A Family For Keeps by Rheland Richmond

Author:Rheland Richmond [Richmond, Rheland]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-08-11T16:00:00+00:00

24

Nathaniel

Moving day was possibly the noisiest this house had ever been. There were so many people in it for the first time.

Tristan and Samantha moving in was borderline anti-climactic. He’d been a ball of stress for days before. Now, at the moment, he realized it was completely unnecessary. Tristan’s friends were cordial and friendly. Samantha was excited to see Emma again, and Tristan was just trying to get everything sorted while trying to ignore his friends teasing. It was all so normal.

While trying to show some movers to Samantha’s room, Tristan had hollered, “Nathaniel, come meet my friends and Samantha’s uncles.” He pointed the movers in the right direction and went over to where Tristan stood with a group of men.

Tristan pointed to an obscenely handsome biracial man, who had the most striking grey eyes and ridiculously sculpted cheekbones Nathaniel had ever seen outside a GQ magazine and introduced him as Alain, but everyone called Lain.

Lain nodded at him. Before absentmindedly saying, “Nice to meet you, man.” But he immediately went back to whatever he was doing on his phone.

Then there was a petite redhead. He couldn’t be more than 5’7 at most. He was all slender lines and delicate features, and he had a look in his eyes Nathaniel recognized all too well. Fear. But it was none of his business. Tristan introduced him as Cristian or Cris as they all called him. He waved shyly, saying, “Hello” in this soft-spoken voice.

Then there was the man who was almost as tall as Nathaniel. He had a Latino mixed with Caucasian look to him. The only word he could use to describe him was smoldering. But he didn't seem to be aware of it. There was an innocent sexiness to him. Tristan introduced him as Teo. It was easy to see the unspoken bonds between them. It was in the way Tristan nudged the man's shoulder before wrapping his arms around his neck in a playful chokehold. It spoke of familiarity and trust beyond measure.

He had to admit he envied them. He was jealous of the easy camaraderie that was between the friends. He heard them joking and laughing while helping Tristan and Samantha unpack and settle in. He saw the way his daughter blossomed around them. He could see without needing to be told that Sammy was comfortable around these guys. These were people she spent time with.

It looked like they didn’t need his help, so he went to the kitchen to check on the dinner he had told his chef to prepare. From somewhere close by, he heard Samantha say, “Uncle Teo, Uncle Teo, you gotta do pretty pictures on my room here, like my room at Daddy’s and my room at yours.”

He wasn’t jealous of these other men in his daughter’s life. He would never begrudge her having people around her that loved her and cared for her. But he desperately wanted to be one of those people.

He also envied the ease and friendship the men had. He didn’t have anyone in his life that would show up to help him move.

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