During dinner, Del tried to de-escalate the situation as much as he could, and kept the kids distracted when he was able to. Somehow, that translated into everything going pretty well.
While Justin bathed the little ones, one at a time now that Del was there to watch the others, Del got a peek into the kids’ bedroom. He assumed Scarlett’s crib was wherever Justin slept, but Wyatt and Harper’s room was…barren.
There were some toys, but they were obviously old or broken, and sometimes both. There were a few books, which was nice to see. Curiously, there was one book of stories on top of the dresser that seemed to hold all the kids’ clothing.
That book was bigger and much more well-maintained than the others.
“This book looks nice,” Del commented while the kids were puttering around the room, getting ready for bed.
Justin was in the bathroom, giving Scarlett her bath, and Del wasn’t sure how well that was going based on the sounds coming through the thin walls.
Wyatt nodded vigorously at Del’s statement, his eyes shining a little with his enthusiasm.
“Emily brought it for us. The social worker,” Harper enunciated the words both carefully and with derision that was clearly learned from their mother. While Del understood, he didn’t like it.
“Would you like me to read you guys a story?” he asked instead of dwelling on it.
If Wyatt had nodded any harder, his little head might’ve fallen off.
“Harper?” Del looked at her. “Do you want me to read? Can I touch the book?”
For a few moments, Harper seemed confused. Then she covered it quickly by a shrug as she slid under the covers and grabbed hold of a stuffed animal that might’ve been a bunny once.
She clearly wasn’t used to adults asking her about her limits, which made Del sad and angry at the same time. He picked up the book—365 Bedtime Stories—which was obviously very old. He wondered if the social worker scoured secondhand stores for things to give the children she encountered in her work or if she’d gotten it from her own shelf, maybe.
Del sat in the rickety chair in the middle of the small space between the two beds.
“Do you know when your birthdays are?” he asked, glancing at Harper.
“Mine’s in the summer, Wyatt’s in February.”
“All right,” Del murmured; he could work with that. All the stories were dated, thus the whole 365 stories theme. They were pretty short, perfect for little kids, or so he hoped. “This story is close to Wyatt’s birthday. Wanna hear it, buddy?”
Wyatt nodded again, smiling widely.
Del proceeded to read them a short story about a boy who went to the pet store with his dad and saw all kinds of animals there. The boy insisted on buying a talking parrot for his grandma for her birthday, and when Del made the parrot noises, even Harper giggled.
Once the story ended, he asked, “Have you guys had any pets?”
It was an off-handed kind of question. One Del didn’t really think through. He kicked himself mentally as soon as he saw the shadow fall over Wyatt’s sweet, round face.
“We had a cat, but then Scarlett’s dad ran her over with his truck,” Harper said in the same off-handed tone Del had used. As if it was just a reality of life. No big deal.
“Oh, uh…” Del felt incredibly out of his depth for a moment, but then Justin came into the room with a tired-yet-clean looking Scarlett.
“Del read us a story!” Harper announced, and Wyatt beamed at his big brother in agreement
Justin swallowed hard enough that Del could see his Adam’s apple bob almost violently.
“Did he now?” he managed to say. “So we’re all ready to go to sleep, then?”
Somehow Justin gathered himself as they said goodnight to the kids. Then he went to put Scarlett in her own bed while Del retreated into the kitchen.
He didn’t plan for any of it. Before he met Justin and the kids—how was it just a couple of days ago—he wouldn’t have ever entertained the thought of someone so young. Del had always been drawn to older, more self-assured, capable men. That was his “type” apparently, according to his sister.
But when he held Justin in his arms, he felt…Actually, Del wasn’t sure what he felt right then. All he could parse together was the fact that he admired the hell out of this young man. What he was doing was incredible.
Justin melted against him, and then, to Del’s surprise, kissed him. Now, of course Del had seen the couple of looks Justin had directed his way. He just hadn’t been sure how far those looks went.