Chapter 12: You Didn't Correct Him

Kiera's POV

Jayden hit Zake at full speed.

He came flying down the hallway the second we walked through the door, bypassed me entirely, and wrapped both arms around Zake's waist like he'd been doing it his whole life.

"Daddy! You're here!"

I closed my eyes briefly.

Zake looked down at him, his hand came down and rested on top of Jayden's head.

"Hey." His voice was different, quieter. The same tone he'd used in the boardroom when Jayden was crying. "You good?"

"I waited forever." He said. "You said you'd be back soon but it wasn't soon, it was really long..."

"I know."

"Are you staying?" Jayden looked up at him, those blue eyes wide and entirely without pretence. "Here? With us?"

"Jayden..." I started.

"Yes," Zake said.

Jayden's face split into something so bright it was almost painful to look at. He tightened his grip around Zake's waist and pressed his face against his side.

I stood there.

Camila, the nanny, appeared at the end of the hallway and gave me an apologetic look.

"Can we watch something?" Leo looked up at Zake. "Just one cartoon. A short one."

"It's late," I said. "You need to sleep."

"Just one episode." He insisted.

"Jayden, it's been a long day." I said.

"For you," he said. "I've been here all day. I'm not even tired."

Zake looked at me over Jayden's head.

"One episode," he said.

"He needs to sleep..."

"Thirty minutes." His eyes held mine. "He'll crash halfway through."

Jayden picked the cartoon himself, something loud and colourful about a boy and his robot, and planted himself between us on the couch like it was the most natural arrangement in the world.

"This is the best episode," he told Zake seriously. "The robot saves everyone."

"Does he?" Zake said.

"Well. Almost everyone." Jayden reconsidered. "The purple guy doesn't make it but he was annoying anyway."

"Of course he was." Zake said.

"Do you like robots?" He asked.

"Depends on the robot." He said.

Jayden thought about that. "What about dragons?"

"Well I like them more than robots." He said.

"Me too." He turned back to the screen, satisfied, then immediately turned back. "Have you ever seen a real one?"

"Not personally." Zake's voice was completely even. "But that doesn't mean they don't exist."

Jayden nodded slowly, like this was the only correct answer, and finally settled against Zake's arm.

Five minutes later his questions were coming slower.

Three minutes after that, mid-sentence about something the purple character had done in a previous episode, his voice dropped and his weight went sideways and he was simply, gone. Out completely, the way only children managed, like sleep had reached up and just taken him.

Zake looked down at him.

"Jayden." I leaned forward slightly. "Baby, you need to go upstairs to bed..."

"Leave him," Zake said quietly.

"He'll wake up stiff..."

"He's five, he'll be fine." He shifted slightly, settling Jayden's weight more comfortably against his side without waking him. "Give him a minute."

I sat back.

The television played quietly and the house settled around us.

After a while Zake carried him upstairs, I didn't argue, I was tired already, and I tucked Jayden in and stood in the doorway for a moment looking at his face. He looked peaceful, happy, even in sleep.

I pulled the door shut and turned around.

Zake was leaning against the wall across the hallway, watching me.

"You should have corrected him." I said.

He raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"He called you Dad." I kept my voice low. "Multiple times. You sat there and let him and said absolutely nothing."

"Would you have preferred I stopped him mid-sentence?" He asked.

"I'd have preferred you redirected it, gently." My arms crossed. "If we let this continue and then the results say otherwise, Jayden will be devastated. I'm not doing that to him. I'm not letting him build something on something that might not be real."

"What if it is real?" His voice was calm. "What if the results come back and he's mine? Do you want to have spent the last however many days correcting him every time he said it, making him feel like it wasn't allowed, and then turn around and say actually..."

"That's not..."

"You don't know which way it goes," he said. "Neither do I. So until we do, why would I make a five-year-old feel like his instincts are wrong?"

I stared at him.

"He felt something when he looked at me," Zake said. "Kids do that. They read rooms better than adults because they haven't learned yet to talk themselves out of what they feel." He held my gaze. "I'm not going to be the one who teaches him to do that."

"That's..." I stopped. "You don't have to do this. Even if it's good, you don't have to..."

"I know what it feels like," he said quietly. "To be that age and want something stable and not have it."

The room went quiet.

"He's going to get attached," I said finally.

"He already is." He said quietly. "So let's make sure what he's attached to is worth it."

I had nothing to say to that.

"You should sleep," he said, breaking the silence. "Our bedroom is upstairs, you can..."

"We're sharing a room?" I asked surprised. "Why can't I just sleep with my son?"

"Because we got married this morning and we have staff," he said. "They've been in this house have worked for this family for years, which means they are observant and they talk. You sleeping in your son's room on our wedding night becomes a conversation that becomes a headline that becomes a problem." He held my gaze. "So, the bedroom upstairs. You take the bed, while I'll take the couch."

I stared at him. "You're giving me the bed."

"You've been awake since before six." He said.

"So have you." I said.

"I'm used to it." He turned around and began walking. "Come on."

I followed him up.

"My life can't get any worse than it already is." I pressed my fingers to my eyes for a moment."

He stopped and looked back at me.

"It's about to," he said.

I lowered my hands. "I'm sorry?"

"Tomorrow is your first day." He held my gaze. "As CEO. The board will be watching everything, how you walk in, what you say. They already have opinions about you. You need to establish yours before they solidify."

I stared at him.

"I have to get ready," I said flatly.

"Yes." He turned back toward the hallway. "Get some sleep first."

"I have to prepare an entire..."

"Kiera, you need sleep." He stopped,glanced back. "The company will still be complicated in the morning."

"I hate this," I said.

"I know."

He walked down the hallway and I followed him to our room.