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Not a terrible idea. “You know what, I’ll hold on to it, and then we can see what we decide when our time’s about to run out. Thank you, sweetheart.”
Grace beamed in pride and darted off again. She was a good one. She took her task seriously, and even though she wasn’t Elise’s biologically, she’d been there from the beginning, and the girl took after her so much.
Gray returned his attention to a display with tools. Again, no craftsmanship necessary. Unless…unless they built him a toolbox…? Darius really needed one—in case one of his other four fell apart.
He rolled his eyes to himself and felt the pressure rise within him. Had they gone to any kind of hardware store, he’d be done by now.
Hmm. There was one thing. Darius actually saved a lot of drawings from the boys in his office at the restaurant. Perhaps they could decorate a bunch of picture frames.
Gray hurried toward the aisle that held those kinds of things, and the two girls with him giggled madly at the bouncy ride.
“Dada, go!” Cass laughed.
“Eight minutes left!” Ryan hollered from somewhere.
Avery was like a damn shadow. Gray couldn’t shake him.
Finding several wooden and plastic frames for painting and decorating, Gray held up two made of wood. “Julia, pick one.” He shifted them in front of her, and she said “oh-oh-oh!” and tried to reach for one. “That one? Good job. Thank you for your participation.”
He dropped three frames at $2.99 each in his basket.
Then he stopped the first set of girls he saw, Ace and Abby, and asked if they could help him find things to decorate with. Paint, stickers, glue, anything.
Gray stumbled upon Ryder and JJ next. They were inspecting a shelf with notepads and paper crafts.
The pad Haley and Lyn had shown him crossed his mind again, and he scanned the selection of everything from novelty gifts and supplies for sketching. He spotted that very pad, with the reasons one deserved candy. What if it wasn’t candy? While Darius could go to town on chocolate truffles like the next guy, he didn’t have that big of a sweet tooth. Not for candy anyway. His poison was baked goods.
“Uncle Darius draws pictures sometimes.” Ryder held up a sketch pad. And he wasn’t wrong. When their families got together, the kids loved it when Darius showed them how to draw something. He was weirdly good at it, yet never mentioned it as a hobby. Despite the doodles Gray had seen of Darius’s plans around the cabin.
Gray shook his head to clear it. Both he and Ryder had to switch gears. “He sure does, but it has to be a gift we put together ourselves, buddy. I don’t think Abel and Ryan will accept sketch pads and pencils as a gift.”
Reasons Darius deserved a cinnamon roll bite? Where was a notepad for that? Or reasons he deserved to ignore people?
“Four minutes to go!”
“Motherfff…uddruckers.” Gray scrubbed a hand over his face—and then the idea hit him.
Reasons Darius deserved to stay at home.
Gray dropped his gaze to the pink tin jar in the basket. They could fill that thing with little notes—with excuses. Excuses Darius would be allowed to use when they were making plans with others. He already got blow jobs for free, so that kind of coupon book was ruled out. Also, not very kid-friendly to get crafty with. But excuses that let him off the hook for guys’ nights? Dinner with their extended family when he really wanted to have pizza in front of the TV with Gray and the kids?
Darius would love it.
“Listen up, children!” Gray called out, his voice echoing. “You have two minutes to bring me decorations! Stickers, glitter, craft paper in your favorite colors! Maybe the older kids can lead the way to the scrapbooking aisles!”
“Come on, I’ll show you.” Ace flew by and brought the twins with her.
Good girl.
Gray was hot on their tails and ushered any child he saw along the way with him too.
This could actually work.
As much as Gray loved children, he needed the breather that followed.
He sat his ass down on one of the dropped tailgates, he accepted a bottle of water, the children were already plastered to Darius—including the two toddlers on his back and chest—and…yeah. He just stared into the air.
They’d made it out of the store with thirty seconds to spare, and they’d spent forty-two dollars on things that fit into one paper bag.
Darius was going in another direction. As Gray guzzled his water, his fiancé turned into a drill sergeant.
“Clock’s ticking, big brother,” Ryan reminded.
“Logistics is key,” was Darius’s response. He’d somehow managed to get all the kids lined up, two by two, and he spoke to each kid quietly before he deemed them ready to begin. “Does everyone understand?”
“Yes, sir!” everyone over six or seven confirmed.
