Wesley headed home for a moment to get clothes for him and Aurora, and I went into Arlo’s room, taking the cushions off the extra couch and wrapping them in a fitted sheet, before grabbing extra pillows and 2 large blankets and making a bed for Aurora. They were sitting on Arlo’s bed, playing happily as I did this, and I could feel my heart grow warm, knowing that they were both beyond happy just being together.

The doorbell rang and I ran down the hallway to find Wesley holding two small bags, a nervous smile on his face.

“Sorry, that took me a minute. I had to check in on my dad,” he followed me into the house, locking the door behind him.

“Is he okay?”

“Mhm. His girlfriend is there. She’s finally moving in to take care of him so I don’t have to worry as much.”

“Get it Art,” I laughed.

We went to Arlo’s room and Wesley handed Aurora her backpack. She quickly opened it, pulling out her small whiteboard and a few different babies he had packed, showing them to Arlo and he would poke them happily.

She quickly wrote something down and showed it to me.

Thank you, Mr. Cruz! I like your house. I’m happy Arlo is okay. Today has been so much fun.

“You’re very welcome Rory. But when you’re at our house, you can call me Eli okay? We’re all friends now.”

Daddy told me I have to call grownups by their last names. It’s nice.

“Well, you just call me what you feel comfy with okay?”

She nodded and went back to playing with Arlo and I led Wesley back to the living room, plopping down on the couch. He joined me, sitting closer than I had expected, and laid his head against the back of the couch.

“I shouldn’t have slept so much earlier. My body isn’t used to it,” he laughed, closing his eyes.

“I can understand that,” I snorted, “I don’t sleep much at all. Insomnia.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I realized something when I went home.”

“What is it?”

“I can see your kitchen from my own. Our windows line up. But since your house is on stilts, you can’t actually see through my window. But I can see through yours.”

“I’m not sure how to feel about that. Are you going to spy on me?”

“Why in the world would I do that?” he laughed.

“You could be some creepy stalker. We’ve only known each other a little over 24 hours and now you’re spending the night because I’m crazy or something.”

“I think you just have a gentle heart and love seeing your son happy,” he tilted his head and smiled at me.

“I don’t appreciate you being able to read me so easily.”

Arlo came from the room, holding Aurora’s hand and they were both vibrating with excitement, “daddy.”

“What is it, baby?”

“Can we have um… What was it, Rory?”

She leaned over and whispered something in his ear and both Wesley and I stared in shock as Arlo nodded.

“Oh! Ice cream!”

I sat there speechless before clearing my throat, “y… yeah. Give me a minute. I’ll make sundaes. Just go play for now.”

“Okay! Come on Rory,” he smiled, pulling her back to his bedroom.

“Did… did she talk to him?” I whispered.

“Y… yes. I think she did. What in the world? It’s been a day. It took her a year to talk to Jerry,” he sniffled.

“They must have some kind of special inborn bond… like they were supposed to find each other. Oh no. He’s going to be so protective of her… even if he’s younger. He won’t ever let anyone get close. He’s hyper-protective of people he cares about even if he doesn’t understand why yet. He reminds me of how I was with Jerry. I wouldn’t let anyone near my brother because I was worried they’d be mean because he didn’t talk. I think he’ll be the same way.”

Wesley stayed silent, wiping tears away with his sweater and I leaned over, resting my head against his arm.

“I never expected that after a day… I was hoping she’d find someone to open up to but… I didn’t think it’d be this soon,” he sniffled, wrapping his arms around me.

“Sometimes, you simply meet someone you’re comfortable with. Arlo is understanding and just wants to make sure Rory is happy. That’s what he’s doing. She must realize it’s genuine and feels comfortable. I’m so proud of her,” I hugged him tightly, savoring his warmth.

“I am so fucking happy we met you guys.”

“Me too. Now come on, I promised ice cream sundaes.”

Laughing, I pulled him into the kitchen with me and I made ice cream sundaes for the kids.

“Do you want one?” I smiled up at him.

“No, I’m good. Can I have another whiskey lemonade though?”

“Sure. Can you make me one too? The whiskey is in a locked cabinet by the sink. The key is on top of the fridge.”

“You lock it up?” he looked at me confused, making our drinks.

“I feel like it’s safer with Arlo to lock it. I don’t know. I’m a bit paranoid I suppose.”

“No, I think that’s smart. I might do that too. I just keep it on top of the fridge.”

I set the bowls on the dining table and shrugged, “I’m sure you can trust her. She’s little. I just worry. Arlo! Rory! Ice cream,” I called.

They came from his room and climbed into their chairs next to each other, both bouncing happily.

“Thank you, daddy!” Arlo took a big bite of ice cream, a bright smile on his face.

Aurora nodded and signed thank you and started eating.

Wesley and I sat across from them, enjoying our drinks and each other's company.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, Arlo?”

“When we go to… to that place we go all the time, can Rory come?”

“Do you mean the vacation house in Portland?”

“Mhm!”

“Well. We’d have to figure out a good time for Wesley and Rory but I don’t see why not.”

The kids finished their ice cream and went to the bathroom to wash their faces before going into Arlo’s room to play with toys. I carried the bowls over to the sink and started washing them and Wesley followed, leaning against the counter.

“What do you mean vacation house?” he smiled, taking a sip of his drink.

“When my papa died, he left the vacation house in Portland to my mama. It’s massive. 5 bedrooms. She never wants to go, says it reminds her too much of him. So she signed it over to me. I take Arlo once a month. It’s only half an hour away after all. We go to the zoo or shopping. Mostly, we spend time in the house. He has his own toy room and bedroom there. Sometimes Holly and Jerry come too. I took the biggest room on the very top floor so I can look out at the trees. It’s gorgeous.”

“Why don’t you just live there then?”

“No thanks. It’s too much for me to live there full-time. I wouldn’t want to clean it,” laughing, I spun around and leaned against the counter to match him, “you should come next time. We usually leave late Friday and come back in the middle of the day on Sunday. I was planning to go in two weeks.”

“You want us to come?”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t. Lo gets bored being with just me. He probably won’t want to go if Rory doesn’t now that you’re part of our lives.”

“Well, I don’t work weekends so that’s perfect. Sure. Why the hell not?” he laughed.

“When does Rory go to bed?”

“8. Arlo?”

“Also 8. What time is it?” I leaned around him and look at the clock on the stove, noticing it was already 730, “well. I guess it’s time to brush teeth and get them into bed. They can watch a movie in his room, I’ll just put a timer on the TV.”

“Shit,” he sighed, “I forgot her toothbrush. We’ve never done sleepovers before.”

“Arlo either. I have extra kid brushes. She can just have one. What’s her favorite color?”

I set my drink on the counter and went to the bathroom, Wesley right behind me, his hand hovering around my lower back.

“Yellow… I think. She changes it. She won’t mind.”

“I have a rainbow of brushes. I’ll just let her pick,” I shrugged, bending down to look under the sink. I could hear Wesley inhale sharply and I looked at him over my shoulder, “what?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” he shook his head, his entire face red, “I’ll go get them,” he quickly turned on his heel and walked down the hallway.

Oh.

You were staring at my ass, weren’t you?

Hm.

Interesting.

Laughing to myself, I grabbed the pack of toothbrushes as Wesley returned with Arlo and Aurora.

“Alright, Rory. You get to pick whichever one you want,” I held the pack out to her and she thought for a moment before poking the bright purple one, “perfect. Go ahead and brush your teeth. Lo, show her where I keep your bathroom stuff. I’ll grab you clean jammies. Wesley needs to look at your stitches before you go to bed okay?”

“Okay,” Arlo nodded, going over to a small shelving unit I kept next to the sink, “Daddy keeps all of my stuff in this basket. You can use whatever you want,” he smiled at Aurora, handing her the toothpaste and a small paper cup.

She nodded quickly and as soon as they started brushing their teeth together side by side, Arlo on his stool, I went to his room to get pajamas.

“I meant to tell you, I really like Arlo’s room,” Wesley smiled, following me.

“I let him pick whatever he wants. It’s just a mix of things. That’s why he has a rocketship comforter but bright pink unicorn sheets. His clothes are also a mix. He has this adorable pink dress with a tutu on the bottom. He’s gotten a lot of nasty looks for dressing in it, but I protect him from that. I won’t let anyone kill his individuality,” I smiled, grabbing Arlo’s favorite purple pajamas with small rainbows on them, “I want him to figure out who he is, not who everyone thinks he should be.”

“I do that with Rory. I took her to the store for her birthday once to let her pick out a toy she wanted and she decided that she’d rather have a huge hot wheels track over the dollhouse she had originally wanted and this lady felt the need to comment on how cars were for boys. So I made sure to keep eye contact with her as I loaded it into my cart as well as a ton more cars than I had intended to buy.”

“That’s so petty,” I snorted as the kids came running into the room.

Wesley took Aurora back to the bathroom so she could put on her pajamas and I helped Arlo, knowing getting his shirt on alone would hurt.

As soon as I saw his stomach I froze, doing my best not to panic.

“Wes? Hey, can you come here real quick?” I called, fighting down the edge of panic in my tone.

“What is-” he came around the corner and stopped.

Arlo’s stomach was bruised around each of his incisions, a deep, nasty purple. The stitches were intact, and holding well but it was still concerning to see someone so small covered in bruising. Only one of the stitches was covered, but the bandage had started to peel away.

“Is that normal?”

“Yeah. It is. It was just surprising, sorry. Arlo, does your tummy hurt bud?”

Arlo shook his head, looking down at his stomach, “it’s okay. They don’t hurt me.”

“They look swollen,” I whispered, studying them.

Wesley came over and got onto his knees, “they are but that’s normal too. Do you have an ice pack? The other two will be fine, but the one under the bandage is concerning. We should change it out as well. A regular large band-aid will be fine.”

“I have all that.”

“Great. Arlo, go ahead and lay down on your bed. I’m going to change that for you okay? It’ll be less itchy than what they put on you.”

Arlo nodded, climbing onto his bed and as I left the room, Aurora came out of the bathroom, a small smile on her face. She was wearing the exact same pajamas I had picked out for Arlo.

“Your jammies are cute! You match Arlo. His tummy is hurting again so I just need to grab a few things for your daddy to help him but you can go in the room okay?”

She looked worried, tears in her eyes and I squatted down, holding my arms open. She suddenly rushed forward and hugged me tightly.

“He’s okay. You don’t need to be scared. He’s not hurting. I promise. His skin just looks a little scary right now but your daddy told me that’s normal. I promise that he’s fine,” I softly rubbed her back and she kept squeezing my neck, “oh Rory. You really care about Arlo don’t you?”

She nodded, still hugging me, and I kept rubbing her back, waiting for her to calm down. It took her a few minutes but she finally let me go, pulling away, tears still in her eyes. I gently wiped them away, a soft smile on my face.

“You’re such a good friend. Thank you for taking care of him. You’ll both be back at school on Thursday. Tomorrow, you and me can work on the stuff you missed today and tomorrow okay?”

She nodded, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

“Oh and from now on, I’m going to pick you up before school so you can get ready with Arlo, and I’ll drop you off with your daddy. He needs to get more sleep so we’re going to make sure he does. Does that sound good to you?”

Aurora’s entire face lit up and she happily bounced up and down before hugging me again.

“I’m glad you like that idea. Do you want to help me get the things your daddy needs?”

I got to my feet after she let me go and held out my hand. She quickly took it and we went into the bathroom, grabbing a new bandage before heading to the kitchen and grabbing an ice pack and a small towel.

“Alright! Let’s go, super helper Rory.”

She giggled softly, the first noise I had ever heard her make and my entire heart filled, knowing she was comfortable and happy around me.

“You guys took a while,” Wesley smiled, “Arlo was telling me about his favorite game.”

“I’ll explain why after we get them into bed,” I handed him the stuff he asked for and he quickly took care of Arlo.

“I’ll come to get the ice pack in a little bit okay? But don’t take it off your tummy. It’ll help,” Wesley gently rubbed the top of Arlo’s head and Arlo smiled, nodding.

“Go ahead and cuddle down Rory. I know it’s not great, but I made sure your sleepover bed was comfy. Maybe I’ll find something so you’re not right on the floor next time,” I smiled, pulling the blankets back.

“Rory!” Arlo smiled down at her, “we has the same jammies!”

She nodded excitedly and held up the small unicorn she was holding, pointing at the small bee plush he had and pointing back at herself.

“You wanna trade?”

She nodded again and they traded babies before she fully laid down.

“You two are silly,” I laughed, “alright,” I turned the TV in Arlo’s room on, “what movie? You’ll only get to watch a little.”

“Can we watch my show instead?” Arlo smiled at me.

“Rory, do you like Abby Hatcher?” I smiled down at her and she smiled back, nodding, “alright. One episode then. When the TV turns it off, it’s bedtime. Do you need your noise machine, Lo?”

“No daddy. I have Rory. I’m not scared. But can I have my special light?”

“Of course,” I smiled, turning his star projector on and the room light off, “goodnight bud,” I softly kissed his forehead, “if your tummy hurts, just call for me and I’ll come in here okay? We'll be on the couch for now.”

“Okay! I love you!”

“I love you too!”

Wesley leaned down and gave Aurora a hug and a kiss, rubbing his nose with hers and she giggled again.

“If you need us, come get us,” I smiled, leaving the room with Wesley, and made sure there was a small crack in the door so we could hear them.

We made our way back to the kitchen and grabbed our drinks, before leading him back to the living room, sitting on the couch.

“Wanna watch a movie or something? I don’t actually know how to have adult friends,” I laughed.

“We could just talk? Get to know each other a little better,” he smiled, turning to face me.

“I love that idea.”