Closing my eyes, I bring my hands down and pull the sleeve over my hand to cover it. I’m so focused on ridding myself of the memories that I don’t hear Voss come into the bathroom. He rests a hand on my shoulder, and I practically jump out of my skin.
“Sorry,” he says quickly and pulls me against him. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you didn’t hear me.”
I shake my head, catching my breath and trying to calm my racing heart. “It’s okay.”
He kisses the corner of my lips. “I brought something for you.”
“Yeah?”
Voss takes a step back and grips my hand, pulling it away from my body. He lets it go when in front of me and pulls out a small piece of fabric. I watch as he slides it on. I stare as the 718 on my skin disappears under it.
The fabric is thin, fingerless, and almost identical to the tone of my skin. A weird sense of peace settles over me as I look at my hand and can’t see the brand any longer. The fabric feels thin, but it’s not transparent.
“Mark is looking into different options to get rid of it, short of tattooing over it like a lot of people do to hide scars. There are a lot of reconstruction techniques used for burn victims that he’s researching. He sent me a link to purchase these for the time being.”
“I can’t see it,” I say, somewhat shocked.
“I know. Pretty epic, no?”
I grin. “Yeah. Thanks.”
He grips the back of my head and kisses me soundly. “Ready?”
“Yep.”
I have no idea what we’re doing. All I know is that Daddy Jalon wants to talk to us. We haven’t talked about the ordeal in the weeks I’ve been home. I’ve been surprised, honestly. I thought for sure there’d be some discussion.
We cross the hall to Axl’s room. The nanny is there already. Axl has been bathed, and he’s wrapped in a towel. One of those cuteones with a hood. The hood has dragon ears. I love everything about it.
“Thanks, Margo.”
“Of course,” she replies. “Emily will be here in a few hours for our shift change, so if I don’t see you again, have a good evening.”
Voss smiles and wraps an arm around her shoulders for a half-hug. “Thank you. You as well. Give that husband of yours a swift kick in the ass if he’s let the house go while you’ve been here.”
Margo sighs. “I’m sending him to you for a whooping.” She kisses Axl’s forehead and flashes me a smile on her way to the bathroom. Probably to clean up after Axl’s bath.
I love how everyone who works here quickly becomes part of the family. Axl’s nannies are no different.
I watch as Voss dresses his son. He pulls me over and places my hand on Axl’s belly while he readies a bag. There are straps on the changing table, but he doesn’t like to use them. They’re not actually going to prevent a rolling baby from toppling over.
Axl looks up at me. His arms and legs kick out, and his mouth opens. He’s all drooly. He’s always drooly. I love his hair. It’s so damn long already.
It doesn’t take long before Voss has the backpack on his back and picks Axl up. He kisses me again and then heads for the door. I grin as I follow. He kisses me a lot. At every single transition in what we’re doing. Even if it’s something as simple as changing the position we’re in while watching television.
Christmas is in less than a week. You can tell as you walk through the big house. It’s decorated like a department store forthe season. It’s elegant, playful, and magical. I could spend days just wandering around.
We step into the elevator and go down to the parking garage. I climb into the passenger seat as Voss gets Axl strapped in. Even the concrete columns in the parking garage under the house are wrapped in garland. There’s a tree at the entrance and lights draped all over the place. It’s beautiful for a parking garage.
We’re just heading to the office building. The Estate is expansive, so it takes a few minutes to get there. We don’t park underground this time, but right out front. Voss always says it’s a privilege he takes as being the son of the king.
I love that he and his brothers are now referring to Daddy Jalon as king, like we do. It’s pretty funny. I wonder what Jalon would say about it.
Then we’re unloading again. It’s always a process with a kid. I don’t mind, but I certainly appreciate needing fewer things with me as an adult. As it is, I swing Axl’s pack onto my back and grab the bouncy seat from the trunk while Voss unbuckles his kid. It’d probably have been less work to walk here.
It’s funny that we carry all this stuff with us, since IknowVoss’ office has everything already. Not this specific seat, but three different options. He has a mini fridge filled with breast milk, and his second office room, which holds all kinds of electronics, now has a wall of shelves filled with baby needs—diapers, blankets, clothes, toys. You name it, it’s there.
I love that he brings Axl to work often. He has the option to utilize his nannies, but that’s only reserved forsometimes.They’re always there in case, but generally speaking, he likes to father his kid, as he says.
