Chapter 96 - Daddy Dominant's Good Girl

“What are you doing, Mommy?” Ken asked when I pulled his suitcase out of his closet.

“Pick out some of your favorite toys. We are going away for a few days,” I told him.

I put the suitcase on the bed and started folding his clean clothes into it.

“I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to lose my new toys,” Ken whined, rubbing his eyes with his fist.

“You’re not going to lose your toys, I promise,” I assured.

Regardless of whether Ellis chose to be with Nancy or not, Ken wouldn’t lose his toys. I’d make sure of that. I didn’t need to tell him that he might not get to come back here to play with his toys.

Ken mumbled to himself as he started picking out some of his absolute favorites. I got them into his suitcase and then hurried to Ellis’ room. He wasn’t inside, which I was grateful for at the moment.

He was probably catching up with Nancy.

Shaking my head, I grabbed my unpacked suitcase. In all the craziness, I hadn’t even had a chance to ‘move in’ to his bedroom.

I didn’t look for Ellis before Ken and I left. I called a driver to meet us out front and we left the Peterson mansion.

“When will we be back?” Ken asked, looking out the rearview window as we drove away.

I patted his back. “I don’t know. Hopefully, he doesn’t make us wait too long.”

“Where to, Miss Richardson?” the driver asked.

“Can you take us to Jenny’s?” I asked. I gave him the address.

My mom had already moved back to her house, now that Bethany’s fraud had been exposed. I knew that Ellis would look for us there first. If we stayed with Jenny, it might give us a few days.

When we pulled up at Jenny’s house, she ran out and grabbed Ken in a big hug.

“How is the most handsome little prince in the whole world?” she asked, blowing a raspberry on Ken’s cheek.

Ken laughed and pushed at her playfully, squirming in her grasp.

“Aunt Jenny, stop. That tickles!” he cried out.

Jenny winked at me and took Ken’s hand, leading him inside. It was the best way to ease the transition. As long as Ken was kept happy and busy, he’d have less time to think about Ellis.

“Come inside, little love. I made you some cookies. I bet they are just coming out of the oven.” Jenny grinned at me and I rolled my eyes.

My driver got the bags and carried them to the door. I got them squared away in Jenny’s room before joining Ken and Jenny in the kitchen with the fresh cookies.

Ken was already sitting in a chair at the kitchen table with a glass of milk and two cookies in front of him.

“How are they?” I asked, fluffing his hard as I stood behind him.

“So yummy,” he said with a full mouth.

“Now, I know the two of you are used to having your own rooms, but you are going to have to share here. I hope that’s okay,” Jenny said. She opened the oven and pulled out some more cookies.

“That’s okay. We will be going back to my dad’s mansion soon,” Ken announced.

I sighed and shook my head. “Ken, stay here and eat your cookies and drink your milk.”

“Mhmm,” he nodded, mouth full again.

Jenny and I went into the living room so I could give her a quick update on what had happened. She just stared at me.

“Liv, I know I haven’t always been part of the ‘Ellis and Olivia’ fan club, but are you sure this is what you want? Nancy was there, right in front of you, and he still told you he loved you and not her,” Jenny pointed out.

I shrugged and flopped down on her couch. I grabbed the nearest pillow and hugged it against my chest. “Honestly, I don’t know. I think Ellis needs time to figure out his own feelings. I want him to have that time without us hovering around.”

Jenny sat beside me and touched my shoulder. “I hope you know what you’re doing. If you disappear again, he might not try to come after you and he might not forgive you.”

“I haven’t disappeared. If he knows me at all, he will know to look for me here. And if he really wants us to be together, he will find a way to make that happen,” I insisted, nodding my head sharply.

“Okay,” Jenny said, laughing. “Well, you know that you and Ken can stay as long as you need.”

“Can I have another cookie?” Ken asked. He ran into the living room, mouth smeared with chocolate.

I smiled and grabbed a tissue off the coffee table. I started to clean off his face.

“Let me clean up the last cookie. Then you get one more,” I said.

Ken pouted. “Only one?”

“Don’t worry, darling. I’ll save the rest for later,” Jenny said. She grabbed Ken and pulled him onto her lap, making him laugh as she tickled his stomach.

“Now you are just spoiling him,” I warned.

“I’m his aunt. That is my right. I don’t have to be all responsible like a mother,” Jenny defended.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back on the couch, clinging to that pillow like it was a lifeline.

As much as I wanted to believe Ellis wanted me and not Nancy, it was hard for me to believe he’d fully considered his options. Nancy’s return was so sudden, that he needed time to digest it.

If Ken was around, I had a feeling he’d always choose me for the sake of our son. I didn’t want him to choose based on fatherly duty. I wanted him to choose based on his heart.

Jenny took Ken to the kitchen and they started making a fresh batch of cookies. It was something Ken had never baked before and he was very curious.

I could tell he was having a great time, which is exactly what he needed.

While they baked, I got Ken’s toys out and unpacked a few of our things. The guest room in Jenny’s apartment was a little small for the two of us. We wouldn’t be there long. If Ellis hadn’t made up his mind in a few days, we could go back to my mother’s house and settle in there again.

I went out to join Jenny and Ken in the kitchen.

“Look at this, Mommy, I’m making heart-shaped cookies,” Ken said. He held up the cookie cutter to show me.

“Wow! You’re a really good cookie maker,” I said. I glanced at the countertop, covered in flour, and exchanged a look with Jenny.

We both burst into laughter.

“Can I save some of these for Daddy?” Ken asked, placing the heart cookies on a baking sheet.

Jenny stopped laughing and cleared her throat. She went back to washing dishes.

I sighed and ran my fingers through Ken’s hair. “I’m sure he’d like that.”

Ken beamed a wide smile and went back to cookie making. If it made him happy, I wasn’t going to rain on his parade today.

After the cookies were cleaned up and the last batch was in the oven, I got Ken set up in the living room with his toys.

I stood in the kitchen doorway while Jenny put the dishes away.

“I see you haven’t told Ken what is really going on,” she said, pursing her lips.

“He doesn’t need to know. Not yet. Even if Ellis and Nancy get back together, I think Ellis will still want to be in Ken’s life,” I said, shrugging one shoulder.

“Olivia, you need to start doing things for yourself. I know your son is the most important thing to you but you have to start thinking about what you want, too,” Jenny advised.

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered dismissively.

I put Ken down in our shared bed. He went to sleep without a fuss. I read him one story and Jenny read him another. He was so happy to have his Aunt Jenny read to him.

I was surprised by how quickly and easily he went to bed. He almost wanted to go to sleep. Normally, he was asking for one more story or wanted to know about Ellis and when we’d see him again. Instead, Ken went right down.

“That was unusual,” I muttered as I shut the door.

“He’s probably just tired. Baking will do that,” Jenny said, smirking.

We put on a movie and sat on the couch together. I was only partially paying attention, still going over all the details of things with Ellis and Nancy.

At one point during the movie, I thought I heard Ken talking.

“Did you hear that?” I asked Jenny. I grabbed the remote and paused the movie.

Silence.

“Hear what?” she asked.

“I thought I heard Ken,” I said. After another moment of silence, I shrugged and started the movie again.

“I think you’re hearing things,” Jenny teased, nudging me.

A few more minutes went by and I thought I heard Ken again.

“Okay, I know I heard something,” I muttered. I got off the couch and went over to the guest room door.

I cracked the door open and looked inside. A little blue light lit up the room. Ken was sitting up and whispering into a phone.

“We’re at Aunt Jenny’s. She made cookies with me this afternoon and I saved some for you,” Ken was whispering into the phone.

“Ken!” I said sharply.

“Gotta go!” Ken hung up his phone conversation.

I knew exactly who he’d been on the phone with.

Ellis.

Now Ellis would know exactly where we were and who we were with.

I flipped on the light and put my hands on my hips. “Ken, where did you get a cell phone?” I asked sternly.

“Daddy gave it to me,” Ken said, his face red as he tucked the phone under his pillow.

“Why would he give you a phone?” I asked, arching an eyebrow and keeping my face stern.

“I asked him for one. You know, Daddy gets me whatever I want. He never denies me,” Ken said. He sighed and flopped down on the pillow.

I strode across the room and took the cell phone, sliding it into my pocket.

“You don’t need a cell phone. You’re too young,” I admonished.

“But Daddy said…”

“Daddy should know better than to give you whatever you want,” I muttered. I tucked Ken back in.

Ellis had been a father before. He should know not to give into a child’s every whim. It wasn’t good parenting, especially when his gifts were undermining my authority with Ken.

I left the room again just as my phone started ringing.

It was Ellis.

“Hello?” I asked.

“I’m coming to get you. I know where you are and I’ll be there soon,” he said.