Chapter Five
Zion
"Stop scowling at your granddaughter's boyfriend," Kenzie hisses at me, jabbing me in the ribs with a fingernail.
I grunt, flicking an irritated look in her direction. "She's too goddamn young to have a boyfriend, Makenzie."
"Zion," she says levelly, fighting a smile. "She's twenty."
"Exactly. That's too fucking young." I turn to scowl at the little bastard again, annoyed as fuck that he keeps smiling at her the way he is. "And she should be wearing more than a bathing suit around him."
"Oh my god." My wife's shoulder's shake with silent laughter. "You're impossible. Do you want her in a nun's habit while she's swimming?"
I pause before answering, wondering if that's an actual option here. When Kenzie narrows her eyes on me, I quickly decide it probably isn't. "Of course not," I scoff, taking a sip of beer. "But I don't like the way he keeps looking at her."
"Why? He's looking at her like he can't keep his eyes off her. I think it's sweet," Kenzie says, narrowing her eyes on me.
That's exactly the damn problem. He can't keep his eyes off her. I've looked at my wife the same damn way since the day I met her. They're too goddamn young to feel that way. They're just kids. They should be focused on their dreams, not on love and building a family. But I know that fucking look. I've worn that fucking look.
That look is stressing me the fuck out.
"There's no damn way Ciaran is okay with this," I grumble, peering over at my son. As suspected, he's watching his daughter and Austin with a scowl that rivals mine. And my daughter-in-law, Waverly, is trying to talk him down the same way Kenzie tries to talk me down. Good. At least he's locked in on this bullshit even if our wives have lost their minds.
"You're impossible, you know that, right?" Kenzie asks, laughing quietly.
I grunt in response, sliding an arm around her waist to press my lips against her temple. "Fuck that, angel baby. It's not wrong to worry. It's my job."
"You're retired."
"Not from worrying about my family," I growl. "I'll never retire from that."
She smiles up at me. "I love you, you know that?"
"Damn right you do." I nod at the kids scattered around the yard. Cormac and Callum have their heads together near the steps to the pool while their wives gossip with my girls. Ciaran and his wife are stationed up near the deep end with Callum's sisters and the older grandkids. "Look at what we made together, angel baby."
"Uh, not so fast, fucker," Zayne says from behind me. "You don't get to take credit for all of them. Gideon and I helped."
"What are we? Mincemeat?" Emma mutters from beside him, earning a laugh from Kenna.
"You're the most important part of the equation, obviously," Zayne says. "All of the good shit they do is all you, baby girl."
"Spoken like someone who wants to get laid," Gideon mutters.
"Says someone who doesn't," Kenna sniffs.
"Shit. You know our kids are all you, Sparrow," he immediately says, sucking up to his wife. "Our girls are beautiful and perfect, just like you."
"Aww," Emma and Kenzie say at the same time.
"Kiss-ass," Zayne snorts.
Gideon discreetly flips him off.
I roll my eyes at both of them. I swear to Christ, they never grow up. They just grow older. But they might be useful
"Come help me fire up the grill," I mutter to the idiots before kissing my wife on the head and hauling myself to my feet. My goddamn knees ache in protest.
Zayne eyes me placidly. "You mean you still can't work a grill at your ripe old age?"
"Get your ass up, Zayne," I growl.
He chuckles, glancing at Gideon. "Is it just my imagination or does he get crankier every year?"
"He definitely gets crankier every year." Gideon kisses Kenna before rising from his chair. "But we better help. Otherwise, he'll spit in our food."
"Fuck." Zayne sets his beer aside, brushes his lips across Emma's knuckles, and then hauls himself to his feet.
The three of us cross the patio to the grill.
"We need to do something about Austin." I nod at the boy who has his arm around my granddaughter. "He has to go."
"Jesus Christ." Zayne laughs loudly. "You really expect us to get involved with this bullshit, Zion?"
"Hell yes," I growl, glaring at him.
"I actually enjoy sleeping with my wife, baby brother. And the fastest way to ensure that doesn't happen again anytime soon is to help you break your granddaughter's heart. You're on your own."
I glance at Gideon.
"Don't look at me." He quickly shakes his head. "I've been down that goddamn road. I lived long enough to regret it. If you have issues with the kid, that's on you. I happen to like him." He shrugs. "He's respectful. He treats her like a princess. And he's obviously crazy about her. He's also good people. What more do you want, brother?"
"She's too young," I grumble.
"Huh."
"What?"
"Just wondering if you said the same thing about Waverly when she and Ciaran got married," Gideon says.
"That's different."
"Really?" Zayne arches a brow at me. "She was what? Nineteen? Doesn't seem that much goddamn different to me, brother. It just feels different to you because you raised Ciaran. You trusted him to be a man worthy of her and to put her needs first no matter what. You trusted him to give her room to be herself and to grow and change and to protect and love her through everything life would send their way."
"Ivy deserves for you to give Austin the same grace," Gideon says. "Anything less is you telling her that you don't trust her or her choices for her life."
Well fuck. Is that what I'm doing? Telling my granddaughter that I don't trust her or her choices? That's the last goddamn thing I want to do. I just I'm not ready to admit she's grown up. She's my first grandbaby.
"You need to let her make her own decisions," Zayne says. "And you need to support her. That's what she deserves, same as always." He claps me on the back. "Get your head out of your ass before you fuck up your relationship with her."
As much as I hate to admit it and goddammit, I hate to admit it he's right. They both are. Ivy is grown up, and I don't get to make this decision for her. If Austin makes her happy then I need to learn to suck it up and be happy for her.
"Goddamn," I grumble. "I thought having kids was supposed to be the hard part. Why the fuck are grandkids even harder?"
"Because we're supposed to fuck up with our kids. But we're heroes to the grandkids," Gideon says.
Zayne nods at the kids. "I wouldn't call that fucking up. I'd say we got it exactly right."
I follow his gaze, my chest pulsing. Maybe old age has finally made his pea brain grow because he's right again. We didn't fuck up anything with the kids. They're goddamn perfect.