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“Is it them, son?” I heard Elliott ask.
“Um,yeah.” Nicky took off toward us, and I deserted our luggage.
Blake was suddenly no longer tired, and she darted past me just as Elliott and Adrien emerged from the elevator.
“There’s Daddy!” Julian wanted down, and then he was off too.
“Oh my gosh, hi!” Blake ran into Elliott’s arms. “We brought Christmas with us!”
Mattie was soon there as well. “Hey, Dad!”
I hauled Nicky in for a tight squeeze, and I told myself not to be the dad who constantly pointed out how much their kids had grown. But seriously, he was almost as tall as Elliott and me now. It felt weird.
“What’re you doing here?” he asked with a grin.
“One week is plenty,” I announced decidedly. I cupped his cheek briefly and couldn’t stop smiling. “Good to see you, son.”
“You too. Maybe someone will stop checking his phone every five minutes for messages from you now.”
I laughed and draped an arm around his shoulders, then ushered him over to Elliott.
Crew was right. The kiss he delivered to Adrien was not appropriate for kids.
“I can’t believe you.” Elliott shook his head at me, but his eyes were filled with all the relief and affection I’d wanted to see.
“At least when I get deployed, I can still pick up the kids from school and have dinner together most nights.” I closed the distance and kissed him, and he trapped Julian between us in a tight hug.
“You made my year,” he murmured into the kiss. “I missed you.”
“I missed you more.” I nuzzled his nose and kissed his scruffy cheek. “Change of plans. We’re celebrating Christmas here, and we have dinner with the Tenleys and the Paynes tomorrow night.”
He just grinned and tightened his hold on us, making Julian giggle.
“I just think it’s a little fucked up,” I heard Crew saying. “We should get keycards with the highest clearance.”
“On what grounds?” Adrien laughed warmly. “Elliott and I only have level two—but you want the top?”
“Well, that’s a travesty too,” Crew scoffed. “I’mma talk to Coach.”
Elliott and I glanced over to him.
“And say what?” Elliott chuckled.
Crew shrugged and scratched his nose, and he got a little defensive about it. “I’m just sayin’, it’d be nice to stroll through the lobby and flash a badge or somethin’.”
Adrien’s forehead creased. “Is this your way of telling me you want to become an operator here?”
“What the fuck? No!” Crew let out a laugh, surprised Adrien had said something like that. “Fuck being an operator. I’m arenegade, man.That’swhat I want on my card.”
Good Christ. I smirked and faced my man. “Maybe Coach can make him a novelty one. With glitter and a backward R.”
Elliott’s shoulders shook with silent laughter.
“Dude, I heard that,” Crew said. And he paused, thinking about it. “I’ll take it.”
* * *
