Rising from the bed like a cross between Godzilla and Frankenstein’s monster, Liam moaned at his nephews. They squealed again in laughter and clamored off the bed.
Grabbing his sweats from the end of the bed, he quickly pulled them on before chasing them out of the room. Catching the smallest one, he was just a toddler after all, Liam rolled him over in his arms so he could blow raspberries on his stomach.
Setting his giggling body down, Liam quickly caught the older one, repeating the process to a cacophony of laughter. Holding the oldest in one arm, he bent over, sweeping up the little one so he could pepper their adorable faces with kisses.
“Okay, you two. Tell Uncle Liam to put you down so you can go get pancakes,” Liam heard a growl from the entry between the living and dining rooms.
“Pancakes!” they both shouted as Liam set them back on their feet.
Collapsing on the couch, he gratefully took the mug of coffee Parker handed him. He took a sip before laying his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes.
“Sorry, one minute they were in their room. The next minute they were running toward your room. I would have stopped them, but I’m not that concerned for your well-being,” Parker said, sipping on his coffee. “Where did you run off to again last night?”
“Just out with friends.” It wasn’t a complete lie. Liam had been out with friends last night. Except, it was just one friend, and they had stayed in. He had managed to find an excuse to sneak over to Chiara’s for the last three nights.
Tonight she worked her shift in the bar, and he intended to be there the entire time. He just needed to think of a good excuse for his presence. Parker wasn’t an idiot, after all.
“Are you going to just sit there, or are you going to come eat all of these damn pancakes I just made?” Astrid asked from the doorway. With a snort, she turned back toward the kitchen.
“Just so you know, they turn bitchy after you’ve been married a while,” Parker said, heaving himself off the couch. Liam wasn’t fooled, he knew his brother was just as enamored with Astrid as he was the first time he saw her.
He followed Parker into the kitchen, already firming up the plan he had seized on. He sat down, heaped his plate full of breakfast, and drowned everything in syrup.
“Hey, I was thinking,” he began.
“Here we go,” Parker mumbled, staring into his empty cup.
Liam ignored him as he tried again.
“Why don’t you hire a babysitter tonight, and I’ll take your shift? That way you can get away for the evening. Heck, maybe Ro can take the kids for the night, and you can sneak off to a hotel,” Liam said, plowing ahead.
Parker looked at him with his eyebrows drawn together. “What are you trying to pull?”
“Well, I think that sounds amazing,” Astrid said, cutting Parker off before he could sniff out Liam’s scheme. “I’ll call Aubrey later.” They ate in silence as Astrid hummed around the kitchen.
At least Liam ate in silence. Parker stared at him like an interrogator. He had wailed on him a couple of times in the past, so Liam tried to make sure he had a clear path to the door just in case.
“Parker, stop staring at your brother with that face,” Astrid said.
“What face does Daddy have for Uncle Liam?” Brendan, their oldest son, asked.
“The one that happens right before Daddy spanks Uncle Liam for being bad.”
Brendan and Sean, their youngest, burst into laughter. Parker turned his glare on his wife.
“Now, he’s going to spank you too, Mommy,” Brendan added.
Liam snorted out a laugh, certain that he had redirected the orange juice he was drinking back through his nose.
He could still hear the noises that would occur every night after Parker finally got his head out of his ass and decided he couldn’t live without Astrid any longer. He and Ronan would both put on their noise-canceling headphones when they heard them coming up the stairs after their shift at night.
He had been immensely grateful when the addition, doubling the size of the apartment, was finished and his dad had moved into the room next door. Parker and Astrid were pushed into the new wing.
“I think I’m going to go visit Dad for a while. If you want, I can take the kids with me, then on to Ro’s,” Liam said quickly, shoveling the rest of his breakfast into his mouth.
Standing, he kissed Astrid on the cheek before heading back to the bedroom. He could still feel Parker trying to burn a hole in him with his laser eyes. In reality, Liam had gotten pretty used to that look over the years also.
When he emerged from his room, dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt, he found Parker waiting with both kids on the couch for him. Parker was still sporting the look of a man trying to will the secret out of Liam’s mind. After a few minutes, he just shook his head with a sigh. Liam hoisted Sean on his hip.
