Chapter 4
A week had passed since the last interaction with Liam, and Theo felt saddened by that. He wanted to be with Liam constantly, wanted to integrate himself into the man’s routine.
He went to go open the club early in the evening. It was Wednesday, and Theo had the next two days off. Theo decided to give the dancers the weekend off, seeing that it was early November, and even though they got breaks, Theo and Derek felt like they weren’t giving them enough breaks, so, Theo paid for all of the dancers to spend the weekend in a cabin, where they’d all get to go out and have some fun. They had all been excited, all thanking him. Allison even gave him a kiss on the cheek.
He went to open the door, but he felt a hand on his wrist. He looked over, looking into the eyes of Liam. He felt the uneasiness go away, replacing itself with a smile.
“Hey, Liam.” Theo said, and Liam smiled a little.
“Hi, um, I know this is last minute, and I know you’re working tonight, but I need someone to watch Lily, my aunt is out of town, and Corey and Mason are on a date. Brett and Lori moved back with their parents—” Theo cut Liam off with a flash of his eyes.
“I’ll watch her tonight. Give me your number and text me, I’ll give you my address. Derek can man the club with Isaac tonight.” Liam nodded, taking Theo’s phone and entering his number, putting his name as “Dunbaby”.
“I’ll text you when I get back, I need to pack her a bag, and get her medication all written out—” Theo put a hand over Liam’s mouth.
“Liam. I will watch her. Put the list of medication in her bag, and tell me what I need to be cautious of if she has allergies. Go.” He said, and Liam nodded, quickly taking off again.
He waited until Derek showed up, telling him about the change of plans. Derek just nodded, waving him off.
Theo headed home, making it more child proof, and hiding the more harmful stuff like his knives from his mother, and the other weapons from his father. He did not need a child finding those. He got out the blankets and the fluffy pillows.
He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, so he pulled it out and checked it.
From: Dunbaby
Omw!
To: Dunbaby
okay :)
He set his phone down, pulling out some chicken from the fridge. He started to season it when there was a knock on the door. He dropped the cutting knife he was using, washing his hands and toweling them dry. He walked over and opened the door, Liam holding Lily on his hip.
“Hi, thank you so much.” Liam said, and he looked earnest.
“It’s no issue,” Theo said, smiling, “come in.” He opened the door more, allowing for Liam to get by.
Lily was watching him with a sharp eye, tracking all of his movements. He was kind of scared of her, he wasn’t going to lie.
“The list of medications she needs to take are in her bag, and I left a list of allergies on the back of the paper. I should be back tomorrow morning around eight, by the latest, eight forty-five.” Liam said, setting Lily down, crouching down to her level.
Theo watched.
“I want you to be good for Mr. Raeken tonight, okay? Bubba will be back tomorrow morning. It’ll be like staying at aunties house, just with someone else.” Lily jutted her bottom lip out, crossing her arms over her chest.
“But… but Bubba…” She whined, and Liam just smiled softly at her.
“Gimme a hug, bear.” He held his arms out, and she threw herself at him, burying her tiny face into his shoulder.
“I wuv you.” She said softly, and Liam kissed her head.
“I love you too.” He hugged her one more time, giving Theo a smile and waving bye.
Theo watched him go, then looked down at Lily. He crouched down, getting onto her level. He gave her a soft smile when she looked hesitant.
“My name is Theo, Lily. Do you like chicken?” He asked, and she nodded slowly.
“Does Li—Bubba make it a lot?” She shook her head. “What does he make then, sweetheart?” She just stared at him.
“He makes mac… cheese?” She looked up at him, and he melted at how adorable she looked.
“Mac and cheese? One of my favorites. We can make that tonight as well. I was gonna make some homemade chicken tenders.” He said, and she nodded.
He was going to lead them to the kitchen, but her little hand grasped his, and she looked like she was going to cry.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” He prompted gently, and she hugged him tightly.
“B… Bubba got hurt by mommy…” Theo hugged her back, standing up slowly, carrying her to the kitchen.
“Can you tell me how your mommy hurt your bubba?” He asked, and she shook her head fervently. “Okay, okay. That’s okay. Did your mommy hurt you?” He asked, and she shook her head no, again.
He nodded a little, setting Lily down on the counter next to him, pulling out his phone. He called Derek.
“What, Raeken?” He sounded out of breath.
He was fucking Stiles.
He hung up.
Lily looked at him funny, but then her attention was caught onto the chicken. She reached out and put a finger to the meat gently, poking it. She pulled her hand away, looking at it shocked. He smiled at her, grabbing the piece and seasoning it. She gasped, and tried to take it out of Theo’s hands.
“Sweetheart, it’s okay.” He soothed.
“But… Teo… it…” She just trailed off, staring at the piece of meat.
“It’s okay. It’s gonna turn white after I cook it, just like the nuggets at the restaurants.” She nodded a little, satisfied with that answer, and let Theo cook.
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Lily was such a sweet girl, Theo observed. They had decided to go for a walk around the park after dinner, Lily insisting on wearing the jacket that Liam had bought for her, which was a cute little Nike zip up. She wore everything Liam gave her with pride, it was adorable.
She was hesitant to hold his hand, so she settled on grabbing one of his fingers instead. He understood, he was a new man in her life, and she wasn’t sure she could trust him. He was just glad that Liam trusted him.
They strolled through the park, and he took her to the swings, pushing her back and forth, and doing an underdog. She giggled at him and clapped for him. He smiled brightly at her, seeing that this was the first time she made any other face than shocked, confused, angry, or sad. They continued walking around the park, seeing a few dogs. Lily really loved dogs.
She asked Theo to pet one, and Theo agreed, as long as the owner was fine with it. The owner was a snobby rich prick who said some mean things to Lily, so Theo, being Theo, said mean things back to him as well.
“You apologize to her right now, or I swear to god I’ll rip you limb from limb.” He whispered in the mans ear.
Lily already had him wrapped around her finger, the little devil.
The man apologized, letting her pet the puppy.
Theo observed that she was very gentle with petting the dog, and how she laid on her stomach, getting eye level with it, and rubbing their noses together. He raised an eyebrow, and asked about it after they had walked away.
“Oh! Bubba calls them… um… es… um…” She furrowed her brow, deep in thought.
“Eskimo?” Theo supplied, helpful.
“Yah! Esmo kisses!” She said, confidence on display.
He laughed softly and nodded, taking them back to his apartment.
She started at the blankets and pillow, looking at Theo.
He didn’t know what to do from here.
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They ended up building a fort, Lily taking total control of the directions.
“No, Teo! There!” She yelled at him, pointing to the corner where she wanted the blanket to go.
He had a long night ahead of him.
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He gave her the medicine at seven pm, on the dot, giving her dessert to go with it. He got her into pajamas, seeing she brought her onesie. He showed her to the bathroom since she told him she was a big girl, and she could do it herself. He went and changed in his bedroom, and met her in the middle. She bounced up and down, making grabby hands at him. He picked her up, taking her to the couch.
“Ice cream, or skittles?” He asked.
She got deep in thought, choosing the ice cream after five minutes.
They shared a bowl of vanilla ice cream with whip cream and reeces.
They both went and brushed their teeth, Theo grabbing his laptop so they could watch movies on it before bed. He made a small blanket bed for Lily on the ground, making himself one as well. He logged onto his laptop, opening Netflix. Lily decided she wanted to watch Cinderella.
“Bubba says I look just like her, and that… that one day, prince will come for me!” She said happily, and Theo melted.
He understood why Liam was so protective of her.
They watched Cinderella in silence, Lily falling asleep after about twenty five minutes. He smiled softly, tucking her in, and turning the movie off. He stayed up a bit longer, seeing that it was only about ten. He checked in with Derek, mentioning that they needed to check in on the Dunbar family. He then opened a text with Liam, checking in with him.
To: Dunbaby
How’s everything going?
He waited and got a response five minutes later.
From: Dunbaby
Disgusting. His jizz tasted like
battery acid.
To: Dunbaby
Gross, dude!
From: Dunbaby
I know! How’s Lily?
To: Dunbaby
She’s good, she went to sleep.
From: Dunbaby.
Great. Well, I’ll be there in
the morning. GTG! Bye!
Theo smiled, putting his phone on the ground next to him, and laying down on his own makeshift blanket bed, and closing his eyes.
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He woke up to something poking him in the cheek.
He opened his eyes slowly, finding Lily poking at his stubble, and looking frustrated with it. He grabbed her finger gently, and that made her look angrier. She continued poking at his cheek with her other hand, so he grabbed that gently too.
She pouted at him.
“I want Bubba.” She said, and Theo nodded.
He wanted bubba too.
“He’ll be here soon, I promise. Why don’t we go and get some donuts from the pantry?” He suggested, and she was up and out of the fort in no time.
He followed suit slowly, stretching his limbs out. He walked over, helping her grab the box, and helping her pick out the white powdered ones.
They ate in silence, both of them still sleepy. Theo was brought out of his haziness when he heard a knock on the door. He looked at the time to see it was eight. He didn’t know if Liam was at the door, and he needed to be careful.
“Lily, can you go do something for me?” He asked in a low voice. She nodded. “I need you to go into the bathroom and lock the door. Do not come out until I tell you to, alright?” She nodded again, and went off. He heard the lock click, and he went to the door.
He looked through the peephole, seeing that it was not Liam. And it wasn’t Derek either. It was a man who had been after his family for years. He cursed silently, and went to his safe in the closet. He grabbed a gun, then a silencer, putting the silencer on the end of the gun. He opened the door, and in one smooth motion the man was taken out.
The target had been eliminated.
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He had his father come and dispose of the body within fifteen minutes. He went to the bathroom, telling Lily it was okay to come out. She came out, and smiled big at him, her mouth coated with powder from the donuts.
He smiled shakily at her, holding himself together. He got her cleaned up and ready for Liam for when he would come and get her.
Liam arrived around eight thirty, looking exhausted. Theo took pity on the man, telling him he could come in.
“No, it’s okay. Thank you though. We should be getting home.” Liam took Lily gently, and handed Theo eighty dollars.
Liam had waved and walked off before Theo could refuse the money.
Theo got an idea.
He had seen the way Liam’s aunt was living, and knows Liam said that he lived with his aunt, but stayed with his friends during some nights. He grabbed an envelope, writing down “LIAM” in big bold letters. He stashed the money in the envelope, throwing it into his safe.
He was gonna get Liam, Lily, and their aunt a better life.
He swore on his life.