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Vivi turns to Claire, placing one finger on her little pout, and whisper-yells, “Shhh! You gots to be quiet, Auntie Claire. Or else we never catch ’em. Gamps says I keep it if I catch it.”
“I know, baby, I know,” Claire whispers back much more successfully, just loud enough for me to catch.
Vivi plants one fist on her hip, net flailing through the air, nearly decapitating my girlfriend. “Well, Daddy says you isn’t bery good at catchin’ wabbits.”
I smother my laugh while Claire grumbles something I can’t hear, and then Vivi gasps. “You not allowed to say that word!” She taps Claire on the head. “You bad girl!”
I can’t fight back that laugh any longer. It leaks out of me with a deep belly rumble and Claire’s head swivels around, icy glare landing on me.
Gavin and Casey slink out the patio door, both of them chowing down on bacon while they chuckle and sidle up next to me to watch the show.
“There!” Vivi shrieks suddenly, whipping her net around as a bunny goes dashing across the yard. She takes after it like a rocket, screaming, “Get back here, you wascle-y wabbit!”
“My girls,” Gavin murmurs with a happy sigh, lifting his steaming mug of coffee to his lips, blue eyes twinkling while he watches those two crazy redheads tear across the yard.
My heart stretches as I follow the sound of Claire’s laughter, smiling as her and Vivi go tumbling to their knees, rolling around on the grass when the bunny escapes.
I want to give Claire the kind of birthday she deserves, filled with reminders of how special and loved she is, and what I know more than anything is that, to her, there's nothing more important than family.
I turn to her dad and brother. “Can I convince you to take off up to Muskoka for a couple nights at the cottage for Claire’s birthday?
Gavin smiles. “I don’t need convincing to spend a weekend on a lake in the middle of nowhere, and for my daughter of all people.” He claps a hand to my shoulder. “What in the hell she was ever doing with a guy like Adam when you were out there is beyond me.”
“Aaron,” I correct.
Gavin lifts a shoulder and lets it fall, eyes shining with mirth as he sips his coffee. “I figure Adam is better than cheating piece of shit, which is what I really want to call him.”
***
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Claire
“Nervous?” Avery reaches over, giving my knee a gentle squeeze as he puts the truck in park in the driveway of a ginormous house tucked back into a cute, quiet neighborhood.
I had no idea neighborhoods like this even existed in Toronto. I thought it was all skyscrapers, concrete, bright lights, and noise. This is anything but. The street is quiet and wide, lined with trees and a big park up ahead. The house is all wooden pillars and big stone, blue-gray siding. It's so…residential.
Anyway. Nervous? Absolutely. Avery killed it this weekend with my Dad. I’m not sure I’ll be so lucky. I can be awkward and shy, and I certainly don’t command a room the way Avery does. People don’t hang on my every word.
“No,” Vivi answers for me, bouncing in her car seat while she cranes her head around. “I not ner-bus.”
My eyes roll as I bite back my laugh. Of course she’s not nervous. Girl’s a social butterfly.
Avery swivels around, shaking Vivi’s tiny foot in her sparkly purple sandals. “Well, I’m so glad you’re not scared, princess. But what about Auntie Claire? Do you think she’s scared?”
“Oh. Auntie Claire big scaredy cat.” The claws go up before Vivi snarls and meows at us.
“Just the teensiest bit,” I admit, resting my head on the seat while my lids flutter closed, taking a moment to steel my nerves.
Avery’s hand closes over mine before he lifts it to his mouth, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. “They’re going to love you, Claire.”
My lids flip open. “You don’t know that. What if they hate me? What if they think—”
He cuts me off with the sweep of his lips. “My mom’s already planning our wedding, so nix those thoughts right now.” He levels me with a serious look, brows dipping as he repeats, “They’re going to love you, Claire.”
Avery’s out of the truck, pulling Vivi into his arms before I can get my stupid seat belt off. I jab at the latch a thousand times. Why the hell isn’t this thing—
“Oh,” I murmur, peeking up at Avery after he opens my door, reaches across my lap, and unbuckles me with one swift click, all while holding Vivi on his hip, and her bag on his shoulder.
