Kian sat on the floor in the family room building Lego towers. According to him, he was building the ‘tallest building ever’. Tachina was curled into the corner of the couch with her feet underneath her, her laptop balanced on her thighs. She tapped her stylus against the screen while she worked, and her eyes were narrowed as she focused.
Vic sat in his recliner with his tablet, going through emails while half watching the Cavs game. At the moment, his attention was on the game. There was a whistle, and both coaches argued with the referees. Apparently, one of the refs was saying the basket the Cavs player had just made didn’t count because his foot was on the out-of-bounds line.
“They’re cheating,” Vic muttered. Now his focus was blown on the emails while he watched the replay of the call. It clearly showed the foot was not on the line. He didn’t know how many times the refs needed to watch the replay—Vic could see the man’s foot was a millimeter away from the line all the way in his house.
“Mom! Look. It’s a skyscraper!” Kian shouted. He stood proudly by his tower that was as tall as him. It was leaning slightly toward the left and a little shaky.
Tachina looked up from her computer and smiled.
“Here, baby. Let’s build a wider base. That will helpoffset the weight a bit.” She closed her laptop and placed it down on the coffee table then joined Kian on the floor.
Their giggles did something to him. He watched as she showed their son a better way to get his tower to stand tall and not fall over.
This was what he wanted when it came to a marriage. As he took in Tachina, Kian, and the feeling the house held, there was no way in hell he would sacrifice it for optics for the public. He appreciated that his parents wanted to ‘look out for him,’ and in their own way, he was sure they loved him, but he was not going to marry Sydney. He didn’t care about what they chose to do.
He was not them.
Tony arrived in the doorway and rang a small bell.
“Dinner is ready. Bring your appetites!” the chef announced, grinning.
“Is there cake?” Kian shot up from where he sat on the floor.
“Of course, big man. Chocolate cake for you, but only after you eat your dinner,” Tony said with a wide grin. He had quickly become one of Kian’s favorite people. There were plenty of times Tony would invite Kian in the kitchen to help. “I set up the kitchen table as you requested, too.”
“Good. We don’t need to eat in a formal dining room.” Tachina pushed up off the floor and stood. She took Kian by the hand and guided him down the hall. “Let’s go washup first.”
“Where the hell did you find that bell?” Vic barked a laugh. He stood and walked with Tony toward the kitchen.
“It was in the back of the pantry.” Tony shrugged. He glanced at it with a twinkle in his eye. “Sydney used to tell me to ring that instead of yelling to announce her meals when you’d be out of town.”
“Are you serious?” Vic shook his head.
They arrived in the kitchen.
Vic made his way over to the sink to wash his hands. “Man, throw that damn thing away.”
“I don’t know. It does have a ring to it and makes me feel official.” He gave it another short ring and bowed to Vic. “Mr. Maxwell, your supper is served, sir.”
Vic snorted at his chef’s horrible English accent. He quickly washed his hands and made his way to the table just as Tachina and Kian arrived. Tony had completely outdone himself. He served roasted chicken glazed with citrus-honey herbs, truffle mashed potatoes, and sautéed asparagus paired with a delectable white wine for the adults. He then presented Kian’s plate. Mini sliders with sweet potato fries cut into star shapes.
“I get to eat the stars!” Kian gasped and held one of them up.
“Save some of them for the sky, baby. We don’t want it too dark tonight,” Tachina teased.
“Yeah, because you know when it’s too dark, the monsters come out,” Vic said.
Tachina’s eyes cut to him, and he had to hold back a laugh at her glare. He lifted his glass and took a sip.
“I won’t eat all of the stars. I wouldn’t want Mommy to be scared when she goes to bed,” Kian said matter-of-factly.
Tachina gasped and glanced between him and Kian. She stabbed her fork into the asparagus and lifted it to her mouth, then paused.
“You know what? Eat as many stars as you want. I’m going to show both of you that I’m not scared when I go sleep in my room tonight.” Her mouth twisted up in a smirk, and she shot Vic another playful glare. She bit into the vegetable dramatically, earning a laugh from Kian.
If she thought she would be sleeping away from him tonight, she had better think again.
They dove into their meal while Tony finished cleaning the kitchen and storing the rest of the food. They talked, they laughed, and enjoyed the meal. Kian’s silly antics with drowning the stars in ketchup garnered more laughter. Glancing around the table, Vic felt whole. His parents were wrong.