His Luna Warrior

Chapter Eight: Uneasy

Adam

As I slowly came to, I smelled the inviting aura of breakfast.

Blinking my eyes open, I sat up quickly and looked around.

She was gone!?

My searching gaze landed on the to-go bag and the folded note left beside it.

Adam, thank you for your help last night. I’m sorry for causing trouble and imposing myself onto you. Breakfast is on me. Enjoy :) - J

Damn! She’d already left.

I was surprised I hadn’t woken up. Usually I snapped awake at the drop of a button because of my two littles. Maybe it was because of the alcohol? Or possibly because of Jadea?

I couldn’t explain why I felt so empty and upset by her quiet getaway. She could have at least woken me up and told me she was leaving. To tell me goodbye.

Ugh! I flopped back down on the bed and turned to the side she had been laying on. I couldn’t say why my arms ached at her absence, and I fought against the urge to curl into myself. Last night, just sleeping with her, had been the best sleep I had gotten in years. And it was all so confusing.

These new emotions and feelings I was having were strong, new and overwhelming. Unable to help myself, I gave in to my body’s need have her close. I reached over and grabbed the pillow she had laid on and snuggled it, burying my face in the material to breathe her deeply into my lungs.

What I was feeling was entirely irrational.

She was just something new. She was an enigma. And a trouble maker to boot. She was an entanglement I didn’t need, because she would end up wrecking what little of me was left if I allowed myself to get involved with her.

She was and could only be a dream. The reality of the situation was that I had two children, I was much older than her and I was damaged goods. Honestly, what could I have to offer her that she already didn’t have? And from what I could tell, she had her own demons she was fighting.

But why did she have to go and feel more like home than any physical home ever had?

There were too many questions without answers. And, honestly, I didn’t need them answered. She was so far out of my reach, it would be damn near an embarrassment to try. Setting the pillow aside, I got up and stripped the bed and put them in the wash. No good would come from clinging onto a fantasy.

After I ate, I started working on the itinerary for their stay. It didn’t take long to get an initial timeline. It was the calling, the online searching and arranging that was going to be the challenge.

The Stanislaus Fair was easy to take care of, seeing as the tickets to enter the fair and the separate tickets for the events could be purchased online. I paid for one of the boxes at the very front so they could have the best views.

The band had told me I could bring my children along to one of the events. It was nice and exciting to be offered such a privilege. I’d been wanting to take them to the fair for a while now, and to treat them to some kind of fun outing but money was always so tight.

Both Aidan and Anika had expressed interest in monster trucks. And luck was on my side because that event fell on Saturday.

By the time I was supposed to leave to pick up my littles, I’d nearly completed scheduling the first month’s activities.

I met Ava at the park to pick them up.

Sitting down heavily on the bench next to her, I handed her a coffee and cookie I’d bought from her favorite coffee place. “Oh! You are spoiling me!”

“What are brothers for?” I asked, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “How’d they do for you?”

“Splendidly! They are little angels.”

“Oh, now I know you’re pulling my leg.” I jested, chuckling.

She laughed too. “Honestly, they are doing so much better.” She looked at me. And not her normal, quick side glance. She fully faced me. “You are doing such a great job with them, Adam. You are a good father to them.”

I stared down at my coffee cup, forcing the tears to stay at bay. It was a compliment I didn’t hear often. While it was nice to hear someone say it, I didn’t feel deserving of it.

While I knew I was doing my best to raise two children, I always doubted if I was enough. If I was giving them everything they needed. They only had me. Their mother was out of the picture completely. After she had lost in court, she didn’t make an effort to stay in touch. Not that I cared. Point was, they didn’t have a mother. They had their Aunt Ava. But, sometimes I wondered if that was enough. My time, my efforts… was I setting a good enough example for them? Was I enough for them?

“Hey,” Ava gently set her hand on my shoulder and I flinched involuntarily. She just as quickly removed her hand.

“I-I’m sorry,” I apologized, but it was too late.

“Adam,” she sighed. “There is nothing for you to apologize for. I should be the one apologizing. You’ve told me before that you don’t like to be touched. I shouldn’t have—

“I-It’s n-not your fault.”

“And it’s not your fault, either,” she reminded me gently.

No. It wasn’t. But sometimes, it still felt like this whole situation I found myself in was my fault.

“Will you stop blaming yourself?”

“It’s n-not that easy.”

“Did you set up an appointment with the therapist I recommended?

I shook my head. “No.”

“Adam, you deserve to heal and be happy too.”

“I am happy!”

Her skeptical look said it all. “No, you’re not. And you are doing a piss poor job at hiding it too.”

“Please, just let it go,” I whispered, not wanting to argue.

When she started listing off all the reasons I should go see a therapist, I stood up and called to my littles. When they heard me, they came running. “It’s time to say goodbye to Auntie.”

“You can’t avoid this forever,” she whispered, leveling me with a pointed look over Aidan’s and Anika’s heads.

“I don’t expect to, because I d-don’t plan on living f-forever. Even if s-someone did magically figure out how immortality works,” I grumbled back sarcastically. Ava dropped the subject, thankfully.

As Aidan and Anika said their goodbyes, a sudden chill fell over the yard. I slowly looked around, my hand moving instinctively to the gun at my hip. And that’s when my gaze landed on a hooded figure watching the children play.

He was probably a nobody.

But when he turned and looked straight at me, it felt like an ice cold bucket of water had been dumped over me. I got this nefarious chill down my back. It was malicious… evil…

“Ava, take them to the car. Now please.” I said urgently.

“What is it?” She started looking around.

“Just get in the d-damn car and lock the doors,” I reiterated, dialing 911. As she got them to the car, the emergency operator answered. I didn’t give her my name or information, I only stated which park and that there was a shady individual who looked to be stalking children. He didn’t look as if he had any children of his own. The dispatcher reassured me there was a unit nearby who would check it out and told me not to approach the individual.

As I turned back around to look at him one more time, he was gone.

I took a deep breath and reiterated to myself that this guy was most likely a nobody. But I couldn’t shake that uneasy feeling…