“So.” Jayne poured coffee from a French press into a travel mug. “You’re up early. Military man, I take it? Up at the crack of dawn every day?”
“No. Not actually. It’s been seven years since my last deployment. I got up this morning because I wanted to talk to you.”
Jayne, who’d been rushing back and forth across the kitchen, stopped. He looked at Harlow, his lips pushed to the side. “You… wanted to talk to me?”
“You’re sounding like Simon, hesitating like that.” Harlow grinned. He lifted another spoonful of food to Parker’s lips, and to his delight, Parker ate greedily. If Harlow had to guess, his six-month growth spurt would be hitting sooner rather than later. “Yes, I wanted to talk to you. It’s… well, it’s probably going to sound a little strange, but bear with me.”
“Okay.” Jayne narrowed his eyes. “You’re going to try to sell me on an MLM, aren’t you? Let me tell you now, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Unless you want to give me a fantastic opportunity to be a spokesperson for biodegradable glitter, I’m—”
“What?” Harlow blinked and furrowed his brow, looking away from Parker momentarily. Jayne had gone back to the counter and appeared to be fixing the first of two sandwiches.
“Biodegradable glitter.” Jayne waved a hand. “Glitter is made of tiny little pieces of plastic—copolymers, mostly. It’s classified as micro plastic, and it’s doing a fantastic job of shitting up the environment. So, I’m all about biodegradable glitter. I mean, I need to shine one way or another, so I might as well do it while not fucking up the only planet we have, you know?”
“No, I mean…” Harlow had wanted to ask what an MLM was, but after Jayne’s impassioned reply, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. “I’m not trying to do anything like that. All I wanted to do was ask if you’d be interested in joining the support group I’m a part of. It’s for single dads. It’s, uh, it’s not official, or anything, but the guys are really nice, and a few of them have young children. If you ever feel overwhelmed while raising Parker, or like you’re not a good enough dad, or if you feel like you’re making a mistake, they’re really good about helping.”
“A support group?” Jayne had been layering lunch meat over bread, but stopped. “You think I need—”
“I don’t think that needing help is a bad thing,” Harlow admitted with a shrug. He dabbed at Parker’s face, clearing away the food that had dribbled from his lips. “I mean, if I did, I wouldn’t belong to the support group at all. But really, we’re just a group of friends who help each other through tough times. I feel like it’s hard, sometimes, to meet people you can be comfortable around, and who understand where you’re at in life. I thought maybe you’d appreciate the offer.”
Jayne said nothing.
“No pressure, obviously.” Harlow fed another spoonful of baby food to Parker, who gurgled happily. “Parenthood, especially single parenthood, can be lonely, but I’m not gonna pretend I know where you are in life, or what you really need. I just want you to know that if you want in, you’re welcome. I’ll write down the info for you, and you can decide whether you want to follow through, okay?”
Jayne went back to layering meat on his sandwich. “For a celebrity bodyguard, you’re weird, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, I know.” Harlow snorted. He set Parker’s spoon aside and lifted him off the table, settling him against his shoulder to burp. “But what I do and who I am… they’re two different things. A lot of people let their work define them. That’s fine, but that’s not me. I’m Harlow first. I hope I’ll always be.”
“I’m still not happy you’re here, for the record,” Jayne said. He cut the sandwich he’d made on the diagonal, then placed it in a Ziploc bag. “… But I see you extending the olive branch, and I appreciate it.”
“So you’ll think about it?” Harlow asked.
Jayne shrugged. “Yeah. I mean, I’m thinking about it right now. Whether or not I’ll act on it is the question. Who knows? Not me. Not now, at least.”
“I think we might be able to help.” Harlow tapped Parker’s back, his hand firm. “Even if everything is fine with Parker, I know that there are other things in your life that aren’t, and… it might be nice to talk to someone about it, I think. I know that it was for me.”
Silence. Jayne hung his head, but only for a moment. The next, he pushed back from the counter and headed to the fridge to return the remaining cold cuts and one of the sandwiches he’d prepared and bagged.
“I take it you’re getting ready to leave for work,” Harlow said. “As soon as I get Parker to burp, I’ll write out the info and leave it on the kitchen table.”
“Thanks.”
Harlow had done his best—he’d taken steps to bring a new Single Dad into the fold. Jayne would be a good fit, and with someone so outspoken, Harlow doubted that Knot would feel lonely or get bored. It’d be good for him, and good for the group in general. Fresh blood always made things more interesting.
