Chapter 21
GRADY
I wake up with a soft groan, my back aching in places it shouldn’t.
I’m only thirty-four, for fuck’s sake. But Blake let Nichelle jump into bed with us in the middle of the night, and that little girl can starfish like nobody’s business.
To avoid getting a toe up my ass, I had to move to the edge of the bed, my body crumpled into an unnatural position.
And now I feel like a pretzel being snapped in half and ready to be eaten.
I ease out of the bed, not wanting to wake my two sleeping beauties.
Covering them back up, I smile down at them, both so precious to me in very different ways.
I’m about to hit the bathroom, then sneak downstairs when the door creaks open and Kendall comes running in.
I scoop her up before she can wake anybody, and we use the bathroom downstairs.
I make her go, in spite of her protests.
She has been very reluctant to toilet train, and although she pretty much is now, I’d love to ditch these nighttime pull-ups.
“Good girl. Now wash your hands.” She frowns at me, and I give her a pointed look. “Do it.”
With a huff, she walks over to the sink, and I sing the little song I made up for Nichelle. “Wash, wash, wash those hands, wash those hands today. Wash, wash, wash those hands, wash those germs away.”
She giggles, her little fingers so tiny as she rubs them together and gets them all soapy. I then help her dry them before we pad out into the kitchen.
The living room is already filled with the early birds, and I scan heads, grateful Dom and Jane are awake. They can help keep an eye on the youngest ones.
In fact, Charlotte is sitting on Dom’s knee right now, his football clutched against her chest while she laughs at the TV.
“Funny.” She points at the cartoon characters, and Dom grins down at her.
Jane’s on the floor with her coloring pencils, drawing some intricate design. She really is talented.
And Seb and Olly are sitting on the couch playing Thumb Wars and giggling. We’ll have to keep an eye on those two, make sure it doesn’t turn into something more boisterous. It’s way too early in the morning for play fights.
I wonder if any other adults are up, and my query is answered the second I step into the kitchen and find Zander cursing at the fancy-ass coffee machine.
“Just work for me, dammit. Is one fucking cup of coffee too much to ask?” he mutters, looking more than salty. I can’t help a soft snicker, and he spins, spotting Kendall in my arms and putting on an immediate grin. “Good morning, sweet girl.”
“Hi, Unca Zanner.” She waves at him as she rests her head on my shoulder.
Leaning my cheek against her soft curls, I give my friend a wincing smile. “Where’s Dani when you need her, right?”
“I know.” He sighs. “Just give me a pod and a button. I don’t know how to work this thing.”
“Looks like we’ll be having instant, then.”
I head to the bag of supplies Blake and I bought, digging out the coffee packets we always bring with us.
I throw one at him and get a grateful smile in return before he swivels to fill the kettle with water. “You want one too?”
“Yeah, please.” I rub Kendall’s back as she uses my neck to scratch the tip of her nose.
“Ty and Dani should be landing soon.” Zander checks the clock on the wall. “Then it’s just two short internal flights until they get here.” Shaking his head, he sighs. “What a crapfest of a Valentine’s Day, right?”
“Yeah. The joys of travel.” I raise my eyebrows, remembering the time Blake and I got stuck for sixteen hours in a Canadian airport, trapped by a blizzard.
It was kind of an adventure, I guess. Definitely makes for a great story.
But that was before we had kids. The thought of going through that with a six-month-old…
they’re gonna be so shattered when they finally get here.
Zander sighs again, pouring boiling water into two mugs. I watch his back, his muscles all tense, and when he turns to pass me my coffee, a muscle in his jaw is working overtime.
“Brah, you okay?”
His right shoulder hitches and he glances at Kendall, who seems to be drifting back to sleep on my shoulder. I take a careful sip of my coffee and silently tell Zander to open up a little.
He slumps back against the counter, and after three long sips of coffee, he finally tells me, “Zoey’s still not speaking to me. I went to check on her last night, and she pretended to be asleep. It’s gonna be a loooong day if she doesn’t get over this.”
“You gonna give her back her phone?”
“Eventually.” He nods. “I wanted to give it back to her last night before she went up to bed. I was hoping the flight would be enough to bring her around, but nope. She still hasn’t apologized for what she said to Sienna, and until she does that, she’s not getting her phone.
” He runs a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe she spoke to her that way. ”
I nod. “It was pretty harsh, but I’m guessing she didn’t mean to say it. She’s fourteen, has this big crush on a guy, and her parents are warning her away from him. She probably felt completely misunderstood and was just lashing out to shut you guys up.”
“Yeah, well, it worked.” Zander frowns. “Sienna barely said a peep on the flight here. She looked so wounded, it was killing me.” He taps his finger on the side of his mug.
“And I could tell Zoey regretted it the second the words were out of her mouth. The look on her face…” He shakes his head again.
“But she didn’t apologize, and I wasn’t about to let her get away with it.
Nobody’s allowed to make my wife feel like shit. ”
My lips curl at the corners. “It’s okay to teach your children the importance of respect, man.
Don’t feel bad about that. You’re training her for the future.
I know it sucks to be the bad cop, but you’re actually doing her a favor.
” I lean my cheek on Kendall’s head again and murmur, “I have to remind myself of that all the time. Because I’m always in that role. ”
“Really?” Zander’s eyebrows dip.
“Always.” I roll my eyes, and as if to prove my point, Kendall—who obviously wasn’t sleeping—sits up and looks at me.
“Hungy, Daddy.”
“Okay.” I rest my hand on her tummy. “How we gonna fill this belly, then? Do you want cereal or toast? I can make eggs on toast or French toast or—”
“Pop-Tart!” She bounces in my arms.
“No way.” I laugh, shaking my head. “You are not eating that stuff. There’s way too much sugar in it.”
“Froot Loops?”
I keep shaking my head, and her frown gets a little deeper.
“Cocoa Puffs.”
“Rice Krispies,” I counter, and her face bunches with disgust.
“Cocoa Puffs!”
“Not happening.”
With a huff, she rests her hand on my cheek and puts on her sweetest voice. “Cocoa Puffs. Pleeeeeeease, Daddy.”
I give her a sad smile and shake my head. “There’s lots of sugar planned for later in the day, I think. So, let’s start healthy, okay?”
Her lips pull into a deep pout. “Mommy would let me.”
“Yeah, well, Mommy’s sleeping.”
She wiggles out of his arms, her little feet hitting the floor, and I quickly have to snatch the back of her PJs before she heads upstairs. “You are not waking her up to ask for Cocoa Puffs. You can have some Cheerios or Rice Krispies.”
“Yuck!” She stomps her foot and pokes her tongue out at him.
My eyebrows dart high, and I share a quick look with Zander, who’s biting back a smile.
Yeah, laugh it up, dude!
Taking Kendall’s arm before she can take off, I pull her around to face me and crouch down so that we’re nearly eye level.
“Baby girl.” I try to keep my voice calm and even but need to add just a hint of my displeasure, so I dip my eyebrows. “Yelling at me and sticking out your tongue is rude, and I don’t like it when you treat me that way.”
“But you’re not giving me what I want.” Her eyes fill with tears as she stomps her foot again.
“Only because I love you and I care about your body. I want you to be healthy and strong. If I give you sugar all the time, your insides won’t be happy.
And I want this little belly”—I give her stomach a playful poke—“to be a happy camper today, so that we can have fun and play games and you’ll have lots of energy. ”
A few tears escape, trailing down her cheek, and I brush them away.
“I know you’re not very happy with me right now, and it’s okay to feel annoyed. But it’s not okay to stick your tongue out at me. That’s rude, and it hurts my feelings.”
Her lips form a deep pout until she murmurs a soft “Sorry, Daddy.” I’m not sure how much she means it right now, but it’s a good way to wrap up this conversation, so I’ll take it.
“I forgive you.” I kiss her cheek. “Now, do you want cereal or toast?”
She sighs, tipping her head back like this is the worst decision of her day before finally mumbling, “Nana?”
“Banana?” I double-check.
She nods.
“That’s a great choice, snuggle bug.” I lift her back into my arms, and we head for the fruit bowl. I help her peel the top of the banana, then ask her if she wants to watch TV with the other kids.
She nods, taking a big bite of banana as I carry her through and deposit her in between Olly and Seb. They’ve stopped their playful thumb tussle and are actually watching TV for a moment, so I take advantage.
“Don’t let her go upstairs,” I whisper to Olly, who gives me a solemn nod, obviously stoked to be put on guard duty.
I wink at him, then greet the rest of the crew. “Morning, guys.”
They all give me distracted hellos, so I head back to the kitchen.
Zander smirks at me the second I take a seat. “That was well done, Papa Bear. Very cool, calm, and collected.”
I snicker and shake my head. “She’s a handful. And it doesn’t help that Blake lets her get away with everything. It seriously makes me feel like I’m solo parenting sometimes. Blake just doesn’t seem to want to tell them off or make them compromise.”
“So, she’s a yes mama.”
I nod, my eyebrows lifting high. “To everything, and it drives me crazy. I’ve tried to talk to her about training the girls, but she just wants to have fun with them all the time.
” My lips twitch. “Don’t get me wrong. She’s amazing.
She loves them so much, and they adore her.
She’s fun and playful, and there’s a lot of laughter in our home.
It’s all because of her.” I can’t help but finish my compliment with a sigh.
“I just wish that I didn’t always have to be the disciplinarian.
I wish we were more in sync when it comes to our parenting styles. ”
“Yeah, man. That’s tough.” He nods. “I’m lucky in that regard.
Sienna and I have always been on the same page with the things we believe are important.
The kids find it really hard to play us against each other because we’ve been determined to present a united front.
It just kind of happened naturally, you know?
With Zoey, I took Sienna’s lead, because she was the one who had been raising her, and by the time the twins came along, we’d kind of found our groove.
” His lips dip into a frown, and I know he’s going back to worrying over either his daughter or his wife.
“Did you get a chance to talk to Sienna last night?” I run a finger around the lip of my mug.
“No.” He rubs his eyes, then squeezes the bridge of his nose.
“Once we got all the older kids to bed, I was smashed. Something is definitely up, but I’m hoping to wake her with coffee and the card Jane made for me.
I’ve written the sweetest words I can think of in it.
Plus, I have that necklace and the chocolates.
Maybe those will soften her up.” He checks his watch.
“I’ll just wait for a reasonable hour.” He points in the direction of the living room.
“Figured I could do the early shift with Olly as my first gift to her. The kid’s five, and he still wakes up at crazy o’clock every morning. ”
Grady snorts. “Kendall’s the same. Nichelle can sleep like her mama, but Kendall’s up with the freaking sun.”
“Right?” Zander snickers. “Now that Zoey’s older, she can sleep most of her day away. The boys will be up soon. Those two are so in sync it’s hard to tell them apart sometimes.”
“Daddy?” A young voice reaches us before Harley wanders into the room, rubbing her eyes. “Mommy?”
“Hey, sunshine.” I slip out of my chair, crouching down to greet her.
“Uncle Grady.” She gives me a tentative smile.
Aw man, she’s a sweetheart. Has to be one of the gentlest kids on the planet.
Well, it’s a competition between her and Jane, I guess.
But seriously, they have this tender vulnerability about them that makes me want to wrap them up and keep them safe.
So when she steps into my arms, it’s easy to hug her as I stand to my feet.
“How’d you sleep, caramel?” Zander uses Carson’s nickname for her.
“Okay.” She rests her chin on my shoulder, then yawns. “I want Mommy.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s still sleeping, sweetheart.” I take a seat back at the table and nestle her on my lap. “But Uncle Zander and I can help you. Do you want something to eat?”
She ignores my question and looks around the kitchen. “Where’s Portia?”
“She’s not in your room?” Zander asks.
Harley shakes her head.
“Maybe she snuck in with Mommy and Daddy,” I whisper, trying to be playful.
But Harley’s expression crumples, her big brown eyes looking kind of sad.
Zander glances at me, then rests his elbows on the table with a kind smile. “Hey, how about you go and hang with the other kids who are up? Dom and Charlotte are watching TV with Jane and—”
“Charlotte.” Harley slips off my knee, running for the living room, and I’m pretty sure when we walk back to check on the kids, we’ll find Harley perched on Dom’s other leg and Kendall will have moved to join in too.
Watching these kids grow up together is seriously the best thing. I wish we could hang out more often.
“You know what?” Zander softly slaps the table. “I think my bed might be the only one that’s child-free right now.” He grins, wriggling his eyebrows at me. “I should seriously take advantage of that.”
Sitting back, I cross my arms and narrow my eyes at him. “Lucky bastard.”
He laughs and I grin, telling him to enjoy himself.
His look of excitement is boyish and hilarious as he gathers up his Valentine’s gifts and rushes out of the room.
I stand with a sigh, taking my coffee into the living room where, yep, Harley is sitting on Dom’s knee, resting her head on his shoulder while Charlotte sits opposite her and Kendall has squished herself between them.
Dom doesn’t seem to mind as they watch… I pad into the room to see which movie they’ve put on and find a seat next to Olly.
He automatically shifts a little closer to me, resting his head against my arm while Lightning McQueen races around the track.