa.” Asking Landry things like what to have for dinner, or if they could plan a trip to the movies or the beach, or…anything. Just to demonstrate the fact that Landry led their house, and the other three adults in the house were happy with that structure.
“But you need aring. You’remarriedto Mommy and Poppa and Daddy,” she pressed, undeterred. “You’re mydadand need tomatchand have aring.”
Oh, boy.
She wasn’t diverting as easily as he’d hoped she might.
He started with what he thought he could best deal with. “Yes, I am married to them.”
That had been the planned response to KC by the adults as a whole for if or when she asked similar questions. They made no differentiation between Tilly’s legal marriage to Landry, and Cris and Bob’s relationship to each other or them.
They were all “married” to each other.
“Then you should have a ring, too. Married people wear rings.”
He hoped this answer wouldn’t get him punished later. “Not all married people, sweetheart. Besides, that decision’s up to Poppa. I don’t need a ring to know they love me, or to prove how much I love them, and that we’re a family. A ring doesn’t make a family—the people and love do.”
She still wasn’t satisfied. “I should ask Poppa when he’ll get you one. I want you to match. You should all match.”
Shit!
The last thing Bob wanted was the sadist thinking he’d set her up to do that.
On the other end of the spectrum, he didn’t want Landry giving him a ring simply because Landry could rarely say no to KC. Landry would give her anything to make her happy if the three of them didn’t gang up on the sadist and keep him reined in.
If Landry gave Bob a ring, Bob wanted it to be becauseLandrywanted him to have it, not because Landry wanted to make KC happy.
“Sweetheart, you shouldn’t. That’s Poppa’s decision to make. He might have plans for it to be a surprise, and we wouldn’t want to ruin that, would we?”
Her eyes widened and she shook her head. “No! I wouldn’t want to ruin Poppa’s surprise!” She placed a finger over her lips. “Shh!”
Nervously relieved, he burst out laughing. “That’s right.” He mimicked her gesture. “Shh!”
