Chapter 24
Jasper
I’ve just gotten Nora off to her room for a nap—at her request—when Arlo steps out of Salem’s room, closing the door behind him.
We nearly bump into each other, and he grins up at me, his eyes happy but tired.
“Nora okay?” he asks, cocking his head.
“She is. Wanted a nap, so I got her settled in her room. Are you ready for a nap, baby boy?”
“Even if I’m not, you definitely are.”
He’s not wrong. I’ve also spent entirely too fucking long without him in my arms, so I lean down, scooping him up. He lets out a small squawk but giggles right after, then wraps his arms around my neck and clings to me.
Pressing my face into his hair, I breathe him in for a second and start walking down the hall toward our bedroom.
“Do you want to shower with me?” I ask, rubbing my nose back and forth in his hair.
“Do you think I stink?”
I laugh. “No, baby boy. I just want to wash the car ride off me.”
Originally, Arlo planned on driving up and staying overnight, then driving back the next day. But with both of us going, and me being used to working twenty-four-hour shifts, I didn’t think it was needed.
Now I’m wishing we had done that. Though I can’t imagine how Salem would have reacted to us spending money on a hotel.
Carrying Arlo straight into the bathroom, I let him slowly slide down my body until his feet are on the ground.
Before I even have a chance to do it myself, he reaches down to unbutton my jeans. I let him. Mostly because I’m exhausted and I plan to crash for at least a couple of hours after we shower, but also because I love being taken care of by him.
I’m not too proud to admit that.
He pushes my jeans and boxers down my legs, and when they’re pooled around my feet, I step out of them. Leaning over so he can reach easier, I help him work my shirt over my head.
His eyes take me in greedily, and I have to admit, it feels good. Knowing how much he enjoys staring at me makes me feel good. I like it. Hell, I love it. I love him.
“C’mon, baby boy.” I reach out, hooking my fingers under the hem of his t-shirt so I can pull it over his head. It ruffles his hair, and he looks so damn adorable that I can’t fight a grin.
He’s a smart cookie and wore sweats for the trip, which, in hindsight, I should have done. Would have been a lot more comfortable.
When he’s naked in front of me, I wrap an arm around his waist and just hold him to me. Sighing, he sinks his weight against me, letting me hold him up.
I just stay that way for a while, enjoying that I’m holding him. Today felt like a turning point. The hard is done.
Well, it’s not. We still have a lot of hard to go. But the main hard is done. Everything else, we can figure out. Together. As a family.
“I love you,” I breathe, giving Arlo a gentle squeeze before letting go of him so I can turn the water on.
He hums. “I love you too. I’m ready for a long nap. The first sleep with everyone under the same roof. I’m so fucking relieved.”
“Fuck. Me too.”
When the water is ready to go, I step back, letting Arlo get in first. He shivers when it washes over him, his eyes falling closed.
For a second, I can’t look away from him.
The water is running over his head, soaking his hair and dripping down his face.
There’s a droplet clinging to his bottom lip, and I want to kiss it away.
Stepping in after him, I do exactly that.
He makes a surprised noise against my lips but sighs into the kiss, his hand coming up to rest on my chest.
I keep it quick and chaste since I really am fucking exhausted, and judging by the way I’m supporting nearly all Arlo’s weight, it’s clear that he is too.
Wordlessly, we start washing up. And within a few minutes, we’re both ready to get out.
“You know what’s gonna be weird?” Arlo asks as he’s drying off.
“What?” I ask, glancing at him.
Tossing his towel into the hamper, he grins. “Getting dressed after sex.”
“Yeah.” I laugh. “You’re not wrong. That is gonna be weird.”
As a firefighter, I’ve seen too many people caught unawares to feel comfortable sleeping naked. If I’ve gotta make a quick dash out of the house in the middle of the night, I’m damn well gonna do it in boxers at the very least.
Arlo has no such concerns. After a night of sex, he frequently stretches out like a cat, sated and happy and sleepy, fully on display.
Hell, half the time, I have to cover him up. Otherwise, he falls asleep completely out of the blankets.
So yeah, it’ll be a little weird. At least for him.
Honestly, I moved out at eighteen, per my mother’s instructions, and I’ve never had another person under the same roof as me since, and especially not during sex.
That alone is gonna be an adjustment.
“Are you regretting this?”
Arlo’s question drags me out of my thoughts, and I glance at him, finding him staring at me in concern.
“Of course not, baby boy.”
Eyeing me warily, he takes my hand and leads me out of the bathroom.
“Are you sure? I know it’s a big change, and I know you didn’t really sign up for this.” Jesus, is that what he thinks? “And I also know that we wouldn’t even be in this position if the house hadn’t burned down, but I do have the fundraiser money, and I can find something else—”
I cut him off by pressing my mouth to his. He gasps, and I take the opportunity to sweep my tongue past his parted lips.
Breaking away quickly, I rub my nose against his.
“I don’t regret you, Arlo. I keep telling you, I’m going to marry you.
And I love you. And I already love Salem and Nora.
I didn’t know it was possible to love someone that quickly.
I’m not regretting a single fucking thing.
Never. And I want you to use that money to spoil the fuck out of those kids.
I want all of you to have anything your hearts desire. And I want to give it all to you.”
Arlo inhales sharply. “Okay. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, baby boy.” I brush my nose along his again. “I know it’s a lot. I know it’s a big change. But we’ll make it through. I have nothing but faith. In us. In the kids. In our little cobbled-together family.”
“You really think so?”
I softly press my lips to Arlo’s. “I know so. Now let’s go put on clothes in case the kids need us and take a nap. I could use it.”
As soon as we’re clothed and in bed, Arlo slides right into his place in my arms. I’m not sure what life is going to bring us now or how things will play out, but it doesn’t even matter. I have Arlo snuggled against my chest, and Salem and Nora tucked away in their rooms, safe and sound.
We’re all together now.
I’m alone in bed when I wake up.
Waking up alone after weeks of waking up with Arlo sucks; I can’t lie. But when I roll over to check the time and hear the muffled sounds of Arlo and the kids talking in the living room, a smile spreads across my face.
We didn’t get in bed until around 10:00 a.m., and it’s a little after 2:00 p.m. now, so at least I didn’t sleep the entire day. That would have sucked.
Kicking the blankets off, I climb out of bed, stretching my arms above my head.
I could really use more sleep, but I’m not about to spend the kids’ entire first day in bed.
When I open the door of the bedroom and walk into the kitchen, Arlo’s eyes find mine, and he smiles at me across the room.
On a real level, I’m gonna need to ask him to marry me sooner rather than later. I’m not sure how much patience I have. If I’m being honest with myself, not a lot. I want Arlo to be mine in every conceivable way. And once he’s mine, we can make the kids ours.
Sure, we could do it all beforehand. But something about tying Arlo and the kids to me permanently just… hits me right in the heart. In the best possible way.
When the kids notice me, their rambling dies off. Not that I’m offended. I’m a stranger, and I know that. It’s easy to see how much they’ve missed their big brother, and even though Arlo still looks half exhausted, his eyes are fucking shining with happiness.
“Hey, everyone. Did we all have good naps?”
Salem nods, glancing down at the table.
Nora is much more excited, her blue eyes lighting up at the question. “My bed is super comfy, and I like my blanket. Arlo said I could unpack my clothes later, and tomorrow he’s gonna take me to the store to buy some dolls. I want Barbies. Real Barbies. He said I could get them.”
Arlo nods along while she’s talking, his lips quirked up into a smile.
“That sounds really great. What about you, Salem? Is there anything you want? Maybe a gaming system or something?”
His head shoots up to me, his eyes widening. “What?”
I pull out a chair at the table, then slide into it, leaning back and crossing my ankles. “We can get a TV set up in your room and can get you a console. Or even a PC if you’d rather.”
He shakes his head slowly. “No, thanks. I don’t need games.”
Arlo frowns.
“Well, is there anything else you want instead?”
He starts to shake his head again but pauses, then holds his phone up in the air. “My phone case is really old, and my screen is cracked, so Arlo said I could get a new case and that he’d try to find someone to replace the screen.”
I nod toward his phone. “Is it a prepaid?”
“What?” Salem asks, glancing at his phone. “Uh, yes. Like I have to add a card. Arlo pays for it.”
Of course he does. My sweet baby boy.
“We can see about adding you to my phone plan if you want. All of you, really. That way you all have ways to contact us and us to contact you.”
This time it’s Arlo’s eyes shooting to mine.
“I get a phone?” Nora practically shouts.
“I don’t know about that,” Arlo says, eyeing me. “It’s something Jasper and I will have to talk about, okay?”
She deflates a little, and my heart sinks too. I know I’m being a little… overzealous. But I’m just so fucking excited, and I want these three to have everything they could ever want.
“Okay,” Nora says, her bottom lip coming out in a pout.
So far, I haven’t seen much of Arlo in her.
Her hair is a different shade of brown, and while her eyes are the same shade of blue as his one blue eye, they hardly share facial features.
Salem looks the most like Arlo. But in this moment, with her bottom lip sticking out, I can see bits of him in her.
“You’ll both start school on Monday,” Arlo says, glancing between the two of them. “It’s the school Jasper went to.”
“A long time ago,” Nora says, scoffing.
“Yeah,” I agree. “A long, long, long time ago.”
Salem eyes me. “Why do you let her make fun of you? Aren’t you going to yell at her?”
I cock my head. “She’s not being mean. Maybe picking at me a little. And no, I’d never yell at her. Or you. There are better ways to get your point across than yelling.”
Salem hums, then drops his eyes.
This is not the kid that I talked to on the phone last month when Arlo was in the hospital. Not even a little. All I can do is hope that he’ll come around with time. That we’ll be able to break him out of his shell some and help him learn to trust me fully.
Time. And patience. I’ve got plenty of both.
“So, uh…” Arlo drums his fingers on the counter. “Luca and Austin want to come meet the kids.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“Now. Like, Luca’s blowing up my phone and has been since I got up from my nap.”
Chuckling, I shake my head. I’ve really grown to like Luca over the last year. He’s good for Austin, and he’s a spitfire, never once letting all the awful things he’s been through hold him back.
“And I’m guessing Theo and Hunter are next in line?”
Nora’s head is volleying between the two of us. I nearly burst into laughter. Something tells me we’re gonna have to be careful about what we say around her.
Arlo shakes his head. “No, actually. Theo does want to meet them both, but he’s hoping we’ll bring them to the farm. He wants to show off his baby goats.” Rolling his eyes, he shrugs. “I told him we could swing by tomorrow.”
“I’m excited to see the animals,” Salem says softly. “A friend of mine in middle school did 4-H, and I used to sneak out sometimes when Nora was asleep, and we’d sit in his barn at night with the animals. He had pigs and horses and sheep. Chickens too, but birds don’t really cuddle you, y’know?”
“Well, Hunter’s house is definitely the place for animals,” I say, grinning. “Maybe he’ll teach you to ride a horse.”
Salem’s head snaps up. “Do you think he really would?”
“I think he definitely would.”
Lips curving into a smile, Salem nods. “Yeah, I’d like that. As long as he doesn’t think it’s a bother.”
Before I have a chance to answer, Nora sighs. “I want to learn how to ride a horse.”
Salem glares at her. “You’re too little to ride a horse.”
Pushing back from her chair, she stands up, flipping her long hair over her shoulder and putting her hand on her hip. “I’m not too little to ride a horse.”
“Are too,” Salem says.
“Kids,” Arlo cuts in.
“I’m not too small, Salem.”
“Hey,” Arlo says.
“You are.” Salem sticks his tongue out, his eyes lighting up. I almost don’t even want Arlo to step in. This might be the first time Salem has gotten to be a big brother in a long time. I know what that feels like.
As much as I miss Sarah, and as much as I wish I could lean on her for support and have her in my life, I also miss stuff like this. Teasing and picking fun and giving each other a hard time. Just like Sarah used to do with me, Nora calls Salem on his shit, standing tall with her head held high.
“You’re not the boss of who’s big enough to ride horses,” she snaps.
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling.
“Salem. Nora.”
Both of their heads turn to Arlo. He raises an eyebrow, looking between the two of them. “If, and that’s if, Hunter teaches you how to ride horses, it’s up to him to decide if either of you is too small.”
“I’m not too small,” Nora says, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Maybe you are.” Arlo taps her nose. “And maybe you’re not. All I know is that none of us are qualified to decide that. So we’ll talk to Hunter tomorrow and see what he says.”
“Fine,” Salem says, a bit of bratty teenager defiance in his voice.
Oh, these two are going to keep us on our toes.
I fucking love it.