Chapter 48
Kieran
ICEHAWKS BITCHES
IRVING
umm why the fuck weren’t we invited to trick-or-treating?
KIERAN
because you don’t have a kid?
IRVING
pfft rude
Grayson and Bella don’t have a kid
brOTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER
*yet*
JOHNSON
Irving probably does have one running around out there
IRVING
I WRAP UP THANK YOU VERY MUCH
JOHNSON
so did Ashford and look where he’s at
LEWIS
imagine a little Irving
MITCHEL
way to make a man shudder
I’m going to have nightmares now
JOHNSON
HAHAHAHAHA
IRVING
fucking rude
MITCHEL
once you learn to flush your own shit I won’t be terrified
IRVING
THAT WAS ONE TIME
ONE TIME DUDE
LEWIS
he’s got you there Irving
IRVING
so much for being best friends
brOTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER
no friendships ending in the group chat
go make up
IRVING
aye aye spider monkey
Wiping my mouth on a napkin, I laugh in unison with Grayson, who’s reading the same text thread I am. Fucking Irving and his shenanigans.
Bella pauses whatever she was saying to Layla and turns to us. “Do I even want to know?”
“Irving,” Grayson says around a laugh.
And that’s certainly enough for Bella to understand. Layla pouts. “I feel left out.”
Grayson’s eyes widen. “You haven’t shown her the IceHawks group chat? Dude, you’re robbing the woman of some serious comedy.”
A teasing smile dances along her lips as she cocks a brow at me. “Yeah Ashford, why haven’t you blessed me with your boys’ chat?”
I arch my brow right back. “How come you haven’t blessed me with your girls’ chat?”
Bella gasps across the table. “That’s sacrilegious.”
Layla doubles down. “You heard her.”
Emmy pops up from where she was sitting with Bambi on the patio and runs down the stairs into Grayson’s backyard, Bambi hot on her heels, as they wind through the trees.
Wrapping a hand around one of Layla’s chair arms, I pull her closer to me, savoring the way her eyes widen. I lean down, brushing my lips across the shell of her ear and whispering, “You’ll have to trade me a life list item for the group chat.”
With one glance across the table, I note Grayson and Bella are too engrossed with each other to see the way Layla’s cheeks flush.
“Deal,” she breathes.
“Make it two.”
“Greedy.”
“Always for you.”
She moves back enough to meet my gaze. “How far back can I go?”
“A year and eleven months.”
“That’s very specific.”
“That’s when I met you.”
Her eyes flash. “Is that so?”
“Mm-hmm. That’s when the obsession started.”
She rolls her eyes. “You were not obsessed.”
“I sent you multiple texts a day for over a year…without a response.”
“He’s absolutely obsessed,” Bella chimes in, apparently not totally engrossed.
Pulling back, I flash her a smile. “Thanks, B.”
She raises her glass of soda. “Yep.”
Grayson claps his hands. “We should get going. The community group page said most trick-or-treating starts at six thirty.”
Bella’s nose wrinkles. “There’s a community page?”
“Yes, Blaze.”
“Huh.”
Layla gasps. “Oh no! I don’t have a costume.” Turning to Bella, she asks, “Do you have a spare somewhere?”
At the gleeful look Bella gives her, Layla’s brows pull down into a frown. “What am I missing?”
Bella jerks her chin in my direction. “Lover boy over there has it sorted.”
“You love how whipped I am for your best friend, don’t you?”
“Absolutely, are you kidding? It’s amazing watching you fall all over her.”
Sputtering out a laugh, I head down to the yard to grab Emmy, coaxing her away from Bambi with, of course, a bribe. Although she’s so excited to wear a matching costume with Layla it really doesn’t take all that much convincing. She and Bambi rush into the house like a tornado.
I come to a stop at the back doors, my lips twitching as Layla eyes me cautiously.
“So, where’s this supposed costume?”
I’m still pissing myself laughing two hours later as I watch Layla, holding Emmy’s hand, walk up the next cobbled driveway.
Wiping tears from the corner of my eyes, I open my phone and hit record, just as Emmy’s little form, bundled in a white ghost sheet, holds out her orange pumpkin-shaped bucket, Layla singing, “Trick-or-treat!” in a Ghostbusters costume.
Waving in their direction, I grin over at my best friend. “Have you seen a better costume?”
“I may be biased but mine and Bella’s was great.”
“This far outweighs Ratatouille.”
Grayson’s gaze lifts to Layla and Emmy making their way back over to us. “Yeah, fair point.”
Emmy comes running, her adorable little face alight with happiness as she holds the bucket up to me. “Daddy! Daddy! Look at the candy!”
Now my eyes are filling with unshed tears for another reason entirely.
I wrap an arm around her waist, my smile mirroring hers as I take a peek inside. I pull back, gasping dramatically. “No way!” I look from Emmy to Layla before dropping my head and whispering, “She gave you three chocolate bars?”
Emmy smacks a hand over her lips and giggles before nodding.
Layla places her hands on her hips. “Apparently Mrs. Bryer is a big Ghostbusters fan, isn’t that right, Emmy?”
Her eyes widen. “Yes!” She steps forward, cupping her hand around my ear and adds, “She said she loves ghosts.”
I gasp again. “She loves ghosts?”
I didn’t think it was possible but her eyes widen even more. “Mm-hmm!” Before I know it, she’s jumping up and down on her toes. “More candy, Daddy! More candy!”
Chuckling to myself, I stand, lifting my eyes to Layla’s. “Okay, one more house.”
With her hand in mine, Emmy spins, holding out her free one with the bucket on her wrist to Layla. She doesn’t even hesitate, doesn’t bat an eye; she simply takes Emmy’s hand in hers and walks with me to the next house, Grayson and Bella strolling behind us.
“We make a pretty good team.”
“I suppose we do,” she says.
Wagging my brows, I tease, “And how do you think I did on our first family costume?”
Layla’s smile is infectious. “Ten out of ten, Ashford. I don’t know how you’ll top this next year.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I have a list on my notes app. You’re in for a lifetime of hilarious costumes.” I clear my throat. “Speaking of great ideas, you should go talk to Bella about the children’s book.”
Layla bites her lower lip as we come to a stop at the end of the next house’s driveway. Despite Emmy’s impatient tugs on our hands, I wait for Layla to say something.
Emmy doesn’t have to wait long.
“Do you think?” she asks quietly.
Happiness sparks within me that she’s finally considering it. “I know, sunshine.” Tugging Emmy from Layla, I cock my head at Bella and Grayson behind us. “Go on, I’ve got this house.”
Something flickers in her eyes, a deep emotion I can’t place before it’s gone. Stepping toward me, Layla lays her hand on my chest and lifts onto the top of her toes, quickly planting a kiss on my cheek. “Thank you, Ashford,” she whispers.
Before I have time to snap myself out of the love haze she put me in, Layla is already walking toward Bella and Grayson is beside me, waving his phone in front of my face with a shit-eating grin.
“You’re so fucking in love it’s almost sickening.”
Squinting at the phone, I see it’s a photo, Layla kissing my cheek while I stand there with the biggest smile on my face, and more importantly, little Emmy looking up at us like we hung the moon for her.
My throat is thick with emotion. “Can you send that to me?”
“Already done,” he says, his grin still firmly in place.
Pulling out my phone, I quickly save it, then make it my phone wallpaper, and hit upload online.
Because I am madly in love and I want the entire world to know that my family is what means the most to me.