Chapter 17 – Logan
Seventeen
LOGAN
“Dad,” Coop shouts as I hear his feet pound down the stairs. A moment later, he comes around the corner into the kitchen, and I look up from the pancakes I’ve got bubbling on the griddle. “I have to do my project.”
“What?
“My project! Heather just reminded Zuri and me that it’s due tomorrow, and I totally forgot.” He starts shaking his head. “I’m like so screwed.”
“Take a breath, bud, and tell me what the project is?”
“I have to make a volcano.”
“A volcano?”
“Yes, and I have to write a paragraph about what volcanoes do and make a diagram.”
“That’s easy enough, they explode.”
“Dad,” he cries, throwing his hands in the air. “This is serious, it’s not funny.”
“I see that.” I look over at my cell when it starts to ring, seeing it’s Nalia I answer and put the phone to my ear.
“Hey, babe.”
“Did you know that the kids have a project due tomorrow?” she asks, sounding tired.
“I found out about five seconds ago.”
“Me too.” She sighs. “I guess I need to go to the hobby store after I figure out breakfast.”
“I’m making pancakes, bring Zuri over, and we’ll all go together after we eat.”
“Are you sure?” she asks without even pausing to think about it.
I’m taking that as progress. Maybe last night was a breakthrough; it felt like it was, and spending time with her just reinforced what I already knew.
I like her, I want to get to know her better, I want to spend more time with her, and I really want to fuck her.
“Yeah, I’m sure, I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay, give us thirty minutes and we’ll be there.”
“See you then, baby.” I hang up after she says goodbye and look over at Coop. “Nalia and Zuri are coming over, so after breakfast we’ll go get the stuff for the project.”
“Thank god.” He falls onto one of the stools at the counter, looking relieved. Obviously, having more faith in them than he does in me in making sure that his project gets done.
“How did you forget that this assignment is due?”
“I just spaced it until Zuri and I called Heather to see if she could play on ROBLOX with us, and she told us she couldn’t because she was working on her volcano for science.”
“You guys didn’t get a printout for it or have to put it in your planner?”
“I wrote it down in my planner, but that was like two weeks ago.”
“You need to make sure you’re double-checking that stuff, bud.”
“I know.” His shoulders slump. “I just forgot.”
“It’s alright, we’ll get it sorted.” I dip my chin towards the doorway. “How about you go up, brush your teeth, get dressed, then let your sister and Cat know that breakfast will be ready soon.”
“Okay.” He heads out of the kitchen, and I hear his footsteps on the stairs.
Going to the oven, I pull out the bacon I put in about fifteen minutes ago.
A trick my mom taught me growing up, when I’d have all my teammates over and she’d cook for everyone.
Making two sheet pans of bacon at a time and using wax paper to cut down on dishes makes the bacon come out crisp and perfect every time without fail.
After placing the now crisp bacon on a paper towel, I get another pack of bacon from the fridge so that there will be enough for Nalia and Zuri, and lay it out before I put it in the oven.
When I hear footsteps on the stairs, I assume it’s Coop coming back, but Billie comes around the corner looking half asleep with her hair a mess and a huge sweatshirt hanging to her knees and past her hands.
“Morning.”
“Morning,” she grunts, going to the coffee pot.
Last evening, when Nalia and I got home, Billie, Cat, Coop, Zuri, and Ma were downstairs with what seemed like every blanket they could find in the house.
The popcorn machine was in use, there were candy boxes scattered across the coffee table, and the second Gremlin movie was just starting.
After listening to the kids all groan about us coming home and not wanting to miss the movie, my mom took off, and Nalia and I found space on the couch and settled in.
Thirty minutes into the movie, Nalia fell asleep with her head on my chest, and about fifteen minutes after that, Billie nudged my foot to point out that Zuri, who was on the couch, and Coop, who was on the floor, had both passed out.
I didn’t want to wake Nalia, but I got her up so that she could get Zuri home, then I got Coop upstairs to bed while Cat and Billie continued watching the movie.
Before I went to bed, I checked in on the girls who were still downstairs, and they were watching some romcom.
“What time did you girls get to bed?”
“Like two.” She comes to stand next to me with a cup of coffee between her hands. “Coop said Nalia and Zuri are coming over for breakfast.”
“They are, then we’re gonna run Zuri and Coop to the hobby store to pick up the shit they need for a project that’s due tomorrow.”
“What’s the project?”
“They have to make a volcano.”
“That should be fun.”
“Do you wanna help out with it?”
“Sure, and Cat loves craft projects, so I’m sure she’d help out too.”
“I’d appreciate that.” I flip over the pancakes on the griddle than look over at her when she says quietly.
“Did you and Nalia have fun last night watching Uncle Hector?”
“We did.” I smile, pulling a stack of pancakes off the griddle.
“She’s really pretty.”
“Who? Nalia?”
“Yeah.”
“She is,” I agree, and she bites her bottom lip.
“Are you two dating now?” The question shouldn’t catch me by surprise, but it does. Maybe it’s because she sounds genuinely curious and not pissed off about it.
“How would you feel if I said yes?” I tread carefully.
“I don’t know.” Her gaze drops from mine, and she shrugs. “She seems nice, and I like Zuri.”
“Right now we’re just getting to know each other, but I like her.” That’s an understatement.
“More than you liked, Mom?”
“Billie....”
“It’s just you seem different with her.” She cuts me off. “And it’s weird because I…” She rubs her lips together. “I don’t remember seeing you like that with Mom.”
“Like what?”
“Soft, or when you just look at her all funny.”
Shit.
“Your mom and I were young when we got together, and we were always friends; we were better off as friends.”
“But you loved her.”
“Yeah, and I still care about her,” I say gently.
“Do you ever regret being with Mom?”
“Absolutely not,” I say firmly. “There is not one thing I would change about my life, not meeting your mom, not having you kids, nothing.”
“Okay.” Her chin wobbles, and she hides it with her coffee cup.
“Your mom and I had a great life together.” I wrap my arm around her and kiss the top of her head. “We just grew up and became different people; that happens sometimes. It doesn’t mean that we didn’t love each other, or that we wish we hadn’t been together. Okay?”
“Yeah, Dad.” She drops her head to my shoulder.
“I love you.”
“I know.” She mutters, using the sleeve of her sweatshirt to wipe her face. “I should go make sure Cat’s up.”
“Alright, honey.” I kiss the top of her head, then watch her leave while dragging in a breath. A heart-to-heart this early in the morning? Being a parent is fucking hard.
“I got it,” Coop yells when the doorbell goes off, and I hear him pound down the stairs. Turning down the griddle, when it gets quiet, I walk out of the kitchen and find Coop and Zuri sitting on the floor. Nalia is squatted down next to Dozer, rubbing his stomach.
“Dad, you have to get me a rat,” Coop says, and I blink at him, then notice the small grey and white rat with a pink nose and paws in Zuri’s grasp.
“Sorry,” Nalia whispers, and I look at her. Fuck, she’s beautiful, even with no makeup and her hair in a messy bun.
“Don’t worry, I brought his travel cage,” Zuri tells me, then asks, “Is Billie here? She wanted to see Pippin.”
“She's upstairs,” I mutter, and Zuri grins, getting to her feet and Coop follows, getting to his then without a word the two of them run up the stairs. The next thing I hear is Billie shout oh my god he’s so cute instead of oh my god why do you have a rat in the house.
“I should have called and asked if it was okay to bring him over,” Nalia says, and I turn my attention to her. “I’m sorry.” She shifts on her feet when I don’t say anything. “I can take him home if you want. Zuri was just insistent that Billie wanted to see him.”
Turning, I walk back into the kitchen and stop.
A second later, when she comes around the corner and I pull her against me, hearing her gasp, then press her back against the wall and cover her mouth with mine.
I kiss her like I wanted to last night, every time she laughed, every time she smiled, every time she relaxed her weight into me.
I kiss her like I’m starving, and maybe I am, but that’s because I have never been so desperate for someone in my life.
As I slide my tongue across hers, her fingers tangle in my tee, and my hand wraps around her jaw.
She tastes just like I remember, but with her guard down and her soft body pinned to the wall by mine, this moment is better than the last by a mile, and that was the best kiss of my life.
Sliding my free hand down her waist, I move it back up under the edge of her shirt, and she whimpers against my tongue when my hand comes in contact with her skin.
She’s so soft, so warm. I press closer, taking more, then I groan in frustration when I hear the kids upstairs.
Ripping my mouth away from hers, I drop my forehead to the top of her head and attempt to catch my breath, feeling her lips skim my jaw when she lets her head fall back against the wall.
My cock throbs in response, and my fingers dig into her side as I attempt to ground myself and calm the fuck down before the kids inevitably come downstairs.
“Morning,” she says quietly, and I laugh, hearing her do the same before I pull back to look her in the eye.
“Morning.” I smooth my fingers across her jaw while studying her smile.
“You could have just said you weren’t mad about me bringing Pippin over.”
“I could have, but then I wouldn’t have been able to kiss you.”
“True.” She bites her lip, then her nose wrinkles. “Is something burning?”
“Shit.” I push away from her and walk to the oven.
Opening it up, a plume of smoke and steam pelts me in the face.
Grabbing an oven mitt, I take the bacon out while the smoke alarm begins to blare.
I put the pan in the sink and flip on the water while Nalia finds a dish towel and starts swinging it around over her head under the fire alarm.
“What’s happening?” Billie yells while feet pound down the stairs. I grab another towel and start swinging it over my head, and move to the back door, opening it up.
“Everything’s okay, the bacon is just burnt,” I assure all the kids when they come running into the kitchen.
“Do we need to call the police?” Coop covers his mouth and nose.
“You wouldn’t call the police, you’d call the fire department,” Billie tells him, rolling her eyes.
“Actually, you’d just call 911, and they would direct the right people here,” Zuri says with a deadpan expression. Billie blinks at her, then bursts out laughing along with Coop and Cat.
“You’re hilarious,” she tells Zuri, ruffling her hair, and Zuri grins.
Finding Nalia’s gaze across the room, we smile at each other.
“Alright,” I grab everyone’s attention. “Let’s get some windows opened.” The kids all break apart and start opening windows while Nalia and I continue swinging towels around over our heads.
It takes us twenty minutes to get the room clear of the haze of smoke, and it still smells like burnt bacon as we eat breakfast and long after the kids complete their projects later in the evening.