Chapter 37 Harper-Rayn
HARPER-RAYN
The tiniest little knock sounds at the front door, and I all but race from the spare bedroom and up the hall, my eyes wide as I find Knight already making his way to answer the door. “NO. DON’T!” I call out to him in sheer panic, his gaze whipping toward me, immediately searching for a threat.
“The fuck is wrong with you?”
I hurry past him, giving him a hard stare. “They’re my nieces. I should get to open the door.”
He lets out a loud huff, but nonetheless, he allows me to beat him to the door. The moment I get it open, I drop to my knees as the world’s most beautiful little girls throw themselves into my arms, the late-afternoon storm causing havoc in the street behind them.
“Oh my God! I’ve missed you both so much,” I say, tears welling in my eyes because I’m a wimpy little bitch like that.
I pull them in even tighter, listening to their sweet laughter as the greatest warmth spreads through my chest. There’s simply nobody on earth I love more than these girls.
I mean, obviously Knight is right up there, but when it comes to little Haylee and Taliah, they’re taking the top prize.
Pulling back, I gaze at the beautiful little twinnies as Knight steps around me, heading down to help Jonah and Emily with the hundreds of bags they’ve brought to help us get through one single night with their daughters.
But is all that crap really necessary? It’s a pajama movie-night party.
All they need is the coolest pajamas to ever exist, maybe a spare pair of underwear for those accidental moments, a hairbrush to sing into, because you never know when the karaoke gods might shine down upon you, and last but not least, a whoopee cushion so we can prank Knight with fart noises.
Ignoring the truckload of things being rushed to the door, I focus on the girls. “You’re both getting so big,” I gasp. “You must be at least thirteen now.”
“Nooooo,” little Haylee laughs before holding up three little fingers. “We dis many.”
I laugh as I adjust her fingers, adding a fourth. “Actually, you’re this many now!”
Haylee beams as though this is brand-new information, all while Taliah pulls on my hair. “Daddy says we get to have candy and ice cream before bed.”
I suck in yet another gasp, feigning surprise. “No way, really?”
“Yeah,” they both laugh in unison before Haylee goes on. “He said we should also pretend to be asleep and then scare you.”
“Oh, did he?” I say, just as Jonah steps up onto the porch, getting out of the downpour. He steps past me, putting the bags down inside our entryway before doubling back to greet me.
“Jonah,” I say, getting back to my feet only to awkwardly step closer with my arms out, but then I second-guess myself and drop my arms, all while Jonah is doing the same awkward little dance.
I finally give up and just punch him in the arm, because why the hell not?
“Just so you know, I’m planning on getting their noses, brows, and lips pierced, and then we’re going to get these tiny little chains for their tiny little faces to connect all their piercings. It’ll be so cute.”
Jonah just gives me a hard stare while Emily quickly strides up the pathway beside Knight.
“If you even think about getting anything pierced on my girls, I’m chopping you up into little pieces, packing you into boxes, and shipping you to one of those wannabe sugar daddies on TikTok who always ask what you’d do with their money if they were to send it to you.
They can put you back together like a 3D puzzle. ”
Knight glances at Emily. “That, uhh . . . was oddly specific,” he says before glancing up at me. “On a completely unrelated topic. Remind me that I need to run some background checks when I’m at the station next.”
Emily rolls her eyes as she strides up the porch and leans over the top of her girls to give me a warm hug. “You know I’m just kidding.”
“Me too,” I say with a grin. “As if I’d start them off with piercings when I can give them tattoos instead.”
“Yay! Tattoos,” Taliah cheers.
We all huddle on the porch, keeping out of the rain, but when a gust of wind blows the rain against us, I quickly step back out of the doorway and welcome everyone in.
“Come on in,” I tell them before crouching down to the girls’ height.
“I was just finishing making up your big-girl bed with special princess blankets. Do you want to see?”
“YEAH!”
The girls take off like lightning, and as they get halfway down the hall, it becomes clear they have no idea where they’re going, but it doesn’t stop them from exploring every room in the house anyway.
Knight and I linger in the entryway with Jonah and Emily as the girls go nuts, already running wild throughout the house as Jonah tries calling out for them to come say goodbye. But all they’ve got for him is a slight side hug and a Hasta la vista, baby before taking off again.
Emily manages to wrangle them onto the couch and crouches down in front of them.
“You be good for Aunty Harper,” she tells the girls.
“She’s the boss. When she asks you to brush your teeth, you go straightaway and brush your teeth.
You don’t poke your tongue out at her until after she’s walked out of the room. Got it?”
“Yes, Mommy.”
“Okay,” she says, leaning into them and wrapping her arms around both girls at the same time.
“I love you both to the moon and back. You’re going to have the best time tonight, and when I see you tomorrow, I want to hear all about the crazy things, but not too much candy and ice cream, okay?
We don’t want to get a sore tummy before bed, do we? ”
Jonah leans over the back of the couch, squashing both the girls into his arms. “Oh, leave them alone,” he chides Emily, giving each of them a swift kiss on the cheek.
“How often do they get to have a special sleepover with Aunty Harper? Let them have all the candy they want. It can be tomorrow’s problem. ”
A smirk settles over my lips. I might not be a parent, but even I know that’s a bad call that’s bound to bite him in the ass at some point, but if he wants to give me the green light to feed them nothing but candy and ice cream, then I’ll do my best to stick to his instructions.
After all, he’s their father. He knows best.
Emily rolls her eyes, and after giving the twins one last hug, she makes her way around to the door, tears welling in her eyes. “Oh my God,” she laughs, wiping her eyes. “We have to go before I change my mind.”
Jonah grins and glances at me. “It’s the first time we’ve left them for the night,” he explains before stepping into my side and giving me an awkward hug. “Thanks for doing this. We really appreciate it.”
“No need to thank me. You know I would love to have them any time.”
“Alright, well, try not to traumatize them too much,” he teases. “We should be back maybe late afternoon tomorrow.”
“Sure thing, and feel free to stay for dinner,” I tell them. “You’re always welcome. I mean, I can’t cook to save my life, but I’m happy to volunteer Knight’s time. And I can guarantee that it’ll be better than any other dinner party you’ve been to in Blackstone lately.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that,” Jonah laughs. “We’ll give you a call in the morning and let you know how we’re tracking, but dinner sounds good. It’ll be good to catch up properly.”
A smile pulls at my lips as a warmth spreads through me, loving the way our relationship seems to rebuild just a little bit more every time we see each other.
It’ll probably be a hot minute before we can walk into the same room without having that slight awkwardness between us, but we’re more than heading in the right direction.
The fact that he’s trusting me to look after his girls is more than proof of that, and it means the world to me.
“Alright, get out of here,” I tell them, striding into the entryway and opening the door just in time to see Izzy’s car pull up on the curb behind Jonah’s.
“We’ll be fine. Go enjoy your night, watch your friends get married, and maybe even have a few drinks.
See if you can figure out how to actually have a good time for a change. ”
“Ha. Ha. Very funny,” Jonah says, his hand falling to the small of Emily’s back as they both glance toward their beautiful girls one last time.
Just as they open the front door to leave, Izzy barges in, dressed head to toe in unicorn pajamas with her arms filled with supplies.
“Ugh. The fun police are still here?” she teases, stopping by Emily and giving her a quick hug, only to accidentally drop everything at her feet.
“Get out of here. If we’re going to corrupt your girls to the best of our ability, then we’re going to need all the time we can get. ”
Jonah rolls his eyes and moves toward the porch, leading his secretly pregnant wife along with him, holding on to her so she doesn’t slip on the wet concrete.
Making my way over to the door, I start closing it behind them when I call out with a grin on my lips.
“Alright, whose head are we shaving first?”
The door closes with a solid thud, and I turn to face the girls with a wide grin on my face just as the sound of Knight’s pager rings through our home. He immediately sighs. “Shit. Sorry, doll.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I tell him as he silences the pager. “I hoped for this.”
He gapes at me. “The fu—fluffy duck did you just say?”
“It’s a girls’ night,” I say as Izzy makes her way into the kitchen and spreads out the supplies on the counter, pulling out bags of cotton candy, popcorn, ice cream, and chocolate, despite the bags upon bags I’ve already stocked up on.
“We can’t have a girls’ night with a grumpy alphahole killing the vibe. ”
Knight narrows his gaze on me. “You were going to kick me out anyway.”
I suck in a gasp. “I would never have done such a terrible thing . . . to your face.”
He shakes his head, a grin pulling across his lips as he strides down the hallway to get ready for whatever fresh hell Blackstone is about to throw at him.
“Call it a girls’ night all you want,” Knight calls from the hallway, “but Hunter is going to be here watching your ass, and he’s still sour that you gave him the slip on Tuesday. ”
Ahh, shit.
A few hours later, Izzy and I are staring at the mess we’ve made in the kitchen.
It was homemade pizza night, and when I explained to the girls that all the ingredients needed to go on their pizza, what they heard was to put the ingredients anywhere but on the pizza.
On the bright side, they absolutely loved it.
There might be a few greasy fingerprints smeared across the couch, but Knight doesn’t need to know about that, and when he inevitably finds it, I’m blaming Hunter.
“You might as well make yourself useful,” Izzy tells Hunter as we stare down the kitchen like a bunch of newborn kittens that have just been handed to a bunch of toddlers. It’s terrifying, but if we all get in and work together, we could have it done by next Christmas.
Rolling up my sleeves, I get to work, and as Izzy tells me all about her nonexistent relationships with Ace and Diesel, we listen to the heartwarming sounds of Haylee and Taliah jumping around in their bed.
They’re supposed to be getting into their pajamas, but from the sound of it, there is absolutely no getting dressed happening in that room.
Our movie night is up next on the agenda, and wanting to play it smart, the plan is to sweet-talk Hunter into dragging the mattress from the spare room into the living room and set it up in front of the TV.
That way, when the girls get tired halfway through the movie, they can simply pass out without us having to worry about carrying them to bed and accidentally waking them in the process.
With the three of us putting the kitchen back together, we get it cleaned up in no time, and after putting the final plate back inside the cabinet, I head for the hallway.
“Come on, Hunter,” I say, smirking to myself, knowing damn well that if I really put my mind to it, I could probably do this myself, but why go through that kind of stress when I have a perfectly capable man to boss around instead? “You’ve got a mattress to move.”
Hunter sighs and follows me down the hallway, and as I approach the very last room on the right side and push the door wider, I find it completely empty, not a sound coming from the room.
A grin pulls at my lips. “Girls?” I say, my gaze darting around the room, trying to figure out where they’re hiding as I tiptoe over to the small closet, more than ready to dominate hide-and-seek. I yank the closet door open, my eyes widening as I call out, “Gotcha.” Only, there’s no one to get.
The closet is empty.
“Girls?” I call, quickly checking under the bed before glancing back at Hunter in the doorway. “They weren’t out there, were they?”
He shakes his head before crossing the hallway into Knight’s and my bedroom before quickly glancing inside. “Not here.”
I start making my way back up the hallway, stopping by the bathroom to glance in. “Haylee? Taliah? Where are you guys?” I get nothing, and panic begins pulsing through my veins. “Iz. Are the girls out there with you?”
“No,” she yells back from the kitchen. “Just me out here.”
“Fuck.”
My heart starts pounding, and I double back to the spare room. Where the hell could they have gone? Barely thirty seconds ago, I could hear them giggling to themselves down here, and now they’re just . . . gone.
I meet Hunter’s stare across the room as Izzy barrels down the hallway. “Where are they?” she asks, alarm thick in her tone, but I keep my stare locked on Hunter, knowing that every second of his training is flashing through his head. “Did they go out back?”
As if on cue, the three of us break into a sprint, racing up the hallway. Izzy checks the bedroom, calling out for them as I barrel through the rest of the house, checking the garage, the living room, and every fucking cabinet in the kitchen.
Hunter takes the perimeter of the house, scanning up and down the street as I yell for them so loud that the neighbors begin peeking through their blinds.
Barely a minute has passed before Hunter finishes his perimeter check, a grimness filling his eyes. He clenches his jaw, and the slight shake of his head makes me feel sick.
A hollowness blasts through my chest, and I drop to my knees, helplessness eating at me. “They’re gone,” I cry, my voice cracking with terror. “Someone’s taken them.”