Date Night In #2
It didn’t explain the roses, but Vaughn was certain there was a completely ridiculous explanation for that as well. Nana met him at the door. Her hair was tangled and sticking up, but she was trying her best not to laugh.
“What happened?”
The house looked like a tornado struck it. Literally. Nothing was where it was supposed to be.
“So, apparently Natasha’s allergic to roses.”
Nana’s smirk continued.
“Good to know,” Vaughn said. He had a bad feeling that he knew where this was going.
“All day, she had red eyes and the sniffles. I wasn’t too worried about it because the mold count is a bit up, and I remember your dad would react that way. I made sure it wasn’t getting worse. I’d have called you if it was more than that.”
“I know, Nana.”
“Well, Ollie decided he wanted the blanket off your bed so he could watch TV.”
And he’d opened the bedroom door Vaughn had so carefully made sure was shut before he left the house. More of the rose scent escaped the room, and Ollie had a perfect view of the balloons.
“I saw the roses and realized that she was allergic to them. I asked the kids to open the windows.”
“And Henry thought he’d help you out by creating a gentle breeze,” Vaughn concluded.
Nana lost her control and started giggling. “Pretty much.”
“Oh, man.”
Natasha came out of the small bathroom on the other side of the house. Poor thing.
Vaughn gave Ollie a quick kiss and handed him over to Nana. He was still sniffling, but Nana could take it from there. “Hey, baby girl.”
“Not a baby, Dad.”
“I know. Almost eleven, right?”
She nodded pitifully.
“Come here.” Vaughn picked her up and carried her into the master bathroom. He kept a stash of meds for the kids locked up in one of the cabinets. He found some antihistamine and poured the proper dosage into the clear plastic cup. “Drink this for me.”
She did but wrinkled up her nose.
“I know. It’ll help you feel better, though.”
“Sorry we made a mess, Daddy.”
“It happens, Nat. Your brothers would do anything for you, you know it?”
She nodded. “It did help a little.”
“I bet it did. Now let’s get you upstairs. You can play in your room for a little bit while we clean up down here.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes, baby girl?”
“I don’t want my birthday to be on Valentine’s anymore. Can I pick a new one?”
Vaughn rubbed her back gently and smiled. “I don’t think we can pick another one, honey. Remember we talked about it?”
She nodded pitifully. They’d let the kids pick their own birthdays before they had official adoption paperwork drawn up. They didn’t have birth certificates on any of them, only a general age based on when they’d been brought to the house by Mrs. Foote.
Fortunately, between Vaughn and his dad, they had enough connections in the supernatural community to get the documentation they needed.
Sam had made a big production of it. Every day of the year, except those that already had a pack member’s birthday, was placed into a painted bowl.
The kids drew their birthday out of it to cheers and celebrations.
When Nat had picked Valentine’s day, Vaughn had thought it was so cute.
His beautiful red-headed daughter with a Valentine’s birthday.
He got her settled in her room before going back downstairs to deal with the disaster. Nana had herded the kids into action while he was gone. “Okay, troops. Papa’s going to be home in less than two hours. We need to get this mess cleaned up.”
“Sorry, Daddy.” Henry’s head hung low and his brothers and sister huddled around him anxiously.
“Thanks for trying to help Natasha. That was good thinking, Henry. Next time, you should ask a grown up before you start, though. Remember the rules about using your magic?”
Henry nodded miserably. “I just forgot. Nana said the breeze would help and I just wanted to give it a little boost.”
“You’re stronger now. That’s why we ask a grown up, first.”
“I will.”
“Good. Now you sweep. Emily, get the pillows back where Papa likes them. Ben, get the vacuum. Ollie, you’re in charge of dusting. Jack, use your sniffer and make sure there’s no more roses left inside. Everyone ready?”
Five heads bobbed in reply.
“Let’s do it.”
It took longer than Vaughn wanted to get the house back in order, but then again, since it had been a total disaster an hour before, he considered it a win. And luckily, Sam pulled up not ten minutes after they finished. He honked the horn and everyone went outside to greet him.
“Papa, I accidentally made a tornado in the house, but we cleaned it up,” Henry said.
Sam dropped the bag he had in his hand and hurried to Henry’s side. “You’re okay?”
Henry nodded. “Yeah.”
“Papa! I did up! But it didn’t work.”
Teague had tried to rescue the balloons from the tree, but it had been a lost cause.
“Dad said we were having pizza and movie night,” Ben said.
“My favorite,” Sam said with a smile. “Did you finish your reading?”
Ben nodded. “Everybody did. I made sure.”
“Awesome. I’m missing a kid.”
“Nat’s upstairs. She had some allergy issues today. She’s resting.”
Sam frowned and started for the house.
“You guys help me unload Papa’s car. You know he needs to fuss over your sister for a few minutes.”
“Yeah,” Ollie said. “Papa doesn’t like it when we’re sick.”
“I know he doesn’t, little man. Can you carry this bag?”
“’Course, Daddy. I’m a big boy.”
They got the bags carried into the living room.
Teague carried in a half dozen pizza boxes a few minutes later.
Vaughn had given him cash and asked him to meet the delivery guy by the edge of the wards.
No way was he letting a stranger inside.
Not after the day he’d had. He’d tempted fate enough as it was.
All wasn’t lost, however. He’d come up with something else. Something even better. Sam deserved nothing less.