Page 20 of Spark

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The sound of squealing children could be heard as Dex made his way up the front steps of Hugh and Shay’s house.

He knocked and stood back.

What the hell are you doing here?

If Hattie had wanted him there, she would have asked. She hadn’t. In fact, she’d been avoiding him since they fucked two days ago. This was a mistake. Coming here like this was not cool of him. It was pushy and intrusive.

He was about to turn away when the door opened and a frazzled-looking Hattie stood there, looking up at him, eyes kind of wild.

Shit. And beautiful. So fucking beautiful. “Hey?”

“Hey,” she said back, jiggling baby Gracie, who was wrapped in a towel, in her arms.

One of the kids shrieked at the top of their lungs.

“Hugh said…and I thought…”

Hattie grabbed the front of his shirt and all but yanked him through the door. “Milly’s watching Connor. And Gracie has”—she winced—“God, she pooed everywhere…just everywhere when I stripped her for her bath, and Brody is running around naked somewhere. Find him and dress him. His pj’s are—were—on the couch. He hid them. I’ll make sure Milly is okay with her brother and get Gracie dressed.”

Dex immediately followed her orders, hunting down Brody, who was hiding under the kitchen table, or trying to, since he was giggling out of control at his own antics.

Dex moved the table and lifted the squirming naked toddler. “Where are your pj’s, buddy?”

He laughed harder and pointed to the fridge.

Okay, probably not a good idea to put those on him. Dex carried him up the stairs, found his bedroom and another set of pj’s. He’d never dressed a kid before, but despite the squirming and giggling, which ended up making Dex laugh as well ’cause the kid was cute, he got the job done. And Hugh was right, this one most definitely had his uncle Joe’s sense of humor.

Dex carried him down the hall to where he could hear Hattie talking to Gracie in the bathroom, and apparently, the scene of the poo incident—

Okay, yeah, Hattie was right, it was everywhere. Like Hattie had stood in the middle of the room, aimed Gracie’s little butt at the floor and turned in circles.

He glanced up at Hattie and winced. She had some on her cheek.

Gracie was now cleaned up and dressed, and Hattie held out the baby to Dex. He quickly moved Brody to his shoulders and took the clean and smiling bundle Hattie handed to him.

She started cleaning up.

“Um, babe,” he said.

She was busy gathering up towels.

“Hattie?”

“Hmm?” she said glancing at him.

“Sweetness, you got a little…” He pointed to her cheek. “You’ve got some, ah…on your face.”

Hattie stilled. “No. No I haven’t,” she said, voice deceptively calm.

“Yeah, baby, you do. On your cheek.”

“No. Dex, please tell me you’re joking.”

Dex winced.

Hattie took a slow measured breath and looked in the mirror. “Oh God,” she whispered when she got a look at herself. She turned back to him. “Dex, I have baby poo on my face.”