Page 49 of Aaron's Patience

“I don’t know.” He shrugged, sitting up in his bed.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s time for breakfast.”

“But I don’t want to.”

My eyebrows dipped. “You don’t want to sleep?”

He shook his head.

I sighed. “Come with me,” I responded, plucking him from the bed.

“Where’re we going?”

“Shh,” I admonished. “Your mom and sister are still sleeping.”

“Where’re we going?” he questioned again, this time whispering.

“To the gym.”

He grinned as I took him by the hand and led him down the stairs to the main floor of the house and then down the second set of stairs that led to my home office, den, and the basement I’d turned into a home gym.

“Wow!” he whispered, loudly.

“You can use your regular voice here. Mom and Kennedy won’t hear you.” I’d soundproofed this part of the house when it was built.

“Are you a superhero?”

I squinted. “No. Why would you ask that?”

He shrugged. “Because of the fairies.”

I sighed and frowned.Kids.

“I don’t have fairies. In fact–” I stopped just short of blurting out that they didn’t exist, when those eyes so full of awe looked up into mine. I briefly wondered if I’d ever given my father that same look when I was Kyle’s age. I shook that thought loose. “I’m not a superhero, but I can teach you a few tricks.”

Kyle’s face exploded around the smile he gave me.

I led him over to the punching bag I had set up, showing him the small gloves I’d had laying around. Though they were still a little too big for his hands, he got the hang of it and had me teaching him the different types of punches—jabs, hooks, uppercuts, and more. I’d lost track of time, doing my own workout and having Kyle assist me by laying on my back while I did push ups, or sitting on my shoulders while I did squats. By the time we emerged from the basement, we both were sweaty and had worked up a good appetite.

As soon as I opened the door, my stomach growled at the smell of freshly cooked food.

“Pancakes!” Kyle yelled, running down the hall toward the kitchen. “Yay!” he squealed.

I met him to find Patience standing in the middle of the huge open-air kitchen, moving a pancake from the stove to a plate that had a stack of pancakes.

“Kyle, go wash up and get dressed in the clothes I laid out on your bed before breakfast.”

“’Kay. Thanks for the workout, Daddy!” he exclaimed as he ran past me to go up the stairs.

I leaned against the entrance wall of the kitchen, staring. Patience wore a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt that stopped just at the curve of her ass. When she turned to place another pancake on the stack, I took my fill, feeling myself expand in the workout shorts I wore.

“Did you two have fun working out?”

I lifted my eyes to see her turn around, staring up at me.

“We did.” I nodded.

“Kennedy?”