AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, umm…” Four pairs of big round eyes stare back at me with anticipation. Damn, I really need to nail this answer. What do I want for a wedding? I guess it wasn’t the shotgun wedding we had. “If I could have anything I wanted, I would want to get married on a beach somewhere hot, with a white flowy dress, four beautiful flower girls and no one would have shoes on.”
“No shoes?” Ellie and Ophelia giggle.
Ophelia steps forward, surprising me. “You have pretty hair, and I like your pink jacket,” she says, letting Harrison’s hand go as she smooths her hand over my cord jacket. “Pink is my favourite colour in the whole wide world. My bedroom is pink, wanna see?”
“I’d love to. Pink is my favourite colour, too.”
I look up at Harrison, and he winks. “Welcome to the madhouse,” he whispers as I pass him, being dragged by a little pocket rocket. “They’ll never let you go now.”
My heartbeat increases because the thought of being a part of this family doesn’t feel scary. It feels right and if he’s serious, then if anything, I’m more afraid of losing them once I love them. And right now, the way Ophelia’s tiny little hand wraps around my fingers, I think I’m already in love.
So, it turns out, when little girls ask you to come see their room, what they really mean is, ‘You’re going to play with me, and I’ll put a plethora of hair clips in your hair, dress you up and make you play Barbies with me’. Am I mad? Not so much. I could happily live in any of the girls’ rooms. I love pink. I could take or leave the Barbies, though. I used to cut all their hair off if my mother brought me one. But being here with the girls is nice. It’s just me and the twins now; the other girls stayed in their rooms once I got the tour.
Harrison appears around thirty minutes later, leaning against the doorframe of the twin’s room with his arms crossed over his body, showing me those sexy forearms of his. His lips twitch in a smirk when he looks me over. “Having fun?”
“So much fun,” I reply. “Come, join us.”
He doesn’t hesitate. He walks right in and plonks himself down next to me, where Ellie and Ophelia jump on him, covering him with hair clips and putting pretend make up on him as well.
“You’re so pretty, Uncle Harrison,” Ellie coos, snapping another clip in place. I chuckle as he winces from the impact.
“Not half as pretty as you girls.” He nudges my arms with his elbow. “All three of you.”
My little abandoned heart jumpstarts in my chest—his words, seeing him so at home and at ease with these girls, how much he adores them. I openly admit I never wanted children, but watching him with these girls… his girls, makes me want to have a wholeVon Trappfamily with him.
What the ever loving fuck is happening to me? To my brain? It’s turning to mush.
I don’t dwell on that because it must just be some sort of biological reaction, or pheromones or chemistry.Something scientific– that I’m not willing to get into when I look like I’ve robbed a hair accessory store.
“Uncle Harrison, we want Zoey to stay here forever. Can she? Can she?” Ellie asks, tucking her tiny hands under her chin. Who knew that almost four-year-olds have such skill in guilting someone already?
Harrison’s face falls for a second and he swallows and clears his throat, avoiding my eyes. “We have to go downstairs for dinner now. Can we make a plan to keep her after dinner?”
My heart squeezes at his words. Keep me. Damn, if that doesn’t give me hope.
I swallow hard.
“Uh, girls? A little help?” I say, gesturing to the hair clips they put on me.
“But you look so pretty,” Ophelia pouts.
“Honey, I love your pout, never lose it but I’m gonna take these out because…” I pull one out and about a million strands of my hair with it. “Ouch, yeah, this part isn’t so fun.”
We head downstairs and there’s a tall blonde guy in the kitchen. He grins when he sees me and walks over, his hand extended. “Hey, I’m Jake. You’re Zoey, right? Congrats on the wedding.” I smile and shake his hand. Wow, none of his girls take after him, except maybe Cassie. Those Clarke genes are really strong.
“Thank you.”
“We’re going to make them have a do-over wedding,” Cassie announces confidently.
“Oh, are we now?” teases Harrison. “I don’t remember agreeing to that, do you, sweetheart?” he muses, looking at me mischievously.
“I don’t think I should come between you and your nieces. I’m way smarter than that.” I reach up to peck his cheek and watch a slight blush creep across his face. “I’d also probably end up siding with them. Sorry, not sorry.”
Dinner is easy. There’s no animosity or bitter words. Everyone smiles and talks about what they’re excited about for their upcoming week. When I say I’m looking after some kittens, all the girls squeal and we promise they can visit the shelter as long as they help us feed the animals. Which, of course, they love the idea of. Little girls are super excitable.
Harrison and I offer to clean up and everyone sits outside on the huge sofas as the girls play in the late summer sunshine.
Alone in the kitchen, Harrison whips the tea towel over my bum, and I yelp. He instantly soothes it with his hand, coming to stand behind me. His beard tickles the sensitive part of my neck as he leans down and brushes kisses across my skin. He surrounds me with his broad shoulders, pushing my hipbones against the worktop as he squeezes my bum with a growl. “I miss you,” he whispers.
