Chapter Twenty-Six
Stepping back, I check out my handiwork.
Not bad.
The back of my SUV has been turned into a little graveyard that spills out of the vehicle and onto the parking lot. Spiderwebs hang with fake bugs and spiders attached. It’s not the most creative one I’ve ever done, but it looks good.
A whistle cuts through the air. “Darlin’, you knocked it out of the park.”
Smiling, I look over my shoulder and see Levi, Hudson, and Walker approaching.
“You think so?” I ask, looking at Hudson.
“I know so.” He leans down and kisses my cheek.
“Hi,” I murmur to each of them as they kiss my cheek.
For a split second, I’m bummed that they don’t kiss me on the lips, then I remember where we are.
“Figured a kiss on the cheek is the safe option for now,” Levi murmurs, reading my mind.
“Thank you.”
“I brought five bags of candy,” Walker says quietly.
“You didn’t have to do that but thank you.”
Taking the bag holding all the sweets, I set it in my trunk.
Hudson claps his hands together. “So do we have some time to look around, or are we about to be swarmed by kids that barely reach our knees?”
Laughing, I shake my head. “I think you will be surprised with how many kids are about to be here. That and the age range. It’s not unusual to have a bunch of teenagers come to these types of things.”
“Really?” he asks, sounding impressed.
“Walking around getting free candy? Absolutely, but come on. I can show you around for a minute.”
I show them some of the different enclosures. Close to the entrance we have the butterfly garden, followed by the bird sanctuary. By the time we are done with them, it’s time to head back to prepare for the kids.
“Esme, your car looks awesome,” Greg, my boss, says.
“Thank you.”
I feel Walker’s hand tighten in mine.
“Oh, guys, this is my boss Greg, and this is Walker, Levi, and Hudson,” I say, pointing to each of them.
“Nice to meet you.” Levi tells him as he shakes his hand.
“Nice place you have here,” Hudson tells him.
“Thank you. Any friend of Esme’s is a friend of mine.” Greg smiles.
The sound of a horn cuts through the air, signaling that the doors are opening.
“Well, I better get back to my wife. It was nice to meet you, gentlemen” Greg says as he walks away.
“He seems nice,” Walker says quietly.
“He is.”
“Do we need to get the candy ready?” Hudson asks.
“Yes.”
Letting go of Walker’s hand, I go to my car and grab three bowls that I prepped when I first got here. I hand one to each of them and then grab my own.
“Why are Walker’s and my bowls a different color and yours and Levi’s are black?” Hudson asks.
“It’s something I started doing two years ago.
A couple of years ago I learned that kids with teal bags were silently letting me know they had a food allergy and kids with blue ones might have trouble communicating.
Ever since, I’ve made sure to have a bowl in each color.
The blue one I usually set off to the side so the kid doesn’t have to come right up to me and fight their way through the other kids.
The teal I usually keep next to me and grab it when I see the bags or if they say something. ”
“That’s really fuckin’ thoughtful,” Levi murmurs.
“So I got the teal because I’m awesome, and Walker got the blue so he doesn’t scare kids away with his chatty personality,” Hudson says, making me laugh.
Walker subtly gives him the middle finger.
“Pretty much, yes. You two get the kids who need a little more attention, while Levi and I will deal with the masses.”
“Here we go,” Walker murmurs as he steps to the side and sits down in a chair that I set up before they arrived.
Hudson takes a seat in the one on the other side while Levi and I lean against my trunk.
“Trick or treat! Thank you!” kids scream all at once while they grab candy.
At first the guys try telling the kids to take only two pieces each but then realize it’s a lost cause. There are too many hands going into each bucket.
I can’t help but laugh at their shocked and maybe slightly overwhelmed faces.
Within a few minutes, the rush starts to die down and it becomes less frantic.
“What the hell was that?” Hudson whispers.
“It was like a fuckin’ mob,” Walker adds.
“Are you guys telling me you can’t handle groups of children?” I tease.
“Pixie, I’m going to be so real with you right now. The only kids I will ever handle will be ours. Otherwise I hate them as equally as I hate the adults,” Walker says, making me blush.
Kids…
It’s too soon to even think about that, but…
“Hi,” a little girl says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Hi, would you like some candy?” I ask gently.
She bobs her head up and down as she looks at the guys. “Yes please.”
“I love your costume. You make for a beautiful Snow White.” I tell her.
Her eyes go wide. “You know who I am?”
“I do.”
She leans in and speaks quietly, so only the four of us hear. “Did you know Snow White was in love with the seven dwarves?”
I gasp in fake shock. “Was she really?”
Her little head bobs. “Yep. They were all her boyfriends.” She looks at the guys before looking back at me. “Are they your boyfriends?”
Feeling brave, I lean forward and whisper, “They are, but it’s a secret.”
Her eyes widen. “That’s so cool! You’re like Snow White, but with white hair.”
“I am.” I can feel the guy’s eyes on me, but I don’t look away from the girl.
“Neva, it’s time to move on,” a woman a few feet away says.
“It was nice meeting you. Thank you for the candy,” the little girl says before running off.
“Were we just accepted by a kid?” Walker asks.
“Yeah, I think we were.”
“Well, damn, how about that.” Levi says, shaking his head.
For the next two hours, we hand out candy, and when it’s over, the guys help me tear down my decorations.
“Hey, Esme. Can I talk to you for a second, please?” Greg says.
My stomach bottoms out. Shit, this is it. I’m going to be fired for dating three guys.
I step forward, away from the guys. “What’s up?”
He looks over my shoulder and smiles before looking down at me. “What I’m about to say probably crosses some sort of boss-employee boundaries, but I just wanted to tell you that I’ve never seen you happier, and if those three guys are the reason, you should keep them around.”
“E-excuse me?”
“That other guy you were dating always made you look like you had a dark cloud hanging over you. Now you don’t have to tell me what’s going on.
Maybe they are just your friends, but I see the way they all look at you.
I saw the way they keep touching you here and there.
I don’t know why you were hiding it from me, but you don’t need to. ”
“I don’t know what to say,” I mutter.
“You don’t have to say anything. I hope to see them at the next event we do. Oh, and Esme? Whatever you choose to do when it comes to your love life will never affect your job. Do you understand?” he says gently.
“Y-yes. Thank you.”
He smiles and waves. “Cool, I’ll see you on Monday.”
Shaking my head, I watch him walk away.
Is it really that easy? Twice in one night we were accepted by a child and an adult. No questions or dirty looks.
Have I really been overthinking it that much?
“Everything okay?” Levi asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
Turning around, I smile. “The only way things will be better is if you guys stay at my place tonight.”
Levi tilts his head to the side and studies me for a moment, before he nods. “Consider it done.”
“Come on, Pixie. Let’s get you home,” Walker murmurs.
“Pixie, we should get you to bed,” Walker murmurs.
“No, we’re watching a movie,” she says quietly, but her eyes stay closed.
Walker’s shoulders shake as he laughs silently. “Come on, let’s get you up.”
Moving, I stand and take her from Walker. She buries her face into the crook of my neck, making me smile.
“I could have carried her,” he mutters.
“We have to share, remember,” Hudson teases as he shuts off the TV.
“Fuck off,” Walker says with no heat.
We don’t even make it to our girl’s bedroom when her phone rings.
“Who is it?” she murmurs.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s not important,” I tell her.
“Actually, it’s the zoo,” Hudson says.
“Wait, what? Hand it here.” Esme says as she perks up, reaching for her phone.
Hudson hands it over despite Walker glaring at him.
“Hello?” She goes stiff in my arms. “I’ll be right there. Thank you for calling!”
She scrambles out of my arms.
“What’s going on, Pixie?” Walker grumbles.
“Only the best thing ever! The giraffe is in active labor finally. If we’re lucky, we are going to get to watch her give birth.”
“Wait, you’re going back to work?” Hudson asks, sounding disappointed.
“Hudson,” I warn.
Esme rests her hand on my arm. “No, it’s okay, and I’m not going alone. You guys can come with me if you want to.”
“We want to,” Hudson tells her.
“Then let’s get our shoes!” She runs down the hall toward the door.
Hudson follows. I look over at Walker.
“I guess we are leaving.”
“I have no interest in seeing a giraffe be born,” he mutters.
“But you’re going,” I tell him.
“Yeah, I’m going.”
We’re all sitting in a circle, staring at a giraffe.
“Pretty sure this goes down as one of the top ten weirdest things I’ve ever done,” Walker mutters.
“Right? I feel like I should give her some privacy,” Hudson says.
Susie, Esme’s assistant that we met earlier at the trunk or treat, laughs.
“If this is weird, you haven’t seen anything yet,” she tells us.
“No kidding,” Charlotte, one of the volunteers, says.
When we got here, Esme explained to the women we would be staying for the birth before jumping in and checking out the situation. The guys and I sat and watched the three women take over. Once they did their own checks, they sat down with us.
The girls immediately began teasing Esme, telling her that next time she shouldn’t hold out on them. Our girl blushed but didn’t try to deny it. For the third time tonight, we were accepted as a group. While I didn’t need it, I know she did.
“Hey, I’m going to go get a drink. Come with me,” Charlotte says as she stands.
“I’m good,” Susie tells her.
Charlotte rolls her eyes. “You’re coming with me. We are giving these guys some privacy.”
“Oh, oh!” Susie’s eyes light up, and she winks. “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”
“Don’t forget there’s a camera over there.” Charlotte points to a corner of the room.
The girls giggle as they leave.
“I like your friends,” Hudson tells her.
“Thanks,” she says as she rubs her eyes. “I wouldn’t have considered them friends before, but maybe they could be.”
“I think they would make great friends,” I tell her, kissing her temple.
She lets out a big yawn.
“Tired?” Walker asks, rubbing her back.
“I am. Which is crazy since it’s not that late.”
“It’s just after midnight,” Hudson says.
“I need you guys to tell me something. Anything that will keep me awake.”
“What do you want to know?” I ask.
She looks over at me as she chews on the corner of her lip.
“You have something in mind.”
She nods. “I do.”
“You can ask me anything,” I tell her.
Taking a deep breath, she looks at the guys before looking back at me. “Well, I know their stories and about the group home, but I don’t know yours.”
Well, shit.
I didn’t see that coming. Not tonight, at least. I knew it would come up eventually, but I figured we would be at one of our places. Not in an enclosure with a giraffe whining while in active labor.
“I’m guessing you want me to start at the beginning.”
“Only if you want to,” she says quietly.
Nodding, I rub my jaw, trying to figure out where to start. It’s not a pretty story, but it’s also not as bad as some.
“I grew up with my family for the most part. They were decent parents, if not a little absent. They always made sure we had what we needed. They told me I was never allowed in the garage. One day when the cops busted in, I figured out why. I learned that my parents were meth dealers and they went to jail. I was immediately taken into custody along with my siblings. I haven’t seen them since.
I was placed in a group home due to my age because they didn’t have anywhere else to put me.
That’s where I met Hudson.” I look over at my brother and smile.
“He was a fuckin’ shithead, but we clicked.
When it came time to move me into a foster home, I refused.
I did everything I could to stay with Hudson.
Then we met Walker, and well, the rest is history. ”
“So you refused to go to a foster home? You didn’t want to be adopted by someone?” she asks.
“Could I have been adopted? Possibly, my social worker thought I would be based on the fact I had manners, wasn’t behind in school, and was healthy, but I didn’t want that. I had Hudson.”
“Huh,” she muses.
“What?” I ask, shifting under her gaze.
She smiles. “It’s just sweet, is all.”
I scoff, making the guys smile. “I’m not sweet.”
“You totally are,” Hudson says, while Walker nods.
“Just for us, though. No one else,” Walker adds.
“Just for you guys,” I tell them.
“I hate that you guys went through that but I’m glad you found each other. I wish I would have clicked with someone the way you guys did,” she says, sounding sad.
“I’m sorry you never had anyone to look out for you,” I tell her honestly.
Walker reaches over and grabs her hand. “You have us now, and that’s all that matters.”
Before anything else can be said, the giraffe makes another noise, prompting Esme to get up.
“Holy shit, can you grab the walkie-talkie and page the girls, please? It’s time!”
The next thirty minutes are pure chaos as the women and a team of others all work together to make sure the baby giraffe comes into the world safely.
And at three a.m. on Halloween, also known as the witching hour, baby Spooky was born, and it was fucking crazy.