Chapter 29
Maverick
It’s been almost a month since Sydney and I got married. The best month of my entire life. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy and I don’t know how I lived without them.
We pull onto Mulberry Lane, following Peck’s car. It’s been a long drive, but it’s worth it to get two weeks away from Maple Springs and all of our responsibilities there. We’re excited to have our first vacation as a family, even if it’s to help Sophia and Peck unpack.
“This place is adorable!” Sydney whispers as she takes in the gorgeous homes that form a circle.
On the outside of the circle are four homes and it looks like they’re building some more of them. We pull into the driveway of the second house and I cut the engine.
When Peck said he was moving to Philadelphia, I expected him to be in the big city, but this is a suburb almost twenty minutes outside of the city. It’s quiet and looks more like a small town than anywhere near the city. I can see why Peck was ok with moving here.
We climb out of the car and meet Peck and Sophia in the driveway. We were able to fit all of their stuff within the three cars. I can’t imagine it will take long for us to unpack.
“We might as well go introduce you to everyone.” Sophia motions across the street.
I glance over my shoulder to find families on every porch watching us.
“Welcome to Mulberry Lane. Where everyone is more in your business than in Maple Springs. This is like a small town on steroids.” She chuckles and shakes her head.
A couple who looks to be only a little bit older than me meet us in the driveway of the home across the street. They each wrap Sophia and Peck in a hug before turning their attention to the rest of us.
“Hey, man, I'm Wes and this is my wife, Addi. We’re Sophia’s parents.” He shakes my hand in a strong grip.
“It’s nice to meet you. I'm Maverick, Sydney’s husband.”
“I'm sorry, what did you just say?” Peck squeezes between us, his wide eyes bouncing between Sydney and myself.
“Surprise?” Sydney offers weakly.
“You didn’t tell him?” I whisper, but Peck is so close to me there’s no way he can’t hear me.
“I wanted to tell him and Wyatt at the same time. I guess I should’ve told you that.” She winces. “I'm sorry, Pecky.”
“When? How? Why?”
“You forgot who, what, and where.” A man steps up behind Wes. He’s grinning from ear to ear and he looks like he could be a lot of trouble. Just like Sophia does.
“Jax!” Bree squeals. She sprints to close the distance between them and launches herself into his arms. He crouches down in just enough time to catch her.
“What’s going on, pretty girl?” He stands to his full height, easily holding her on his hip like she’s a toddler and not six years old.
“I missed you and Cody!” She lays her head against his chest and stares up at him like he’s the most amazing man in the world.
“But you missed me the most, right?” He whispers like they’re sharing a secret.
“Don’t tell Cody.” She giggles.
“Ahem! I have questions that need answering.” Peck folds his arms over his chest and glares at us.
“When? The day we went to court to get the restraining order against Rob. How? The judge did a quick thing at the courthouse. Why? Because we wanted to get married and we figured why wait? Plus, we thought it might ease the kids’ anxieties if they knew I wasn’t going to leave.
Where? We covered that, the courthouse. Who?
Sydney and myself. What? We got married. Any other questions?”
“I like him.” Wes smirks.
“Of course you do.” Peck rolls his eyes. “You like anyone who gets straight to the point and doesn’t waste time.”
“I think I like Wes too.” I chuckle, making Peck huff and stomp away.
“I'm going to try and calm him down.” Sydney presses a soft kiss to my cheek before following after her brother.
“Hey, I'm Jax, Sophia’s brother.” Jax shakes my hand, never putting Bree down. I have a feeling she’ll stay with him as long as he allows it.
“Maverick. I see you have a little fan. You play for the Pythons, right?”
“Yeah, do you like hockey?”
“I do, but I have to admit, baseball is more my speed.” I rub the back of my neck. I don’t want to offend him, but I'm not going to act like I'm a super fan when I'm not.
“It’s ok, I get it. Everyone has one sport they like more than others. Did you play baseball?” Jax is surprisingly calm, especially with how Sophia has described him.
“He played in high school and college. He was so good! He could’ve gone pro but he didn’t want to,” Danny cuts in before I can open my mouth.
“Uncle Lincoln and Uncle Blake were the same way. I'm not sure Dad was ever that good, but he was still good.” Jax motions to Wes.
“Eh, I never cared enough about the game to go pro. Nothing like Wyatt or Leo.” Wes waves him off.
“Speak of the devil!” Jax calls, his smile pointed at something over my shoulder.
I glance behind me to find Wyatt Everson walking our way with a woman who looks like she could be Sophia’s twin with a baby in her arms. It’s kind of creepy how much Wyatt looks like Peck, I don’t know how I didn’t notice it before.
“Hey, I'm Wyatt and this is my wife, Charlie and our daughter, Carter.” Wyatt glances down at the sleeping baby before holding his hand out to me.
“I'm Maverick.”
“He’s my daddy,” Bree says proudly from Jax’s arms.
“Oh, really? I didn’t know you got a new daddy. Shouldn’t I know this?” Wyatt arches a brow in my direction.
“It’s new?”
“If you’re going to throw a temper tantrum over not knowing, you can go join Uncle Peck. He’s acting like a toddler.” Danny motions to where Sydney is trying her hardest to get Peck to chill out. It doesn’t seem to be going well.
“Yeah, I'm too old for that. Aunt Charlie would spank me.” Wyatt winks at his wife, making her chuckle and shake her head.
“Did you know Maverick could’ve gone pro in baseball?” Jax cuts in.
“Really? What position?” Wyatt’s interest is peaked.
“Pitcher.”
“He can pitch over a hundred miles an hour, Uncle Wyatt!” Danny sticks his chest out in pride.
“Jeez, that’s impressive.”
“That was a long time ago. I'm sure I can’t pitch like that anymore.” I wave off his compliment.
“You guys will be here for two weeks, right?”
“Yes.”
“You should come to a few games. We’d love to have you there. I could get box seats for everyone.” Wyatt shrugs like it isn’t a big deal.
“Can we also come to one of your games, Jaxy?” Bree flutters her lashes at him.
“Of course. I’ll make sure you even have one of my jerseys to wear.” He kisses the top of her head softly.
“Sophia says we’re not allowed to wear your jersey, or Cody’s, or Uncle Wyatt’s. She says it makes you angry when we don’t and she thinks it’s funny.” Bree scrunches up her nose.
“Oh, really? I think I need to have a talk with my sweet little sister.” Jax places Bree on the ground and takes off at a sprint towards Sophia.
She doesn’t know why he’s coming for her, but she lets out a shriek and runs towards the backyard. She slams the gate shut behind her, but it doesn’t deter Jax one bit. He hops the fence with ease and keeps going for her.
“I really hope he doesn’t try to throw her in the pool,” Wes murmurs as he strokes his beard.
“Yeah, last time he did that she almost murdered him and that was in the middle of the summer. She’ll kill him if he throws her in the pool now with how cold it is.” Addi stands on her tippy toes, trying to see where they went.
“Why’s he chasing Sophia?” A man who looks identical to Jax comes from the house, but his attention is solely on his siblings.
“Oh, Sophia told Bree she could go to whatever games she wants while she’s visiting as long as she doesn’t wear any of your names on her jersey.” Charlie smirks.
“Cody!” Bree squeals. I chuckle to myself. She plays the twins against each other. They both think they’re her favorite.
“Hey, princess. Should we go help Jax catch Sophia or should we save Sophia?” Cody lifts my daughter into his arms.
“You should always save her. She’s the best.” Bree scowls up at him.
“She is a pretty cool sister.” Cody smirks. “Well, if I'm going to save her, then you need to stay here.” Cody gently places Bree on the ground before turning his attention to his brother and sister.
“No pools,” Wes warns.
“You take all the fun out of this.” Cody rolls his eyes.
“He can’t get pneumonia again,” Addi calls as Cody calmly walks through the gate to the backyard.
“Again?” I arch a brow.
“Let’s just say this isn’t the first time we’ve witnessed this chase.
More times than not, Cody steps in to protect Sophia and Jax ends up hurt or in the pool.
Since they’re in the middle of the hockey season, I'm hoping they’re smart enough to not risk their jobs, but you never know what to expect with them. ”
“I'm sorry for being a big baby and throwing a tantrum.” Peck appears at the edge of the group with a scowl still on his face.
“Uncle Peck, that doesn’t sound like a real apology.” Danny folds his arms across his chest and stares him down. “You always say a fake apology doesn’t count.”
Peck lets out a loud sigh before meeting my gaze. “I'm sorry I freaked out. I already told you I approved of you marrying my sister, I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I wasn’t expecting it and I lost it.”
“I really thought you knew… Though I guess I should’ve confirmed, especially when you didn’t say anything to us about it. I figured one of the kids would’ve told you by now.”
“No, the one time they actually decide to keep their mouths shut,” he huffs.
It doesn’t take us long to unpack the cars and help Sophia and Pecker put everything away. They brought a lot of their stuff home a few weeks ago when they came to walk through the bakery and for Peck to meet with Mason about his new job at Bennett Bradley Security.
Addi and Wes were kind enough to open their home up to us. They said there was no reason for us to pay for a hotel or sleep on the floor at Sophia and Peck’s house when they have four spare bedrooms sitting empty.