33. Wyatt
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
wyatt
This past week has flown by with everyone keeping busy and trying to ignore the threat that no longer seems to be present. Or maybe that’s wishful thinking. Guess time will tell.
As of a few days ago, Hudson’s personal belongings have all been moved over to Gran’s, and he’s officially staying there.
That left us some time to go from room to room in his old house, making notes for any changes we’d like to make.
Overall, the place is in perfect condition, but we want to turn this into our home while still honoring the Fords who lived here Kash’s entire life.
Jules has taken on some evening classes to keep herself busy. One of us usually stays with her, but tonight, Hudson is on guard duty because we had somewhere important to be.
Charlotte has Kash by the hand, tugging him along down the hall at Gran’s house.
Her pink pajama shirt reads, Giddy up! It’s bedtime , and it matches the cream-and-pink pants that are covered in horses.
She’s wearing a pair of pink slippers, her long blonde hair braided nearly down to the middle of her back.
She’s so fucking cute, I’m not sure how anyone ever tells her no.
“It’s this way, Daisy. Stop draggin’ your feet.”
“I ain’t draggin’ my feet. You’re just impatient.”
She pauses, matching his energy with a scowl of her own. “You said you’d read me a bedtime story.”
“And I will, but?—”
“And you said you wanted to see my room.”
“Jelly bean, I do. It’s just?—”
Big blue eyes slide to Beck. “Is he always this contrary, Daddy?”
My snort echoes down the hall. Pretty sure I heard Juliette say that exact same thing to her just this morning.
Beck slips his hands in his pant’s pockets. “Yeah, princess. He is.”
Her sigh makes me chuckle, which puts me in the path of her glare. I hold up my hands in surrender.
“I’m here to do your bidding, Lady Charlotte.” I bow dramatically, hearing her giggle as I peek up at her from the awkward position.
“Come on, then,” she says, continuing to pull Kash along until she stops in front of her door.
There’s a glittery pink sign above the frame with her name on it. Two pieces of tulle hang from that, each clipped to the side of the trim. We all share a look because this is a helluva lot like the shit Kash used to talk about when it came to Jules.
Charlotte twists the knob, finally releasing Kash’s hand to flip on the light. After just one step inside, we come to a grinding halt.
“What in the glittery hell is this?” Kash mutters, eyes wide with horror as we take in the pink monstrosity that is our daughter’s room.
“It’s like someone tossed a glitter grenade in here,” I whisper. My eyes dart around the space, trying to absorb it all—the pink-glittered lamp shades, fuzzy pink rugs, a canopy bed with…you guessed it…glittery pink tulle curtains, and ruffled pink bedding that has sparkly stars all over it.
There’s so much pink and glitter and tulle, it’s like someone’s craft closet vomited inside Charlotte’s bedroom.
Beck grimaces, shooting me a look before he meets Charlotte’s assessing eyes. “You design this room yourself, princess?”
She shakes her head. “Grandma Mia did when I was just a baby. Do you like it?”
Kash opens his mouth, then closes it. Pretty sure he’s remembering the age old adage, If you can’t say somethin’ nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.
Struggling to find something positive to say, I lamely spit out, “It’s so… pink .”
“Do you not like pink, Daddio?” she asks innocently, walking over and grabbing something from her nightstand.
“Umm, I like some pink things.”
“Yeah. Ones that aren’t safe for work,” Kash grumbles, earning an elbow to the ribs from Beck.
Charlotte lifts a small purple camera, snapping a photo. Turns out, it’s one of those new mini-Polaroids, so a small photo pops out of the top. Her serious face falters, then she starts to laugh. We all share confused looks.
“What’s so funny, jelly bean?”
“Y’all should see your faces! Mama wanted me to take a picture, so she didn’t miss it.”
My eyes narrow. “She told you to do what ?”
“Mama always says this room makes her want to puke, so she wanted to see your reactions.”
“You don’t like this room?” Beck asks gently.
She shakes her head. “It’s awful ,” she shrugs, “but it makes Grandma Mia smile.”
Pretty sure we all sigh in relief because she’s right. It is awful.
“How ‘bout we take a selfie with all of us?” I ask, already having a plan for it.
“Yes!” She claps. “Over here.”
Making my way over, I sit on the floor and pull her into my lap. Kash and Beck slide in beside us, and she hands me the camera.
“Your arms are longer,” she says in explanation.
Holding the camera, I call out, “Say cheese!”
“Cheese!” we all shout, laughing as I press the button.
The small photo pops up, the film black as it processes. I slip it into my back pocket. “I’m gonna take this one and add it to Mama’s surprise.”
She’s all smiles as she clambers out of my lap, taking the camera and setting it on her nightstand.
She clips the photo of the three of us guys on a little board she has there—I see pictures of Jules, Gran and Hudson, and quite a few of Waddles and Ollie.
Once that’s done, she climbs up onto the bed and slides under the covers, looking at each of us expectantly.
With a wordless look, we find spots on her bed, sitting along the edges.
We’re way too big for the double bed, but she doesn’t seem to mind.
In fact, she looks downright giddy. Her scent is more vanilla than tart apple, and Beck begins to softly purr beside her.
“Princess, what do you want your room at our house to look like?”
Her eyes go wide. “I get to design my own room?”
“Sure do, jelly bean.” Kash boops her on the nose. “As long as there’s not a speck of glitter to be seen.”
“Deal!” She holds out her hand.
Without hesitation, Kash wraps his much larger hand around hers and shakes on it.
“Then I want one of those beds that look like a house, where you sleep up top and it has a slide and a little place to play underneath where I can store all of my horsies. Maybe pink and brown, with horse pictures on the wall.” Her nose scrunches up.
“No yucky glitter or fluffy tulle. I’m a big girl now, and I want a big girl room. ”
“Betcha I could build you something like that,” I say, already picturing it in my head. “Make you a little stable underneath and a ladder so you can climb up to get to bed. And I’ll make sure there’s not a speck of glitter or tulle in sight.”
She nods excitedly, cuddling into her comforter. “That sounds perfect, Daddio.”
When she yawns, it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. Could never imagine seeing my little girl sleepy would be the kind of thing I’d be getting the warm fuzzies over, but here we are.
“Okay, princess. What story do you want tonight? It’s already past your bedtime.”
“The one from the grocery store, Daddy.” She yawns again. “You said you had a surprise for Mama. When do I get to see it?”
Beck reaches over to the nightstand, picking up the book. “Tomorrow after we show Mama. Wyatt will come pick you up before Mama leaves, so you can say goodbye.”
“Okay.”
He tucks a stray hair behind her ear, then kisses her forehead. Flipping the book open, he begins, passing it around so we can each read a chapter. It isn’t long before our little girl’s eyes get heavy and she’s out like a light.
Gently setting it back down, I slowly stand and quietly walk out of the room with the others behind me.
Kash shuts the door, and silence descends as we head downstairs.
We can hear the low murmur of Gran’s voice from the kitchen, but we head for the door since we said our goodbyes before we went upstairs.
“You want help building her bed?” Kash asks as he climbs into the driver’s seat of the SUV.
“Sure. Shouldn’t take that long. Then we can have her pick out the colors and where she wants them. We’ll let Beck and Jules do the shopping for all the girly stuff.”
“Why do I get stuck on shopping duty?” my brother grumbles.
“I mean, if you want to sweat your ass off building a bed, have at it. I’ll gladly spend more time with our beautiful Omega.”
“Wait a minute—” Kash begins.
“Too late. You already offered your help.”
Kash rolls his eyes. “See what I get for being nice?”
Seeing this side of the grumpy Alpha more often is a nice change of pace. Having gained a mate and a daughter, he seems lighter overall, the dark clouds that have perpetually hung over his head dissipating as he lets the real Kash shine through.
We all laugh as we make the short drive over to the Ford house—I guess our house now.
We decided to stay in the guest house until we get the primary bedroom remodeled, but we texted Jules and told her to meet us at the main house instead.
Of course, she was curious, but we didn’t give her any hints as to what we were up to.
“What time is it?” I ask, restlessness setting in now that I don’t have Charlotte to distract me.
Beck checks his watch. “She should be shutting everything down right now and heading home.”
“Think she’ll like it?” Kash asks, a hint of nerves making his voice lower than usual.
“She’s gonna love it,” Beck insists, staring out the window, but the way his fingers are nervously tapping against his thigh tells me he’s not quite as calm as he’d like us to believe.
The next twenty minutes are torture as we all anxiously await her arrival. Beck is lounging in one of the armchairs, scrolling through his phone, Kash is pacing in front of the window, and I’m desperately trying not to run back upstairs to double and triple check that everything is ready.