Gael woke up to the smell of something delicious. Sitting up on the bed, he saw Serenith was still asleep but on the verge of waking up because his fingers were moving and so were his legs.

Realising why he woke up, he frowned. Sitting quietly, he listened for sounds and heard classical music playing as well, but it wasn’t loud enough to wake them up.

He looked at the time and saw that it was early, an hour before his usual time since adjusting to Serenith’s arrival.

Climbing out of bed, he grabbed the mug he drank from last night off the nightstand and carefully made his way out of the bedroom quietly. He came to the living room and looked into the open kitchen, and saw it was Kian—as expected.

Kian hadn’t noticed him yet because he had his back facing him while he was washing the dishes he made.

The mug in his hand almost fell as his hands trembled. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, he calmed himself. Looking at Kian, he asked, “Did you lock the door?”

Kian paused. The music wasn’t loud, so he could hear Gael perfectly. A calm smile broke on his face as he turned to him.

Nodding his head as he wiped his hands, he asked, “Did the music wake you?”

Gael shook his head and looked at the pan, going with what looked like scrambled egg and vegetables.

Looking at the stove as he lowered the volume, he chuckled, “I guess you’re hungry.”

“No,” Gael said as Kian walked up to him and wrapped his arms around his waist. Gael wasn’t much shorter than Kian, but his frame was slimmer.

Kian ran his nose down the left side of Gael’s nose with his eyes closed. When his nose reached Gael’s mouth, he nudged his lips open as he asked, “How long have you been asleep?”

Gael hesitated to answer as he swallowed first. “We went to bed around nine.”

Kian nodded his head as he moved their bodies, swaying to the music. He still had his nose on Gael’s lips, but now Gael couldn’t close his mouth, afraid that he might graze Kian.

He let Kian sway their bodies as he listened to the egg sizzling on the stove instead of the music. Time seemed to slow down as well—and he seemed to stop breathing, Kian, that is.

Swallowing the pooling saliva, he moved his head back. He looked at Kian for a moment and as they stared into each other’s eyes—time stopped. He couldn’t hear the music or the sizzling on the stove.

“What do you want to ask me?” Kian asked, his voice sounding low and sweet.

Snapping out of the trance he was put in, he asked, “Isn’t it burning?”

Kian’s gaze dropped to Gael’s lips. When he was away, he couldn’t stop thinking about them. Looking back into his eyes, he said, “It won’t burn.”

He let go of Gael and walked to the stove. Flipping the pan over onto a plate, he said, “I made omelets for us. How do you like your coffee?”

Gael had his mouth covered. He picked up that Kian wanted to kiss his lips just now, and he was shocked that he didn’t.

Kian placed everything in front of the barstool for him, indicating that he wanted him to sit there and eat now, not later.

Sitting down, Gael shook his head. “I stopped drinking alcohol, coffee, and energy drinks.”

Kian nodded his head, “Then would you like a cup of tea?”

“The only tea I have is Serenith’s tea,” Gael answered.

Kian chuckled with a shake of his head. He went to the fridge and poured the apple juice from a box that was meant for Serenith in a glass and placed it down beside the plate. He looked over at the stove briefly, then looked at Gael, who had his head lowered.

Picking up the fork, he cut a piece of the omelette with the side of it and held his hand under Gael’s chin and held the fork to his lips.

Gael looked at him, confused, but Kian didn’t say anything. Instead, he waited patiently for Gael.

He opened his mouth, and Kian slipped the egg into his mouth gently. As he was chewing, their eyes met and he could tell that Kian was more than happy that he let him feed him.

After five bites, Kian placed the fork down, then got up and made himself a cup of coffee. Gael looked around as he picked up the fork and started eating on his own.

Kian raised a brow as he asked, “Who told you to feed yourself?”

The fork dropped from his hand on to the plate, then fell to the floor.

Narrowing his eyes, he got out another fork, then went over to Gael, who was frozen. He took Gale’s hands and placed them on his lap. He said, “Keep them there.”

“Aren’t you going to eat your own food?” Gael spoke in almost a whisper.

“I’ll eat once you’re done,” he said and started feeding him until he was finished and even helped him drink the apple juice.

Gael stared at Kian as he made an omelette for himself and prepared a scrambled egg for Serenith. Kian was already on his second cup of coffee after finishing his breakfast.

He looked at Gael, who had his back facing him as he did the dishes, saying, “Leave the dishes and go wash. You have a job interview at ten.”

Gael turned to him. “A job interview?”

He nodded. “Yes, an acquaintance I know is looking for an assistant at her jewellery store. She had someone working for her, but the female was pocketing the diamonds and selling them under the counter.”

“But I don…”

“It doesn’t matter. The job is already yours. All you have to do is go for the interview and you’ll start tomorrow,” he said.

Gael was confused. “What about Serenith? Didn’t you say I needed to take care of him?”

“He’ll be starting school soon. He needs to get used to other children and adults,” he said.

Gael shook his head as his eyes widened. “No, no, he can’t.”

Kian raised a brow. ”And why not?”

“He’ll, he’ll…” he started as he recalled the scene at the park. He had been too afraid to take Serenith out after that and meeting Kiara too.

“He’ll what?” He asked as he got Gael’s attention.

Gael stared at him, unsure if he should tell him about what happened.

“Tell me, or I’ll force it out of you,” Kian said sternly.

Gael lowered his head ashamed and disappointed, “I, I took him to the park. He killed four pigeons.”

“Did you praise him?” Kian asked.

“What?” Gael asked, not sure if he heard Kian correctly.

“I asked you if you praised him?” He repeated.

Gael shook his head, “No. No, I didn’t…”

“Well, next time, make sure you do. It took me a while to trigger him, so don’t mess with my effort,” he said seriously.

Gael couldn’t understand him, “How can you expect me to…”

“You’re his parent aren’t you? Get it into your head that our son is extraordinary, unlike any other child. So what if he kills a few birds? He’s helping the polluted environment. I don’t expect things to go smoothly during the first ten years of his life. Mine certainly weren’t, but it’ll be a start. He’ll have me here to guide him. Now, go clean yourself up like I told you to,” Kian said.

Gael stared at him, and even his thoughts were stuck like he was. Unconsciously, he made his way to the bathroom. Usually, he would shower, but he didn’t want to leave because Kian was in the house.

He thought about locking the door, but would it be worth the tongue service from Kian?

After cleaning the kitchen, Kian made his way to the bathroom and took off his shirt. Opening the door, he stared at Gael and saw that he was just sitting in the bath.

Closing the door behind him, he stopped beside the bath and asked, “Why aren’t you moving?”

Gael caught a fright. He quickly looked up and watched as Kian’s expression distorted. He didn’t want to annoy him, so he quickly wiped the tears from his checks.

Kian chuckled amused and knelt down. Leaning over, he took Gael’s hands in his and said, “I don’t have much patience for people who cry. I’m honestly not that scary once you get used to me.”

“The things you do aren’t right,” Gael said with his head lowered and burst out crying.

Kian looked at himself in the mirror on the wall on the other side of Gael. He couldn’t be bothered with someone who cried for no reason, but he needs to make this work so that Serenith had a happy home to grow in.

Standing up and pulling Gael up with him, he hugged him and said as he rubbed his back, “Everything will be okay, Gael. I know things are hard for you now, but you’ll get used to it. Give it a few days and don’t have such low expectations for our son.”

Kian waited for Gael to calm down then sat as he cupped his face, “Enough crying now. Let’s get you washed up and ready. Serenith will be up soon, and I want to spend more time with you.”

Gael couldn’t be bothered to listen to this psycho’s words. Kian was just giving him lip service.

As Gael stood motionless in the bath, Kian got to work on washing him. The cloth ran over his skin effortlessly because of the bubble bath Gael added in.

The cloth in his hand dropped into the water. Kian ran his hands over Gael’s skin, admiring the lush and elasticity as he rubbed his fingers against it. Lowering his hands to his nipples that were bigger than a collector’s coin.

He pinched them gently and looked at Gael’s face to see if his expression changed. It did, but only in his eyes. It looked as if Gael was fighting the emotions that could burst out at any moment.