Chapter 35
“I can add idiot to the list of skills on my resume.”
Zane
I cuddle Adele into my arms. I allow her sweet baby scent to wash away the fear. I can’t lose her. She’s my pride and joy. I never expected her. I thought I didn’t want children. But since she arrived, everything has changed.
“I’ll have the nurse draw up the discharge papers,” Dr. Allens says.
“Thanks, doc. I’m sorry we panicked.”
She grins. “You were right to come to the hospital. She only has the flu, but with her symptoms, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Mom squeezes my shoulder. “It’s okay, Zane. She’s perfectly fine.”
“How did you do this?”
“Do what?”
“Raise six boys who were in and out of the hospital our entire youth without having a heart attack.”
“You take it day by day. Sometimes hour by hour.”
“Thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me. I’ll always come running when one of my boys or my grandchildren needs me.”
“No.” I shake my head. “Not thank you for coming today. Although, I appreciate it. I mean, thank you for all you did for us while we were growing up. You were the best mom. I don’t think I ever told you.”
She kisses my cheek. “You never need to thank me for being your mom. It was and is my privilege.”
“I was so busy being mad at Dad for abandoning us and trying not to become him, I forgot I had a support system.”
“It didn’t stop you from giving Stuart a hard time when we began dating.”
I smirk. “It’s my duty as your son to give any man you date a hard time.”
“Maybe, but I could have done without you setting his house on fire.”
I roll my eyes. “We didn’t set his house on fire. It was merely a bit of smoke. And it was an accident.”
She laughs. “I hope your children are as rambunctious as you are.”
“Adele is the perfect baby girl. There’s no way she’s ever going to sprint naked through downtown while being chased by sheep.”
She pats my back. “You keep on thinking that.”
“But my next child?” I shrug. “Who knows?” I scan the room. “Speaking of which, where’s Sloane?”
Mom blinks. “I don’t know.”
She’s obviously lying. Mom never loses sight of anyone in her pack. “Mom?”
“Let’s get those discharge papers. Your brothers are waiting to hear how Adele is doing.”
I should have realized the Raider clan is here. We always show up for one another. Except for when I’m off on an adventure. I glance down at Adele. She’s the only adventure I need now.
We’re swarmed by my brothers the second we reach the waiting room. Adele is handed around until I growl and declare no more.
“Where’s Sloane?” I ask as I scan the room.
“We should go.” Eli herds us out of the hospital into the parking lot.
“What about Sloane? She needs a ride,” I say as I strap Adele into the car seat.
Miles jumps into the driver’s seat. “I’ve always wanted to drive the dad-mobile.”
He switches on the car and drives out of the parking lot. “Wait. What about Sloane?”
“Did you switch off your computer before you left the distillery?” Kai asks.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t exactly thinking about computer protocol.”
We arrive at home. “Thanks for the ride,” I say as I release Adele from the child seat. She doesn’t wake up. The doctor said she’ll sleep a lot for the next day or two.
I assume my brothers will return to work at the distillery now but they follow me into the house. “I need to get Adele settled.”
I place my baby girl in her crib and grab the baby monitor. I search my bedroom and the spare bedroom, but Sloane isn’t here. Did we leave her at the hospital?
“What’s going on?” I ask when I enter the living room, where my brothers are waiting for me. “Every time I brought up Sloane’s name, you changed the subject. And she’s not here.”
“We wanted you to get Adele settled before bringing up the topic,” Eli says.
“The topic? Sloane isn’t a topic. She’s my girlfriend.”
He lifts a brow. “She is?”
“What the hell? Of course, she is. She lives here with me and Adele.”
“But you didn’t refer to her as your girlfriend, did you?” Rhett asks.
“What are you talking about? Why is everyone being mysterious? If you’re about to pull a prank after I spent the afternoon in the hospital with my daughter, I’m going to lose my mind.”
Rhett holds up his hands. “This isn’t a prank.”
I meet Jaxon’s gaze. He’s the only one I can trust to tell the truth. “It’s not a prank.”
“Okay. If this isn’t a prank, why all the mystery? Is Sloane okay? Is she hurt?”
“Depends on how you define hurt,” Kai mumbles.
“What are you talking about?” I rub a hand over my forehead. “You’re giving me a headache.”
Eli motions to the couch. “Maybe you should sit down.”
“Maybe you should tell me what the hell is going on before I forget I have a baby sleeping in the other room and punch you.”
He frowns. “Sloane isn’t here.”
“Obviously. Where is she?”
He shrugs. “We’re actually not certain.”
I gasp. “You’re not certain? What happened? And why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Don’t panic,” Rhett says.
Too late. I’m imagining all the horrible things that could have happened to Sloane. Was she kidnapped? Did she have an accident? Where is she?
“Sloane is with Parker,” he continues.
Relief knocks into me with such force I nearly stumble. I lock my limbs before I fall on my ass.
“Why didn’t you say so to begin with? It’s weird she’s visiting a friend when Adele is sick, but maybe Parker needed her.”
Sloane doesn’t have many friends but she’s loyal to those she has. She wouldn’t hesitate to rush to Parker’s side if her friend needed help.
“Parker didn’t need her. Sloane ran away,” Kai says.
My brow wrinkles. “Ran away?” Why would she run away? What am I missing here?
“She freaked out when you referred to her as the nanny.”
“What? Sloane isn’t the nanny. She’s my girlfriend.”
“Except you called her your nanny at the hospital.”
“I didn’t…” I trail off when I realize I did call her the nanny. “I was only making sure the doctor knew Sloane isn’t Adele’s biological mother in case it was important for whatever was wrong with the baby.”
Kai grimaces. “Sloane obviously didn’t realize that.”
“Hold on. Are you saying Sloane ran away because I called her the nanny?”
He nods.
I growl. “I fucking love her and she bails the second I make one mistake?”
“Dude.” Miles shakes his head.
I glare at him. “Don’t you dude me. I’m not the one who dumped the woman I love because I wouldn’t have time for her after I got famous.”
He flinches. “Yeah, I screwed up big time. Which is why I know how much you screwed up.”
“It was one mistake. I was worried about my baby girl.”
Rhett points to a chair. “Sit.”
“I—”
“Sit.” I plonk down on the sofa. I cross my arms over my chest to indicate how unhappy I am with my older brother ordering me around. I’m not a child.
“Actually.” Jaxon clears his throat. “I should handle this one.”
Rhett motions for him to proceed.
“I almost lost the love of my life because I said something stupid.” Jaxon fiddles with his glasses. “I was being an idiot because I was afraid Blossom was going to leave me. It was a preemptive strike.”
“It was stupid,” Kai mutters.
Jaxon nods. “It was stupid. But insecurities run deep. Dad abandoning us fucked with my head. I can’t imagine how it feels to have never met your father.
And then your mother, instead of working her ass off to show you you’re loved, chases after other men and leaves you on your own. Sloane never had a home, Zane.”
“I know. I was trying to give her one.”
“But when the nurse asked if she was the mother, you said she was your nanny. Imagine how she felt. The man she loves, the father to the little baby girl she loves, thinks of her as the nanny.”
“I don’t think of her as the nanny.”
Jaxon raises his brow. “You don’t?”
“Of course not. I love her.”
“Have you ever told her you love her?” Eli asks.
“No. I was planning this big event to tell her. A night at the resort with rose petals and all of that romance shit.”
Rhett squeezes my shoulder. “She doesn’t know how you feel.”
“How can she not know? I show her I love her every day.”
Rhett sighs. “Sloane has never known love. She doesn’t understand what you were doing.”
I open my mouth to argue with him. How can Sloane not know I love her? I moved her into my bedroom. I made her part of our little family.
Our little family. A nanny isn’t part of the family.
“Shit.” I bury my face in my hands. “What am I going to do?”