Our Nanny is a Boy || bxb

50. I'm a cowboy

'We're going to uncle John, we're going to uncle John!' the kids were cheering from the backseat as Robin strapped them in, while Peter shut the trunk after checking everything. It was Saturday, early noon, they just had lunch and now they were leaving for John's ranch. The kids were very excited, and so was Peter. Because John lived so far away, Peter didn't get to see him very often. Now, he had two full weeks to catch up with him.

Of course, John had also promised to keep an eye on Robin. Peter had slightly mixed feelings about it though. What if John did think Robin had feelings for him? What should he do with that information? The problem wasn't even whether he had feelings for Peter or not. The problem was that, even if he did, he probably didn't want to be in a relationship. He had made that pretty clear. He just wanted to stay with Peter, Felicia and David like this, he had said. But would that change if they started a relationship? No. It would still be the four of them together.

No, the reason why he didn't want to be in a relationship was because he didn't believe in real love. He didn't believe that kind of love was meant for him. Peter knew exactly how that felt. When Leah confessed, he had felt so conflicted at first. He had felt happy, but a part of him couldn't believe it, no matter how many times she had shown her love to him by giving him her smiles, lunchboxes and time. But he learnt to accept the fact that someone like him deserved love too, and that sometimes, you just needed to come across the right person.

But with Robin, he couldn't risk it. There was so much more at stake now than back with her. Robin took care of his kids, lived in his house, if something were to go wrong, Peter had no idea what to do. The kids were so attached to Robin already, if he left that would break their heart.

'Hey daydreamer, are you still coming?' Robin, who was about to enter the car, said. 'The kids are dying to see their "uncle".'

'Oh, yeah,' Peter said, waking up from his daze. 'I'm coming.'

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'Pete!' A huge smile was on John's still slightly tanned face as he stepped towards them and engulfed Peter in a big hug. 'Good to see ya, mate.'

'Yeah, me too, me too,' Peter laughed, patting his back.

When they were done, John didn't hesitate and hugged Robin as well. 'Oh, uh...' the younger stammered, awkwardly patting his back. They had only met once before, at his birthday, but John was a real hugger. 'Good to see you too,' he said before releasing Robin and crouching to greet the kids. 'I recommend you get used to it,' Peter whispered to Robin. 'He loves hugging people. Perks of being single for too long.'

Robin snorted, which caused John to look up. 'What are you two laughing about?'

'Oh, nothing,' Peter said. John was about to say something, but David, who was admiring his straw hat, took the chance to pluck it from his head. 'Hey, you little-' John started, and David looked at him wide-eyed, hesitant as to whether he should put the hat on his head or give it back. Felicia giggled and took the hat from him to put it on her own head. 'Look dad, I'm a cowboy!'

'Sure you are,' Peter laughed. 'Now give it back to uncle John, he seems to be insecure about his hair.'

'Oh bugger off, you bastard,' John laughed, putting it back on his head. 'Or do you want it?' he asked David, who was still staring at him.

David nodded hopefully, laughing loudly as John put the hat on his head. It was way too big, of course, so when he raised his head to look at Peter and Robin, they could only see two rows of baby teeth smiling at them. Then, he was done and took off the hat, pointing towards a couple cows that were nearby. 'Moo-moo,' he said.

'That's a cow,' Felicia said. 'Cow.'

'Issa moo-moo,' David insisted, causing them to chuckle. Countryside air was already doing something to the boy. Usually he would just repeat whatever his bigger sister said. But no, those big, grassmunching creatures were obviously moo-moos.

'Where's Rex?' Felicia asked, looking around in an attempt to spot the Border Collie.

'Oh, prolly hanging 'round the new boy. I didn't tell you yet, right? The old Sylvester retired. But his grandson took over. Larry. Bloody good with animals. Half the time I can't find the darn dog nowadays, I gotta look for the boy instead.' As he was speaking, Larry came out of the horse's stable with Rex next to him. Upon seeing the kids, Rex immediately ran off towards them and Felicia laughed out loud as the dog licked her face.

A few moments later, Larry arrived as well. 'Hi,' he said, reaching out his hand to Peter. 'Lawrence Sylvester,' he introduced himself. 'Feel free to call me Larry.'

Peter shook his hand. 'Peter Robinson.' He looked young, definitely not over 25, and he was handsome. For a country boy. Wavy blonde locks, a firm bone structure, thick, perfectly arched brows above a pair of deep-set, light green eyes. Full, plump lips. His hand was big and strong and Peter saw the veins on them as he shook Robin's hand with a wide, perfect-teethed smile.

'I'm Robin,' Robin introduced himself. 'Peterson,' he added.

Larry looked at Peter and then back at Robin with a glint of amusement in his eyes, but didn't comment on it. He looked at Felicia, but she was clinging onto Robin's leg, gawking at him. Strangers, right?'

'Those are my kids,' Peter quickly said. 'Felicia and David. Hey, he's not the boogeyman, kids.'

'How'd you know?' Felicia said. 'It's not like everyone ever came back from seeing the boogeyman. He may be in disguise.'

'Sometimes,' Peter said, ruffling her hair, 'you think way too much for a five-year-old.'

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They drank coffee inside, the kids had hot chocolate. It was freezing cold outside since it was winter. 'I wouldn't be surprised if it's going to snow this week,' John's mom said. Yes, John still lived with her. The ranch had been his dad's until he passed away a year or seven ago. Since Richard wanted nothing to do with it, John had taken over. He was the oldest anyway, and he loved ranching. His father had died at a young age, he was about fifty years old, so his mom was also quite young and helped out a lot at the ranch. She was about the same age as Leah's mom and had always been like a second mother figure for Peter.

When he was young and still lived around here, he went here so often. Back then, him and his mom had a lot of fights, since Peter was going through puberty and just felt very lost and his mom was... well, his mom. It was nice to have a place where he could always go when he didn't feel like going home. If you are in puberty, home can feel suffocating sometimes, no matter how warm it is. Now that he was an adult, that had changed. Home was now wherever David and Felicia were.

And Robin. Definitely Robin as well.

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I forgot to do my research on ranching, so the next update may take a little longer. And I shouldn't really be updating at all because I'm supposed to be writing an essay for my admissions right now. Don't worry, I'll get started right after publishing these two chapters.

One of the gems I found while catching up with the latest K-Pop releases. I have a thing for these sentimental songs that have light instrumentals to emphasize the voice of the singer. And she's a good one.