Saved and Saving: The Single Daddy CEO

Chapter Ten

Blaiz

As we pulled up to the mansion built into the mountain, my excitement finally peaked. It had been a few years since I bought this place, and I hadn’t been back to check on it in well over a year.

Truth is, I had a hard time coming back, when I knew I wouldn’t be staying. This is my dream location. Quiet, peaceful, and not absurdly hot in the summer.

The scenery all around is stunning, and the wild animals were clearly thriving. Despite the land being covered in snow, there were still birds and little critters like squirrels all around.

The large dwelling had clearly been covered with light gray stone, and there were stone columns, six of them in total that went across the front of the porch, stretching up from the porch floor to the porch roof.

It had been built a long, long time ago, so I had it restored on the outside and renovated on the inside to look like a large wooden cabin. I loved the rustic look of a mountain man’s home, and that’s exactly what the designer made happen for me.

When we stepped inside, I was happy to see the groundskeeper had done a swell job maintaining both the inside and outside the home. The wooden floors shined under the light, showing no sign of dust, and the oak dining table and chairs were clean and ready to be used.

After a quick glance around, I led everybody to their rooms, starting with Quayliah, and ending with Dominique. Yep, I did that on purpose.

I wanted quality time with my son. Not my assistant. Plus, it's important that Dominique knows where to find everybody should he need help with anything.

It was entertaining to watch Dominique’s excitement grow with each room we stopped at. Since I had a lot of staff in the house, it was important that we had a lot of bedrooms, and I was adamant that Dominique knew who would be in each of those rooms.

By the time we reached my personal quarters of the mansion, Dominique could barely contain himself. Instead of making him wait any longer, I simply pointed to my bedroom door and told him it was mine, then I led him to his door across the hall.

In a theatrical way, I threw his door open and said ‘Tada’, just for fun.

The second his eyes landed on the race car shaped bed, Dominique squealed in excitement and ran straight to it, hopped up and started jumping! It didn’t matter to me that he still had on his shoes that were wet from the snow. All I cared about was his happiness!

Who cares about a few wet linens that can be thrown in the dirty laundry for washing? Abrielle. That’s who. She would have lost it on him if she were there.

I smiled at my son, who was beaming with newfound happiness and asked, “What do you think, Mon Nounours?”

After jumping off the bed and running over to me, Dominique threw his arms around my legs and mumbled, “I love it! Is all this really mine?”

I reached down and picked up my boy, so I could hold him on my hip. As I motioned with my hand, I responded, “Yes. This is all for you. And the rest of your things should be here by the morning.”

“Will mommy come and take my cool things away?” he asked.

I looked at my son, I am sure looking completely puzzled, as I asked in return, “What do you mean?”

Dominique looked down and shook his head no, letting me know he was feeling scared to talk about it, so I patted his back comfortingly and encouraged him, “It’s okay, Nounours. You can tell me. I won’t be mad.”

He looked back up and met my eyes before revealing, “Whenever you send something home with me, mommy takes it away, and I never see it again.”

There was no stopping my nose from scrunching up, as I grumbled, “Why on earth would she do that?”

“She says I don’t deserve nice things. That I am only here to spite you,” Dominique surprised me with an answer to the question, and with his usage of words.

They must be the words that came straight out of his mother’s mouth. How dare she? That vile woman! I couldn’t help but to feel enraged, but I kept a lid on those feelings for Dominique’s sake.

Instead of voicing my opinion about his mother’s unsettling behavior, I hugged Dominique and assured him that he deserved the nicest of things in the world, and that he was here for so much more. He is my light, and I hated the thought of him thinking negatively about himself for any reason.

I hung out in Dominique’s room for a while, watching him check out his new room and play with his new toys until I heard his stomach grumble loudly.

“Are you getting hungry?”

“Oh yes! I am very hungry,” he answered while shaking his head.

“Alright, Nounours. You get cleaned up, and I'll whip something up for us,” I told him, then I watched Dominique run into his personal bathroom before leaving his room.

I headed straight to the kitchen and started perusing the cabinets, since I wasn’t sure what all we had on hand. There was quite a bit of food, but I wasn’t very skilled in the kitchen.

Luckily, I came across a frozen pizza, and it only had pepperoni on it. Dominique’s favorite.

‘Perfect!’ I thought to myself, as I set the oven to preheat.

Since we had to wait for the pizza to cook, I set a bag of regular potato chips on the table for us to munch on, along with two cans of soda. When Dominique joined me at the table, I pushed one of the cans toward him and asked, “Are you thirsty?”

“Soda? Mommy never lets me have soda. She says it makes me too hyper,” he answered, reminding me once again why we made this sudden move.

“Well, mommy talks a lot of nonsense. One soda will be okay. I am sure,” I responded with a smile for reassurance.

Dominique returned the smile before he popped open the can of soda and took a big gulp out of it. After swallowing, he let out a little burp, then giggled at himself before happily mumbling, “This is so yummy.”

That evening, the two of us enjoyed pizza, chips and soda for dinner while we talked about our new home. I shared with Dominique some of the things I wanted to add for our comfort, and he asked about getting a puppy.

I really wasn’t keen on the idea, but I couldn’t tell him, no. Not when he was going to be stuck on this mountain with little contact with the outside world for a bit. He would need a companion, and it was my responsibility to ensure his happiness, even if that meant dealing with a puppy.