Chapter 21
Schmidt
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I peek over at Winnie, unsure if we should really be here.
“Wheeler promised to be on his best behavior. I think we owe it to him to stay for a little bit.” Winnie raises her fist and knocks on the heavy wooden door.
A few moments later, the door swings open and Wheeler’s smiling at us. He motions for us to come in and Winnie doesn’t hesitate.
“Welcome to my home. There’s some food and drinks in the kitchen. The girls are out on the deck with some heaters keeping them warm.” He rolls his eyes. “The guys are in the living room and I have something special for the princess.”
Wheeler plucks my daughter from my arms and carries her towards the living room. His house is set up the same way mine is. The layout is identical.
Wheeler leads us into the living room and steps over a gated off portion of the room. He places Tali down and shows her a little kitchen set complete with fake food and dishes. She smiles up at him and begins playing immediately.
“Aw, man! You got her the kitchen?” Smithy walks in behind me and lets out a groan.
“I told you I bought it.” Wheeler rolls his eyes as he drops onto the floor next to Tali and pretends to take a bite of a fake fish.
“Yeah, but I thought you were just messing with me. I got this really cute house for the backyard, but it’s too cold to use it tonight.” Smithy pouts.
“You guys got things for Tali?” I ask slowly, my brows tugging together. This can't be real. There’s no way they care this much.
“We want you to hang out more.” Smithy lifts his shoulders in a shrug.
“We love Tali Girl. We want her around and having toys for her will make that easier,” Wheeler adds.
I stare at them in disbelief. I didn’t expect this from them. I figured I’d be holding Tali all night and trying to keep her entertained.
“I told you,” Winnie singsongs. “They’re great guys after you let Wheeler have his meltdown. They’ll be like uncles to her if you let them.”
“Thanks, guys.”
“Oh, you’ve seen nothing yet!” Cord smirks.
“I’ve been trying to convince Macy to let me turn the basement into a mini town, but she wouldn’t let me since the baby isn't even born yet.” He rolls his eyes at her and she flips him off.
“But thanks to Tali, our little village is well on its way to being built.”
“He has a post office, a restaurant, a house, a farm, and I don’t even know what else. Some of the little stores are two stories!” Macy shakes her head like he’s ridiculous.
“Um, why didn’t you tell me about this? I don’t even use the basement. I want to build a mini town too.” Wheeler folds his arms over his chest and glares at Cord.
“Dude, you don’t even have kids.”
“So? One day I might. Then I’ll be prepared. Plus, it sounds like I'm about to have a bunch of nieces and nephews. I want to be the fun uncle!” Wheeler pretends to be upset, until Tali thrusts a piece of toy cake in his face. He instantly smiles at her and ignores us as he plays with my daughter.
“Thank you, baby,” I whisper as I tug Winnie into my arms.
“For what?” She peers up at me with those big blue eyes.
“For pushing me to let them in. For giving Tali an entire group of people she can count on. For just being you.”
“Ok, but if you all bought these amazing things, what am I going to have at my house?” Covey frowns. “I want something different. Something special so Tali wants to come visit me more than the rest of you.”
And that’s how our night continues. We hang around while the guys discuss what they’re buying for their houses to make Tali, and the other babies, more comfortable.
We don’t discuss baseball or the season starting in two days. We just relax and joke around, spending time together.
I can't believe I’ve been missing this all along. I could’ve had so many people to lean on, instead I’ve been doing this all alone. I’ll never be able to thank Winnie enough.