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“Thank you! Where’s Auntie Angel?”
Abel thought it was a good time to put on some music, and he’d brought his Bluetooth speaker for the occasion.
“She and Uncle Greg are at the cabin,” Ryan answered. “He’s, uh…” He lifted his gaze to Gray. “He’s holding her hair when she pukes.”
Oh, fuck yeah. “For real?” Gray lit right up.
Ryan smiled and dipped his chin.
Justin just wrinkled his nose.
“Congratulations.” Gray was really happy for them. They’d been trying for a while. “That baby will never need new clothes.”
Ryan laughed through his nose. “Elise has already offered a truckload of onesies.”
No surprise whatsoever.
Madigan and Abel had overheard the conversation, so they congratulated Ryan too. Avery undoubtedly knew already. In the meantime, Darius asked if anyone else was coming.
“The Tenleys texted,” Ryan replied. “They got called away on errands. Ma’s spoiling Boone rotten with homemade bagels, and Ethan’s at work.”
“Yeah, I gotta head back too,” Casey said. “Spring is busy. But Lincoln will be here in ten minutes. He wanted to see Gray and Darius tackle a dozen kids, and then he’ll bring Haley and Lyn with him home after.”
“Who’s Lincoln?” Case asked.
“My old man,” Abel answered. “And my husband’s best friend.” He smirked.
Case lifted his brows. “There’s gotta be a story there.”
“This from the man who has a kid with his brother,” Gray said.
“We keep it in the family around these here parts,” Ryan drawled.
Avery came over with Julia on his hip and handed Gray a cup of coffee and a plate of breakfast, so it was time to tune out the conversation.
“Damn, this looks good. Thanks.” He took a sip of his coffee and headed over to the bed of Ryan’s truck for a makeshift table. And for Darius, who was watching Cass chew on a muffin while he drank coffee.
“Haley, I’m leaving now,” Casey called.
“Okay, bye!”
“I feel loved,” Casey deadpanned. He turned to Abel next. “Take a metric fuck-ton of photos.” He faced Gray next. “Have fun with the chaos, and Ellis and I will see you tomorrow.”
Gray offered a two-finger wave and had his mouth full of eggs. “Okay, bye!”
Casey snorted a chuckle and headed under the tape, aiming for his work truck across the way.
“Dada!” Cassidy peered up at Darius with a grin and bobbed her head to the music.
“You like this tune, huh?” Darius’s eyes flashed with amusement.
Gray liked this song too. “Anything Could Happen” by Ellie Goulding was a great way to get reenergized.
“Two minutes till the store opens!” Abel announced. “Should I explain the task?”
“Floor’s yours, kid.” Ryan nodded.
“Okay—then I want everyone’s attention, including the kiddos!” Abel went on. Every dad nearby instructed his children to listen to Abel. And it worked, to an extent. “I have right here—” Abel retrieved two bills from his pocket “—two fifty-dollar bills. One for Gray, one for Darius. Your task is to bring all the kids with you into the store, and they gotta help you put together a gift for your future hubby. You’ll each have twenty minutes in there. Don’t worry, Gray—the staff knows what we’re doing. Madigan talked to them, and we’ll have two spotters inside too.”
Okay, good, because holy fuck.
“We flipped a coin earlier, and Gray, you will go first,” Abel said. “We’re leaving the rules for the gifts up to free interpretation, with two exceptions. One, the kids have to participate. And two, the gift can’t be ready-made. It’s time to get crafty.”
Gray swallowed around a mouthful of food and handed his plate over to Darius.
What the fuck could he give Darius from a crafts store?
CHAPTER SEVEN
Where are we on the topic of bribing kids?
Gray area or plain okay or big no-no?
It wouldn’t be for a shitty reason.
Just to make me look good.
I need a manual for parenting.
Fuck it, I’m bribing them.
No lie, Gray felt nervous. He’d obviously guessed it would be something like this, but he could just manage going to the grocery store with his own three kids. Now he was going into a crafts mecca with eleven children.
“We’ve agreed to throw you a lifeline,” Avery added, and he opened the door to his car and hauled out two…what were those? Oh, child carriers. “In case you want to—”
“Absofuckinglutely,” Gray was quick to say. “Hand them over, yeah, shit.” One on his chest, one on his back. These would at least take care of the two toddlers, Cass and Julia.
His mind started spinning as Abel helped Cass into one of the carriers. A single glance at Darius told Gray that his man had flown into strategy mode. Darius would probably make his complaints heard afterward, but right now, he saw the task and focused on it.
“Fuck me, I don’t wanna alarm y’all, but there’s a celebrity coming toward us right fucking now,” Case warned. “Holy shit. How’s my hair?”
Gray furrowed his brow and looked over— Oh Christ. It was Lincoln.
