Chapter 5
5
‘It’s too much,’ Dylan murmured to his sister as they watched the kids roam wide-eyed around the stunning accommodation they’d been given. The three-bedroom suite wouldn’t have looked out of place in a top London hotel. It had a separate lounge that was bigger than most of the rooms he’d stayed in over the years and two bathrooms. The en suite connected to the master bedroom had a walk-in shower large enough that Dylan could throw a party in it. The second bathroom interconnected between the other two bedrooms and had a fancy roll-top bath in addition to a waterfall shower cubicle.
‘Oh, hush,’ Stevie said. ‘If I can’t spoil my family then what’s the point?’ She reached out and squeezed his hand. ‘The presents you ordered are all wrapped and hidden in the bottom of the wardrobe in the master bedroom.’
Though they would be celebrating when they were back home with Jen and Eric, they’d wanted the kids to have a few things to open on Christmas Day. With Ziggy’s help they’d bought presents online via UK retailers and had them delivered to the estate. ‘You didn’t have to go to the trouble of wrapping them.’
‘It wasn’t any trouble, it was fun.’ Stevie brushed a quick kiss on his cheek. ‘There’s a couple of things in there with your name on too.’ When he raised an eyebrow at her she gave him a mischievous grin. ‘Big sister’s prerogative. Right, I’ll leave you to it. Welcome drinks will be in the lounge at five.’ With another grin she headed for the door and pulled it closed behind her.
Shaking his head over his sister’s antics, Dylan turned his attention back to the room to find it was empty. ‘Hey, where are you guys?’
‘In here!’ Theo poked his head through an open door on the opposite side of the suite. ‘This is Avery’s room,’ his son continued once Dylan joined them, ‘and mine is next door. Yours is the big one, of course.’
‘Seems like you’ve got it all figured out.’
‘You never told us you lived in a palace, Daddy!’ Avery exclaimed as she flopped on her back on the bed, her arms and legs splayed like a starfish.
Dylan grinned. ‘It didn’t look like this the last time I was here. And my room was a lot smaller than this.’ It hadn’t escaped his notice that the family suite Stevie had allocated them was miles away from the chilly top-floor nursery rooms they’d all occupied when the family had lived in the hall. Even when they’d far outgrown them, their grandfather had never suggested moving them onto one of the lower floors. He didn’t need to get into all that, certainly not with the kids. He sat on the edge of Avery’s bed and grinned at them. ‘I think your aunt Stevie might be guilty of a little family favouritism.’
‘If this is an example of the strings Aunt Stevie can pull, then I’m really glad we persuaded you to bring us here,’ Theo said, leaning against the wall.
‘Don’t even think about trying to push that advantage.’ Dylan looked between the two of them. ‘I’m serious, guys. It’s one thing to accept her generosity, but we have to remember that the other guests will have paid a lot of money to be here, so let’s be discreet, okay?’
‘I was only joking,’ Theo protested, coming to sit beside him.
Dylan patted his leg. ‘I know, pal, I just want everything to run smoothly while we’re here.’ Well as smoothly as possible anyway. It was another thought he needed to keep to himself. He reached out and placed his free hand on Avery’s lower leg. ‘You’re sure you’ll be okay sharing a bathroom?’ They didn’t fight about much, but accusations of bathroom hogging were a big bone of contention between the two.
‘We’ll be fine, won’t we, Avie?’ Dylan’s heart did one of those funny little flips at Theo’s use of the nickname – his first attempt at pronouncing his sister’s name.
Avery sat up, curling her arm around Dylan so the three of them were connected. ‘We’ll be fine, Daddy. Besides, if you meet someone nice while we’re here you might need the privacy.’
Laughing, Dylan untangled himself from their group embrace. ‘I don’t think there’s much chance of that!’ As he rose, he saw the children exchange a look. ‘What?’
Theo looked at Avery again. ‘You raised it…’
Avery shuffled to the edge of the bed and let her legs dangle over the edge. ‘We just thought that now Mom and Eric are married?—’
Dylan cut her off. ‘You don’t think I was hanging around hoping your mother and I might get together one day, do you?’
Avery rolled her eyes. ‘Of course not, silly! We just thought…’ She glanced back over at her brother. ‘We just hoped that perhaps you’d start thinking about yourself for a change. Theo’s going to be a senior next year and then off to college and I won’t be far behind him.’
Dylan sank back down on the bed between them. ‘Look, I know you guys won’t need me forever, but I haven’t stayed single because of that.’ Well, perhaps a bit of him had because he’d seen too many of his co-workers and parents of the children’s friends struggle to balance their blended families. He counted himself lucky that Jen had been very clear with Eric that she and Dylan parented the kids equally and that wouldn’t change. It had taken them a long time to transition into a fully committed relationship and Dylan had been only too happy to accept Eric’s invitation to go out for a few beers so they could talk frankly. That wasn’t to say there hadn’t been a few bumps in the road, but they’d worked them out for the sake of the kids.
Theo placed a hand on his arm and that thing inside Dylan did another funny little shift. They were growing up so fast, moving beyond the childish phase where their world understandably revolved around what they wanted and needed. They were both displaying the kind of understanding and compassion he could see they would carry with them into adulthood. ‘We’re always going to need you, Dad, one way or another. It’s not about that. It’s about wanting you to be happy. You work so hard and when you’re not at work you’re ferrying us around from this club or that activity.’
‘That’s what dads do,’ Dylan protested.
Avery snuggled into his side. ‘Not all of them. We know you only want what’s best for us, but we want what’s best for you too.’
Dylan put his arm around her shoulders. ‘I appreciate that, sweetheart, more than you can know.’ He dropped a kiss on the top of her head then lifted his other arm as he looked at Theo. ‘Come on, pal. No one else is looking.’ He winked.
Theo huffed out a laugh but he tucked himself against Dylan’s side as well. ‘I know I probably sound like a cracked record, but, damn, I’m lucky to have you guys as my kids. You make me so proud.’ They all clung on for a few seconds, as if they each sensed that time was moving on and this might be one of the last times they got to be away together. ‘And now,’ Dylan said, after easing his hold, ‘I reckon it’s time we headed downstairs and met a few of the other guests. Your aunt Stevie said there’s welcome drinks starting in…’ He raised his wrist to check his watch. ‘Half an hour so we’ve just got time to unpack.’