Since Miguel had the day off, I decided to make dinner for everyone. So far, I had only been making sure the kids were fed, since Mr. Gray seemed to be able to fend for himself. I wanted to encourage him to spend more time with the kids. I had been at his house for ten days, and so far he only interacted with them in passing. I could tell that he wasn’t exactlyfortable dealing with the kids, but it would only take a little effort on his part to rectify that.

    King thought the world of him. It had to be a trying time for him being away from his mommy. He’d asked me twice when she wasing back this time. I had no idea what the circumstances of her absence were, but apparently, this wasn’t her first disappearing act.

    I let the kids help me decide what to make for dinner, and they had unanimously decided on spaghetti. I could make a mean baked spaghetti so that sounded good to me. Once I got dinner ready and put Evie in the highchair that I’d gotten Sicily to order, I went to Mr. Gray’s office door and knocked.

    “Come in,” he announced.

    I’d expected him toe to the door, so I was apprehensive about going in his office. He probably thought that I was Sicily since I had never ever knocked on his office door. Then again, she had been gone home for close to an hour now. I was sure he knew her schedule well. Opening the door, I stepped inside cautiously. I hadn’t decided what I would say to get him toe out and eat with us. Instead of overthinking things as usual, I just spoke from the heart.

    “I made dinner. The kids would like for you to join us at the table,” I stated.

    His eyes moved up to mine from whatever had his attention on his desk before roving over my body. His gaze caused heat to crawl up my neck as I waited for his response.

    “Let me wash my hands. I’ll be right out,” he said, pushing back from his desk.

    I released the breath I didn’t realize I was holding as I turned to head back to the kitchen.

    “Did you wash your hands?” I asked King when I saw him climbing up in his chair.

    “Yes, ma’am. See,” he said, holding up his clean hands.

    “Great job. Are you ready to eat?” I asked as I continued over to the stove to make his te. I had already fixed Evie’s te and set it aside to cool.

    “Yes. I was a good helper today. Wasn’t I, Ms. Devy?”

    “Yes, you were. You made sure that all the bread got plenty of butter on it.”

    “Do I have to eat the sd?” King asked as I ced his te in front of him.

    “You don’t have to eat all of it, but I want you to try it. You liked the carrots and tomatoes.”

    “What about the green stuff?” he quizzed.

    “Just try it. You don’t have to make yourself sick.”

    “OK.” He nodded.

    I was satisfied with his response, so I went back to the stove and made both Mr. Gray and myself a te. When I turned to walk back to the dining room table where the kids were, Mr. Gray came around the corner.

    “Uncle Steel, are you eating with us?” King asked enthusiastically.

    “Yes, sir. Something smells good.”

    “It’s spaghetti. I helped Ms. Devy cook. Right, Ms. Devy?”

    “That’s right, King. You’re the best helper a girl could ask for.”

    “See. Sit by me, Uncle Steel,” King suggested.

    “OK.” Mr. Grayughed, causing a swarm of butterflies in my stomach.

    It warmed my heart to see King and his uncle interact. Although Mr. Gray was hesitant to engage with the kids, I knew it would be good for all parties involved for him to spend more time with them. Hopefully, this was the first of many shared dinners.

    “Here you are,” I said, cing Mr. Gray’s te in front of him.

    I moved my operation down closer to Evie before getting her te and putting it in front of her. She was pretty good with feeding her own greedy self, but I liked to be close to encourage her.

    “Do you have superpowers, Uncle Steel?” King asked, breaking the short burst offortable silence.

    “Don’t talk with your mouth full, King,” I reminded him.

    “Oh yeah, but do you, Uncle Steel?” he asked again.

    Apparently, he found that amusing, because he chuckled. “I’m afraid not.”

    “I bet you can beat Batman up though. He doesn’t have powers either. He just has the cool suit. That’s what my mommy says.”

    “I have a bunch of cool suits too,” Mr. Gray noted.

    “Not like church clothes like you got. I mean with a cape. You don’t need a cool suit. You’re really strong anyway. You can pick up me and Evie at the same time. Remember when you saved us when we got taken away from our mommy? You got a cool name like a hero too.”

    “Right,” Mr. Gray muttered as he finally dug into his own meal.

    Kingmanded the rest of the conversation letting his uncle know that he had learned how to write his first andst name and was working on all the letters and numbers. asionally he would ask me to verify something that he said, and I would chime in. Even Evie tossed in her own little statements or gibberish as she saw fit.

    I loved and hated how much this felt like a real family dinner. I hadn’t been privy to a whole lot of family time, but in this intimate setting with these precious kids that loved their uncle dearly, I felt like part of a family. They were a family for sure. I was actually an outlier intruding on something personal. I was invited though. This time I didn’t feel as bad as I felt when I was the new girl in a home trying to fit in with a family I would only know for a few weeks before they sent me back. Shaking those thoughts off, I picked over my food until the kids were done eating.

    “All done, Evie?” I asked as I stood and took her te.

    “Yes!” she cheered.

    “I’m done too, Ms. Devy,” King mentioned.

    “Good job. Now what do we do?” I asked him.

    “Wash our hands and face and brush our teeth,” King recited.

    “Get your step stool and wash your hands. Call me if you need help before I get there. I’ming with Evie.”

    “OK,” he sang as he hopped down from his chair.

    I stood and picked Evie up knowing that she probably had food all down her shirt. It didn’t matter. Miguel told me how neither of the kids would eat the first day he and Sicily cared for them. I was just grateful that she was eating at all at this point.

    “Thank you for having dinner with us,” I told Mr. Gray, walking over to remove the empty te from in front of him.

    “What are you doing?” he asked, looking up at me with a grimace.

    “I was taking your te. I’m going to wash dishes when I get the kids cleaned up.”

    “I already have a housekeeper, Den. I might not have superpowers but I’m perfectly capable of clearing my own te from the table. You’re not a servant here,” Mr. Gray mentioned.

    See why this was so confusing? I had no idea how to respond to that. Still, I found something.

    “I just want to carry my weight.”

    “You’re carrying both my weight and my sister’s by taking care of the kids. That’s all I require of you,” he stated.

    “How long are they going to be here?”

    “I don’t know yet,” he snapped.

    I knew I was venturing into forbidden territory, so I kept it moving until I reached the bathroom where King was putting a dab of toothpaste on his toothbrush like we practiced. After making sure they both had clean faces and hands, I put them in their room to y then headed back to the kitchen. I was surprised to find Mr. Gray clearing the tes and putting them in the dishwasher.

    “I told you, I was going to handle that,” I said as I walked further into the kitchen.

    “And I said my princess is nobody’s servant, not even mine. Plus, I have to do something to pitch in after you ved over a stove and made sure both me and the kids had something to eat.”

    Did he just refer to me as a princess? Not just a princess, his princess. It wasn’t the first time he’d used the word. The first couple of times I almost took it as an insult due to being locked away in a tower like another more popr princess. I wasn’t even sure about his knowledge of fairy tales, but I hadn’t taken the moniker to heart. Him adding the word my in front of it made it seem as if he was taking ownership. Then again, I guess he’d done that when he ripped me out of Brendan’s. He did say I belonged to him now. Deciding not to think too much into it, I ignored that part of his statement and focused on something more important.

    “I hope that you will make a habit of having dinner with us as long as the three of us are here. The kids need you. King thinks you hung the moon,” I told him.

    He shrugged. “Kids are easily impressed.”

    “That may be true.” I nodded as I walked over and picked up the pictures King had drawn over the past couple of days. I rifled through them and picked out the ones I wanted to show Mr. Gray. I didn’t say anything as I passed him a picture that was supposed to be him in a cape.

    He tittered. “I guess now I have a cape.”

    “Looks like it.” I smiled. “This one is the kids and their mom. This picture is the four of us,” I exined.

    The other picture was of King, Evie, and their mom. Then there was another of the four of us.

    “He’s pretty good for four years old,” Mr. Graymented.

    “He’s very good. I’m trying to encourage him to keep at it.”

    “You’re great with them.”

    “I would like for you to work on spending more time with them.”

    “Den, I’m not good with kids. I don’t even know how long my sister is going to be in jail. I don’t want to get too attached to them only for them to be gone in a few weeks.”

    “You can still be in their lives.”

    “That’s out of the question. I know the kids don’t have anything to do with the history between me and their mom which is why I went to get them. That doesn’t mean I want her back in my life. I know you mean well, but let me handle my own family,” he ordered before storming away. I jumped when I heard the door to his office m.hr

    “If my mommy doesn’te back, can you be my new mommy?” King asked as I tucked him in.

    “Your mom ising back. Until she does, I can be an extra mommy. How about that?”

    “What is that?” he asked, scrunching up his nose curiously.

    “That means that you have two mommies: me and Ang. I’m helping Ang until she cane back.”

    “OK.” He nodded quickly and a bright smile split his face.

    Since Evie was asleep, I read him a bedtime story. By the time I finished, he was fast asleep too. I kissed both of them on their chubby cheeks then headed for the living room. I knew it wouldn’t be long before Mr. Gray appeared to take me back to my quarters. When I walked out of their room, I headed to the kitchen. The sound of the front door mming almost made me jump out of my skin.

    “Mr. Gray, you almost gave me a heart attack.”

    “Don’t call me that!” he spat.

    “Why are you like this? Hm?” I asked, swallowing down the lump in my throat before continuing. “You walk around ring at me like I’m an intruder. You are mean and cold and distant. Then you do something sweet, or you act just cordial enough to make me think you’re human. If you hate my existence so much, then why do you keep doing nice shit and confusing the hell out of me? I didn’t ask to be here. I don’t deserve any of this.”

    “Have a drink with me,” he requested, catching me off guard.

    He didn’t wait for me to respond as he strolled into his office and returned with a bottle of brown liquor and two sses. When he walked over and sat down on the couch, I followed suit. I had no idea what was going on, but curiosity had me holding my breath and waiting for his next move.