Patting my head, Rhodes looked adorably sneaky. “You can do it.”
He and I were going to have a long conversation once the invaders were gone… and books were read. Okay, so eventually we were going to have a long conversation.
“You know how kids are.” Giving Rhodes’ brother a neutral hint of a smile, I herded him toward the kitchen… again. “Stairs are dangerous.”
Especially with baby gates at the top of them—and the bottom.
“The youngest is nine.” Indy frowned but let me lead him back toward everyone else. He was nosy and just smart enough to realize it was weird but not smart enough to understand why it was weird. I wasn’t sure how he’d found three different women to marry him, but life was full of questions we’d never find the answers to. “He’s not going to fall.”
No, but Indy would fall right down the stairs if he upset Rhodes one more time.
“Yes, we’re keeping everyone safe.” Ignoring what he was trying to hint around, I kept my voice pleasantly neutral like I wasn’t imagining shoving him from the second floor to the first. “They’re very steep.”
That was actually true because they were some space-saving design the builder had put in all the homes in the neighborhood and they were one of the most dangerous things I’d ever seen in a house.
“Well… yeah…” He glanced back over his shoulder, but couldn’t figure out what to say fast enough.
“I’m glad you understand.” Shaking my head, I grabbed the pitcher of water off the counter that he’d come in to get and continued moving us out to the backyard. “Keeping them safe is a priority for Rhodes. Family is important.”
And his was insane.
Andi was going to be amazed when I came away from this actually appreciating her. I’d always thought having a sister was God’s way of punishing me for something I’d done very early in life but I was going to have to rethink that assumption.
“I… I guess…” He was still confused as I shut the back door behind us and called out to the mess of kids he’d brought over as I put the pitcher down on the table we’d set the food on.
“Indy said he wanted to play a game with y’all. What sounds fun?”
Ha.
Try and be nosy again and I was buying the little monsters water guns filled with glitter.
Indy’s groan said he knew he’d done fucked up and was willing to pay for it. “I’m not going to beitagain. You guys left me last time.”
They were a fucking mess… mostly the adults, though.
The kids were learning quickly to be just as insane as their parents, but they’d realized faster that I wasn’t going to put up with crazy.
“That’s amazing.” Softly sighing out the words, Rhodes made me fight back a smile. “How did you do that?”
“Watching him through the windows.” His family wasn’t subtle enough to get away with much as long as I was paying attention. “And if you bribe the youngest with five bucks, he’ll tattle on everyone.”
Best five bucks I’d ever spent… the kid was going to be a millionaire before he was thirty at the rate he was going, butI wasn’t sure if that would end up with him on a top business leaders list or one for newly convicted felons.
It could go either way.
“Oh, that’s brilliant.” Rhodes didn’t seem to have an issue with my technique. “I need to go to the bank before they come over again, though.”
Yep, we were both going to have to start carrying more small bills around at family events.
“He also said that your mother is trying to fix you up.” Matt, thankfully a stepkid so he had a normal name, knew he’d needed to tattle right off the bat with that one. “Based on what he said, it’s some kind of cultural or religious group. He’s confused because you guys didn’t seem to fit it, but he likes you enough to be helpful.”
“Oh… um, that’s nice.” Rhodes knew enough to keep his expression neutral but it was strained as he waved at his oldest sister-in-law who’d glared at him… again. “He’s very sweet and blessedly normal. I’m really not sure why his biological father lets him around my family so much.”
I had the same question.
I also wanted to know why Rhodes was so much younger than the rest of his siblings.
“They debrief after every event. It’s some kind of training thing for the kid to be able to identify danger but not get himself involved.” I wasn’t sure how the bribe was going to fit in but the kid’s bio dad seemed to work for the government, so it could go either way.
