Vehicle safety did mean a lot to him. He lost his mother and sister in a car accident, so I definitely got it.
I kissed his hand, feeling that tension, but it melted away with the heat of my lips. His large body visibly calmed. Soon, we were headed back on the highway toward the airport.
“You really think I hover?” Royal asked once we got to the airport. He had a couple of our bags, and Dorian had already headed inside with his own bag. He definitely had his head buried in his phone as he left, and I think we all knew why.
But I didn’t say anything. I found it cute how obsessed he was with Sloane. He was certainly like his father in that regard. The boys in my life loved hard, and Royal certainly gave Dorian a hard time about it today. He’d wanted Dorian to stick around and help with the bags, but I’d said he could go on ahead.
“I was just giving you a hard time, babe,” I said, and he grunted again. I rubbed his arm. “It’s good you’re so protective over Dorian, but he’s okay.”
He was more than okay. He turned out to be such a good kid, a good man, and a huge part of that was because of his father.
Royal gazed toward Dorian, who was at the airport doors on his phone. I think it was really hitting my husband that our only son would be leaving soon. Royal hadn’t acted like that bothered him, but maybe it did. He wasn’t really close with his own father, because his father was terrible.
His dad had left a dark shadow everywhere he’d gone, so the world was better now that his dad was no longer around. I knew Royal felt the same way. His father had been incredibly abusive before he passed.
“I just want him to turn out okay, you know?” Royal said quietly.
I placed a hand on his chest. “He is okay. He isgoodanda big part of that is because of you.”
“Yeah.” He tried to brush it off, his eyes averting, but he should never wonder about being a good parent. He was agreatparent.
“Remember Dorian’s fifth birthday party?”
“I try to forget,” Royal grumbled, and I laughed. Royal’s eyes lifted. “It was a clusterfuck. Everything fell apart.”
Hewouldremember the bad bits. I looped an arm through his. “That’s not what I remember.”
I remembered a chaotic party, but I also remembered a happy little boy. I remembered a son who loved his birthdaybecauseof his father. My husband was a great dad.
My husband was an amazing dad.
Royal
“I don’t care if you got a flat. I paid you to be here three hours ago, and, if you’re not, I will sue you within an inch of your life,” I gritted into my phone. Chaos was literally around me right now: screaming children and frantic parents chasing after screaming children. They all expected a Cirque Du Soleil–esque experience in twenty minutes. It was an experience I paid for, and I didn’t care if the vendor’s truck broke down on the highway. I gripped my cellphone, my eye twitching. “Get here. Or I will end you.”
“Yes, Mr. Prinze. We’ll do our best. We?—”
I clicked off my phone only for it to ring again. I picked it up. “What?—”
“Dad?”
I glanced down toward dark eyes. They were like his mother’s and incredibly kind. My son hadn’t had to deal with the bullshit I had when I was around his age, and I was glad. He still had light in them, and, currently, they were accompanied by a frown for some reason. It was my son’s fifth birthday party today, and he was sad. He tugged at my pant leg. “Can I show you something now?”
He’d asked several times before, and, normally, he completely had my attention. I prided myself on not being like my own father. He was so preoccupied with life, and that was not the father I wanted to be to my kid.
I pressed a hand to my phone. “Just one more second, bud. I’m trying to make sure everyone gets here for your party.”
Not only were the acrobats late, but the food vendors brought the wrong selection of foods earlier today. Five-year-olds ate burgers and chicken fingers, not escargot and shit, which was what they brought. Apparently, there was a miscommunication, and they brought food from another event to my son’s birthday party.
Basically, a lot of fuckers were going to get sued today.
I knew it was the caterers on the line. I recognized the number, but I was dividing my attention between that and my son right now.
Dorian chewed his lip. “It’ll only take a second.”
“I swear, bud. Just give me a few more seconds and you’ll have my full attention.”
“Okay.” His head lowered, which made me feel like shit. I just wanted this party to be perfect for him.
