Page 90 of Discretion

“We are.” I grinned, delighting in his reactions. He was so much fun. “Happy birthday, kiddo.”

Halle unlinked our fingers, sliding her hand back into her lap. As soon as the car had stopped, Kai unbuckled his seat belt. “This is amazing. Thank you!” He threw his arms around my shoulders. “Thank you.”

“Your mom and I wanted to do something special to celebrate you,” I said, and Halle’s watery smile made me even more excited for everything I had planned. This was just the beginning.

When we stepped out of the car, a Legoland employee, Kayla, was waiting for us. “Welcome to Legoland. I’ll be your tour guide for the day.”

Halle peered at me over the top of her sunglasses. Okay, so maybe I’d gone a little too far. But I’d wanted to spoil them. So I’d reached out to the park and paid a generous fee to get the VIP treatment. No waiting in lines. We could rideas many times as we wanted. We had free run of the park and a personal tour guide.

“You ready?” I asked, tightening the strap of my backpack.

“Yeah!” Kai fist-pumped the air.

As Kayla ushered us into the park, Kai slid his hand into mine. My heart warmed at the contact and the fact that he’d initiated it. I smiled at Halle over his head.

When we bypassed the ticket booth, Halle leaned in and said, “I was planning to pay for the tickets.”

“Thank you, but it’s already taken care of.”

“Mm. I’m going to owe you a big thank-you for this.”

I placed my hand on her lower back. “While I’m not opposed to what I think you’re suggesting, you don’t owe me anything.”

She grinned. “We’ll see.”

The rest of the day was spent going from one attraction to another. Kai loved the rides, and I loved seeing Halle let go. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so much fun.

Every time Kai experienced something new—a ride or a show—he was full of delight. He was so animated, so funny. I’d always liked kids, and Kai was no exception.

“What a fun day,” Halle said as we exited the theater. I placed my hand on her lower back, using every excuse to touch her. The park was closing soon, and we still had an hour flight back to LA. “Thank you.”

I smiled, thinking back on how nice the day had been. Relaxing, easy, joyful. It had been everything I could’ve hoped for. We might have had this adventure to celebrate Kai’s birthday, but today had felt like a gift to me. To get to spend time with the two of them. To get to spoil them. Well, it made me happy.

“It was fun.”

Kai slumped forward, dragging his feet as we headed to where the SUV would pick us up. Kai’s energy had started towane after dinner, but he was trying to act like it wasn’t. It was honestly pretty amusing to watch. That said, I had a feeling he was going to crash. It had been a jam-packed day of rides, shows, and so much more.

“I don’t want to go.” Kai pouted.

“The park is closing,” Halle said. “We have to go. But didn’t we have a nice day?”

He nodded, his lower lip still sticking out. So adorable. If it were up to me, I’d pay the park to stay open late just for us. But I knew Halle would kill me if I did something like that. And I also knew that Kai needed his sleep.

I’d considered asking Halle if she wanted to make it an overnight trip, but I figured that might be a bit much for our first outing as the three of us.

“I can’t walk anymore,” Kai whined.

“How about a piggyback ride?” I asked.

He perked up a little at that. “Really?”

“You don’t have to do that, Jasper,” Halle said.

“I want to.” I moved my backpack to my chest then crouched down beside a nearby bench. “Come on, Kai. Hop on.”

He stood on the bench then launched himself at me. Luckily, I’d been paying attention, so I caught him. I took off, and he cheered. “Woo-hoo! Look at me, Mum.”

“I see you.” Halle’s smile was warm, relaxed.