“Thanks. Again. Seriously. Thank you.” Before Rowan could tell him to stop thanking him, Jordy said a hasty goodbye and hung up.
DECEMBER BEGANin a blur of back-to-back games and rushed road trips that left Jordy feeling his age and the loneliness of his very empty rental house. Vancouver was wet and cold and miserable, though Jordy was probably biased, as he was counting down the days to Kaira’s arrival.
The day after talking with Rowan, Jordy purchased two tickets to get Rowan and Kaira to Vancouver the Friday before Christmas, and waiting that long felt like remarkable restraint. Before Rowan had offered to bring her—which was definitely the right choice for Kaira’s happiness—Jordy had been on the verge of declaring “Fuck it” and begging and bribing Anna to bring her to him sooner and staying with them on the West Coast for a month until Jordy’s new nanny could start in January.
But thankfully, Rowan was bringing Jordy’s baby to him, and he breathed easier for the last few weeks apart. By the time Jordy buckled into his rental car and headed for the airport, the rental house didn’t look half bad and even had some Christmas décor to welcome the Christmas enthusiast and connoisseur that was his six-year-old.
Jordy had deliberately booked the tickets on an off day so he could be the one to greet Kaira and Rowan at Arrivals, even if it meant Kaira missed the last day of school.
Whatever, she would survive.
At the airport, Jordy shifted from foot to foot as he waited. Rowan texted once they were off the plane and again at the baggage carrousel. Jordy alternated between desperate looks at his phone and the door for more news.
There.
Rowan, taller than average, was easy to spot coming through the doors. For a second Jordy couldn’t breathe because he was completely blindsided by how good Rowan looked in person. He was one of those people whose beauty never fully translated to camera, and seeing him live and without a lens for the first time in weeks was a punch to the gut.
“DADDY!”
The crowd shifted, and Jordy’s focus was consumed by one thing.
He crouched down and caught Kaira as she surged past the barrier, and crushed her to him.
“Daddy, Daddy.” Kaira buried her weepy face in his collar. Emotions too big and numerous to process swamped Jordy. Guilt, relief, pain, joy. He cradled his baby close and cooed soft reassuring nothings in her ear.
“I’m here. I have you. Daddy’s here, peanut. I’ve got you.”
Someone touched his shoulder, and Jordy looked up to see Rowan at his side. “We should get out of here,” he said in an undertone with a pointed glance around.
Right. It might not be Toronto, but it was still Canada. Judging by some of the expressions on the onlookers’ faces, not everyone watching was simply moved by the emotion of the situation. Rumors of Kaira’s—and probably Rowan’s—arrival in Vancouver were sure to hit the internet soon.
Jordy stood without letting go of his baby and asked quietly, “You have the bags?”
Rowan motioned to the luggage cart at his side and waved off Jordy’s halfhearted attempt to help. “You’ve got her, I’ve got the bags.”
Thank God for Rowan’s long legs, because he matched Jordy’s anxious pace. Kaira was still clinging to Jordy. The sooner they could get out of view, the better.
Once they got to the car, Kaira calmed enough to talk, and she and Jordy rebonded with stories of her trip here while Rowan loaded the bags into the trunk and returned the trolley.
Now that Kaira had calmed down from the initial rush of seeing her daddy again, she was entranced by the adventure of seeing her new house. “Daddy, what color is my new bedroom? Can it be rainbow? Can I have an armadillo bed?”
Jordy buckled her into her seat and did his best to answer her questions, then stepped back to find that Rowan hadn’t yetclimbed into the car but was apparently hovering in case he was needed.
One more thoughtful, Kaira-oriented decision that choked Jordy up. He gave in to the impulse and pulled Rowan into a bone-crushing hug.
The feel of Rowan once again in his arms settled something in Jordy he hadn’t even known needed soothing. He felt real and grounded for the first time since he arrived in Vancouver.
“Thank you.”
“Jordy,” Rowan protested.
“Shut up and let me thank you. You looked after and then brought me my baby.”
“Jordy,” Rowan repeated, but this time it sounded almost fond. He squeezed back for several heart-pounding seconds.
“Daddy, I’m hungry. Can we get ’Donalds?”
Jordy pulled back and offered Rowan a less-than-impressed look.
