Three Hearts Left Intact

Chapter 44: Blueprints

"No, but seriously we should schedule you an appointment to get your leg checked out. If your feeling better I don't see why it would hurt to let someone look at it and possibly get you out of those." Alex smiled pointing at her crutches that were laying against the wall behind her.

"That sounds like a good idea I think I may just do that."

"If James is still feeling distant when you schedule it I wouldn't mind taking you," Alex offered kindly.

"Thanks, I don't think he'll be this way for much longer. Well I hope at least." A hopeful smirk shown through. Curiously she looked out the back window trying to look for James on the patio, but was worried when his silhouette was nowhere to be seen. Brushing it off as him hiding behind the wall obstructing her view of the rest of the patio, she looked back at Alex. "He's annoying at times for sure, but he's my annoying guy."

Jumping from topic to topic, Nina decided to bring back the attention to the real focus of the day. "I still feel bad for M, I mean he's waited for this day for so long. It must be eating him alive waiting for the call to pick up the blueprints to go through."

"Yeah that's true. I want to be able to do something but it's out of my pow..." Alex noticed Zander grabbing his glass bowl before struggling to push his chair from out of the table. "Hang on there," he warned causing Zander to sit down, "I got this. Why don't you go watch something in the living room while Nina and I finish talking." He suggested using the napkin from earlier to wipe the remaining stains on his mouth.

"Alright!" Zander happily shouted throwing his seat back and running over to the living room before jumping up onto the couch and landing like a keen hawk.

Nina laughed seeing Zander flick through several hundred channels before landing on a documentary on surfing. 'Of course...' she thought as Alex finished putting Zander's dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

"This is cute." She commented straight out. Alex couldn't help but smile and nod in agreement.

"He took everything really well last night. He had a few questions about what it meant to be little, and whether we'll move on from me just being his caregiver to being his daddy as well." The bright red glow on Alex's face gave away his excitement for the future.

The soft heat coming off of him left him unaware of the awe Nina let out. Her heart raced for them and wanting nothing but the best. "Have you thought about getting him anything?"

Alex pondered the thought, "well I was going to wait to see how Z felt about getting little stuff later tonight when we talk. " Leaning in closer as if telling a secret he said, "But I have been debating just getting him something small to kick start things. Maybe like a soft blanket or something. Nothing too much but nice, you know?" He backed out seeing her smile.

"Ooh I like the sound of that. A blanket sounds nice. Maybe when you get the call for Mallix's documents you can stop by to get one then."

"Really, well then that's a good idea I'm going to do that, thanks N." The way he looked back at Zander made his heart melt, but by the uncomfortable way Alex shifted in his seat Nina could tell there was something else on his mind.

"Everything okay?" She snapped her fingers trying to draw his attention away from the boy standing on the couch in a surfers position following the different movements from the documentary.

"Oh, uh yeah. Sorry I got distracted." He shot back.

Nina couldn't help but giggle softly. "Makes sense, it's clear how strong yours and Z's connection is. But come on Alex, what else is on your mind?" She pried.

He glared back at Zander before turning to look at Nina's helpful eyes, "it's just...well I'm still new to this too and I don't want to mess anything up. I mean it was always you, Mallix, and Lain who knew what to do in tough situations, and how to take control, and how to make everyone else feel safe. And now that I have Z...I don't want to do anything wrong."

"Your doing just fine Alex, he's in good hands. You'll figure it all out. There's nothing to it. Just let your instincts tell you what to do, after all nobody can tell you how to parent." She smiled sweetly.

"Thanks." They continued talking of plans while the documentary from the other room drifted to calming background music.

Almost on cue, the second Zander's documentary ended and he shut the tv off Alex felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Lifting it up he noticed he was getting a call from an unknown caller. He quickly looked towards Nina, "it's the blueprints. I'm going to take this."

She nodded walking over to the living room to watch over Zander for the time being. Alex took off into his bedroom and shut the door as he answered the phone.

A: Hello...

?: It's ready, go to the warehouse again. It'll be behind the trash bins in the back. Make sure nobody follows you.

Before Alex could get another word out, the call dropped. Grabbing his car keys and wallet he sprinted out of his bedroom passing by Mallix's shut door along the way. Before he made it far, Alex pondered the thought of telling Mallix of the news. But wanting to surprise him instead, he passed it by.

He looked over to Zander and Nina beginning a puzzle on the coffee table as he was waving goodbye to them. "I'll be back in a few. Behave yourself Z." Alex shouted out to them practically from out the front door.

"Bye!" They shouted in unison as the door slammed shut. Quickly Alex packed into his car and sped away.

"Where's he going in such a rush?" Zander asked looking at Nina sat besides him sorting through the various types of puzzle pieces.

"He's just getting some stuff for Mallix." She reassured placing the corner peices of the puzzle in position before beginning to attempt the edges. Zander made a noise in agreement as he sat with his back against the couch getting lost in his mind.

Nina went to pass him a piece for his side of the puzzle, that wasn't even started yet, when she noticed him with down eyes. "What's wrong?" She sat back leaning against the couch.

"Can I ask you something?" His voice was soft.

"Anything, Z. You know you can talk to me."

"It's just, well last night Alex brought up how Mallix and Lain have Kaila as their little girl. And the way he talked about how much fun she has and all the exciting things she gets to do with her mommy and daddy...I just...want to know... well, what's it like? Like he told me he knew about Kaila's adventures through Mallix when they talked, but it's not the same. I wish I could ask her about it. Get her point of view. But given everything that's going on, I asked him who else knew her really well, and well he said you."

"You want to know about Kaila...?" Nina pulled him in close to her side letting him rest his head against her shoulder as he nodded.

Leaving the puzzle in it's incomplete stage, Nina began her story time with Zander.
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Let me know what you think. Thanks Lexx signing off