Ambrollins : Be My Baby

Chapter 74

Dean POV:

I stare at the floor mindlessly and think about Seth, hoping he's good at home. I know I should be with him now, but I can't. It's the last day of my service at the bar. After that, I can talk about the signing of the property. However, as I tried not to visit the bar tonight, the owner forced me to come over.

The night isn't that busy, and as I glance up from the beer tap, I see a recognizable body making its way toward me. I can hardly believe my eyes. It's Seth in a pair of jeans and a rumpled t-shirt. His hair is in a messy ponytail, and he's wearing a pair of sunglasses.

Under normal circumstances, he would never leave the house unless he was picture perfect. If he didn't care about his perfectness now, my guess was accurate that he knew something he couldn't believe. And I'm sure if he's here, he will try to share some essential things with me, or he will never sleep tonight peacefully.

"Cover me for a few minutes," I tell Kofi, who's working here since yesterday, and then exit the bar as soon as Seth reaches me. I put my arm around his shoulder and pull him close, not caring who is watching. "Is everything okay, baby?"

"Nah." He shakes his head and sniffles loudly.

I lead him into the back of the establishment and the familiar storeroom. I turn on the light and lock the door behind us. I sit on the table and then pull him in between my legs.

I carefully remove his sunglasses and place them on the table next to me. I manage my index finger to tilt his face up so that I can have a good look at him. His eyes are red and puffy and have the tiredness of someone who has been crying for a long time.

"What happened, baby?" I ask gently. "Are you ready to spill it out?"

He is quiet for a moment before saying softly. "I don't deserve your love because I haven't trusted you and your words. You're right about everything!" He sniffles, a tear falling down his cheek.

I stare at him and then look at the floor before glancing back at him. "What happened?"

"He hates me." He forces out a messy sob. More tears trickle down his face again as he whimpers helplessly. "He hurt you and your dad because of me. He's the reason for all the attacks that have happened to us!"

"Who does?" I figure that I already know the answer, but I don't want to jump to conclusions.

He looks at the floor and snaps his head up to look at me with emotions spelling out on his face. "Grandpa!" He wails and presses his face into my chest, soaking my black t-shirt. "M-My grandpa!"

I steel myself and take a breath, stroking his back and trying to comfort him. "It's going to be okay, baby. You know I love you. I will follow you into the depths of hell if you ask. Maybe it's late for you to know about him, but it doesn't matter in our life because I'm always here for you." It feels good to say it out loud.

He lifts his head and stares at me before informing me what has happened between sobs and wails. Even though I was aware of it, I couldn't believe it. So the old man tried to blow to my baby's head, wanting to get him back! My fists clench, but I keep calm and draw small circles on his back, trying to soothe him.

I kiss his forehead and use my shirt to wipe his tears away. "Shh, baby. I got you. He'll pay for what he has done. He's a snake, and he has shown his true colors. I wish you to calm down and promise me that you won't do anything stupid by thinking about it. It's going to be all right, baby. We'll deal with this together. Do you trust me and my words now?"

The way how he looks at me as if I'm the only hope of him nearly overwhelms me. His sobs are lessening, and I hope I will never hear those gut-wrenching cries again. It actually pains me to hear and see him like this.

I slide off the table and hand him the sunglasses. "Come on. Let's get you clean up." I take him to the bathroom, where I wash his tear-stained face and hand him tissues to dry it. "Do you want to wait on me, baby?"

He nods meekly and presses his face into my neck. "But I don't want to be around all those people."

"Okay." I take him into the corridor and then go down to the back toward the big office. I knock on the door and wait until the owner inside it responds and permits me to get inside. "Shane, can you let my boyfriend stay here with you while I finish up my shift?"

Seth lifts his head from my shoulder and peers at him meekly through large brown eyes, giving him a small smile. It endeavors something on the owner's mind, so he nods his head slowly, "Yeah, sure."

"Thanks, Shane." I turn my attention back to Seth. I kiss him at the temple and give him a small smile. "I have two more hours left. Then I'll come and get you, okay?"

"Yeah." He nods and looks at the owner timidly.

"Do you want candy, Seth?" The owner asks and pushes a crystal bowl full of candies toward him. "These are handmade from a nice artisan shop that I'll go to."

"Thank you," Seth says and takes one of the candies, popping it in his mouth. His face almost lit up instantly. "Oh, these are good." He sits in the chair opposite Shane's desk. "Where's this shop?"

"Oh, it's a couple of miles down the road in a strip mall. It's actually next to the store where I will get my Italian silk sheets." Shane explains and takes one of the candies for himself.

"Wait a minute. You sleep on silk sheets, Shane?" I interrupt because I can hardly believe it.

"Why don't I? Of course I do." The old man looks at me, mildly offended. "A man of my stature won't sleep on just any old thing."

Seth nods in agreement. "Oh, I need to find that place. I normally have to go to Frette to get mine. And I need a new set since Dean has ruined mine a couple of weeks ago."

"I thought you washed those." I break again, inserting myself into the conversation.

He sighs and shakes his head gently. "But they are never the same."

Shane nods sympathetically. "I can feel it. I lost a set of mine to a glass of red wine."

"Oh, no!" Seth looks at him in horror. "That's terrible."

I realize I'm the odd man out in this conversation and ease out of the office quietly. I'm glad at least my baby and the owner seem to have hit it off, even if they have started to chat a few minutes ago. Looking at them from far away, they seem to come from the same category. Anyway, there's no time to determine it because I have my work to continue now.