Chapter 2 #2
“Where’s your dad?” He shifted her to hold against one side of his chest. “Where are your sisters?” A burst of concern shot through him.
She shouldn’t be down here alone. Honestly, he was surprised the living room hadn’t been completely wrecked.
Chloe was like a hyperactive puppy that chewed on things, tore them apart, and then peed on them.
Okay, that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but she needed constant supervision.
She wrapped her little arms around his neck. “Upstairs. Daddy changing Maddie’s diaper.”
“And Allie?”
Chloe shrugged. “Can I have pizza?”
He laughed and kissed her cheek. “Once everyone else is ready.”
She made a dramatic groaning sound then rested her head on his shoulder. “But I starving.”
“Oh no,” he said in an equally exaggerated tone. “We can’t let you starve. Here.” He used his free hand to open the smaller box and tear off a piece of cheese bread. “Start with this.”
“Nom!” She went to shove it in her mouth, and he grabbed her wrist to stop her.
“Normal bites, you little monster.”
She let out a maniacal giggle but did as he said. Aaron headed to the stairs while she ate the cheese off the top first. Because of course she did. He went to the nursery and found Lars just finishing with Maddie.
“Hey,” Lars said, picking her up. “Thanks for bringing food. It’s been a crazy evening.”
“No problem.” Aaron reached for one of Maddie’s hands, playing with her tiny fingers. “Where’s Allie?”
“Coloring in her room.” He narrowed his eyes at his middle child. “Where Chloe was supposed to be waiting for me.”
She giggled, ripped off a piece of her bread, and held it out. “Unc Aaron bring pizza.”
Chuckling, Lars leaned forward to snatch the offered bite, which made her laugh more.
Aaron smiled, loving the sound. “Does Allie like her new pencils?”
He’d bought her a new set last week. Since she was a baby, he’d been doing arts and crafts with her.
She claimed she wanted to be an artist like him, his mom, and Charlie some day.
He loved it so much. That was why he’d bought her nice colored pencils.
Not quite professional grade—she was only six, after all—but they were better than the cheap ones she’d had before.
“She won’t let me play with them,” Chloe said with a pout, crossing her arms.
He fought back a laugh. “That’s why I got you new crayons all for yourself.”
Allie was old enough to appreciate the gift and understand to take care of the pencils. Or at least not to lose them or snap them in half for the hell of it. Unlike Chloe, who took a special interest in destroying things.
“I can’t find them,” she whined.
“How—” He shook his head, not bothering to ask how she already lost them.
“I’ll help you look for them after dinner, okay?
” he asked as they left the nursery. She nodded, wiggling in his arms and picking at her bread some more.
He was going to have to vacuum everywhere he walked; she was undoubtedly leaving a trail of crumbs.
There were a bunch on his shirt. He crossed the hall and pushed through their partially open bedroom door. “Allie.”
The blond six year old looked up with a smile from where she lay on her belly, coloring on her bed. She jumped up, carefully put the pencil she’d been using back in her little art tin, then ran toward him. “Aaron!”
He leaned down to press a kiss atop her head as she hugged him around the waist. “Ready for dinner?”
“Pizza!” Chloe shouted. When she started repeating it, bouncing in his arms, her sister rolled her eyes.
He couldn’t help but laugh. Six going on seventeen.
The two could not be more different, but he adored them both.
Carrying Chloe in one arm and holding Allie’s hand with his free one, they made their way downstairs.
Lars had put Maddie in her high chair and was currently preparing five plates. Chloe was still singing her pizza song when Aaron put her on a chair. She immediately pushed herself to stand, and he shook his head.
“No standing,” he said.
She sighed and lowered to her knees.
Once he was sure she wouldn’t get up again, he went to help Lars. “Did Mel get to Chicago okay?”
She had a work conference this weekend and wouldn’t be home until Sunday.
“Yeah, she’s all settled in her hotel.” Lars carried three plates over, and Aaron grabbed the others.
Chloe’s singing only got louder as they began eating. Allie groaned. “Dad, make her stop.”
“Chloe, can we take a break from the song?”
She shook her head wildly, sending a bunch of hair across her face and into the mess around her mouth.
Aaron reached over to pull it away before she tried to do it herself and made it worse.
He used a napkin to wipe some of the pizza sauce away, but the girl would definitely need a bath after this.
Glancing at Lars, he said in a teasing tone, “Did someone give her more sugar than normal?”
“That would be her grandmother,” he said. “She stopped for ice cream after picking them up from school.”
Chloe’s song shifted into, “Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream.”
Aaron looked at the clock on the stove. “That was like four hours ago.”
“Like I said, it’s been a crazy evening,” Lars said with a chuckle. “She hasn’t stopped.” But even as he spoke the words, he watched her with nothing but love in his eyes.
“We go to a park tomorrow!” Chloe beamed up at Aaron.
“Oh, yeah… um… Do you have plans tomorrow?” Lars asked with a wince. “I might have bribed her to go to bed last night by telling her you’d come to the park with us.”
Aaron laughed around a bite of pizza. Swallowing it, he nodded. “I’d love to.”
How could he say no? He absolutely wanted to spend the day at the park with his three favorite girls.
They might not have been related, but he’d been a part of their lives since the day each was born.
They felt as close as family, like his brother and mom.
He had always done everything in his power to make them happy. And he always would.