29. Caleb
CHAPTER 29
Caleb
B oxing Day morning is easy and relaxing. We sleep in, eat breakfast, and cuddle on the couch while watching Christmas movies. Josh and Liv are hosting us for Boxing Day dinner, so after lunch, we load gifts into the car and drive to their place.
Charlie is so excited to spend the day with her Aunty Liv. When we get up to their place, Liv shows us to the Christmas tree where we leave all the gifts. Charlie starts telling them about all the new gifts she got. Once everyone arrives, the girls head into the kitchen and work on dinner together while the guys and I hang in the living room. We brought some toys for Charlie, and after a while, she brings over one of her new books and asks, “Caleb, will you read it to me?”
I smile at her. “Yeah, Little Bear, climb right up.“
She climbs onto the couch and snuggles into my side while I open up the book and start reading. I notice the room has quieted down and the guys are watching me. It doesn’t stop me from reading. I still do voices while I read, just like Charlie enjoys.
When I finish, she takes it and re turns to her toys on the floor.
“You’re good with her,” Grayson says.
I look at him with a smile. “She’s a good kid,” I say.
He shakes his head. “Nah, man, it’s more than that. You engage with her. You don’t just brush her off when she’s looking for your time and attention. That’s important.“
I mull his words over. I feel like that’s just part of being human. Kids are human too. They deserve respect, to be listened to. Charlie’s kind and smart. She’s strong and resilient. It doesn’t take much from me to pay attention to her when she asks for it.
I push off the couch and make my way into the kitchen to grab something to drink. The girls are huddled in the corner talking. When I enter, the chatter stops. I chuckle as I make my way to the fridge.
“Spilling secrets now, are we?” I ask as I grab a beer from the fridge and one of the juice boxes we brought for Charlie.
I turn and face them. They’re all staring at me with smiles, except Bailey, whose cheeks are flushed and she’s tucking her hair behind her ear. I have a feeling she’s been the one spilling secrets. I grin at her, placing my beer and the juice box on the counter before I stalk over to her. I crowd her, my right hand going into her hair and gripping it, pulling her head back so her eyes meet mine. Her eyes go wide as she stares at me, and I just grin before my lips meet hers. Her entire body melts into mine as I kiss her deeply. This kiss is far from PG, but right now, I couldn’t care less.
Her hands fist in the front of my shirt, and a moan escapes her. My left hand finds her ass, giving a quick squeeze before I smack it. Having the freedom to touch her when I want has only intensified the need to touch her. When I break the kiss, my lips trail along her jaw until they find the shell of her ear. “So you have more to brag about.”
With one more smack on her ass, I turn and grab the drinks. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hannah pulling her hands apart as Bailey says, “Biggest I’ve ever seen.”
I don’t think she knows I heard her. I shake my head slightly and make my way back into the living room. Josh looks at me as I enter and grins. I give him a quick chin lift before putting the straw in the juice box and handing it to Charlie.
“Thank you,” she says with a large smile.
I lean down and kiss the top of her head before settling back on the couch. The guys are talking about how the season is going for the Vancouver Cyclones, our local NHL hockey team. I fill them in about Bailey’s run-in with Derek the other day. Tension is written on all of their faces. They’re all fiercely protective of those they love and, by extension, those each of us loves.
“If you need anything, let me know,” Josh says.
“Thanks, man. We’re trying to set something up for this week after he missed the last one. So we’ll see how everything goes.”
“Dinner,” Liv calls, and we make our way into their large dining room.
Olivia has gone all out with the decorations. A table runner spans the entire length of the table. An elaborate Christmas-themed centrepiece sits in the middle with candles spread out among the abundance of food.
Josh takes the head of the table, and Liv sits to his left. Charlie sits beside her and insists on me sitting on her other side. Bailey sits beside me, and everyone else finds seats around the table. I make Charlie’s plate and the conversation around the table flows.
“The decorations are gorgeous,” Josh says to Liv. It’s an odd thing for Josh to say, but I attribute it to his being head over heels in love.
“Thanks, babe,” she says, smil ing at him.
“You’re whipped,” Grayson says from the other end of the table.
Josh just grins at him. “Call it what you want, but I call it love.”
“Sure.”
“Just wait, you’ll find your love story, and when you find the one, you won’t be saying any of this,” Josh says.
Grayson groans, leaning his head back, but Josh continues. “You’ll meet a girl and you’ll say you noticed sparks fly and they’ll be yours forever and always.”
“Okay, enough with this lovey-dovey stuff,” Grayson says.
“You a little sour puss because you can’t keep a girl?” Hannah says in a high mocking tone. This girl really likes to get under Grayson’s skin. I’m not sure what he did to her, but I wouldn’t want to be on Hannah’s bad side.
“Do I need to teach you how you get the girl?” Josh prods, and something in my head clicks, making me groan. I use my napkin to wipe my mouth as Josh says, “You should be fearless and ride in on your white horse and say you’re enchanted by her and that long story short, she’s your end game.”
I groan so loud that everyone looks at me. “As much as I enjoy messing with Grayson, and I’m not sure who this says more about, you or me, but you can stop with the Taylor Swift song titles,” I say.
Olivia throws her arms up and pushes off her chair before she runs around the table and wraps her arms around me from behind. “I love you, thank you. I just won a bet,” she says.
“You’re welcome,” I say, confused.
As she rounds the table, Matt stares at me. “Really dude, you had to say something?”
“What? Josh said like twelve song titles, it was getting to be a little much.”
Matt, still confused, says, “You were able to identify twelve Taylor Swift songs in what Josh said?”
“Yeah.”
“How?” Matt asks.
“My girls love Taylor Swift. I’m constantly hearing it,” I say with a shrug.
Grayson laughs. “You really are fucking pussy whipped.”
I glare at him. “Watch your language in front of my daughter,” I growl.
The entire table goes silent, and Grayson’s eyes widen. He puts his hands up in a placating manner. “Sorry, man. I’ll watch the language, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”
“Josh is right too. When you find someone you love, you’ll do anything for them. You won’t be saying this stuff then.”
Grayson continues eating. “Not going to happen,” he grumbles.
“Sure.”
I turn the conversation to Liv, who apparently was the mastermind of this bet. “Okay, so what exactly was this bet?” I ask.
She grins. “Well, Matt and I got into a little debate about how popular Taylor Swift is, so we made a bet. I said if Josh could throw song titles into a conversation and not get called out on it, I would let Matt find out the sex of the baby.” She rolls her eyes, and I can see the unease on Josh’s face. “But, if I won, I get to set him up on a date with someone and he has to go on at least three dates with her.”
Bailey’s hand comes to my thigh, and her thumb gently strokes over the fabric of my pants. I look to my left, my eyes meeting Bailey’s tear-filled ones. My hand instantly goes to her face. “What’s wrong, baby?”
She closes her eyes and leans into my touch. When she opens them, an electric shock runs through my body.
“Your daughter?” she whispers.
When I nod, she whispers, “I lov e you.”
Her voice is so quiet I almost don’t hear her. A smile spreads across my face as my entire body feels light and warm. I lean my forehead against hers.
“I love you,” I whisper before giving her a quick kiss.
I never thought I’d utter those words to another woman. But I’ve never felt this soul-deep love that I do for Bailey. I’m always aware of her presence. Just stepping into her embrace can have all the tension leaving my body. My hand goes to her thigh as we continue eating.
I’m over the moon as we finish dinner. I’ve got my friends around me and, most importantly, I have my two girls. And Bailey just told me she loves me. I didn’t think she would be the one to say it first, not that it matters. All that matters is she feels the same about me.
I’m not sure I deserve the love of someone as amazing as her. She calms my soul. She’s pulled me from my nightmares on several nights. She’s so unbelievably strong, and I know I will spend the rest of my life working to be worthy of her love.
Charlie, my beautiful little Charlotte, is so resilient. She has seen things most children will, and should never, see. She continues to be a happy girl who laughs and gets excited about the little things in life. The way she has accepted new people into her life over these last few months and bonded with them makes my heart swell.
When we finish eating, I help Josh clear the table. As we make our way into the kitchen, Matt and Grayson join us.
“Your daughter?” Grayson says, leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Yeah, my daughter,” I say.
The kitchen is silent except for the sound of the dishes as we place them in the sink. I turn and look at Matt and Grayson. Matt’s got a quizzical expression while Grayson’s got his eyebrow quirked.
“What?” I ask, a little irrita ted these fuckers won’t just spit it out.
“That’s just a big declaration. Have you discussed this with Bailey? Are you going to adopt her? What about her biological father? Does Charlie want this? It just seems like there are a lot of other things that need to be addressed with this declaration,” Grayson says.
“Are they permanently moving in with you? Is Bailey getting rid of their place?” Matt adds.
I leave the dishes in the sink and turn to face them, spreading my legs shoulder-width apart and crossing my arms over my chest. I look at Josh, who’s remained silent this entire time.
“Anything to add?” I grind out.
He holds his hands out in front of him, palms out. “Nope, unlike these fuckers, I know what it’s like to be head over heels for your girl. I also know what it means when you’ll do anything for them. You may have me beat by falling for two of them, but I know the feeling.”
I nod at him and move my stare over to Matt and Grayson. “First, no, I hadn’t discussed it with Bailey, it just came out. I love both of them, and I plan on marrying Bailey one day. And if they both say yes, I do plan on adopting Charlie. She may not share my blood, but I will always see her as mine. I will do whatever Charlie and Bailey are comfortable with. Whatever they want. As for her biological father, the man is only looking to get back with Bailey. I don’t believe he has an actual interest in his daughter. Which is a damn shame because she’s an amazing little girl. As for their place, I have no plans on them ever moving out of my place unless I’m moving with them.” I run a hand through my hair, allowing the next words to really soak in. “They have ingrained themselves into me so much that I’m not sure I’d live if they left me. Those girls saved me. I don’t think they’ll ever be able to truly understand just how much they saved me. Because of them, I wake up looking forward to the day. I’m no longer just going through the motions.”
The three of them nod, knowing I just told them more about my emotions and how I’ve been since coming back than I ever have. I make eye contact with Grayson.
“I told her about Tyler,” I say.
His jaw drops. I haven’t even told him about what happened with him. He met Tyler one of the times we were home on leave and he knows he didn’t come back, but that’s all he knows.