AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She led in the group of kindergarteners, who gaped at them, and instructed the children to take their seats and waved the three of them forward.
Spencer frowned and Heath grinned as he moved to stand at Maizy’s side. Cody and Spencer joined him. One little girl pointed at Spencer and said, “I remember you! You’re going to be Miss Owen’s giant husband!”
“Yeah!” another child replied.
Heath was impressed when Maizy’s nephew, PJ, who was now part of a polyamorous family, just grinned big and didn’t say a word.
Maizy smiled and Heath glanced at her and saw the blush in her cheeks as she gestured to the men. “Class, you may remember Mr. Ketchum but I’d like to introduce his brothers to you. This is Cody Welsh and Heath Lindsey.”
“Hey! You have tattoos!” Ruby said, pointing at Spencer’s arms, which were uncovered.
Another little girl pointed at Heath and said, “So does he!”
A little boy raised his hand and waved it vigorously, obviously hoping to be called upon.
Maizy chuckled and said, “Thank you for remembering the classroom rules, Tucker. What would you like to say?”
“If they’re brothers how come they have different names?”
Maizy said, “That’s an excellent question, Tucker. It shows me you are paying attention. They’re foster brothers. They grew up together but they have different parents. They brought me lunch, and oh, wow…they brought me beautiful roses, too.”
“Why did they bring flowers?” one of the boys asked.
“’Cuz it’s her last day today, silly,” a little girl replied.
A little blonde-haired girl began whimpering and he and Cody and Spencer exchanged looks and shifted uncomfortably. On cue, two more girls burst into tears, including the one who had answered the question.
Maizy shushed them gently and said, “I wanted my friends to see what a wonderful, smart class I have. Now, collect your lunch boxes and we’ll quietly line up to go wash hands for lunch.”
The class did as told, but one little girl, who hadn’t cried as much, walked right up to him, craning her neck and said, “You sure are big. Are you a hero?”
Heath squatted down so he was closer to eye level with her. “A hero?”
“Yeah, you know. Like Flynn in Tangled!” Heath chuckled, not sure what to make of being compared to a Disney movie character.
Maizy put her hand on his shoulder and stroked the back of the girl’s head and said, “Yes, Sara, he is a hero.”
The girl turned to Maizy and said, “Miss Owen, can we go on the playground after lunch? It’s not muddy today.”
Maizy shook her head. “No, Sara. Mr. Clark told me he killed a snake on the playground this morning. He said the big machinery next door is stirring them up so it’s not safe to go out there.”
“Yuck. I’m scared of snakes.”
“I am, too. We’ll play games in the gym instead. Go get your lunch box, sweetie.”
Satisfied, the little girl trotted off, giving Maizy a chance to speak privately with the three of them. “I didn’t want to scare them, but Mr. Clark has been finding snakeskins all over the school grounds since construction started in August. The snake he killed this morning was a copperhead.” She looked over at the flowers and back at the three of them. “You really didn’t need to do all this, but I am so glad to see you.”
The vulnerability in her eyes made it hard not to crowd in around her to comfort her. “Hard day?”
“Very. I see you brought your lunches, too,” she said as she glanced at the four containers in the bag Spencer was still holding.
She put her hand up to her mouth and merriment entered her eyes as she cleared her throat and then whispered, “Notice anything interesting when you woke up this morning, Heath?”
He’d fallen asleep in front of the television with them the night before. When he’d gotten in the shower early that morning, still nursing his first cup of coffee, and started to wake up he noticed that she’d painted his toenails bright red. He’d cussed a blue streak and then laughed his ass off.
Heath coughed, too, and whispered back, “Yes. I like that shade of red, which is a lot like the bright red lace panties with the sexy little ribbon ties at the sides that I have hidden in my pocket right now.”
