Haunted - Sunny Wolfe Page 0,54

to know he is my stepdad, but calling him stepdad doesn’t sound right.”

“Okay, since you already call your dad Dad, why don’t you think of something that you can call Roman if you want to call him something special. It’s your choice.”

Joey looked at me while scrunching up his forehead as though he was thinking.

“I could call him Robodad, get it like Robocop?”

I laughed. It was cute.

After we finished cleaning the kitchen, Beth sent Joey upstairs to play.

“Are you ready for your surprise?” she asked me as she put her arms around my neck. My hands went behind her back and pulled her closer to me.

“Does my surprise have anything to do with us going upstairs ourselves?” I growled in her ear.

“Maybe later, but for now your surprise is in the living room.”

She turned off the kitchen lights and walked me into the living room. All the lights were off and the only illumination came from the stars and the moon outside the windows since Beth had the drapes pulled back. Our view out these windows was even more alluring at night. She directed my steps and then turned on a lamp.

A black baby grand piano sat in the living room. I was floored.

“How did you know I always wanted one?”

“It was a hunch. I think anyone who can play the piano or keyboard would want one. They are so beautiful aren’t they?” She looked at it in wonder, as though it was a breathtaking portrait.

I loved the piano and I had always wanted one. It looked perfect in our living room. That was one of the pros of having a huge living area. The piano sat in one corner of the room. I could teach Joey how to play. I knew Beth would love that and autistic kids were known to be able to pick up complex patterns. Maybe Joey could become a concert pianist.

“Roman?”

“Huh?”

“Where did you go?”

“I was just thinking.” I smiled at her. “It makes the living room look complete, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it really does. Play me something.”

I took her hand and pulled her to me and kissed her. I removed the clip from her hair, and all her curls fell down her back. I attached the clip to the bottom of her shirt. It was our thing. She would get ornery if she couldn’t find her clip in an hour or two.

I led her to the piano and made her sit with me. Ironically, a couple of days ago I wanted to learn how to play a certain song that made me think of her. I already had it memorized, so now was a good a time as any.

I splayed my fingers over the keys. The piano was tuned to perfection. I was sure the company came out here to tune it right after delivery. As my fingers stroked over the first several bars, I heard Beth’s voice hitch. I knew she would recognize the song. She was just that good. I started playing “Beth” by Kiss. It was the most beautiful song that Kiss ever made. The song was about a rock star working late into the night and his wife kept calling him to ask him when he would come home. I had often imagined that scenario would come to fruition in our future when the band was working on an album with a deadline looming overhead.

As I sang the song, she rested her head on my shoulder and sighed heavily, probably trying to hold back the tears. I leaned my head against hers and played the song “Forever” by Kiss. This was the second most beautiful song Kiss had ever written. I heard her sob. I finished the song and turned to her. I wiped away her tears and gently kissed her.

“Let’s go upstairs.”

She knew what I meant. I wanted to make love to her. She nodded.

“Meet me in the bedroom. I’m going to go touch base with Joey,” I said.

“Okay.” She was still a bit choked up when she walked away. I took the stairs and walked to Joey’s room, stopping in the hallway to knock on his door.

“Come in,” he yelled.

I walked in and saw he was in his bonus room playing Minecraft.

“You doing well?” I asked him.

“Yup. Can you come and play with me?”

“Tell you what. Give me about an hour with your mom, and I’ll come and play with you after that.”

He looked at me. “Cool, see you then, Ro.”

I looked at him, a little confused by the name