I’m still kneeling, peering into the darkness, when an animal much bigger than a rat flies out from underneath the trees. It jumps on my head and off again, heading straight for Cas, and I amble up. He sees it, his eyes widen, and before it reaches him, he takes off running back up towards the tent.
“Rat! Rat! There’s arat! It’s massive! RUUUN!” He’s shouting and screaming, and I’m stuck in shock at the long, furry animal that bounds after him.
Emmy pops her head out of the tent and, at the sight of Cas running full speed from the little fur ball, she doubles over laughing, as does everyone else. He stops short, a big mistake for him because that furball jumps on his leg and winds its way up before burrowing up his shirt.
There’s a moment of shocked silence. No one moves a muscle. Then Cas starts shaking his legs and arms, trying to dislodge his stowaway, all while screaming bloody murder. Emmy has tears streaming down her face, and Lacey is laughing freely, her legscrossed, head thrown back while she’s holding her stomach for support.
“What’s happening?” Ethan’s deep rumble meets my ears, and I turn to find him and Daisy standing next to me.
“You okay, brother? Looking a little flustered there.” I can’t help but rib my baby brother. He rolls his eyes and shoves my shoulder.
“Piss off. It’s hard work trying to win this thing.” He nods towards Cas but doesn’t make eye contact with me, and Daisy’s cheeks redden slightly. “So, Cas? Why is he trying to do his best dance impression?”
“Oh! He was looking for something underneath the trees and thought he saw a rat, but I swear it was a fer–” I don’t get to finish.
“Oh shit! BANDIT, get back here right NOW!”
I look at Ethan. “Bandit?”
He grins, a genuine smile that we rarely see. “It’s Daisy’s pet ferret. He was playing with Scruff earlier on.” The rest of my brothers join us as we watch, amused as Cas wriggles and squirms while Daisy tries her best to calm him down. Emmy has completely lost it, and Lacey too. Hayleigh sits off to one side, laughing, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
We hear a yelp and watch in almost slow motion as Cas pushes his jeans – nappy and all – down his legs and topples over, leaving his jeans bunched around his ankles and legs in the air. Mum rushes to him to try to help, and Dad tries to help him up. Then, the famous Bandit makes an appearance; his furry brown head pops up out of Cas’s pants, and he tentatively leaps into Daisy’s arms. He’s a cute little guy, I’ll give him that, with his black eyes and a white strip across them that makes it look like he’s wearing a mask like some furry little highway robber.
I catch Lacey’s eye, and she mouths, ‘I love you.’
Family, dogs and ferrets.
And soon…a baby.
This house will never be quiet.
Chapter 32
Lacey
Iwatch Cas writhe around the floor, slapping at his legs and screaming. Poor little Bandit manages to wiggle himself free and bounds over towards Ethan. He runs up his leg in a spiral and leaps up to his shoulder, where he perches looking out at all of us. Ethan doesn’t seem phased.Huh, interesting.
Before I can overthink his reaction, the laughter dies down, and Emmy rushes to Cas to help him get his pants up. She is trying so hard not to laugh.
“Having fun?” Cole’s deep timbre flows through my ears, and I shiver as he wraps his arms around me. He lifts my bump ever so slightly as I lean back into him and relax. That’s what he is, my strong rock, always.
“I am.” I smile up at him. “I wonder what else they have planned for today?” But he doesn’t need to answer, because Hayleigh has finished laughing and is standing, holding a bag.
“Okay, everyone, now we’ve all had a good laugh.” She looks at Cas and shrugs. “I’m sorry, but that was freaking hilarious.” She seems like she’s going to start again, so instead she takes a deep breath. “Okay, I’m calm now…I’m done. If you could all please remove your nappies and count up your goods!”
Everyone wiggles out of their adult nappies, and they count how many baby items they each have collected. Cole managed two, and I shake my head at him in mock shame. Cas collected six, Ethan seven, Rafe ten, Archie four, Nate thirteen, Daisy five, May eight, Daniel three and then my Dad, last but not least, collected a whopping twenty rattles and dummies. He does a little happy dance, and Emmy rewards him with a little gold trophy and a box of chocolates.
“What do you think about that, sweetpea? Your old dad won!” It’s in this moment, seeing him smile and carefree, that I realise he really has grown. Somehow, he looks younger, freer.
“Next game!” Hayleigh shouts, and everyone stands to attention. “I’m sorry– Actually, no. Scrap that. I’m not sorry for this game. This game is called ‘Which Chocolate Bar Is That?’” She looks around at everyone’s faces and lands on Ethan. “You okay with that, Ethan?”
He shrugs a shoulder. “Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Oh, no reason!” Her voice sings across the garden as she herds everyone inside the tent to sit at the picnic tables. They’ve arranged the tables in a long row, decorated with pink and white balloons and baby confetti.
I sit at the top of the table while everyone else takes their seats. Cole sits to my right and grabs hold of my hand, tracing small circles with his thumb on the back of my hand. Once everyone finds a place, Emmy and Hayleigh start walking around thetable, handing out wrapped nappies, paper and pens. When we all have the items in front of us, they stand back. Emmy claps her hands together and bounces on her feet.
Hayleigh looks at her and laughs, placing a hand on Emmy’s shoulder to stop her from bouncing too much. She looks at each of us, a gleam in her eye, especially when it lands on Nate.
