Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Pete didn’t know exactly what the hell was going on. But something was.
That was for sure.
The kids were at best excited and at worst a little grumpy, and he simply wasn’t sure why.
Maybe it was Halloween.
Halloween was coming. They were excited. So he’d be excited too. No problem.
He saw Belle whispering to Eric, and then when he came closer, she tugged him away.
Weird.
Merida was playing with her blocks, and he smiled at her.
“What are you doing, sweetheart?”
“I’m gonna have a party, a big party with dresses.”
“Are you? That’s cool. Are you gonna do something dressy for Halloween?”
She looked at him. “A party! Gonna have a big dress.”
“Oh, okay. I like big dresses.”
“Yay! Big dresses!”
“Merry!” Belle hissed at her sister.
“Oh! It’s a secret party!” Merida said.
“A secret party? It’s not secret, baby, it’s trick-or-treat.”
Merida looked utterly confused, but Belle nodded. “Totally. Do you want to come see this thing? Merry?”
The little girl nodded, going right to her sister. “Tricky treat?”
“It’s okay,” Belle whispered. “Don’t worry about it.”
Okay, something was definitely going on. Now he just had to decide if he needed to be worried about it.
“Is everything all right, honey?” he asked her. “You’re good?”
She met his eyes and nodded. “Yes, Uncle Petey.”
Well then. He supposed he didn’t need to worry about it. She had answered honestly, no attempt to hide anything.
Bay came down from his office. “Man, am I glad it’s Friday.”
“Oh, me too.” It was their night to have supper, and the kids liked it because they got chicken fingers and fries.
Bay stopped at the bottom of the stairs and gave him a warm smile. “Look at you.”
He glanced down at himself, curious. “I… I look okay?”
“You look amazing.” Bay walked up to him and gave him a kiss, soft and sweet.
Oh, he did like that, very much. “Thank you, love. I appreciate it.”
“It’s the truth.” Rubbing their noses together, Bay smiled. “I’ve taken care of dinner tonight.”
“Oh? Excellent.” He couldn’t wait. He loved when Bay surprised him.
“And we’re all going to eat together tonight,” Bay added casually.
“Oh?” He fought not to be disappointed. He loved their quiet adult time, but he wouldn’t hurt Bay’s or the kids’ feelings.
“Yep. The kids wanted to join us tonight.” Bay smiled over at where Merida was still huddled with Belle and Eric.
“That’s amazing. Do I need to put out some blankets or something?”
“I’m pretty sure Belle is getting the dining table set.”
The dining table. So many different things. Wow. “Excellent. So, what should I do?”
“Noffing. Come and snuggle me.” Merida took his hand and tugged.
He let her take him over to the couch, and he sat. She immediately climbed into his lap.
“Hey, baby girl. I love you. How was school?”
“I counted to five!” She held up four fingers.
“Oh wow! Let’s do it together!” He held up one finger. “One.”
“One!” She took another of his fingers and move it up. “Twos!”
“Two!” He added another finger, tickled to death. “Three!”
“Freeeeee!” She put up his last finger. “Five!”
“What about four? Should we have four too?” He leaned in and rubbed their noses together.
She giggled, but then tilted her head. “Four?” She held up three fingers, said “three,” then held up four fingers and said “five.”
He chuckled softly, loving how she was learning to make jokes. “Silly goose. Three. Four. Five.”
“Three four five?” She took his hand and pushed up one finger. “One.”
He nodded and held up the next finger.
“Two.”
He held up three.
“Three.”
He held up the next one and she frowned at him.
“Four?”
He nodded, so proud. “Yes. Perfect.”
Then he held up his thumb too and she looked him in the eye, looked at his fingers. Then she counted under her breath as she touched each one.
Then she looked at him, with a huge smile and said, “Five!” She held her own hand up again, all fingers and thumb raised and repeated, “Five.”
“Five! My brilliant girl.” He hugged her as she beamed. She was so sweet and smart and sure.
“Can you count to five, Pete? Good for you,” Bay said, coming into the living room, shit-eating grin on his face.
“I teached him, Bay! Me!” She held her hands up to be picked up.
Bay obliged, his eyes wide. “You? Really? Show me?”
She leaned back, having utter faith that her uncle Bay would not drop her and she held up one finger. “One!” Then she went through the rest, one at a time until she hit five.
“Oh my goodness! I’m so proud of you, Merry!”
“I teached it! I’m a good counter!”
Pete was over the moon, any disappointment about losing an adult supper gone.
“Look at you. Counting and teaching. My so smart girl.” Bay squeezed her tight and hugged her. Then he buzzed her neck, making her throw her head back and laugh.
That brought the other kids, and Bay put Merida down before picking Eric up and hugging and buzzing his neck too. When he put a laughing Eric down, Bay turned to Belle and opened his arms, but waited for a sign from her.
Belle pushed into his arms. “I love you, Bay.”
Bay squeezed her tight, eyes closed, happiness on his face. “I love you too, Belle. You want a zubber?”
“Silly Bay.” She grinned at him, rolling her eyes.
“Gotcha, no zubbers for big girls.” Bay kissed her cheek instead before letting her go.
Little Flynn cried out from where he was sitting chewing on toys. He opened and closed his hands, and Bay went over to him, picking him up too. Bay swung him in the air, making Flynn laugh just as loud as the others had.
All of a sudden, Belle said, “Now, Bay. Do it now!”
“Now?” Bay asked, looking at her.
She nodded solemnly and sat, opening her arms impriously for little Flynn.
“Okay.” Bay put Flynn on her lap, helping her make sure she had him.
Was Bay going to do a trick?
“What are we doing?” Pete asked.
“Party!” Merida shouted.
“I think you’ll need to stand,” Bay suggested, holding a hand out to him. Belle nodded vigorously at the suggestion.
“Okay…” He stood and took Bay’s hand, utterly confused.
Bay smiled at him. “Pete. You’re a very important part of my life. Of our lives. We couldn’t do this without you.” Bay looked at each of the kids, who nodded in agreement. “So we were talking.”
“Oh?” Were they doing a family costume this year?
“I love you and the kids love you and we want to make it official.” Bay dropped to one knee, still holding his hand.
His eyes went wide.
Oh.
Oh god.
Oh dear god.
“Bay?” He was going to cry.
Bay dug into his pocket and pulled out a ring. A gold band with a dark purple stone in it, then looked back up at him, gaze holding his. “Will you marry us?”
“Yes.” He didn’t even hesitate. “Yes, Bay, Belle, Eric, Merry, Flynn. Yes. I will.”
The kids all cheered, and Bay surged up and closed their mouths together, kissing him hard.
Was this real? It stunned him, but he couldn’t be more happy, more stunned, more sure that Bay was it for him.
When the kiss ended, Bay took his hand again, and slipped the ring onto his finger. “Does it fit? Do you like it?”
“It’s perfect. Did Merry help you pick it out?” He’d bet she did.
“I did! I picked the color.”
“Everyone had a chance to approve,” Bay told him. “It’s the one that was at the top of my list.”
“Then it’s absolutely perfect.” He couldn’t fathom anything better.
Bay beamed at him and gave him another kiss, then Eric and Merida were there, wanting hugs and kisses. Bay rescued Belle, taking Flynn so she could come over to him and get her hugs too.
“I’m so glad, Petey,” she said as she hugged him tight. “I’m so glad you’ll be ours, like for real.”
“Oh honey, me too.” He’d always felt like a part of this family, but now? Now it was real.
Bay had Flynn and Merida in his arms, watching him with this happy—like deep down happy—smile.
“This means you’ll be our Uncle Pete forever. Forever.”
“That’s right. Forever. Even when we’re all old and cranky and crinkly,” Bay told him, laughing.
“Then you’ll be grampas!” Eric cheered.
Oh lord. “Grampas?”
Bay shook his head. “Nope. Not happening. You’re going to be kidlets forever.”
“Forever?” Belle shook her head. “Nope. I’m having babies.”
Bay looked at him, wide-eyed, mouth open but nothing coming out.
“Not for another twenty years, okay?” He winked at her. “So that you’re ready.”
“Okay, Uncle Petey.”
Bay finally took a breath. “I think I still won’t be ready to be a grandpa at that point. Maybe forty years.”
“Then I’ll be a granny!” Her eyes were huge.
Bay burst out laughing. “That’s a long, long way in the future, honey.”
“I like a future. I want to be someone my momma and daddy would like, someone you like.”
Pete smiled, hugged her. “Oh, honey. I do like you, very much.”
“Me too.” Bay kissed her forehead.
The doorbell rang.
“That’s our supper.” Bay put Merida and Flynn down and headed for the front door.
He couldn’t stop staring at his finger, at the ring.
Belle gave him another hug. “Uncle Bay did good, didn’t he?”
“He did amazing. A-Maze-Ing.” He had been surprised and pleased.
She leaned her head against his shoulder. “We have a good family, don’t we?”
“We do. We have a great family, because we love each other so much.”
“Okay.”
“Who wants to help me open up our food?” Bay asked from the doorway.
“Me! Me!” Merry waved, always eager for Bay’s attention.
“Well come on. We have a feast to make for our fiancé.” Bay grinned at him, all smiles.
Their fiancé.
God, how sweet was that?
His eyes filled with tears.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” Bay asked, coming to him, concern clear in his eyes.
“I’m so happy. You… You’ve made me so happy, love.”
“Oh. That’s okay then.” Bay gave him a quick, awkward kiss, his hands full of delivery bags. “As long as you’re happy.”
“I am. What’s for supper? How can I help?”
“Just come and sit and eat. I ordered us steak and lobster and the kids have fancy chicken fingers and fries. I was going to propose after dinner, but…” Bay shrugged. “Belle was right about it being the right time.”
“It was the perfect time,” he admitted. “I thought you were going to ask if I wanted to do a family Halloween costume.”
Bay chuckled as he took stuff out of the bags and set them on the table. “That’s actually not a bad idea—if we can get the kids to agree on something.”
“Hey, they agreed on us. We’re something.” And Pete loved it. Loved them.
“Of course they agreed on us and we’re not just something—we’re something special.”
He nodded, going to hug Bay hard, stealing one more kiss. This was all he needed.
Just this.
He would love this family as his own. Forever.