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It was all by design, of course, orchestrated by me to give them a taste of what parenting would be like at their age. I didn’t know if it had done more harm than good, but I was too busy to care and the lawyer I’d hired said they didn’t have a leg to stand on.
“What can we do?” Tasha asked, leaning on her cane as she looked around at the great room, which had been transformed into a science lab. Hadley had decided if we were going all out, we’d at least make it educational, so there were stations set up with different scientific activities that were loosely related to the Avengers, but more about keeping twenty-three four-year-olds busy. Annalise wanted her entire preschool class to be invited, along with a handful of the kids she knew from my Mavericks teammates, so it was going to be a zoo soon. Thank God we’d be able to put them on the screened-in porch for cake and ice cream.
“I think we’re good,” Hadley said, putting her hands on her hips as she looked around. “Tori’s got her at the nail salon getting birthday nails done and they’ll be home in about twenty minutes.”
“She’s going to love it,” Tasha said softly. “You’ve done a wonderful job, you two.”
“Thanks.” Hadley smiled. “I know it’s probably more than Lauren would have wanted, but we need this year to be special because Annalise has been asking about when Mommy and Daddy are coming back more and more often. I don’t think she quite grasps the finality of death.”
“Of course not.” Tasha swallowed, blinking back tears. “But as she gets a little older, Greg and I will make sure both she and Benny hear all the stories about their mommy.”
“Looks like they’re back,” I said, going to the door to greet Tori and Annalise.
“Is it time for my party yet?” Annalise demanded.
“Almost.” I laughed, tweaking her nose.
“Thank you for letting me get a manicure too,” Tori told me, blinking bright blue eyes up at me. She held out her hands and wiggled the fingers. “You like?”
“Er, yeah. They look nice.” Yikes. Tori was practically right up against me and I took a slow step back. As far as I was concerned, she was nothing but a kid, even though technically she was a legal adult, so I hadn’t given her a second thought. But she was definitely flirting with me, her eyes fixed on my face, a cute little smile on her lips.
Shit. I had to nip this in the bud and be super careful. This was just the type of thing that could derail our custody battle, and frankly, even if there was no custody situation, she was way too young for me. I didn’t even hook up with women her age anymore. Twenty-four was about as young as I’d go. Not that I had time for that these days. Or the inclination since the only woman I thought about lately was Hadley.
“Why don’t you see if there’s anything you can help Hadley with?” I suggested, grabbing Annalise and scooping her up.
We walked into the great room and Annalise squealed with delight, wiggling to get down and run around to check out every station, every decoration, every sweet, detailed touch Hadley had come up with to make this a birthday Annalise would never forget. It was costing a fortune too, even though I’d paid every bill with a smile.
“Gramps, did you see my balloons?” Annalise asked.
“I did!”
Annalise crawled onto his lap, talking animatedly and I leaned in to Hadley, whispering, “Want to blow this popsicle stand and go get a hotel room?”
She snickered. “Honestly? Not today. Maybe tonight, but right now, I want to see her face when the guys arrive.”
I grinned. “Yeah, I do too.”
Kids and their parents started to arrive, and within thirty minutes, the house was packed to the gills. And it wasn’t a small house. Ben and Lauren had been planning on at least one more baby, if not two, so this was six thousand square feet of bells and whistles I’d never even thought of for my high-end two-bedroom condo. We’d arranged for the Avengers to arrive about thirty minutes after the party started, to leave time for any stragglers, and I was glad I’d talked Hadley into a professional photographer because there was barely time to breathe, much less take pictures. Hadley had said she would do it, but that wasn’t happening.
My phone buzzed and I read a text from Drew, asking if we were ready for them. I shot him a quick affirmative answer and motioned to Hadley that it was time. She would make sure the kids were all in one place while I went to let in the guys and Nina.
A wave of emotion washed over me when I opened the door. The gang had outdone themselves. They’d rented costumes and really looked the part. Nina was wearing a dark red wig and heavy makeup, Lars wielded his hammer like a pro, and Konstantin had painted most of his body with green body paint.
