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“Yeah.”
“Yeah.” She sat up, cupping my face in her hands as she studied me, her eyes soft and worried. “Navy messaged me. I’m sorry, your visit with your brother didn’t go well. I can’t say I’m sad that we get to keep Kaleb, though.”
Rubbing my nose against hers, I nodded in agreement, “Yeah, we’d best get that paperwork sorted so that we can make him ours, not just mine.”
Avy smiled wide at me, happiness made her eyes sparkle a bright blue in the dim light of our bedroom.
“I’ll get that sorted tomorrow,” she assured me. “Now, how about you carry me to the shower and maybe I’ll let you dirty me up again.”
Chuckling at her words, I stood with her in my arms and carried her to the bathroom where I made good on dirtying her up again just as she requested.
CHAPTER 14
AVY
Hawk turned a corner after the visit to his brother. I always knew he would. I’d just had to be patient and wait him out. He’d see soon enough how wonderful Kaleb was. Because that baby had stolen everyone’s hearts. He was so good natured, and although he was slightly younger than Mila, he seemed older, in that he watched everything around him and seemed to make decisions based on what was going on in the room he was in. It hurt all of us to see him like this because we wondered what hell he’d lived through to make him so wary.
He was also extremely protective over me as Rogue had found out when we’d been messing around in the kitchen and he’d grabbed hold of me and tickled me, making me shriek with laughter, something we’d done countless times and not thought anything of. Everyone had been laughing except for one small tornado who’d attacked Rogue, punching at his leg with his little fists, shouting NO loudly. Kaleb had a surprisingly deep voice for someone so small. When Rogue had realised that we were upsetting him, he’d stopped immediately, and I’d stooped and picked Kaleb up and plopped him on my hip. His little face had been fierce and the scowl he’d worn was something to see. I didn’t know if I should laugh or not because he was just too cute for words.
“It’s okay, Kaleb. Uncle Rogue was just playing,” I assured him, pressing a kiss to his head.
He’d ignored me and held up a finger to Rogue, “No hurt. Mine.”
My heart had just about exploded from my chest with happiness, and I couldn’t help the smile that had bloomed across my face.
Rogue had nodded seriously, and shook Kaleb’s hand, “Okay, little man, I get it. Nobody hurts Avy.”
Seeming to accept what Rogue had said, Kaleb had given him a blinding smile before hugging my neck and then squirming until I put him down. He toddled back off to play with Mila on the far side of the kitchen, but not before stopping to scowl over his shoulder once more to make sure that Rogue was behaving. Julia had let out a giggle, and I’d sniggered at the look on Rogue’s face.
Reaper had grinned at Rogue, “I guess that told you, brother,” he snorted out a laugh, “bested buy a two-year-old.”
Rogue shook his head with a chuckle, “He’s fierce, he’ll be a force in about twenty years.”
While the rest of the brotherhood was teasing Rogue, I was watching Hawk, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Kaleb. They’d softened, and he had a small proud smile curling the corner of his lips. Then he ran his hand gently over his nephew’s head as he walked past. It was just fleeting, but Kaleb noticed and looked up. Two pairs of green eyes stared at each other, neither giving an inch. Suddenly Hawk smiled a full smile at Kaleb, ruffled his hair a little and continued out the kitchen to wherever he’d been going.
My eyes caught my mum’s, and she smiled at me. Slowly but surely over the next few weeks, the two of them became more familiar with each other. Kaleb didn’t tense every time Hawkwalked into a room and Hawk found a way to show him the smallest bit of affection whenever he could.
It seemed they’d bonded over their need to keep me safe and looked after.
Kaleb had been with us for nearly two months when the final breakthrough happened.
A storm had been forecast with gale force winds and rain. It was meant to get very bad during the night but should blow over by the next day.
I’d woken up to the wind howling, and the rain was lashing at the windows, lightening flashing through the room. I realised I was alone in bed and wondered where Hawk had gone, deciding I’d better check on Kaleb. I hoped that the storm hadn’t woken him up. Getting up, I pulled on my dressing gown, shoved my cold feet into slippers and left the room. I stopped just outside Kaleb’s room when I heard Hawk’s voice.
“Hey, little man, you doing okay?” he whispered softly. I heard a rustle then a soft whimper as another flash of lightening lit up the room.
“Hey, hey, shhh, it’s okay, nothing to be scared of, I won’t let anything hurt you,” Hawk continued to talk softly to Kaleb, “come on, little man, let’s go. You can sleep with me and Avy tonight.”
My heart just about melted into a puddle at Hawk’s tone of voice. Not wanting to make a big deal out of it and be caught listening to his moment with Kaleb, I hurried back to our room, stripped off my dressing gown and dove into bed, waiting for them to come and join me. I’d just got myself comfortable when Hawk walked in with Kaleb in his arms. I’m sure my ovaries exploded.
Was there anything hotter than a man with a baby, especially when that baby was the spitting image of them?
I smiled when they got to the side of the bed, asking softly, “Everything okay?”
“Of course, we’re going to have a sleepover tonight,” Hawk said, lowering Kaleb to the bed who didn’t waste any time snuggling into me.
“Is that right?”
