The Widow and the Orphan (19 page)

Closer to forty-five minutes later, they were showered and changed into more comfortable streetwear. Their wedding clothes would be gathered and delivered back to the house by a company Aiden had hired to do the cleanup and other end-game tasks. Stopping at the door to Aiden’s suite, they could hear his voice and Gavin’s giggles. Pepper smiled up at her new husband and nudged him in the side. “See? Everything’s going to be okay.”

“I hope you’re right, darling.”

Pepper raised her hand and rapped her knuckles on the wooden door. A beat later, Aiden swung it open.

“Hey, guys. Come on in.”

“What’s all the ruckus in here?” Pepper asked, giving Gavin a friendly smile. The boy sat on the floor surrounded by plastic pieces that obviously made something, but she didn’t have the faintest idea what.
Those aren’t Legos. I’m going to have a lot to learn
.

“We were watching cartoons.” Aiden gave them both a wary look. Pepper thought he looked like he was expecting to get fired for real this time. She gave him a wink and then scowled at him.

“Cartoons? You should have been watching PBS or The Learning Channel. And what’s all this?” She walked over to the end table nearest to where Gavin played. “M&Ms? And
Coke
?”

Gavin giggled and snatched up a few of the candies still on the table. When he tried to get to the can of pop, Pepper beat him to it. She swooped it up and took a swig for herself. The can was nearly empty, so she put it back down and Gavin captured it.

“Sorry.” Aiden stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels with an “awe shucks” look on his face.

Gabe took a seat on the couch so he could observe Gavin more closely. Pepper pulled Aiden by the arm across the room to the kitchenette. “You fucked up big time, buddy.”

Aiden’s smile disappeared and his body went rigid. “I know. I’m so sorry.”

Pepper stared at him for a very long moment before she spoke. “I know it wasn’t on purpose. I’m not mad at you, I’m just pissed that the whole thing happened. Are you sure this person hasn’t tried to contact Gabe before this? No messages or letters from someone named Tanya before now?”

Aiden shook his head in the negative. “Absolutely not. I swear it.”

Pepper shrugged and leaned against the counter. “Well, then, it is what it is.”

“Pepper, I really am so sorry.”

Rubbing his arm with her hand, Pepper watched her husband and the little boy. “I know. It’s done and over with. Let’s just move on.”

“What are you going to do?”

Pepper shrugged. “Take it one minute at a time, I guess.”

Whispering so Gavin wouldn’t hear their conversation, Aiden asked, “Will you keep him?”

Pepper’s head pivoted faster than the blades of a fan on high. “Duh, of course.”

It didn’t matter how he’d gotten there, it was obvious that he was Gabe’s son. The resemblances were too stark to disregard.
It’s those ears, really
. She studied both sets from man to boy and had to keep from laughing out loud. The longer she observed Gabe and Gavin discussing the toy he was building, the clearer it became. The eyes, the nose, the mouth, the chin. The kid was Gabe’s mini-me.

And it hit her like that. Gavin was here to stay.

* * * * *

Riding in a limo back to their house was about as fascinating as it got for a ten year old boy. Gavin opened every compartment he could find, played with the windows, and even stuck his head out of the sun roof once when they were stopped at a red light.

He’s gotta think he’s in another universe
. Pepper watched his eyes light up with each new discovery and she felt the joy herself as her heart beat faster. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. But that didn’t stop her thoughts from racing in all directions.

Not having spent a lot of time with kids, the naked joy on Gavin’s face was a new experience for her. With that came all of the frightening aspects of adding a child to their home. And how would it affect Gabe?
Maybe it’ll make him fight harder
. Pepper considered the possibility and hoped it would be true, though she wondered if asking him to fight any harder was cruel. He was already struggling and becoming more exhausted as time went on. Could he really be expected to take on something as monumental as fatherhood? The ride home took much longer than expected with L.A. traffic being worse than usual for a late Saturday afternoon. She tried to listen as Gabe and Gavin talked, the boy asking the man questions about everything under the sun. Pepper could only fixate on how tired Gabe looked. His smile was as quick as ever, when Gavin would give his opinion on something he saw. She knew Gabe better than anyone though. His shoulders sagged and he wasn’t sitting up straight. Exhaustion was the gravity pulling him forward. Pepper’s insides clenched knowing she would have to learn to walk a delicate line between caring for Gabe and his health needs and not stifling the budding relationship with his newfound son.

When the car pulled into the driveway, they climbed out and Gabe and Pepper led Gavin into the house as the driver followed behind them carrying the luggage.

The cats came bounding up to them and the little boy smiled with delight. “Kittens!” he yelled, falling to his knees to pet all of them.

Pepper kneeled down beside him and laughed. “Yep. This here’s Wolfie and that one is Smudge. This gray striped one is Crank. Watch him, he bites.”

“I never had a cat,” Gavin said softly as he stroked the fur on Smudge’s head.

Gabe directed the driver where to put the bags, handed him a sizeable tip, and then closed the door. He ambled over to stand beside Gavin, smiling as he watched him play with the kittens.

“Well, you have fun with ‘em then.” Pepper waggled her fingers to encourage the kid to play the felines.

Pepper and Gabe moved about the main floor, keeping an eye on Gavin and pretending they had things to do. Gabe checked his phone. Pepper shuffled through a pile of old mail. She didn’t know exactly what was going to happen or what they
should
be doing, so they stayed out of the way until Gavin seemed comfortable. Gabe ended up sitting on the sofa, thoroughly entranced with watching the boy. Pepper stayed in the kitchen and wiped an already clean counter with a rag.

After a while, he did stand up to check out his new surroundings. His eyes were wide as he took in the open floor plan. “Your house is nice.”

“Thanks.” Gabe rubbed the back of his neck and Pepper’s heart winched from his discomfort. And for her own. Neither of them really knew what to say or do.

“Are you hungry, Gavin?” Pepper asked.
All kids are hungry all the time, right
?

“Nah.”

Gabe glanced at his watch. “Full of M&Ms and Coke still?”

Gavin grinned and nodded his head, then jogged over to the glass wall of windows to look out at the pool. “You’ve got a pool!”

“We sure do. Maybe later we can go in?” Pepper grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator, uncapped it and took a drink. “Can you swim?”

“Yep. But I don’t have a bathing suit.” Gavin’s eyes dulled with disappointment.

“So what?” She flapped a hand at him. “You can wear some shorts or something.”

“Really?” Gavin’s excitement reappeared in a millisecond.

“Sure, no worries.”

“Can we do it now?” Gavin reached for the handle on the door to pull it open.

“Whoa, hold on a sec!” Pepper crossed the room and put her arm around his shoulders. “Why don’t you grab your stuff first, and come with me upstairs? I’ll show you the spare rooms and you can pick the one you want. Then we can find something for you to swim in.”

“Okay.”

Pepper turned to Gabe. “Are you okay?” Her brows furrowed with concern and her eyes dared him to lie.

Gabe gave her a lazy smile and reclined back on the couch. “I’m fine, love. I’ll rest here until you get back.”

Leaning down, she kissed him on the forehead and caressed his cheek. “You do that. We’ll be back in a jiff.”

Turning back to Gavin, crooked her finger at him. The little boy hefted his two tattered backpacks and a scuffed brown suitcase near the door, and Pepper grabbed her suitcases as well. He followed her to the second level, choosing the room kitty corner from the master. It wasn’t like it mattered. All three of the spare bedrooms were pretty much the same: beige walls, neutral rugs, plain sheets and blankets on the bed. It had never occurred to Pepper to change anything in them because they rarely got used. The only guests who’d ever stayed overnight were a very drunk Will and Viv long before Jane came into the picture.

Pepper dropped her luggage off in the doorway to her room, then came back to begin opening the drawers of the dresser. She removed all the extra sheets and blankets. “I kept this stuff in here because I didn’t need to put clothes in them. You can put all your stuff away. And there’s the whole closet, too.” Not that Gavin had all that much. He had more toys than clothes. “Just make yourself at home, all right?”

Gavin stood next to the bed, examining the room. He looked utterly amazed. “It’s so nice in here. It’s big, too. I’ve never had a room I didn’t have to share.”

Pepper smiled at him, but felt a pang of sadness, too. “It’s all yours now, kiddo. When you’re done, just come find me and we’ll take that swim. Okay?”

“Yeah!” Gavin grinned. “Thank you, Mrs. Seigal.”

Pepper shifted her load to one arm and raised her other hand up like the kid had thrown something at her. “Whoa, whoa. You won’t be calling me that. I haven’t been married twelve hours and I’m
way
too young to be a missus anything. Just call me Pepper, okay?”

Gavin grinned. “Okay. Thanks.”

“See ya in a bit.”

Pepper hugged the linens and walked to her own room, nudging her suitcases further inside with her knees. She dumped the bedding in a chair then carried her bags into the walk-in closet.

Trying to parse out the feelings in her heart and thoughts in her brain, Pepper meandered around the closet putting clothes away and tossing shoes back onto the rack.
What the hell am I supposed to do with a kid
? She fingered the wedding night lingerie she hadn’t gotten a chance to wear and sighed. She wadded it up in a ball and shoved it to the back of the drawer.
It’s January. Shouldn’t he be in school
? Pepper began to move faster in the space and the walls seemed to close in on her. She was slamming drawers shut and slashing hangers onto the rack. Instead of organizing her accessories and jewelry in their nice, neat little compartments in the vanity, she dumped the case upside down and let all the items fall inside, clumped together in a tangle.
I’m not
supposed
to be a mom, for Christ’s sake
! When there was nothing more for her to take out her frustrations on, she kicked at the suitcases until they were back against the far wall in their normal spot, albeit a little cockeyed.

Pepper sighed and placed a hand on either side of the island in the middle of the closet where Gabe kept his ties, cufflinks, and the like. Dropping her head down, she took several deep breaths. Having a fit wasn’t going to get her anywhere. How often had life changed on a dime for her in the past? Plenty. She always managed before, so she’d do it again. She would face it all one day at a time and not continue to get herself worked up over things she obviously couldn’t control.

“Miss Pepper?”

She yelped at the sound of Gavin’s small voice. Clutching her throat with one hand, she turned to see him peeping inside the door. “Sorry, kid, you scared me!”

Gavin’s face paled and then two bright spots popped out on his cheeks. “I-I’m sorry.”

Pepper flashed him a brilliant smile. “Hey, it’s okay. No worries. What’s up?”

“I’m finished putting my stuff away.” He gripped a pair of cotton gym shorts in his hands. “Can I wear these in the pool?”

“Yeah, those are fine. Go on and change and I’ll get my suit on too.” Pepper could see that he clutched a large, flat envelope in his little fist, along with the shorts, but didn’t mention it.

“Okay.” He twisted and ran from the room like his pants were on fire.

Pepper snickered and then hurried to put on a plain, royal blue, one-piece bathing suit. She grabbed a couple of towels from the linen closet and met him in the hallway.

Together they clomped down the stairs to find Gabe sitting on the couch, petting all three cats. Smudge and Wolfie were next to him and Crank was on his lap. He smiled up at them as they approached, never stopping the hands that stroked the silky fur. “All settled in, I hope? And I see you’re ready to jump right in.”

“Yep.” Gavin smiled and nodded. He hesitated, then shifted from one foot to the other, the envelope he carried crinkling noisily. “I wanted to give you this, sir.” Finally, he took a few steps forward and shoved the envelope at Gabe.

Gabe leaned in to grab it, looking from Gavin to Pepper and back again. “What is it, Gavin?”