Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
Eros
A sh swirled between my legs as I stood at the kitchen counter, scarfing down my toast. I’d been harping on everyone to make sure they had all their things together so we could leave on time today, yet I was the one making us run behind. I’d worked late to finish up paperwork and make sure everything was prepared for my part-time veterinarian, Ren, to take over while I was on vacation the next two weeks, and I’d forgotten to make sure my alarm was set to get up on time this morning.
Zeppelin had laughed when he woke me up, casually asking, “So, are we going on vacation today or what?”
I’d panicked and shot out of bed, only for Jaxon to assure me he and Zeppelin already had everything loaded into the SUV, and we were just waiting on the boys to show up. He’d then told me coffee and toast were waiting for me and assured me we would have time to grab some kind of fast-food breakfast on the way.
“They’re here,” Zeppelin announced just as the front door opened, revealing Logan. I frowned when Ezra walked in behind him, but there was no sign of Spencer. The whole reason we were going to the beach was because Spencer had chosen that location. Where was he at?
“Where’s Spencer?” Jaxon asked, voicing my thoughts. His brows furrowed in concern as he looked between the two boys.
“Asleep,” Ezra answered as Logan nudged me out of the way of the coffee pot. Honestly, I wasn’t awake enough to reprimand him for not saying, “excuse me,” so I just moved out of his way. He looked like he needed it anyway. By now, he would’ve said some smart-ass shit, but he was silent.
“Asleep?” Zep asked, frowning. “Who the fuck could be asleep on the vacation they chose?”
“Someone who didn’t get home until two this morning after working a double and then staying later to complete paperwork,” Logan snapped, opening and closing the cabinets. “Where the fuck is the sugar?”
“Pantry,” Jaxon answered. Logan grunted in answer and walked over to the pantry to grab the small container of sugar we had. The three of us didn’t drink sugar in our coffee anymore. We used Stevia, but Jaxon kept sugar on hand for when Logan happened to be at the house. He was a sugar addict. Jaxon said it was more than likely related to not having the extra funds for sweets when he was growing up. “Do we need to push the vacation off for a day?”
“He might dissolve into tears if we do,” Ezra answered, shaking his head. “He’s overworked and overly tired. We set him up with a pillow and a blanket in the backseat of the Jeep. He’s got air conditioning and nature sounds playing, and he’s snoring. We’re just going to let him sleep on the way there, sleep when we get to the hotel, and tomorrow, I figured we could start with our plans.”
“He almost cried last night just because we gave him a fucking protein bar and a protein shake before he went to bed,” Logan supplied, his tone revealing just how grumpy he was. “While we’re on vacation, we need to figure out a way to get him to quit and go to a private office or something. This isn’t sustainable. We’re fucking married to him, but that damn job sees him more than we do.”
Jaxon sighed. “He loves his job, Logan.”
Logan shook his head and turned, holding his mug of coffee in his hand. Leaning back against the counter, he took a sip of the steaming liquid. “I know he loves his job. But I’m not sitting back and watching him damn near kill himself over it. He’s already hitting burnout, Jaxon. And usually, he never forgets to let us know if he’s going to be late coming home, but lately, he’s been forgetting to even do that because he’s so swamped and tired that simply remembering to press send is a monumental task for him.”
“He’s right,” Ezra supplied, siding with Logan. “He’s losing weight, his mental health is in the shitter, and he’s not taking care of himself properly. The hospital job has to go.”
Zep reached up and gripped the back of Jaxon’s neck when Jaxon sighed, worry for his son clear on his face. When Zep began to massage the muscles there, Jax’s shoulders slumped, and he closed his eyes. “Let him have the first week of this vacation without any talk of work,” Jax suggested. “And one of you take his phone from him, turn it off, and hide it. After the first week, we’ll all sit down as a family and talk to him about finding a job that’s not so demanding.”
Logan huffed but nodded. “Alright, Daddio. I’m trusting your judgment on this.”
Zep snorted. “And there’s that smart ass mouth I so fucking missed,” he sarcastically said.
Logan shot him a sickly-sweet smile and gave him his middle finger as an added gift. Zep pretended to catch it in his free hand and stuff it in his pocket. Logan curled his lip at him in annoyance.
“What?” Zep asked. “It’s so I can give it back to you later.”
I choked on my next bite of toast as I laughed.