Chapter 13
Charles sat on the small novelty train next to Nina who was flagging a bit in the early afternoon. He’d never given much thought to children’s’ schedules but he supposed it might be time for a nap. Though Nina had made it clear that such things were for babies, not mature adults like herself. Apparently five now counted as an adult and he had missed the memo. Charles hid a smile at her cocky words and nodded along sagely.
He glanced around the small, open, car at the other adults sitting with one or more children, happily waving to those waiting in line and familiar faces in the general crowd. Nina seemed content to rest against his side, feet kicking happily as they dangled off the edge of the seat.
Everyone around them likely thought he was sitting here with his daughter. It was nice but surreal. “There’s Papa!” Nina squealed, scrambling to kneel on the seat and leaning so far over to wave that Charles placed a steadying hand on her waist to keep her from tumbling out, laughing at her enthusiasm and waving back at a cheerful looking Erik.
They went around for one last, slow loop before their turn was over. They hadn’t been able to spot Erik in the crowd for their last time, but it was the lunch rush and there were many more people milling about than there had been just a few minutes prior.
The crush of people made Charles very nervous, especially given that he still couldn’t spot Erik in the crowd.
Nina was clearly drowsy by this point and clung to his leg, complaining that she wanted to go home in a high pitched whine. He pulled her out of the flow of traffic, not wanting to move from sight of the train drop off point where Erik would surely come to meet them.
He crouched in front of her and took one of her hands while she used the other to sleepily rub at her eyes, “I know you’re ready to go home and we will as soon as your Papa comes to collect us. It’s very crowded here, though, do you want me to carry you?” he offered softly, hoping she took him up on it; it would be so easy for someone to grab her and disappear into the steadily growing crowd.
He waited for her answer, heart in his throat. Fortunately her eyes lit up at his suggestion and she leaned into him, wrapping her little arms around his neck trustingly.
He stood, tucking her close to his body, breathing a sigh of relief as she held onto him tightly. She seemed very happy with this arrangement and settled into his arms with a small sigh.
He kept her talking about the movie Erik had taken her to see the night before, her description of the plot and characters made no sense, but it kept her talking and not noticing Erik’s absence. Charles’ anxiety was through the roof and he was contemplating calling or texting the other man when he saw him plowing his way through the crowd looking mildly concerned. His entire demeanor shifted when he caught sight of them and moved quickly to their side. He looked so happy it brought a light blush of pleasure to Charles’ cheeks.
They made eye contact and he gave his boyfriend a reassuring smile, giving Erik until he’d almost reached them before saying, “Ah here’s your papa now!”
Nina lifted her head from where she’d had her pointy little chin digging into his shoulder to people watch the crowd; she turned to Erik with tired smile, “Papa.”
“Baby!” he reached them and looped his arms around them both in an uncharacteristic display of public affection. Charles felt a pleased blush creep up over his cheeks, though he ducked his head to hide his pleasure.
Nina giggled at his enthusiasm and happily transferred to Erik’s arms, giving Charles a much needed break, she was surprisingly heavy for such a tiny thing.
“Ready to go home?” Erik asked lightly.
“Yes, the train wore us out,” Charles said warmly, reaching for Erik’s hand and twining their fingers tightly.
“Well I know from experience just how exciting it is,” Erik teased, leading the way through the crowd with ease.
Charles followed along, happy to be heading home.
~~
“Have you ever heard of grandparents rights?” Erik asked softly. He had put Nina down for a quick nap on the couch while they talked in the kitchen. AS usual, the ride home had knocked her out.
Charles looked up from where he was chopping vegetables for the harvest stew he was making for dinner. Erik had been watching in comfortable silence, hoping he didn’t look as besotted as he felt.
“What?” Charles asked, caught out by the odd subject.
Erik grimaced at his own clumsy words, “Grandparents rights? I know most people haven’t heard of them. I was wondering if you had?”
“No, I haven’t. What are they?” Charles asked, frown lines crinkling his brow.
“A legal argument to give grandparents the right to spend time with their grandchildren,” he said flatly.
Charles was baffled, “But why would they need to go to court for that? I always saw my grandparents at family gatherings and vacations.”
Erik nodded along and set his coffee mug down gently, “But what if your parents hadn’t been close to their families? What if they wanted nothing to do with them? You’d never have seen them as a child. That’s where grandparents’ rights come in.”
Charles stopped chopping and turned to face the other man fully, “I guess that’s true. But if my parents didn’t want me to associate with someone-for any reason- wouldn’t that be their right as parents to a minor?”
Erik grimaced at that, but it had some edge to it, “You’d think so, and in most circumstances, yes. In cases of divorce or…death, it’s not so clear cut.”
Charles wiped his hands on a dishtowel and came to sit next to Erik, a look of concern overcoming his expressive face, “Is that what’s happening here?”
“I can only hope not. They had a much better chance before they went crazy on us. But even then, odds were slim that they’d be awarded shared custody which seems to be what they wanted. They admitted to some things during their police interviews. It seems they wanted joint custody of Nina. They wanted to be her primary guardians. After several lawyers told them the truth-that it’s a pipe dream-they decided to try and intimidate me into giving them what they wanted.”
“Intimidate you? They didn’t know you very well, huh?” Charles asked with a soft laugh, covering Erik’s hand with his and giving a light squeeze.
“Not as well as they thought,” he agreed with a small smile. “They really shot themselves in the foot with their crazy behavior. They have no leg to stand on anymore, not with the legal documentation of their behavior and the restraining orders in place, but that doesn’t mean they’ve given up,” he said in a hushed voice. “That’s my biggest fear.”
Charles felt his heart break for his soft hearted boyfriend, “Of course it is. I hope this all turns out to be nothing, but either way it’s nothing we can’t handle.” He assured him firmly.
Erik flipped his hand over and gripped Charles’ tightly, giving him a warm look. We. He rather liked the sound of that. It was wonderful it have a partner to share his concerns with on such an intimate level. His former in laws had no inroads to ruin his life here, he felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders with Charles' easy acceptance of their complicated circumstances.
This could still turn into their happily ever after, he thought hopefully. But he was likely still getting ahead of himself. He bit back his declarations of love and forever and settled for saying, “We can worry about all that later. Let’s get the knife work out of the way before Nina wakes up. I don’t need her getting ideas about knife throwing or something equally ridiculous.” He was pleased at how steady the words came out, Charles seemed none the wiser of the fact that Erik was head over heels for him already and he'd keep it that way if he could- at least for a little while longer.
Charles gave a low chuckle as they stood and headed back to his work area, “Knife work? Listen to you sounding like a pro, offering to help with meal prep. I’ll make a chef out of you yet,” he said playfully, bumping their shoulders companionably.
Erik simply bumped him back and mentally conceded that if anyone could accomplish that impossible task, it would be his Charles.