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* * *
Two days later, I was playing Lincoln Logs with Gavin when I saw Kate go running past us. I grabbed Gavin and hopped to my feet, carrying him outside just in time to see Kate jump off the porch and into Shane’s arms.
“Shane,” she murmured as she wrapped her arms around his head, burying her face in his neck.
“Daddy?” Gavin asked in confusion, looking at me and then back at the scene playing out in front of us. “Daddy!”
He scrambled to get out of my arms, and as soon as I set him on his feet, he was running barefoot through the muddy driveway.
“Hey, little man,” Shane said, letting go of Kate just enough to lift Gavin into his arms.
Someone must have heard Gavin yelling because soon all of the kids were running outside, yelling for Shane.
My throat grew tight as Sage flew out the front door, coming to a complete stop at the top step of the porch and bursting into tears.
“Aw, baby girl,” Shane said, kissing the top of Keller’s head before striding to his oldest daughter.
Sage was getting too old to carry around, but it didn’t seem to matter then because Shane picked her right up. She wound her arms and legs around him as he climbed the porch steps, giving me a small nod as he brought her into the house.
I wondered if I’d still be carrying Arielle around when she was that big. Then I wanted to slam my head against the door frame.
“Okay,” Kate called, wiping at her face. “It’s cold out here. Everyone inside!”
The kids went running back in, chattering happily as Katie gave me a small smile.
“I’m so glad they got him home,” she said as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders.
“I bet,” I murmured, kissing the side of her head. “How long does he have?”
“Not that long.” She gave a humorless laugh. “It’s going to be ten times harder when he leaves again.”
“Don’t think about it yet,” I said, squeezing her shoulder. “Just deal with today.”
“Yeah.”
I walked her into the living room where the kids were going nuts over Shane, telling him about the shit they’d been doing since he’d left. Even Iris, who wasn’t saying very many words yet, seemed to be babbling on and on, competing with her siblings for Shane’s attention. They were so fucking excited that their little cheeks were pink with it.
I looked over and met Ani’s eyes as she came out of the kitchen, holding Arielle against her chest as the word daddy was shouted over and over again. What was she thinking? Her lips were pulled up in a tired smile, but she seemed frozen to the floorboards as I took a step toward her.
God, even exhausted, she was still gorgeous.
My eyes dropped to Arielle, who was lifting her wobbly head off Ani’s shoulder, and my heart thumped hard in my chest.
Then Ani suddenly spun around and left the room, leaving me staring at the empty doorway.
* * *
“Hey, man,” Shane said a couple hours later, patting my shoulder as he came into the living room. “She’s cute.”
“Thanks,” I replied quietly, rubbing up and down Arielle’s little back. I’d heard her squawking in the playpen after her nap a few minutes before and had raced to go get her before anyone else could. It seemed like I never got to hold her now that the house was full of people.
“You and Ani together now, or—”
“No,” I said shortly. I didn’t want to think about the shit with Ani. I couldn’t. There was too much happening. I had too many thoughts running through my head at every moment to focus on just one.
“Oh.” Shane sat down on the couch, leaning back against the cushions. “Why?”
“You seriously asking about my relationship with Ani?” I asked incredulously.
A year before, I could have happily killed Shane when he was being a complete ass to my sister. She’d been pregnant with Iris, and Shane had treated her like garbage. Just the thought of all the shit that had gone down between them made my teeth grind. After a while, I’d learned to get along with Shane again, but I wasn’t quite as forgiving as my little sister.
“I figured it out,” Shane pointed out.
“If you hadn’t, you’d be a dead man,” I retorted, my teeth snapping shut as soon as I’d said it.
The guy’s foster brother had just died. My cousin, who I’d known since he was four years old, had just died. I closed my eyes and dropped my head to the back of the recliner. Shit.
“Don’t sweat it,” Shane said quietly. “It wasn’t the first time you threatened to kill me, and I’m sure it’s not the last.”
“Bad timing,” I ground out, making Shane bark out a laugh.
“Ah, Hen wouldn’t give a shit,” Shane said, smiling. “He’d be watching us with his head turning back and forth between us like we were in the middle of a fucking tennis match.”
