“Are you sure you don’t want to help your mom pick out her wedding dress instead?”
I glanced down at Liam worriedly. I was going to spend the day running errands, so I wasn’t sure if he would enjoy it all that much.
But the little one only nodded in affirmation and chirped, “Mom said that I should go with dad because he doesn’t notice when other girls hit on him.”
I sighed at his words. Was I really that bad? I had no problem noticing the golddiggers in the past who would try to come onto me with their suggestive touches and naked bodies sprawled out on my desks, but was I really oblivious to all other types of less extreme forms of flirtation?
Holding my hand, Liam skipped along with my steps and continued, “Besides, I want to spend time with dad. We haven’t gotten to spend much time together with just the two of us since I started taking classes from that professor.”
I smiled as I rounded the corner of the block. “Then, why don’t we get breakfast together before we finish that to-do list your mom gave us?
He nodded happily as we made our way toward the cafe at the end of the block, the one that I would usually opt for whenever Benedict dragged me out of my old apartment for brunch on the weekend.
Oddly enough, it was quite crowded today. Not wanting Liam to get trampled in the crowd, I quickly swept him up into my arms as I pushed open the door and made my way to the counter.
A few of the other patrons turned their heads at my entrance, probably recognizing my face from a magazine somewhere, but I paid no mind as I waited in line with Liam. Nodding toward the menu posted above the cash register and the carts of baked goods lined up against the wall, I told Liam, “Just tell me what you want, and I’ll get it for you.”
He nodded quietly with an adorable sparkle in his eyes as they scanned over the sweets in the window.
I chuckled softly as I noted the indecision in his eyes. I guess all the choices were so good that his sweet tooth couldn’t help wanting all of them.
By the time we reached the front of the line, his eyebrows were still furrowed in deep concentration with the problem at him, not even snapping out of it when the young girl behind the cash register gave us the usual greetings.
I nudged him softly and asked him, “What would you like, Liam?”
He pursed his lips as his eyes scanned back over the baked good, still unable to decide.
Chuckling softly, I told him, “You can get more than one. I’m sure your mother would also love to try some if we can’t finish all of it.”
His eyes immediately lit up at the suggestion. “Then, can we get the chocolate croissant, the cream-filled bun, and a strawberry tart for mom?”
“Of course, Liam.” I turned to the young cashier with a polite smile and asked, “Can you also add a spinach-bacon frittata and some hash browns?”
The girl nodded with a light pink tint grazing her cheeks. “Would you like anything else?”
My eyes lit up at the reminder. “Oh yes, I almost forgot, but can you also add an orange juice for him and a coffee for me?”
Her cheeks turned a deeper color as she typed in our order. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she shyly asked, “How would you like your coffee? I can make a latte or-”
Before she could finish, Liam chipped in, “He likes a dark roast espresso with a spoonful of condensed milk the way mom makes it for him at home.”
The girl flinched at his cold words and silently nodded in understanding. She finished the rest of the transaction in silence and handed me the receipt with a meek “your order will be delivered to your table.”
I raised an eyebrow, confused by the sudden change in disposition, but didn’t pay too much mind to it as I made my way over to a free table.
Liam had a small frown as I sat down across from him. He grumbled, “This is why mom wanted me to come along with you.”
“Hm?”
He crossed his arms and chided, “That girl was flirting with you earlier, and you didn’t even notice!”
Really? That counted as flirting? I was only used to noticing girls who were more forward, like sticking their breasts in my face or trying to touch me inappropriately.
I glanced over at the innocent girl behind the cash register, who looked no older than 20 years old. The moment our eyes met, her eyes immediately darted away as she turned her attention back to the next customer in line.
Liam continued, “How could you not realize that she likes you? She wouldn’t stop staring at you and kept blushing every time you said anything.”
I looked back over at Liam in confusion. “But you’re with me, and I’m wearing my ring. She knows that I’m taken and have a kid already. Why would she still like me?”
He facepalmed with a heavy sigh. “Because, just like mom, other people also find you attractive. If only you could notice it and avoid them the way mom does.”
“Maybe I don’t notice it because I only have eyes for your mom.”
He groaned.
But before he could scold me again, the waiter arrived with our food, diverting Liam’s attention to his sweets instead.
I sipped my coffee as he dove straight into his food. Though it was still quite sweet and had a nice roasted flavor to it, the coffee still wasn’t quite the same in comparison to the one that Jane made for me every morning, making me wish for Jane’s touch in the kitchen instead.
I chuckled softly as chocolate got smeared across Liam’s cheek within seconds and reached up to wipe it off for him. Despite his little body, he managed to down all his sweets and a bit of the frittata with some coaxing in just a few minutes.
Once we finished eating, I packed up the leftovers into a box and tucked them into our bag along with Jane’s tart.
I took Liam’s hand into my own large paws and carefully made my way out of the cafe.
For the next part of the morning, I spent my time dropping by Jane’s old house and packing up the last few things that she had forgotten to bring with her to the new house. With Liam’s help, I managed to find all the items in its nook and crannies with much more ease than expected.
We stuffed the boxes into the back of my car, crossing off the first item on the list.
Then, I dropped by the grocery store to stock up on a few items, which consisted of me trying to get a piece of nice fish for Jane’s craving, Liam not wanting to eat fish and trying to sneak in strawberries instead, and old grandmas complimenting how cute our relationship was as we bickered over the topic of fish.
After a grueling session of grocery shopping and a cart filled with more fruits and sweets than anything else, we eventually managed to leave the store with half an hour to spare before I was supposed to pick up Jane from whichever tailor she may have chosen from my mother’s list.
With Jane’s to-do list for me now completely crossed off, I tucked it back into my pocket and held onto Liam’s hand as I made my way toward a flower shop.
He looked up at me curiously as we stopped in front of a tiny shop tucked away between two even older restaurants. “Do we need something from here?”
I nodded as I walked in with Liam in my arms, ducking under the low doorway as I made my way into the back to search for a particular old lady. “This is where I usually stop to get flowers for your mom. The owner is very nice and helped me pick out the first few bouquets when I had no clue about what I was looking at.”
His mouth dropped into a little o-shape as he peered around the shop.
Every inch of the shop was covered in pots of flavors and all sorts of little trinkets, with only a single narrow walkway looping through in a u-shape around all the stacked tables. Even the ceiling had several plants hanging down from it, making my tall stature stay hunched over the entire time I was inside.
Luckily, I didn’t have to travel too far before the little elderly owner popped out from an array of flower pots and energetically greeted me, “Oh! You’re back again! How are things with your girl? Are you moved in- Oh my! You brought a little one along with you today! He looks just like you!”
“Hello to you too, Susie.” I chuckled at the old lady’s antics as I carefully set Liam back down on his feet. “This is Liam, Jane’s and now my adopted son.”
She squealed in delight as she rounded the overflowing table of flowers to take a closer look at Liam.
Liam immediately ducked behind my legs at the sight of the overly energetic woman and glanced up at her warily, making her pout in dissatisfaction.
I patted Liam’s head soothingly and explained to Susie, “He’s not very comfortable with strangers.”
She sighed but nodded understandingly. Setting her watering can aside, she changed the topic and asked, “Are you here to get another bouquet for Jane?”
I nodded, which resulted in the little lady disappearing behind a set of back doors with a skip in her step.
Turning my attention to Liam, I told him, “Would you like to stay out here instead? You can look around while I go with Susie to set up a bouquet for your mom. ”
He eyed the closed door warily and nodded silently.
I chuckled softly. He really didn’t like loud old ladies like Susie and my mother.
Patting his head, I reminded him, “Don’t stray too far from the shop, and tell me if you find something you want to give to your mom.”
He nodded obediently and released my leg from his grasp.
Once I saw him comfortably wandering about the shop, I eventually tore my eyes away from his little figure and made my way into the back of the shop to meet with Susie. I pushed the worn-down door open and found Susie fussing with a few different flowers, all within the realm of some sort of light lavender color.
She smiled warmly at me when she heard the door open and waved me over to her side.
Unlike other people, she didn’t seem to quite realize who I was when I told her my name. She was an old lady, probably almost in her 80s already, so I wasn’t too surprised when she seemed completely unfazed by my introduction the first time we met. She didn’t even seem to mind my towering stature either, which was a nice change of pace. Instead, I found her warm aura to be quite soothing, reminding me of my grandmother before she passed away when I was little.
I walked up next to her, fingering the petals of the flower silently as she worked on trimming the last couple of stems.
As she tucked the last flower back into its vase, she decided to break the silence and asked, “Would you like to add anything else to it? I remember that you said she reminded you of lavender and tried to pick out some of my best light purple flowers along with some white ones as accents to the bouquet.”
I hummed softly in thought as I skimmed my fingertips over the vibrant bellflowers mixed sparsely between several large white flowers with a few strands of lavender sticking out the sides. “Do you have any flowers that mean love?”
Her eyes lit up at the question, making her nod eagerly as she darted off into the garden outside of her shop.
Within seconds, she came back with an armful of white flowers with dashes of a light pink tint in the center. She happily explained, “These are carnations, which represent everlasting and unconditional love. They’re actually my favorite, so I prefer not to give them away. But I’ll make an exception for you because you are my most frequent customer, and I love hearing about your relationship with this little Jane of yours.”
My cheeks heated up in embarrassment.
She continued as she got working on arranging the carnations with the rest of the flowers, “Is there any particular reason you are looking for these flowers?”
I thumbed a loose petal and mindlessly explained, “I recently found out that Jane was worried about a girl who I apparently know and likes me, but she won’t tell me who it is, so I wanted to give her something to reassure her…”
The little lady nodded mutely in deep thought as she fluffed the flowers. After a long silence, she quietly replied, “I’m not all that surprised that you have more than one girl chasing after you. I rarely meet honest gentlemen like you anymore, but I also know that you are loyal to your girl, and I’m sure she knows it too, so don’t worry about it too much, alright?”
I nodded in understanding as I accepted the vase of flowers from her. “If you believe it to be so, then I will believe in it too.”
She cockily popped her hip and smirked, “I know so! Now, do you need anything else, or is that all for today?”
“Well… I do have one more request, but I’m not sure if you would like to do it…”
She raised an eyebrow in question. “What is it, hun?”
“Jane and I recently decided to start planning our wedding, and I was wondering if you would like to be our florist. We’re only having a small ceremony, so it won’t be too much of a burden for-”
“Nonsense, my boy! I would love to help out with your wedding.” She squealed happily while bouncing on her toes, unable to contain her excitement. “I can’t wait to finally get to meet your precious Jane.”
“I haven’t told her about you before, but I’m sure she would love you once she meets you. She has a very big heart. After all, she took both Liam and me in despite all of our baggage.”
“Don’t say that. You are quite a catch yourself, and I’m sure she also feels like she won the lottery with you too.” Susie pushed my back with a bright smile on her face. “Now get out of here and go home to your lovely little lady before I shoo you out with a broom.”
I chuckled softly and nodded obediently. Tucking a fifty-dollar bill into her hands, I darted off in search of Liam before she could try to give the change back to me.
With all the shrubbery and leaves poking out of every nook and cranny of the shop, I had a bit of a difficult time looking for the little man, but I eventually heard his voice float out from somewhere in the front of the store.
I stepped out of the shop, wondering who he was talking only to find him standing rigidly in front of a man with a tiny glass trinket in his arms. The man was just a bit older than me but gave me a very strong sense of deja vu for some reason. He had pitch-black hair with dull brown eyes. His appearance was nothing out of the ordinary, but I couldn’t help feeling like his facial feature was awfully familiar.
I quickly walked up behind Liam and pulled him closer to me protectively. Glancing at the man who was more than a few inches shorter than me, I crouched down and asked Liam, “Is everything alright, son?”
Although he was trying to keep a straight face, the man’s jaw ticked. I wasn’t sure what his problem was, but I decided to ignore it and focus on Liam instead.
Liam nodded mutely, trying to keep a blank face, but I could tell that he was feeling distraught by something or someone.
The strange man rolled his eyes and muttered something inaudible under his breath.
Liam hugged the cracked trinket closer to himself and nervously shuffled a few steps behind me.
Frowning, I stood back up to my full height and harshly asked, “What’s your problem? I don’t know what happened, but you seem perfectly unharmed, and he’s just a little kid.”
The strange man scoffed, which only set off a tick inside of me.
But before my anger could explode, Liam tugged on my pants and anxiously told me, “It’s really nothing. I just accidentally bumped into him because I wasn’t looking.”
I pursed my lips.
That didn’t sound like Liam. He was always aware of his surroundings. Like Jane, he was wary of strangers and tried to avoid them as much as possible, just not to the same extent.
But I decided to drop it when Liam nervously tugged on my pants again.
I scooped Liam up into my arms and brushed past the man as I made my way back into Susie’s shop. Glancing back, I watched as the man glared at the back of our heads before walking away with a disgruntled expression.
Trying to take Liam’s mind off of that man, I pointed to the tiny cracked glass charm of a bluebell flower and softened my voice, “Did you pick that out for mom?”
He nodded hesitantly and mumbled quietly, “But I accidentally broke it when…”
Did something more than just a minor collision happen out there? But why wouldn’t he tell me if it was something more major?
I sighed as he lowered his eyes, his mood dropping a full ten levels from this morning. Opting to lift his mood instead, I dropped the topic and reassured him, “It’s alright. We can just pay for the broken one and get a new one for her, okay?”
He nodded with a small smile as he fiddled with the broken trinket.
I was happy that he felt a bit better than before, but I still couldn’t get my mind off of who that man was. Just what was his problem?