Chapter 35
LIV
THE WARMTH - INCUBUS
Six months later
“Can we have balloons?”
I smile as I flip the pancake over, then grimace when I see how black and crispy that side is.
“We can have all the balloons.” I use the spatula to add the breakfast-turned-hockey puck to the pile on the plate next to me, shaking my head as I turn off the stovetop and go for the cereal cabinet.
“You can have anything you want, Tati. A girl only has one fifth birthday party and it’s going to be a blast.”
“Can we have face paintin’?”
I nod with a grin. “I don’t see why not.”
“What about a pony?”
“I’m sure we could have a pony,” I say as I pull two boxes down and turn to face the little girl who has me wrapped around her finger. “Lucky Charms, or Peanut Butter Captain Crunch?”
Tati giggles and points to the sailor. “Neato is gonna be crabby at you.”
“Oh well.” I shrug but we both laugh because she’s not wrong at all.
Niko is going to definitely be crabby at me when he sees how many pancakes I burned.
And the two dozen scrambled eggs that were super crunchy and full of shells.
And the biscuits we could stack up and use as load-bearing beams for the back deck.
He’s going to hate the bacon that’s so fried it almost disintegrated, and he’s going to want to know how the hell I managed to destroy almost an entire three pound bag of mandarin oranges.
It’s kind of amazing I didn’t burn down the house, honestly. I’ve singlehandedly ruined almost all of the breakfast foods we had, including any I tried to make from scratch, and it’s going to annoy the hell out of my omega.
At least I tried.
Today is Tatiana’s first day of kindergarten and I wanted her to have a good breakfast before she left. I probably should have just made one of the boys cook for her, though. None of them would have botched scrambled eggs.
“Who made my lunch?” Tati asks as she watches me pour the milk over her cereal.
I snort and hand over a spoon. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t me.” She arches a brow, the expression one she inherited from her brothers, and it makes her look just like both of them when she whips it out. “Okay, you little turd, I did but then Leon fixed it.”
“Oh, that means I’m gonna have lots of cookies.”
Once again, she is not wrong.
The only reason her packed lunch sitting inside the brand new My Little Pony lunchbox isn’t entirely made up of cookies and brownies, and everything else that will rot her teeth, is because I was supervising.
I don’t doubt for one second that as soon as my back was turned, Leon tossed in a bunch of junk, though.
With a smile and sigh, I lean my hip against the counter and take a sip of coffee, watching Tati as she happily eats her breakfast.
I love how happy she is.
Especially since she has every right to be catatonic and miserable.
For a kid who was abandoned and sold to a sex trafficker by her mother, and had her father killed for trying to murder her big brothers, Tatiana is pretty fucking well adjusted, if you ask me.
“What about friends?”
I blink a few times then frown. “What do you mean, peanut?”
She shrugs as she looks down into her bowl, pushing the last few pieces of cereal around in the milk as she whispers, “I don’t have those.”
My heart cracks right down the fucking middle as I set down my mug and quickly round the island.
“Tatiana.” I wrap her in my arms, hugging her tight as I press a kiss to the top of those almost jet black waves.
“You’re going to make so many friends when you get to school.
That’s part of why we’re having your party the weekend after you turn five.
You’ll get to know all of the kids for a couple of weeks, then you can invite everyone in your class. It’ll be great.”
“Maybe,” she says softly as she rests her head over my heart. “Maybe they won’t like me.”
“Hey,” I say a little more firmly than I intended. “You are the coolest kid I have ever met. There is no way your classmates aren’t going to think the same thing. Besides, Benji is coming.”
I’m probably just as excited about that as Tati is.
I haven’t seen Benji or his mama for a long time but when we started planning for the big birthday extravaganza, Niko suggested we invite them.
He’s a little younger than Tati but they’ll get along just fine.
Besides, what kid wouldn’t want to be at a party that’s probably going to have a petting zoo?
As soon as Tati mentions the pony to any of the men in this house, that’s exactly what will happen.
That, and we’ll end up with that farm full of animals Styx claims he doesn’t want.
I’m excited Meghan accepted our invitation, though. She and Benji were such a big part of my time at Omega’s Haven, and being able to have a somewhat normal relationship with them now that we’re all living new lives is going to be great.
Hopefully.
I don’t really have any friends, either, and I’m almost positive I’m not going to be very good at making them, but I’m looking forward to trying my luck at it.
“And Sage.”
I nod as I hug my girl tighter. “Yep. She’ll be there.”
Sage and her crabby ass father.
As if my grumpy thoughts manifested them into existence, the doorbell camera chimes and I glance at the screen on the wall to see Sage bouncing around on the front porch while Ransom scowls into the lens.
“Better hurry.” I lift her off the stool and plant a kiss on her cheek, then set her down and grab her backpack and lunchbox as Tati runs over to whip open the front door.
“Ready?!” Sage squeals as she claps her hands, her dark red curls wild as she practically vibrates across the wooden planks. “Ready, Tati?!”
My girl smiles wide as she nods, looping her arms through the straps of her bag before she runs onto the porch. “Yep!” She pauses then spins around to face me, her little plaid skirt fanning out over her tights as she hurries to give me one last hug.
“Love you, Livvy.”
I smooth out her hair and fight the tears that spring to my eyes the second her words are out. “I love you, too, kiddo. Have a great day. Make all the friends.”
“Is it okay if we make a stop on the way home?” Ransom asks as he watches his daughter take Tati’s hand and nearly drag her down the steps. “Sage wants ice cream.”
“You’re sure you’re okay with doing the rides right now?”
He turns back to me with a look that says I need to stop asking him that, then he blinks a few times before his expression softens the slightest bit. “I got it. It’s good.”
Which is Ransom Adder talk for, those girls were instant best friends and I’m not going to get in the way of that because I give my daughter everything she wants no matter what it is.
Who would have thought this asshole is the best girl dad I’ve ever met.
Not that I’ve met any except the ones I had, and they left something to be desired to say the least, but still.
I lit Styx up for not telling us about his niece, and as soon as he made the introductions, Sage became a fixture at our house.
Which also means Ransom has as well, and that’s been a trip considering some of the dynamics inside these walls.
But it’s shown me that the crabby asshole is a fantastic father, and he didn’t think twice about being an uncle.
It also makes it easier letting Tati out of my sight so she can go to school. Knowing she has an armed escort on her way to and from the private academy, and if Ransom approves of the place the girls are attending, it’s probably locked up like Fort Knox when the kids are there.
I had no idea I was going to become a helicopter parent when I was given the chance, but I’m not mad about it, and so far, neither is Tatiana.
We exchange goodbyes and I lean against the doorframe, waving until the Escalade clears our front gate, then smile wide at what I see emerging through the broken fencing between our yard and the pasture.
“Hi babies,” I croon as my dogs come trotting up the steps. “Did you have a good run?”
Rus wags his entire butt as he drops an enormous stick at my feet, practically smiling as I praise him for the fourth one this week.
I’m starting to think it’s possible he knocked down a tree and is slowly bringing me the entire thing, piece by piece, but he’s so proud of himself that I don’t really care where he’s getting the wood.
He looks back over his shoulder as he sits on the top step, a happy little ruff rumbling through him as I push off the doorframe and grin at Cy.
“You are such a good boy,” I say as I aggressively scratch under his collar and take the leash from between his teeth. “You are both the best good boys ever, taking care of our sweet baby girl while you went out to play.”
Bee limps up the steps slowly, carefully making her way toward me, and I can’t help the way I want to laugh and cry as she does.
“I’m telling you, you make three legs look good.” I crouch down as she sits, my doberman letting out a huff as if she disagrees, but that’s fine.
She can be annoyed all she wants over losing a leg, I’m just happy she’s still here.
Our sweet girl was shot twice, once in the hip, and once in the stomach, and we almost lost her, but Bee is a fighter.
Four surgeries, one amputation, and a hell of a lot of physical therapy later, and she’s finally able to play outside with the boys again.
Cy chuffs at me before he lets out a little whine, looking from me to Bee a few times then watching closely as I get to my feet.
“I know.” I reach into my pocket and pull out the organic dog biscuits these three love despite the fact that they smell like dirt, giving our sweet baby girl her treat first before Rus and Cy get theirs. “In or out?”
Rus answers with another ruff and intense butt wagging and I watch as the three of them take up their very relaxed positions on the porch, still keeping watch but able to enjoy what I’ve been referring to as their retirement.
“I’ll come get you when it’s time for lunch.”