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“Oh, and I noticed Ma’s ring is different.”
Joel squinted.“How?”
“I’m very perceptive.” Josiah folded his arms and nodded. “I’m not saying you two secretly got married, but if you did, one, you’ve always had my blessing. And two, have a wedding so I can wear a tux.”
“To impress Malia?”
Red engulfed Josiah’s entire face.
“Would be a nice occasion to invite her to, don’t you think?” Joel nudged him with an elbow. “A wedding.”
“That’s not why I want to wear a tux. And you’re as bad as Ma. You two deserve each other.”
“Siah, you’ll be twelve at the end of the year. Twelve is the age when you start noticing your appearance more—”
Josiah covered his face. “I can’t…”
“—and when you find yourself in the throes of attraction.”
“Throes?”
“And soon, you’ll start experiencing milestones as you explore your sexual maturity, such as your first ki—”
Josiah shoved him in the shoulder.
Joel, laughing, fell back on the bed. Josiah, laughing with him, fell in the same way, their heads close as they stared at the ceiling.
“So, Dad,” Josiah began. “Were you serious about who I could invite to the wedding?”
An hour past Josiah’s bedtime, they said good night.
When Joel entered the owner’s suite, Theo was asleep and tucked against Ayesha. She was awake, but her eyelids drooped.
“You can go to sleep, you know,” he teased, going to her side of the bed. “You don’t have to stay up for me.”
She covered a yawn with the back of her hand. “I wanted to make sure I said good night. Plus, I overheard some of you and Josiah’s little convo.”
“How much of it?”
She smiled. “‘Dad.’”
“You okay with it?”
“I told you, I left that up to the boys. They’ve bestowed upon you the title.” She used her arm to “knight” him. “And if they feel like you deserve it, you deserve it.”
“Do you feel like I deserve it?” he asked.
“You more than deserve it, baby.”
He kissed her forehead. “Go to sleep, Eesh. You know we haven’t slept much in the last several days. I’m gonna shower and join you two in a minute.”
She nodded and turned onto her side, pulling Theo closer. “Good night, honey. I love you.”
Joel smiled, heart racing. “I love you too.”
CHAPTER24
Joel sat forward in his chair, massaging the back of his neck in a futile attempt to release the tension that had accumulated there. Gage stood in one corner of the tech room at the lair, his arms folded, while Giorgio stood in another. Mike reclined in a chair. Dez had taken Thandie, Theo, and Josiah to school, so the rest of them were currently staring at images displayed on Julien’s wall of screens.
