Stars Hide Your Fire

She looked him over. “I think you were likely a hot dad,” she answered, allowing that. They weren’t compatible, given his averse reaction to pain, but he was still good looking. She could say that much. “As for being embarrassing… I actually like hearing parents talk about their kids.” She never talked about hers, so it was an experience she wasn’t familiar with. 

His job? He was a professor, not a health inspector. His response to her business was what it was, but really, he should back off. “We use sterile needles. Guns are unsanitary. We also use regulation surgical equipment.”

“Thank you. Unfortunately Sofia’s dad doesn’t have the same ring as Stacy’s mom. So I was out on that account.” He chuckled. Even if he wasn’t into the same things as Calpurnia, he still was enjoying her company. Perhaps they could even meet up again sometime. “Really? No one likes hearing me talk about how I knew my kid would be a writer from the day that she came home with her first poem about the snail that lived on the dog’s tail.” 

“Point proven.” She also had a feeling it would depend ont he middle aged man in question, but as she had no desire to see her cousin like that, it came out the same. “Not really? Lord Tybalt is keeping us all hopping. And since he’s the only reason I could actually work in Verona, I’m not complaining. You better get used to it.”

Freddie bowed before Mel. “Thank you. I know that I could do it.” Although if the weather was a bit warmer, Freddie might have been tempted to go shirtless in the park just to rebel a bit against the stuffiness of reputation. “I would imagine nothing less from the lord. And don’t say that. You are a smart kid, Mel. Lord Ty just opened the door for you.” 

“Eighteen? My, you must have had her young. What’s her name?” He didn’t have to tell her, she supposed, but it was just making conversation.

Rolling her eyes she looked at him. “I have a license for surgical procedures like that and Sinner’s Prayer–my shop–literally has awards for cleanliness. No need for the lecture, professor.”

“I was. And no closer to being the cool dad because of the age. Although I like to think that I was the hot dad.” He chuckled, winking at the younger woman. “Her name is Sofia, and you probably don’t want to ask questions. I tend to go into proud dad mode. It is #supsembarrassing.”

“Do you really think so?” It made sense that the children wouldn’t be bothered - or shouldn’t be bothered, but that didn’t make her concerns diminish immediately. “And aren’t I? I almost spilled wine all over this gorgeous dress and about seven people have asked me what’s wrong so clearly I’m not hiding it.”

“Only a monster would go after innocent children. We are more in danger here than the kids are.” Even if what he said was true, Freddie doubted that Gabi’s mind would ever fully be at ease. The first time was always the hardest. “You are a mom worried about her daughter. Most people here understand that feeling. You haven’t ruined anything, but if it would help, I can take you for a spin on the floor. Try to keep your mind busy.” 

“Oh yes?” She asked him. “How old is she?” Mikey wasn’t too old, really. Surely still a child. But she wasn’t really his mother, was she? That’d be her aunt. Still, she could see how proud the other looked when he talked of his daughter. 

“Well, yes,” she answered. “It’s surgery. We don’t do it in a back alley.”

“Eighteen, but I still see her as my little girl.” Freddie always would see Sofia as his baby. It hurt him the first time that she brought someone home. He wanted to protect her from the world, but he had to let him go. Being half way across the content helped a bit. 

One eyebrow arched in surprise at the response, sure how he had no idea with whom he spoke. “Well look at you being social getting out there then… And unfortunately, yes,” he answered nodding over to the side where a woman in a victorian gown with a fake vampire bite on her neck hung off a man’s frame. “Apparently I wasn’t what she hoped, but the guy over there is.”

Mel did roll her eyes at that one. It was either the most random of segues or a direct response to her ‘nothing’. Either way, it was exactly the sort of comment designed to make sure she didn’t say anything else. “I don’t see you dancing naked in any parks to rebel against it. But yeah, I’m around. I work at the Estate even if I won’t always live there so I’m easy to find if you come around once in awhile.”

“Pretty sure that if I did that, I’d get arrested. No one wants to see a middle aged man take off his clothing and go dancing in the park.” He chuckled, glad that Mel hadn’t been around to see him in his wilder days. Streaking was tame compared to some of this other drunken shenanigans. He groaned hearing where she worked. “Is anyone not at the Estate at some point? That place is the worst.” 

Mel didn’t know how to articulate what she was thinking, so it was easier to redirect the conversation. “Nothing, it’s fine. Do you need anything else now that your coffee addiction is on the road to satisfied?”

“Do you know what I always hated about being a Capulet? Everyone is so careful with their words. Heaven forbid they say the wrong thing or look less than perfect.” He shrugged his shoulders, knowing it wasn’t completely true, but sometimes guilt helped to get an answer. “Just a promise that I will get to see you again before I am sent to the old folks home and have to plan a revolt to get out.”