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She grins, and I know the offer of chicken nuggets, or any form of a kid’s meal is all it takes to win her over. She’s adaptable.
“That guy is a creep,” Kason mutters, assuming his favorite position with his arms crossed over his chest with a deep scowl on his face.
“He is not,” Kayleigh argues. “He’s nice.”
“You’ve met him?”
“No,” Kason answers.
“How do you know he has red hair?” I ask Knox, my anger spiking because Finnegan swore he didn’t know there were kids living across the hall.
“I saw him last night when you were at the door. Does he order food a lot?”
Kayleigh perks up with Knox’s question.
“I don’t know, but he’s not going to be ordering food for us. Nothing is changing except where we sleep.”
Kason scoffs, but by the time we sit down at his favorite fast-food place, he has a small smile on his lips. I knew bringing them to the place in town with the best kids’ play area would help. I don’t normally bribe my kids, but a mom has got to do what a mom has got to do.
With full bellies and a little less energy, we head back to Finnegan’s place—our place—two hours after I left to pick the kids up from school.
It’s still several hours until bedtime, and I stop the kids before they can run off the elevator and down the hall.
“I need you guys to behave and be quiet. Mr. Jenkins is doing us a favor, and we need to make sure we respect his things.”
As much as I wanted to annoy him last night, I need to make sure they don’t do anything to land us out on our asses. I imagine even the quietest kids would rock this man’s world. It didn’t go unnoticed just how sterile and perfect his condo was when I first walked in earlier. I hope he got a good, long, hard look because with three kids running around, it won’t stay like that for long.
“Hey,” I say, grabbing Kason around the waist after he rolls his eyes. “I’ll give you back YouTube privileges early if you promise to behave like I know you can.”
“How early,” he barters. “Like right now?”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Yes, but if you so much as antagonize either of your siblings, you’ll lose them again.”
“Deal,” Kason says, holding out his hand because nothing is more concrete than a handshake. I have no idea where he got that idea, but it probably came from a YouTube video.
I feel like I should knock when we approach the door, but I pull out my key instead. I don’t want the kids to see my uneasiness. I don’t want them to feel like this isn’t their home, even if it’s temporary.
“Wow,” Kayleigh says as I return my keys to my purse. “That’s a lot of muscles.”
My eyes snap up, and I notice two things in the same moment. One, my daughter is a hundred percent right. That is a lot of muscles. And two, how did I miss those specific ones on either side of his waist last night? They’re like thick arrows pointing to his—
“Okay, kids, follow me and I’ll show you your rooms.” I usher them around Finnegan who looks like he’s ready to bolt.
“Boys are in here,” I say, opening the door to the right. “I’ll have all of your things unpacked tomorrow by the time you get out of school. Stay in here.”
I close the boys in the room before urging Kayleigh to stop looking down the hall at the shirtless man standing in the middle of the living room.
“This is our room,” I tell her, opening the other door. “Stay in here. I’ll be right back.”
“Where’s Evie?” Kayleigh asks.
I turn to her, a small smile on my face.
“Mr. Jenkins’ condo lease doesn’t allow for animals.”
A frown covers my pretty girl’s face.
“But,” I hedge. “He’s trying to work it out so we can get her back. She’s staying with a good friend who also has a bird.”
I pray I can eventually convince Finn to bring her back. Evie hates men, but she loves the kids.
“She has a bird friend now?”
I nod, loving that she’s now smiling again.
“Mom?” Kason asks, sticking his head out of the first bedroom door. “Did you forget something?”
He cocks an eyebrow, but I know better than to renege on a promise to him for even a second.
I hold up a finger before disappearing into the room I’m sharing with Kayleigh. Like the perfect child she is, she already has her homework sheet out in front of her as she digs through her backpack for a pencil. I reach into the top of my closet and pull out Kason’s tablet before leaving the room once again.
My son is waiting in the hallway with his hand out.
