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After getting to know the boys, it was obvious she’d done a brilliant job with them. They were bright, funny, polite, smart. Everything a man would want his sons to be, and it was no thanks to him.
Perhaps he might have the chance to change that going forward. They knew who he was to them now and had accepted him as their temporary caregiver. While he hated that Carolina had to be so badly injured to make it happen, these next few days would give him the opportunity to further bond with the boys, and for that, he’d be forever grateful.
“Are you okay over there?” Cindy asked.
“Yeah, just thinking. I’ll tell you later.”
“Okay.”
When they arrived at the house, the boys burst out of the truck and went to find Burpy.
“Jeez, I forgot there’s a dog to be kept alive, too,” Jace said as Burpy ran out the door to pee in the yard.
Cindy laughed at the face he made and followed him inside, the dog pushing past them to get back to his boys.
“Let’s do this ice cream thing and get to bed.” He opened cabinets to find bowls and drawers looking for spoons. Thankfully, the ice cream was easier to find. He scooped some for each boy as well as himself and Cindy and placed the bowls on the table.
“You forgot the whipped cream,” Kyle said.
“And the cherry,” Jackson added. “Carolina always gives us a cherry.”
“Whipped cream and a cherry coming up.”
As he returned to the table with the additional items, he heard the distinctive sound of a helicopter flying overhead and glanced at Cindy.
The boys didn’t seem to register that the chopper had come for Carolina, which was probably for the best.
After ice cream, the boys were sent to get ready for bed.
“What happens next?” Jace asked when he appeared in their bedroom door to find them wrestling over a toy.
“We gotta brush our teeth again ’cause we had more sugar,” Jackson said. “Seamus says sugar is like a gremlin that eats your teeth while you sleep if you don’t brush them before bed.”
Jace choked back a laugh. Seamus had a way with words. “Then let’s get rid of those gremlins.”
Jace supervised them through using the bathroom, brushing teeth and washing hands before marching them back to their bedroom. “Into bed with you. No shenanigans.”
“What’s sh… nanigans?” Jackson asked.
Jace chuckled. “It means no fooling around. Straight to sleep.”
“Are you sleeping here?” Kyle asked.
“I am. We’re staying in Seamus and Carolina’s room if you need us.”
“Is your girlfriend sleeping over, too?” Jackson asked, giggling.
Jace couldn’t help but laugh along with his son, thankful to be teased by him after the day they’d had. “Yes, she is. We’ll both be here if you need us.” Jace went to each boy and pulled the covers up over their shoulders the way his mother had done to him and Jess once upon a time when they slept in twin beds like Jackson and Kyle did. He hadn’t thought about that in years. He ruffled their hair. “Sleep tight and don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
“There’s no bedbugs!” Kyle said as Jackson giggled.
“Go to sleep.”
Burpy jumped into bed with Jackson, who slipped an arm around the dog like it was something they did every night, so Jace didn’t question it.
On the way out of the room, he shut off the overhead light.
“Leave the door open,” Kyle said.
