“Place that box on the third floor. The ones over there should be in the library. But place one in the study.”
I watched as my bodyguards shuffled about the front of our new home, helping us move our new furniture and items to different rooms.
Since it was too dangerous to let any random mover help us with this process in fear of our new address being leaked to the public, I had to ask my entire fleet of bodyguards to come with me out of the city to help with unpacking.
It was barely even 9 o’clock in the morning, and I was already getting annoyed from having to instruct all these people, wanting nothing more than to huddle in an isolated space with my angels, away from all these people. Though I managed a ginormous enterprise with hundreds of thousands of employees, I truly disliked being stuck around large crowds, enough so that my small fleet of 20 helpers was already making me feel suffocated.
The only thing that was keeping me from fleeing was the sight of Jane and Liam playing in the garden just beyond the far window in the back of the kitchen.
I glanced over at them, watching as Jane taught Liam how to make a chain of flowers. She was kneeling on the damp ground with her dress falling in a circle around her and a thick cardigan barely hanging off her thin shoulders as she tried to help Liam get his clumsy fingers around the fragile stems of a bunch of daisies.
I could practically feel the tension in my body melting away by the second. To think that this sight would become part of my daily life from now on.
“Sir, where do you want to put these extra shelves?”
I sighed and turned my attention back to the workers. “Add it to Liam’s study on the second floor. He’ll eventually gather more books as time goes on to fill the extra shelves.”
They nodded as they carefully inched their way up the stairs with the long upright bookshelf.
I frustratingly ran my fingers through my hair and reassured myself that it would only be a couple more hours before I could finally be alone with my treasures in our new home.
Lost in my thought, I didn’t notice the back door sliding open until I heard a little voice call out to me, “Mr. Rafael, do you have a moment to come out into the garden with us?”
I immediately dropped my hand and replied reassuringly, “Of course, Liam. Is there something wrong?”
He shook his head as he pushed the door open wider to let me through. “I just want to show you something.”
His little fingers grabbed onto the hem of my sleeves, gently tugging me through the winding pathway of the garden until we reached a small bench on the back.
Jane was sitting on the bench with a crooked flower crown on her head and a couple more others lying to the side. Her cheeks turned a light pink color when she saw me ducking under a frame to get closer to her. She greeted shyly, “Hi, Achilles. I’m sorry if Liam interrupted you, but he wanted to give it to you personally.”
“It’s alright, love. You know that I have no problem making time when it comes to the two of us.” I leaned down to press a soft kiss on the side of her temple in greeting before sitting down next to her. “So, what did Liam want to show me?”
She pointed to the right of me with a giddy little smile on her face.
I turned my head and found Liam holding up a slightly larger flower crown. There were a few damaged flowers and a couple of strands sticking out from the sides, but I could tell that he tried really hard to make it.
His cheeks were bright red as he asked me, “C-Can I put it on y-your head? Ms. Jane s-says that when you give someone a flower crown, it can grant them eternal happiness as a celebration of their existence… and I… um…”
I chuckled softly at his adorably flustered complexion. Leaning down to his height, I offered the top of my head to him and replied, “Of course you can.”
He fumbled with the crown as he tried to straighten out the crown on my head. Fiddling with my random strands in an attempt to try to get it to hold, he mumbled so quietly that I almost didn’t hear him, “Th-thank you for everything, Mr. Achilles.”
My heart warmed at his words.
Unable to hold myself back, I instinctively reached out and pulled him into a big hug, wrapping the entirety of his little body in my bulky arms. “There’s no need to thank me, kiddo. You know that I do it because I love you and your mother so much.”
He nodded shyly. His little fists clenched around the clumps of the back of my shirt as he returned the hug.
Once I released him, he went back to his stand-offish demeanor, scurrying back to Jane’s side and diverting his eyes out of embarrassment.
As she patted Liam’s back reassuring, Jane started to ask me, “Do you think you can stay out here and-”
“Sir? There’s a second truck arriving at the front with items from your apartment. Where should we tell them to place everything?”
She smiled sheepishly as one of the workers from inside cut her off. “I guess not…”
I sighed, “I really would love to stay here with the two of you instead, but they do need me to help show them where everything needs to be.” Taking her hands into my big paws, I brought them up to place soft kisses on her knuckles and promised, “But we will have all the time in the world to spend together once they leave in the evening, okay?”
She nodded and asked, “Are you sure you don’t need my help?”
“I’m sure, love. We have more than enough people to help with the heavy lifting and I can handle directing them by myself. Please just take it easy.”
She pouted but nodded anyway, letting go of my hands in the process.
Taking one last glance at the pair, I ducked back inside the house and made my way out to the front door to direct to the new truck of items coming in.
Just a few more hours…
The time really dragged on as each box slowly came through those doors. My body was itching to go back in and play with my two angels instead, but I knew that I had to get this done if I wanted true peace and quiet with them in the long run.
When the sun finally set, the last worker stepped out of the house, finishing the moving process with a polite nod in my direction and telling me that they would return to their guard posts for the night.
I waved them off as I closed the front door behind me, letting out a sigh of relief as the calming silence finally fell over me. No more grunts or footsteps echoing through the house.
Instead, a soft giggle floated out of the stairwell from above to fill the silence.
A flash of recognition shot through my body as I trailed after the melodic sound, eager to look for my two treasures and bury myself in the warmth of their little bubble.
The sound grew louder as I got closer to the top floor, turning down the hall toward our bedrooms, which were positioned across from each other. A warm light shone through the crack of Jane’s designated bedroom, along with their little voices that effortlessly oozed out of the room.
I gently eased the door open and found the two watching a movie on Jane’s new bed, a giant California-sized bed as per my request.
Their heads perked up synchronously at the sound of the door. A broad smile appeared on their lips as they waved for me to get closer.
“Did you finish everything with the movers already?”
I hummed softly in reply as I climbed into bed next to Jane, slumping over her little figure, feeling too tired to respond verbally.
Her smile softened as she gently patted my head. “We’re watching Disney movies right now. Is there anything you want to request for when we finish this one?”
I shook my head silently as I buried my head deeper into the crook of her neck. My body almost instantly relaxed as her sweet scent filled every orifice of my being.
She laced her fingers through my hair and fell quiet, probably noticing that I was in more of a cuddling rather than talking mood.
I let out a soft purr in contentment as her fingers raked across my scalp… along my neck… along my arms… onto my hands… lacing our fingers together…
I was so out of it that I barely noticed when the movie ended.
“Are you feeling better now, honey?”
I nodded silently as I slowly lifted my head off her shoulder.
“Did you have anything to eat yet? Liam and I have only had some snacks, so maybe we can order takeout or something until we go grocery shopping tomorrow.”
“… No, I haven’t eaten yet. Is there anything you want for dinner in particular? I can call-”
“Achilles, you know that you don’t have to handle everything by yourself, right? I know you’re tired, so why don’t you take a shower first and get changed into some pajamas like us? Let me handle getting dinner.”
Her voice was firm and yet so caring at the same time. It warmed my heart to know that she was thinking about me.
I nodded obediently and unlatched myself from her as I slowly clambered out of bed.
“Is pizza alright with you? I think they’re the only ones open at this hour.”
“That’s fine, love. Thank you.” I pressed a loving kiss to her forehead, feeling a bit reluctant to leave even though I knew that I would be right back in her arms in less than ten minutes.
She gave me a quick peck on my cheek in return before scurrying off to get her phone while Liam was still absorbed in finding a new movie to start.
I ducked out of her bedroom and made my way over to my new bedroom. Although I knew that I wouldn’t be spending much time in my own bedroom, planning to continue my habit of sharing a bed with Jane every night, I was still thoroughly surprised by the sight of my new room.
Unlike my apartment in the city, it had a much warmer feel to it, with violet accents lining the silver-grey walls. Rather than just a single bed and a bunch of empty walls, the room was filled out with a large bed matching the one in Jane’s room, with sofas and cabinets scattered across the floor while different paintings and mirrors hung off the walls.
I quickly stripped out of my clothes and stepped into the shower, trying to clean myself up as fast as possible. In less than 5 minutes, I finished my shower and stepped out with a towel around my waist, searching for my clothes.
Though the room was fully furnished, and the majority of my clothes seemed to be in my new closet, I couldn’t find any of my sweatpants or loose shirts. The closet only held my suits for work.
I tiredly ruffled my damp hair as I stepped out of my bedroom in search of my clothes. Maybe one of my guards accidentally left them in a different room.
I peeked through random doors on our floor, glancing at the random-looking rooms but never finding any lone boxes. All the rooms had a similar silver theme with violet accents, which brought a wonderfully comforting feeling to me, but I was too tired at the moment to truly appreciate it.
I let out a heavy sigh as I closed the 8th door. Maybe I should just-
“Achilles? Is something wrong?”
I dropped my hand from covering my eyes at the sound of Jane’s voice and turned around to face her, feeling the once-rising tension drop out of my body at the sight of her adorable figure dressed in an innocent little nightgown.
Ah… This is what I’ve wanted for the last couple of months… to finally have Jane living with me under one roof… to come back to the sight of her adorable little figure, knowing that she would be there for me for every night to be with…
Her cheeks turned bright red as her eyes dropped down, raking across my nearly naked form with only a towel to cover up my private parts, lingering on my abs before bashfully diverting her eyes.
But I couldn’t bring my tired self to care that I was practically naked in front of her. After all, I was completely hers at the end of the day anyway. She could soak me up with her eyes for all I care.
All I knew was that I would do anything to stay with my little Jane for the rest of my life.
This was just the first step before I could finally marry her one day.
Then she could ogle at me all day when I become her official husband.