Shark Out of Water (23 page)

Both Guy and Charlotte knew their conversation would need to continue, but it was left alone as they ate dinner and enjoyed the company of friends. Even after dinner, the topic of conversation turned to Carmody and Michael’s upcoming trip to France. It had been pushed back a few weeks due to Michel’s work schedule and their concern for Guy and Charlotte, but the plans had now been set, and both were excited for their trip.

“Speaking of such,” Guy said, “my travel agent sent me the final itinerary yesterday. I had meant to bring it by this morning, but…” Everyone laughed when Warren dipped his head in embarrassment. Guy ruffled his hair before standing and retrieving the plans from his
attaché
. He set the folder down in front of Carmody and Michael, who opened it eagerly.

Charlotte watched with a smile as they dug through the plans excitedly. Michael was thrilled that there was not one, but two winery tours on the schedule. Carmody loved the idea of a guided tour through Paris and thanked Guy for scheduling several art museums, even if Michael did not look nearly as enthusiastic. Guy reveled in their happiness. When Carmody commented that she did not know how he managed to include so much on their budget, he did not have any trouble telling them that the five thousand dollars they had allotted for the trip was plenty because he had such good connections.

They seemed reluctant to leave when the time came, but both Charlotte and the children had begun to run out of strength, so everyone said their goodbyes. “Now, I’ll be over tomorrow around ten,” Carmody said to Charlotte, who surprised Guy by nodding with a smile. “Lily goes to preschool then, so I’ll be able to help with whatever you need me to and Guy can get some sleep without worrying about you.”

“Thank you,” Charlotte said. There was still some lingering uncertainty in her voice, but Guy appreciated that she was putting her trust in him and his friends. Once the door was closed and they were on their way, Charlotte turned to Guy with a knowing expression. “How much did that trip really cost?”

He saw no point in lying to Charlotte about it, so he said, “Closer to twelve thousand than five.”

Charlotte did not seem surprised. He could tell she was exhausted, but when she pulled against him, he wrapped her up tightly. “You never told me what you’d like Warren to call you,” Charlotte said.

Earlier, when she said Warren’s choice was all right with her, Guy had doubted her words. He still worried it would be more difficult for her than she pretended, but he knew now that it was genuine. “If Warren wants to call me
Papa Guy
, I have no problem with that.”

Charlotte pulled back and looked up at him. “But do
you
want him to?” she questioned. “I know I kind of sprung him on you in the beginning, and we haven’t really discussed kids outside of babysitting Lily. If you’re not comfortable with him calling you that, please just say so. It’s okay.”

It meant a great deal to Guy that Charlotte was more concerned about his feelings on the matter than she was about hers in that moment. Guy slid his hands around Charlotte’s waist and pulled her back in. “It would make me very happy to have Warren call me
papa
.”

Instead of hurt or fear, Charlotte’s expression showed only happiness. She allowed Guy to lead her back to her bedroom, but before he could leave to check on Warren, she took his hand and pulled him back. “Guy,” she said softly, “I love you, too.”

Chapter 26

Éléphants Roses

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Carmody asked for the millionth time.

Guy took Lily’s bags from Michael with a shake of his head. “Both of you, stop worrying. I have told you many times that we are happy to have Lily stay with us while you are gone. It will be a welcomed break for all of us.”

All three adults turned at the sound of delighted squealing. Warren and Lily were attacking each other with hugs as Charlotte sat on the couch chuckling at them. The weekends were Guy’s favorite time of the week. He had taken a leave of absence from the hospital, so it was not the lack of work that made the days something to look forward to, since he still had date shark clients to meet with on Saturdays. It was how Charlotte felt.

The chemo was still difficult for her, and it took several days for her to recover, but by the end of the week she usually felt much better and had her energy back. He loved seeing her more active and able to enjoy being with the family.

“My parents will be here to pick Lily up Monday night,” Michael said, the smile slipping from his mouth.

Guy and Charlotte had offered to keep Lily the whole week, but they all knew how severe Charlotte’s reaction to chemo usually was, and Carmody and Michael refused to make those difficult days even worse. On some level, Guy had been relieved when they said Michael’s parents would keep Lily the rest of the week. He was slowly learning how to be a father to Warren and a good boyfriend to Charlotte, but he wasn’t sure how well he would do with taking care of two small children and Charlotte at the same time.

“We will be fine until Monday. You two are not going to make your flight if you don’t leave now.”

Both looked anxious still, but began saying their goodbyes. A few minutes later, they were on their way and excited cries for the zoo began ringing out from both children. Even though it was Friday morning, Charlotte had taken the day off work and Warren had been allowed to miss school. Lily had a full list of fun things she had requested they all do together, and the zoo was at the top of her list. Warren had begged for the natural history museum to be their first stop, so he could see the dinosaur bones, but had given in when Charlotte reminded him it would be polite to let his guest choose.

“Guy, Guy, Guy! Zoo time!” Lily squealed. Warren joined the chanting, too.

“How about breakfast first?”

They both yelled, “No!” at the same time, bursting into giggles immediately after. Even Charlotte laughed.

“I was not offering to cook,” Guy said with a shake of his head. “I thought we could go out to breakfast.”

Cheers erupted from Warren and Lily, and they scurried off to get their shoes and jackets. Charlotte remained behind to comfort Guy. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him playfully. “They’re just teasing you, you know? Your cooking isn’t that bad anymore. It’s been almost a week since you burned anything.”

Guy laughed. His cooking was still mediocre at best. Charlotte had even given in on a few occasions and let Guy order in when his cooking attempts failed too miserably to be revived. “I am trying to get better, I am, but…”

Kissing him stopped his words. Charlotte smiled when she pulled back. “Guy, you are already more than I deserve. I’ll take loving and compassionate and a wonderful father over gourmet meals every day. You’re perfect.” She kissed him again, this time more slowly. When she pulled back, he was reluctant to let her go. She pressed her palm to his cheek and said, “Come on, we have two hungry little monsters who can’t wait to see the monkeys and elephants.”

“Elephants?” Guy’s expression twisted. “We will see how far we get.”

Charlotte gave him a questioning look, but the return of the rowdy, ravenous little ones broke them apart and dragged them out of the apartment. An hour later, after the kids inhaled their waffles at the diner, they were standing in line to get tickets for the zoo. Lily could barely contain her excitement to see the monkeys and giraffes. Warren, on the other hand, was still wishing they were on their way to see dinosaurs.

By the time they finally made it through the line and into the main courtyard of the zoo, both kids were ready to run wild. Guy quickly realized that Charlotte would be worn out before they made it through the first section if Warren kept yanking on her and trying to get her to hurry. Letting go of Charlotte’s hand, he bent down and wrangled both Warren and Lily into his arms.

“We must make a deal. You are both listening, yes?”

Two little heads bobbed up and down.

“Both of you must stay with us and not run ahead.” He turned to face Warren. “Mommy gets tired very easy, yes?” He paused, waiting for Warren’s nod. Lily nodded as well. “If we have to chase you around the zoo, Mommy will get tired too quickly and we will have to go home. If you want to see the butterflies after this, you must stay close and be good listeners. You understand,
oui
?”

Again, both heads nodded up and down eagerly. “We won’t run around, we promise,” Warren said.

“Yep, yep,” Lily agreed, her head bobbing uncontrollably.

“Then let us go see the monkeys,” Guy said, which caused them both to cheer.

He stood up and took Lily’s hand while Warren took Charlotte’s. They both began tugging them in the direction of the exhibits and Guy found himself smiling at their enthusiasm.

As they were pulled across the courtyard, Charlotte leaned over to him and said, “Can I just say that you referring to me as Mommy is about the most adorable thing ever.”

A blush spread through Guy’s face, which only made Charlotte smile even wider. He ducked his head in embarrassment. Lily still called Carmody Mommy all the time, and Warren varied between calling Charlotte Mommy and trying to sound more grownup by calling her Mom. Guy wasn’t sure when the two had rubbed off on him so much, but he could not rein in his embarrassment. Never had he pictured himself talking in such a way.

Laughing, Charlotte kissed his cheek. “Don’t be embarrassed. It’s so sweet. I love it.”

“Monkeys! Monkeys!” Lily shouted. The impatient tugging turned into yanking until Guy reminded her about the butterflies. She stopped pulling on him, but the poor girl was simply dying to see her favorite animal.

Charlotte nudged him ahead a little faster, smiling as she did. Despite their conversation a few weeks earlier after Warren’s visit to the principal’s office, Charlotte was still working three days a week. It was too much, in Guy’s opinion. Doing everything on her own for nearly six years and rarely accepting help had worn her out long before she started chemo. The treatment was hard on her body, but admitting her limits was not easy for Charlotte.

She was determined to remain as self-reliant as possible, but she at least agreed to let Carmody help with daily cleaning and errands, and for the others to take Warren on occasion so they could relax. Eli and Leila won the award for most fun, in Warren’s opinion, but Stephanie and Vance were a close second. The fact that Stephanie tended to baby Warren too much made them lose points in his eyes. Guy was just happy they were all getting to know each other and feel more comfortable.

In other areas, Charlotte had given in to Guy more than he expected she would be able to. Letting him take over some of the financial decisions and caring for Warren’s day-to-day needs was not easy for her. In truth, it had not been easy for Guy, either. There was much more to keeping a household of three going than he expected. His old lifestyle of living single, with only the basic necessities, eating out most nights, and hiring out any chores he did not have time for was vastly different and required a huge adjustment to his new role. Add in figuring out how to deal with Warren’s occasional meltdowns in the middle of taking care of Charlotte, and Guy spent the first week after leaving work at the hospital simply trying to figure everything out. Carmody’s help was invaluable.

Everything was running more smoothly after a few weeks practice, but Guy knew there was still a lot for him to learn. Easing Charlotte’s burden was a good feeling, though. He only wished she would let him do more. She still resisted letting him help her financially when it came to anything more than paying Mindy or getting groceries. He did more when he could without her noticing, like paying repair bills and Warren’s school fees when they came up, but he could do so much more if she would only let him.

“Look, look, look!” Warren said, pointing at a sign for the elephant exhibit. Guy slowed at the sight of it.

“Are we not getting tired by now? Perhaps we should head back,” he said.

Warren and Lily immediately disagreed, quite loudly. They were completely focused on announcing their unhappiness, but Charlotte was looking at Guy curiously. Ignoring the kids for a moment, she asked, “Do you have a problem with seeing the elephants? You balked at the mention of them earlier, too.”

Shaking his head, Guy tried to deny such a silly thing, but when the children began chanting, “Elephants! Elephants!” Guy cringed.

“Are you afraid of elephants?” Charlotte asked. She was trying very hard to contain her amusement, but it was obvious she found his fear laughable.

“Not afraid,” Guy argued, “just…I find them to be disturbing.”

“Why?”

Guy shook his head, grabbing Lily’s hand again and starting toward the elephants. Charlotte only smiled and followed after them with Warren. He could tell she was tired from all the walking by the time they made it to the exhibit and stopped to rest. Guy forced himself to stay by the fence to make sure Lily did not try to climb in with the detestable elephants.

Charlotte slipped up next to him and said, “See, they’re not so bad.”

Grimacing, Guy shook his head in disagreement. When Charlotte began giggling at him, he scowled at her, though there was little heat behind it. “Sorry,” Charlotte said, “I just can’t help it. Why are you afraid of elephants?”

“Dumbo!” Warren shouted. He then broke down into hysterical laughter. “Guy’s afraid of Dumbo! He wouldn’t watch it with me. He’s afraid of Dumbo!” He and Lily both continued to laugh until their bellies hurt. Charlotte seemed to think they were only teasing Guy until she looked up at him and saw the embarrassment on his face.

“Really?” she asked. The corner of her mouth twitched, trying to keep a smile from forming.

Huffing irritably, Guy folded his arms across his chest. “There is something wrong with that show.”

“With Dumbo?” Charlotte seemed confused. “It’s just a kids’ movie. Dumbo is the hero. Why…?”

“The
éléphants roses
! They are not right.”

“The what?” Charlotte asked, laughing in spite of herself.

Guy turned away from the massive creatures and stalked over to a bench. Warren and Lily were too busy giggling at an elephant throwing dirt on itself to even move. Charlotte, however, followed him and slipped her hand into his. He knew he was being childish, but the creatures truly bothered him.

“The pink elephants,” Guy finally said, “from the movie. They gave me nightmares when I was a child. They were… unsettling. I have not liked seeing these things ever since. I know it is silly, but I do not like them.”

Charlotte was still smiling, but her expression turned repentant. “I’m sorry for laughing. I guess I just didn’t think you would be scared of…”

“Something so ridiculous?”

Shaking her head, Charlotte said, “Anything. I didn’t think you were afraid of anything. You’re always so confident. It just caught me off guard, I guess.” She leaned in, then, and kissed him.

Personally, he thought it was a more than adequate apology. He pulled her in closer, kissing her again, making her forget about elephants and everything else. When he finally pulled back, he pressed his cheek against hers. “I am afraid of many things, most of all, losing you and Warren.”

Charlotte’s grip tightened, her fingers curling around his shirt. He could feel the way her breath caught at his admission. “You won’t lose us,” she whispered.

He wanted to believe that wholeheartedly, but the fear he carried for them both was always present. He held her closely, listening to the children change from giggling at the elephants to begging to go see the butterflies. He was happy to give them what they wanted this time. As they started back toward the main courtyard, Guy remembered something.

“Charlotte, after the botanical gardens, do you mind if I stop by my flat? I wanted to pick up a few things. Warren has been asking to go on a bike ride for the last week and I haven’t had a chance to pick mine up. It will only take a few minutes.”

He had not expected her to have a problem with the request, but she hesitated to answer.

“Charlotte?”

Looking up at him, he saw the trepidation in her expression, but did not understand it. She took a deep breath, bit her lip, and then finally spoke. “Guy, what if…what if we didn’t just get your bike?”

“What else should I bring?” he asked, confused by her reaction and request.

One corner of her mouth turned up nervously. “Um, everything.”