Chapter 53
Nadia
Seven years later
“Nanna’s here!”
I looked up from where I was preparing fairy bread to see my daughter, Ava, come running in to the kitchen, her brothers hot on her heels.
“And she bought so many presents.” Jake was the loudest of all of my kids and he clambered onto the stool beside me, then flung his arms wide. “This many!”
As the stool rocked alarming, the last of the kids, Bran, lurched forward, stabilising his brother. Those big blue eyes peered up at me through a shock of dark hair as if asking me how the hell Jake could be so careless.
Me and my mates asked ourselves the same question late at night, once the kids were well and truly asleep.
Sometimes I worried for Bran. He was always so quiet and self-contained, so I brushed my hands off, then hoisted him up on my hip.
They might be all five years old today, but they were still my babies.
“That many presents, huh?” I grabbed Jake as well, putting him down on the floor where it was safer. “I wonder who they are for?”
“Where’s the birthday boys and girl?”
I smiled as I heard Ethan’s mum, Rosemary, coming down the hallway. She had indeed brought them a ton of presents. She walked in with an armful, as did both of Ethan’s brothers and his sister in law.
“Goddess…” I said, forced to put Bran down to go and help. “You guys didn’t have to do this.”
“Of course we did!” Rosemary was a fantastic grandmother, but Noah, Ethan’s brother let me know in advance that she particularly enjoyed spoiling kids when they were little.
“Now, there’s a present each for you to open now,” she told the children, “and then some more for when all the guests arrive. This one’s for Bran. ”
My son accepted the gift, staring at it solemnly.
“What do you say?” I prompted.
I’d been telling them to say please and thank you all their lives and yet they still hadn’t gotten in the habit.
“Thank you,” he said, staring up at his grandmother.
“This one is for Jakey boy,” Noah said, barely able to hold the present out before Jake had snatched it.
“Thanks Uncle Noah!” he said, then set about tearing the wrapping apart.
“And this one is for our Ava girl.” I didn’t like Ethan’s older brother, Geoff, much at all. He seemed intent on putting my mate down at every opportunity, something I hadn’t been able to sit by and tolerate. “Give your uncle a hug first.”
Ava didn’t like Geoff much either. Her face took on a familiar cast as she stepped back, pressing into my legs.
“No,” she said in a low growl. “I don’t want to.”
Some parents would’ve been horrified if their child responded like this, but not me.
The fact Ava found it so easy to say no was both a joy and a burden.
It meant a lot of time was spent working with her on the things that were non-negotiable like brushing her teeth, but that was a price I was willing to pay.
“Aw…” Geoff made a show of clutching at his chest. “You’re hurting my feelings.”
“For goodness sakes’ Geoffrey…” Rosemary hissed before turning to Ava. “Just give him a hug, darling.”
“Nope.” All eyes were on me now and while that took some getting used to, I was able to bear it. “As I’ve said before, we don’t force our kids to hug anyone.”
“If you ask me, you’re just spoiling her,” Geoff grumbled.
“I’ll give you a hug, Uncle Geoff!” Jake threw himself at the man, who swept my son up into his arms and then swung him around the room. I winced, seeing how close they were to knocking over the tower of cupcakes I’d been working on.
“Atta boy!” Geoff said, tickling Jake.
“Pretty sure we talked about this.” Ethan came strolling through the door with a mass of helium filled balloons.
“The vast majority of ‘SA’ of women happens to those under the age of eighteen.” Geoff’s smile faded.
“My daughter, all of my kids, know that no one touches them without their permission. Is that something you have a problem with, brother?”
“Wouldn’t want to.”
There was something preternatural about the way Grey seemed to just appear out of the shadows. Ava and I got a head nod and secret smile, but that faded when he stared down Geoff.
“Fine.” Geoff thrust Ava’s present her way. “Where’s the beer at? I’m dying for a drink.”
“Coolers outside,” Tex said, appearing in the doorway with a pair of tongs in hand. “I’ll find you one and you can fill me in on how your team is going.”
He looked over the other man’s head, meeting my eyes before mouthing the word ‘arsehole’.
The rest of the pack had made clear that we were perfectly happy to support Ethan if he wanted to spend less time with his brother.
Geoff had done nothing to impress any of us and my girl felt the same way almost as soon as she could walk and talk.
If I thought he was a serious creeper, I would’ve made the choice for my mate.
Instead the man just seemed to be this bumbling idiot with no idea how to interact with other people.
As if in response to that, Rosemary came closer, looking somewhat shamefaced.
“Sorry about Geoff,” she said. “We’ve talked to him about… Well, you know how he is.”
“An arsehole,” Noah’s wife said. “Geoff is an arsehole.”
“Arsehole!” Jake said, running around in circles, holding out the toy plane he’d been given. “Arsehole.”
“Remember when we talked about grown up only words, Jakey boy?” Ethan asked as he picked up our son. “Well, that’s one of them, so let’s not say that. How about butthead?”
“Butthead?” Jake started chortling at that. “Butthead!”
“Is there anything we can help with?” Rosemary asked, eyeing the spread before me.
“Nope, let’s just carry this stuff outside. The children are going to fill up on all of the sugary stuff, but Tex has been grilling up a storm,” I replied. “Kids, grab the presents and bring them outside and make sure to say thank you.”
“Thank you!” said three little voices as they led the way out the back door.
“You know I could arrange for Geoff to have a ‘little accident?’” Grey sidled up closer, taking the trays of food from me. “I’ll say I’m going to show him some new tools in the shed and then…”
Grey’s wolf was the one grinning at me, but I didn’t feel an iota of fear at the appearance of those sharp fangs. He might be the Big Bad Wolf, but he was all mine.
“He backed off this time, so maybe not,” I replied, holding open the door, “but if he keeps being pushy… Ava’s pretty good at standing up for herself,” I said as we came to stand beside the barbecue.
Tex turned to face us as Ethan set down a tray of raw sausages.
We all watched a she played with her brothers and cousins, jumping around in the inflatable castle.
Jess and some of her foster kids had arrived, as had Tex’s sister and her family.
If someone got in her space, she stopped, hands going to her hips and I could just imagine the heated conversation she was having. “We did that.”
“You did that,” Grey corrected. “Every day you make sure she and the boys feel heard.”
“We are going to be in so much trouble when our daughter grows into a teenager,” Ethan sighed.
“One hundred percent worth it,” Tex said, holding up a fist for us to bump.
At first I thought I needed to learn how to ask for what I wanted, but in the end, it was working out what I needed that was important.
This, I thought, as my mates clustered closer, all of us chuckling as the kids played.
Not just that being together healed each one of us.
I grinned as I saw Ava throw herself at the wall of the castle, only to bounce off.
It was knowing that my daughter, my children, would never be subjected to the same bullshit I was.
We broke the cycle and that’s what really mattered.
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