20. Elias

Chapter 20

Elias

"It was the YouTube videos." It was the smile in Grace's voice that had me stopping in the hallway.

I hadn't exactly been quiet coming in, but they were lost in their own world and hadn't noticed. Tattling took a lot of concentration evidently.

"There's a small tablet that pulls down under the cabinets." She paused and I pictured her pointing to the long row of cabinets on the far wall. "When I've come in lately, the last things he's been looking up have been videos on making kids' lunches."

"Oh." Milo's voice didn't have enough panic in it for me to worry, but I inched closer just in case. "He does a good job making my lunch."

"I'm glad. He's taking it very seriously and he only does that when something matters to him." Grace seemed to be moving around the kitchen, but I couldn't make out what she was doing by just the sounds. "Which is why, even if I did have an issue with anything you're doing, I wouldn't have said anything about it."

Ready to rescue Milo from drama or just general worries, I waited to see if he actually needed me or if he was just thinking as the silence stretched out. "Because I'm important to him, but…but you did say something."

"I think you are very good for Elias, but neither of us grew up with the kind of money you need to have for staff in a house." She chuckled at whatever Milo had done. "I agree. But my being here so often means that I get to know what's going on. There's no way around that. Most things I pretend I don't see. But you're not used to that. I don't want you to worry or be uncomfortable. This is your relationship and your house."

I definitely missed something because Milo mumbled under his breath before she laughed again. "Oh yes, but that just means you'll get comfortable and say something eventually or do something that you're telling yourself right now you'll never do."

More laughter said Milo was trying to at least shake his head to argue with her but she just talked over him. "You called him Daddy earlier. You can't help it."

As Milo groaned, I heard her move again and eventually he sighed. "Fine. I'm not very good at being subtle…or hiding things? I do fine at work. I call him my boyfriend or Elias. But away from work is harder. I'm already not sure what I'm going to do when we go to dinner with my friend Dally's family."

Me neither.

But since it seemed like the stressful part of the conversation had passed…a suspiciously well-timed conversation…I quietly made my way back to the front door and opened it again. "How am I walking in to an empty house?"

Shutting the door more loudly that time, I sighed. "I always meet you at the door. Milo?"

I was making a ridiculous racket and clearly begging for attention, so I wasn't surprised when Milo came bouncing through the house. "I text you that I'm coming. You cheated."

Hmm, half little?

"I don't know what you're talking about." Huffing dramatically as he threw his arms around me, I gave him a very well-done pout, even if I did say so myself. "I'm just psychic and you're clearly ignoring my signals. I always know when you're near."

Little Milo wanted to believe me but big Milo laughed. "Psychic, huh?"

He was tempted.

"Of course." Kissing the side of his head, I hugged him tight. "Did you sleep in? Your text was very vague."

That got more laughter from him, but it came with a cute cheek kiss and a distraction. "We're having spaghetti for dinner. Grace showed me how to make sauce from scratch."

Ah.

That explained how they'd ended up in the kitchen and what some of the sounds had been…and the smells. Once I didn't need to worry, it was amazing what else I noticed.

"She keeps saying she knows how to make pasta but I haven't seen proof of that yet." Mostly because cooking for one person was a pain in the ass, so I usually didn't let her worry about it. "I think she's making it up."

Shaking his head, little Milo peeked out again, completely awed by the idea of her being able to make pasta from scratch. "No, she said she can do it. She said it was cheaper than buying the good kind of noodles. Did you know they don't taste the same as the cheap ones?"

"I think that's just what fancy people say." I shrugged and had to do my best not to laugh when Grace snorted from the kitchen. "I'm not pretentious. I just like good food."

Giggling, Milo pressed his face against my neck. When he could finally talk, he whispered softly. "Daddy, she knows. But it's okay. She has friends who are fun too."

He kept saying that I got the good gossip, but he'd found that out very quickly.

"I'm glad you got that worked out." Kissing his head again, I rubbed his back and gave him another hug. "I'm very proud of you."

I'd half expected him to hide in the bedroom all day, but he'd handled it very well.

"What else did you do today?" He hadn't been very forthcoming. "I was patient and didn't text you a thousand times."

Just a few hundred.

He was doing his best not to laugh, but it wasn't working very well. "Patient, huh?"

"Yes." My answer was believable too because I hadn't texted him every time I'd thought about him. "But you've been very vague. What have you been up to?"

It could've been anything from picking out toys for the new playroom to watching YouTube videos all day, but I was surprised when he blushed and hid against my shoulder.

That was unexpected.

"I…" Pausing, he turned his head and whispered. "I have to show you."

Things were getting more and more interesting, but I did my best not to show that as I nodded and he inched away again. I was, however, very conscious of how he'd whispered, so I kept my voice low as well. "Should we go upstairs or in my office?"

"Office." Wiggling nervously, Milo wrung his hands as he stepped back. "I…I was using your desk."

"That's a good place to get some work done." I didn't use it nearly enough since I hadn't been working from home much, but with Milo around more that might change. "The chair is comfy."

Grace could take a hint and made herself quiet and scarce as I took his hand and led him around the stairs to the office and guest bath that were tucked away there. It was supposed to be some kind of additional guest room, but it worked better as an office or more of a den.

When we were tucked inside with the door closed and Milo even more wiggly, he led me to the table where I could see papers scattered all over the desk. Some were clearly charts about Dally's family, but it didn't take me long to see what else he was doing.

Working on his resume.

"These look great." Scanning my eyes over the different variations he'd written out, I pulled him against me and wrapped my arms around him. "This is what you've spent all day being vague about. I thought you were shopping for toys."

Giggling, he shook his head. "No, I was being productive."

Sitting down, I carefully pulled him onto my lap and snuggled him close. "Being productive is wonderful, but you can be lazy on your day off. You know that, right?"

He nodded but didn't look worried or guilty as he reached out to shuffle some of the pages. "I was thinking about what you said about working on new goals and figuring out what else I'm good at."

Digging his phone out of his pocket, Milo pulled up the browser. "I found examples and tried to figure out a resume that makes me look smarter."

"You need a resume that makes you look as smart as you are." I gave him a stern glare as he peeked sideways at me. "That was what you meant to say, right?"

Pressing his lips together, Milo nodded. "Yes, Daddy. That's right."

"Good. That's what I thought you meant." And looking at the phone and the papers with the different styles of resumes listed out, I realized it meant he didn't have a laptop. "Because you're smart just figuring out all these different styles of resumes."

Sitting straighter, Milo smiled wider. "I found a website that takes the job you've got and shows you how to explain what you really do. I didn't realize how much I already do until I started listing it off."

With the number of jobs he had, that wasn't a surprise to me.

"And we're not going to forget all your people skills." He was amazing with crazy people. "We're going to figure out how to explain that you handle insane nuts like a pro without having to tell them about my family."

He leaned into me and laughed. "That can be our last resort."

"Deal." Kissing his head, I looked at all his hard work again. "You did a wonderful job, but I'm going to pull a Daddy and give you access to my laptop. I didn't even think about it, but you're going to need it to get all of this typed up."

Something about that had Milo going very still in my lap.

"Was I pushy?" That wasn't my top guess about what had gone wrong, but I was glad when he shook his head. "Good, because I wasn't sure how moving you in would be fine but letting you use my computer would be over the line. I was getting ready to text Dally."

And that got a laugh.

"He's helpful." Wiggling, Milo let out a deep breath and seemed to be doing his best to be brave. My patience would only last so long, though, so I was glad when he only made me wait for another minute. "I don't type very well. I hunt and peck?"

"That's fine." I was missing something, though. "Why are you upset by that?"

His huff said he was back to being adorably dramatic but it didn't worry me. "I moved schools a lot and I kept missing stuff like that. I never even got to take the basic computer courses like Word and Excel. I can barely type unless you count using my phone. But no one counts that."

Ah.

That would've limited his career paths as well.

"Alright, do you want me to listen to you vent or are you asking for solutions? I can't tell. I'm not being a dick." I probably sounded like one but that wasn't my intention.

Milo smiled and kissed my cheek. "Poor Daddy, this isn't a conversation you were expecting."

"No, but it's one I can handle." Kissing his nose, I smiled when he scrunched it up and tried to look dramatic. "You just have to give me a hint about the direction we're taking."

"Um." Bashful again, Milo shrugged, attempting to look casual. "Both but I think I've vented enough?"

So that meant I could jump right to helpful?

He must've seen that question on my face because he grinned. "Help please, Daddy."

Relieved, I charged back in. "There are online programs where you can work on typing skills and learn to use Word and all that stuff proficiently. There are even ones that give you certificates you can put on your resume. I know this because one of the only functional, though distant, branches of the family does a lot of homeschooling and they complain about completely different things than anyone else in the family."

Milo barked out a laugh, looking bigger again. "How did you get stuck talking about homeschooling?"

"A wedding." I sighed as he laughed again. "I think I pissed off the bride and groom, and being stuck at that table was supposed to be my punishment, but they're lovely and not insane at all."

Grinning, Milo curled into me again, looking lighter. "You think I could do that? Get certificates and stuff and then have more stuff to put on my resume?"

"Yes." Kissing his forehead, I tried not to sound nervous. "But can I give you a caveat to that?"

Milo tensed but nodded bravely. "Yes, Daddy."

"You don't have time for it. I think you are incredibly smart and those are skills you can easily pick up. But you're working two jobs and I'm not even sure how you had today off." That seemed like a miracle.

"Um, well, I get a couple of days off at the same time once or twice a month?" Snuggling closer, he curled into me like he needed cuddle time. "I took off work for our date night last weekend, but most of the time, I try to schedule days off to go have dinner with Dally's family."

Ah.

"So you're going to understand when I say that we need to look at your schedule? And you're not going to argue with me too much when I say I think you need to let me help?" That had me holding my breath but after a few seconds Milo sighed and poked me. "Hey. I'm being nice. I didn't even demand you let me help."

He did his best not to laugh but he wasn't doing a good job of hiding his delight at my drama. "Yes. You did very good and you asked instead of telling me."

"That means you have to reward me. Dally said so." He'd also said to use that to make sure I got my way. "He also said to remind you that complaining about not having to pay rent is looking a gift horse in the mouth."

As Milo shook with barely suppressed laughter, I huffed. "I'm not sure which of us is the horse here, but I don't want a tail."

And the laughter escaped.

"He also said to remind you that you already told me you loved me, so that meant I got to keep you." He had interesting logic, but I wasn't going to argue with him since it worked in my favor. "It's a finders keepers kind of a thing but with love."

"Finders keepers, huh?" Milo shifted again, rubbing his cheek on my shoulder and petting my chest. "Dally knows all the dating rules and the BDSM ones too. So we probably shouldn't argue with him."

"You shouldn't argue with Daddy either." I tried to sound stern but his giggles made it hard. "And I'm saying finders keepers and I'm keeping you."

"Because I love you." Blushing, Milo tried to hide but he looked very pleased with the way our conversation had turned out.

"That's right. And I love you, so there's nothing you can do about it." Shrugging, I decided I liked the logic. "Dally said so."

"Yes, Dally probably did say that." Kissing my cheek, he settled back against me. "And taking care of Daddy is a lot of work."

"I am high maintenance." There was no arguing with that. "I keep getting teased with the idea of homemade noodles too. Someone has to learn to do that."

Giving me an adorably dramatic sigh, Milo nodded. "Yes, I have to take care of you, Daddy. There's no way around it."

"Love comes with a price." Dally said that too. "But I'm going to appreciate being taken care of and buy you lots of toys, so I think that will make up for it."

Milo sat up, wrapping his arms around my neck and giving me the sweetest kiss. "I love you, Daddy."

"Enough to take care of me forever and ever? Crazy family and all?" I knew the answer but the wait for his smile to peek out again nearly gave me a heart attack.

His tender smile and the sweet cheek kiss he gave me were worth the wait, though. "Forever and ever, Daddy."