"Miss Dae?"
Rain tore her gaze from the window to look at Jonathan. "Yes, sweetheart?"
"We're done with this activity."
She glanced over and saw that all three children were indeed finished with their work. "Good job you guys! Let's get washed up for dinner. Maybe we'll have time to watch a movie after," she said with a smile.
Sunny and Alexander jumped down from their chairs and ran into the bathroom cheering. Rain started to clear the table but noticed Jonathan was still sitting there.
"Is something wrong?"
"Do you know when my father will return?"
Rain felt her heart drop as the little boy looked up at her, hope in his bright blue eyes. "I'm sorry, honey. I'm not sure. I can ask Rebecca again if you'd like."
"That's okay," he said with a sigh, hopping down from his chair. "Thanks anyway."
She frowned at his retreating form and once again tried to tame the anger that had been bubbling up inside her for the last two weeks. After Rain and Emily's drunken night, Adam had disappeared without a word to any of the staff. Since Mrs. Schmidt was still back home caring for her relative, Rain was still the sole caretaker of the kids.
What was worse, was that Adam had taken Noah and Emily with him and so Rain was stuck with Rebecca for company. Rebecca was nice for the most part but she was dreadfully dull. Despite Adam's absence, she insisted that the house still be run as if he were present. That meant silent dinners in the great hall and no real fun.
Rain had never been one to follow rules anyway so she skirted around Rebecca's enforced protocol with ease. Movie nights had become a staple for her and the children once Rebecca headed to her own quarters. Rain, with help from a couple of maids, set up a television in Jonathan and Alexander's room and every night someone new would get to pick the movie.
This particular night was Sunny's choice and she, of course, chose the Little Mermaid. Alexander and Sunny settled in together at the foot of the bed but Jonathan chose to join Rain at the head.
As the movie progressed, Rain noticed Jonathan sliding closer and closer toward her. She kept her attention on the movie as to not alarm him.
"Miss Dae?" he whispered. At this point, he was so close to her that his curly hair was touching her arm. "Can I--uh..."
"What's that dear?"
"Can I--can you hold me?"
Rain gasped and tried to hide her shock. "Of course I'll hold you. Come here."
"I must inform you that I haven't been held since I was a baby--"
He yelped as Rain pulled him into her arms and snuggled him close, wrapping the blankets tightly around them. He settled in, laying his face on her chest so he could still see the movie and let out a sigh of contentment.
Rain kissed him on the forehead. "I got you, sweetheart. I promise I've always got you."
She felt his tears trickle down her chest and felt like crying herself. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly, gently stroking his hair.
He shook his head and wiped his tears on her shirt before falling into a deep sleep. Sunny and Alexander clambered to either side of Rain and they all drifted off to sleep after a while as well.
And that's how Adam found the four of them. Asleep in the twins' bed while the title menu of the little mermaid played on repeat.
"You should take a picture, Master Canmore," Noah teased. "It'll last longer."
Adam shot him a dark look and he cleared his throat. "Right. I'll take Miss Sunny to her bed."
"Take the boys as well," Adam instructed. "I need to speak with Miss Dae."
"Go easy on her boss," Noah warned as he easily carried the three children out of the room.
Adam stood in the doorway for a moment, watching her sleep. Her long, dark hair was a tangled mess across the pillow and she was drooling a bit. He crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed, tapping her on the shoulder.
"Rain?"
She let out a soft snore but didn't wake up.
"Rain?" He shook her a little harder. "Rain!"
She sat bolt upright, bumping heads with Adam. "Ouch! What the fuck!?" She rubbed at the bump that was surely forming on her head. When she realized who she had collided with, a scowl formed on her face. "So you're back."
"I am." He too was rubbing his forehead. "Care to take a walk with me?"
"Why should I go anywhere with you after what you did?"
"Perhaps because I am your boss and I just walked in on you breaking about ten of my rules."
Her eyes narrowed angrily. "Fine. But only because I have a bone to pick with you." She threw back the covers and slid her feet into her house shoes.
"What does this expression mean? Bone to pick?"
"You'll see in a minute," she muttered angrily. "Where are we going?"
"To the gardens of course."
"I don't have outside shoes with me."
"We'll get you some," he replied gesturing to Noah as he reappeared.
"No! I'm not going to make a grown man play fetch for my belongings. Besides, Noah, I'm mad at you too."
"Me?!" He exclaimed in surprise. "What did I do?"
"You know what you did. Get out of here."
Noah glanced at Adam for confirmation before leaving the nursery. Rain started to pick up some of the toys that littered the floor from their earlier activities.
"Rain, I'm trying to talk to you."
"Then talk to me. I can multitask."
Adam pinched the bridge of his nose. "I understand that you're upset, but can we please sit down and discuss this like two rational adults?"
Rain slammed the toys into the toybox and turned to face him with her arms folded across her chest. "Fine. Let's sit."
"Not here," he hissed, gesturing toward the room where the children were sleeping.
"Whatever," she said rolling her eyes. "But not in the gardens either. Perhaps your office will do?"
Adam walked ahead of Rain, confused as to why she was angry. She was the one who had broken the rules. She was the one who couldn't handle her liquor and acted out. She was the one who had rejected him.
Rain followed him into his office, slamming the door behind her. "What do you want to talk about?" she questioned, folding her arms angrily across her chest. "Could it be how you up and disappeared without a word to anyone? Huh? Or maybe how you were gone for two weeks without and didn't contact your sons once?"
"You should stop talking, Rain. Remember that you work for me," Adam said coldly.
"How could anyone forget?!" she shouted irately. "I have held my tongue for long enough. Your sons need you, Adam!"
"Rain. That is quite enough," he warned.
"I am not finished! Do you know anything about the boys? Do you know what their favorite colors are? Or what they like to do for fun? Have you spent any time with them? Ever?! Jonathan, the world's most stoic child, cried in my arms today! That little boy is hurting and you don't even care."
"That is enough!" he bellowed, shocking Rain into silence. He pointed at the chair in front of his desk. "Sit," he instructed, his anger now matching Rain's.
She flopped into the chair, glaring at him.
"Your behavior this evening is unacceptable. I should fire you right now."
"Go ahead and do it. I can't--"
"Would you please shut the fuck up so I can speak?!"
Rain's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "You, you just swore at me!"
He rubbed his temples. "Astute observation per usual. Now, will you please let me speak?"
She nodded, her shock still plastered on her face.
"Like I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, I should fire you, but I won't."
Her brows furrowed in confusion. "You're not firing me?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because you're right."
Rain was silent for a long moment as she stared at her boss in disbelief. "Am I drunk right now?"
Adam's stony expression broke as he chuckled at her words. "I certainly hope not. You're quite a handful when inebriated."
A blush graced her cheeks and she nervously wrung her hands in her lap. "Let's forget that ever happened." She cleared her throat and tried to smile. "You were telling me that I was right about something?"
He returned her smile with a rueful one of his own, mischief dancing in his beautiful blue eyes for a moment before he turned serious again. "Yes. Your assessment of me as a father is correct. I'm a terrible father."
"I didn't say 'terrible'," she protested.
"It was heavily implied."
Rain looked away with a sigh. "Being a parent is hard." She returned her gaze to Adam. "No one gives you a manual or tells you how to do it. It's especially hard when you're as young as we are. I get it, Adam. Trust me. I get it better than most people. But that's not an excuse to not do right by your kids."
Adam glanced down at his hands briefly. "I know that. I want to do better. Jonathan and Alexander deserve better."
He stood and walked over to the window, looking out at the starry night sky. "It's just that after everything that happened with their mother, I'm scared to get close to them. Rain, they look just like her. Every time I look at Jonathan, I see Alessia."
Rain listened quietly as he turned to face her with tears in his eyes. "What happens if I get close to them and I lose them too? Or they get attached to me and lose me? Or--"
"Hey, it's okay," Rain said, crossing the room and rubbing his back soothingly. She swallowed the questions she had about Alessia. Her curiosity could be sated later. "I don't know what happened with the boys' mother but I do know that loss is a part of life. I can't say I know what you're going through because I don't, but distancing yourself from the boys isn't helping them or you."
Adam suddenly pulled her into his arms and she let out a gasp of surprise. After standing awkwardly in his embrace, her arms wound around his neck, returning his hug.
He pulled back and stared into her eyes. "I don't even know where to begin."
"Just spend time with them and they'll open up to you. They don't know you."
He nodded and released her from his grip, much to their mutual dismay. "I apologize for my emotional state."
She shrugged. "It's normal. When you hold stuff in like that, it explodes out of you. At least that's what my therapist says."
"You have a therapist?"
Rain automatically stiffened and didn't respond.
"Come on. I just bore my soul to you."
"Yes. I have a therapist."
"Does it help?"
"Loads," she replied, letting out a deep breath. They were steering into dangerous territory and if she wasn't careful, she might just fall apart herself. It had been weeks since she last talked to Mona.
"Maybe I should see a therapist."
"Maybe."
Silence once again befell the room but it wasn't uncomfortable this time.
"Thank you, Rain."
"What for?"
"For taking care of my boys. Not just with their education, but emotionally as well. They've changed for the better since you arrived."
"Oh. It's no problem. I love them as if they were my own."
"I can see that." The expression on his face hinted at the fact that his words probably held deeper meaning but he wasn't showing his cards just yet.
"Well, it's late," Rain said awkwardly. "I should head to bed." She took a step toward the door.
"Thanks again. I know you were mad at me but--"
"Oh, I'm still mad at you. But you can make up for that later," she said with a wink before slipping out the door.
********************
"Rise and shine!"
"What the hell?" Rain growled at the person who had thrown back the curtains in her bedroom, sending bright sunshine streaming into her face. "Adam? What are you doing?"
He turned from the window and beamed at her. "We're having a family day! Get up and get dressed. Wear something comfortable," he called as he left her bedroom.
"Family day? Who are you and what have you done with Master Canmore," she muttered, throwing back the covers and dragging herself into the bathroom.
Adam's head poked back into the room. "Not 'Master Canmore'. I'm Adam today."
He disappeared again, leaving Rain bewildered. "I must be dreaming."
"Not dreaming!"
"Get out, Adam!"
Adam's behavior was strange to everyone except Sunny and Alexander. They were basking in the attention he lavished on all three children. He had pulled out all the stops for their so-called "family day."
They started the day out on the trail as usual. After that, they were treated to so many surprises that Rain lost track of what was going on. He was clearly trying to make up for lost time with the boys. What was surprising, or not so surprising considering how enamored Adam was with the child, was how much he included Sunny. He treated her as if she were his own, never making her feel like an afterthought. It was incredibly endearing to Rain.
"Mommy look!" Sunny called out from the indoor pool that Rain hadn't known existed before that afternoon. "I'm floating!"
"I see you, Sunny girl," Rain replied from her seat poolside with a smile. She laughed inwardly, knowing that Sunny wasn't actually floating on her own and that Adam was holding his breath underwater while lifting her up.
Jonathan suddenly appeared at her side, his blonde curls soaked and a wide grin on his face. Rain was shocked. Could this actually be the little boy who had questioned her teaching methods day in and day out since her arrival?
"Are you having fun, sweetheart?" she asked, caressing his cheek.
"Yes, Miss Dae. So much fun!"
Rain frowned. "Why don't we think of something you can call me other than 'Miss Dae'? It sounds so formal."
"Like what?"
"Hmm," Rain said as she pondered this for a moment. "Oh, I've got it! Why don't you call me 'noona'?"
"What does it mean?"
"It means 'big sister' in Korean. That's the language my parents speak."
"I know that you're Korean," he replied with a scowl. "I don't think I want to call you that." He reached for her to pick him up.
"Why not?" she asked once he was settled in her lap, not caring that he was getting her clothes wet.
He cuddled into her with a content sigh. "Because. I want you to be my mother."