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“How’s fatherhood?” I ask him.
“Fucking fantastic. Exhausting, but fucking fantastic.” He kisses his daughter and lays her on his chest.
“Looks good on you,” I say as Blakely climbs onto my lap. Her eyes are glued to her new baby cousin.
“Thanks.” He grins.
“How’s Palmer feeling?” I look across the pool to where she’s talking to Piper.
“She’s good. She’s getting her energy back, and she insisted we come today. I tried like hell to talk her out of it, yet here we are. The deal was we come for a short time to see everyone and then head home.”
“Want me to take her?” I ask him. “Go visit.”
“I’m good.”
“Let me rephrase that. Give me my niece before Mom or one of our sisters comes over and steals her away from me. I need to start her young, letting her know who her favorite uncle is.”
Brooks laughs. “You hear that, baby girl? Uncle Sterling wants the top spot.”
“Hand her over, baby hog,” I tease.
“Yeah, baby hog,” Blakely repeats.
“I can’t be a baby hog when she’s my daughter,” Brooks counters.
“Gimme.” I lift Blakely to sit on one knee, making room for Remi before I hold out my arms, and he relents, passing his daughter to me. “Now go.” I rest Remi on my chest, just as Brooks had her. “Visit. Let me have some time with my girls.”
He parts his lips to say something and then thinks better of it. He snaps his mouth closed and nods before standing and heading straight for his wife. Not that I thought he would do something different. I watch as he stops to stand next to her, pulls her into his arms, and kisses her cheek. Palmer doesn’t seem to miss a beat as she continues her conversation with her sister.
“Uncle Sterling, call for me when she wakes up. She’s no fun when she’s sleeping.” Blakely climbs off my lap and rushes off to swim.
Brooks stands there for a few more minutes before he kisses his wife one more time and leaves her to visit with her sister. He makes eye contact with me, and I give him a thumbs-up, letting him know I’m set. He nods and moves to sit at the table with Orrin and Deacon.
“You know, you and your brothers should come with warning labels,” Alyssa says. She reaches into her bag, that I’m just now noticing, and pulls out a towel.
“At least he warned you and didn’t ruin your phone.”
“Oh, he remembers the last time. What was that, three years ago when he had to buy Ramsey a new one?” she asks.
“Yeah.” I chuckle. “He learned his lesson. And don’t lump the rest of us in with him. We didn’t toss you into the pool.”
“No. You didn’t this time.” She gives me a pointed look. “But then there’s this.” She nods to Remi sleeping peacefully on my chest, where I sit beneath the canopy avoiding the sun. This is a prime baby-holding location, and it will be my excuse not to give her up to anyone who tries to steal her from me. Knowing my brother, he’s going to agree. I grin. I win, and they don’t even know it.
“What’s that smile for?” Alyssa asks.
I look up and see that she’s stripped out of her shorts and tank top, and she’s in nothing but her white bikini. Her tanned skin glistens in the sun. I have to pull in a deep breath because the sight of her knocks the breath from my lungs.
“This is the best spot to hold her. As long as I don’t move, I get dibs on sweet Remi.”
“That’s another thing.” Alyssa shakes her head. “Do you and your brothers realize how sexy it is to see you all shirtless and holding a baby? Hell, even fully clothed? If you’re looking to find a woman, babysit this sweet thing, and carry her around. You’ll have every single woman in Willow River falling at your feet. Hell, probably a few of the married ones too.” She laughs as if her words don’t faze her, but I can see the strain in her expression, and that laugh doesn’t reach her eyes.
“What about you?”
“It’s a hot package, Tank,” she confesses.
“You calling me hot, Tink?”
“Come on.” She rolls those beautiful brown eyes. “You know you’re hot.”
