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“Let me know about the boys. If you need anythin’, I’m here. I’ll be here no matter what, sweet girl. I’ll see you soon,” Anthony says, his voice soft as he leans forward to press a soft kiss against my forehead.
I close my eyes and lean into Anthony for a few seconds. He doesn’t linger as long as I’d like though. Anthony steps back and finally closes the door so I can head out. I take a few deep breaths before making my way toward the trailer park. Pulling in I find my dad’s and Glock’s trucks parked where they’ve been parking. Pulling into my spot, I don’t linger because I know my dad wants to know how the appointment went.
He meets me on the porch as I hand over the envelope and we head inside. I turn and watch my dad go through the pictures until he finds the one stating the gender. With a large smile on his face, my dad looks up at me and hands the pictures over to Glock. My mom and Melody crowd around him so they can all look together. At the same time, my dad pulls me into his arms. He holds me close as I cry. I’m so fucking confused and don’t know what’s going on with Anthony. He’s so damn confusing and I can’t determine what his game is.
I talk to my parents for a while before Glock, Melody, Lyric, and myself head out to the shop. That’s where my focus needs to be. I’m excited as hell to finally have my little girl, but there’s so much overshadowing it. So, I push all the thoughts to the back of my mind and try to only focus on getting the shop put together. The four of us work for hours going through inventory, filling shelves, and cleaning. By the time we leave for the night, I’m exhausted and ready to take a shower before climbing into bed and sleeping for hours.
Chapter Sixteen
Shield
KASEY DECIDED TO let me keep the boys for the weekend. She wanted to get the shop finished so she can make plans for the grand opening. I’m not sure exactly how much work she has left to do, but I know my parents, her parents, and some girl are helping her. Our dads won’t let her do much lifting when they’re there because she’s been moving heavy as fuck boxes and shit around when she was by herself with only the boys there with her. If our situation was different, I’d be there helping her, but I’m sure I’m the last one she wants there lending a hand. I want to offer, but I haven’t been able to ask her. Especially with me having more days off than normal because of the new hires at Wild Things.
“Dada, hungry,” Andrew says, pulling me from my thoughts as I turn to look at my boy.
“Let’s get you in the bathroom before we go downstairs, buddy,” I tell him, taking him in my bathroom and helping him with his pajama pants before stepping away and letting him go to the bathroom on his own.
If there’s one thing I can say about Andrew, it’s that he’s very independent and can be stubborn as hell. He’s my mini me in every aspect while Griffin takes more after Kasey. I can’t help but wonder what our little girl will look like. Who she’ll take after as she grows and learns everything we can teach her. I can’t believe I’m gonna be a girl dad. I know how to be a dad to boys, but having a girl is something completely foreign to me. I’m going to have to learn to do everything different when it comes to our little girl. Fuck!
“Done, Dada,” Andrew says as I turn to face him and find him pulling his pants up.
My boy gets his pants up, but they’re crooked and twisted around his little body. Laughing at his predicament, I crouch down and help him adjust his clothing before leading him to the sink so he can wash his hands. When Andrew’s done with his hands, I help dry them off so we can go check on Griffin before heading out to get breakfast. Griffin’s awake when we walk in his room. He smiles up at me and my heart stutters in my chest. That’s Kasey’s smile. My sweet girl has the best smile I’ve ever seen and our son has the same one. I can make out dimples and know he’s going to be a fucking heartbreaker when he gets older.
I change Griffin but don’t get him dressed for the day. I’m sure they’ll need a bath after we’re done with breakfast. I’m not even sure what I’m going to make them. I can cook a few simple things, but I’m nothing like Kasey when it comes to the kitchen and getting our boys a well-balanced meal. I guess today we’ll have eggs and toast. It will be enough to fill them up and it’s something I can cook without burning anything.
Walking in the kitchen, I find my mom already in front of the stove while my dad sits at the table. I get startled for a second because I wasn’t expecting them here this morning.
“Uh, mornin’,” I say as Andrew races over to my dad who pulls him onto his lap.
“Morning, Anthony. We knew you had the boys and figured you’d need help for breakfast. Don’t think I don’t remember that you can’t cook very much,” my mom says as laughter fills her voice.
It’s the first time I’ve heard her laugh since they got to town. Griffin pulls my sweatpants and I lift him up in my arms. He snuggles into my body and rests his head against my shoulder. My youngest boy isn’t as awake as I thought he was. Though, Griffin is always willing to snuggle with someone. He loves it and I’m not gonna deny my boy anything he wants.
“What are you guys doin’ today?” my dad asks as he looks up at me while sipping on his coffee.
“I don’t know yet. I thought I’d take the boys to the playground and let them run around for a while. I have to get a hold of Kasey to find out when she wants to meet up so she can take them home,” I answer him, pulling out a chair and taking a seat at the table with my dad.
“When are you gonna talk to her?” my dad asks.
“I’ve been tryin’ to find the time to meet up with her. We’re both busy, Dad. It’s not like I’m tryin’ to put it off indefinitely. Between work and her tryin’ to get the shop ready to open, there simply hasn’t been time. So, we’ll get there, it just won’t be the second everyone wants it to happen. We’re both open to talkin’ and findin’ the time to make it happen,” I answer him, not sure what else I can say about the situation.
“You know the Phantom Bastards were invited to the grand openin’ of the shop? Valor’s gonna be watchin’ your ass to see what’s goin’ on between the two of you. If there’s one thing I know about him from the years he’s been around, it’s that he says what he means and will wait for an opportunity to strike. That’s why I know he won’t make a move if it looks like you’re workin’ shit out. It’s just makin’ sure you want to work things out and not try with Kasey simply because you don’t want Valor to be with her. I know you, Anthony. Don’t get back with her if that’s not what you want deep in your heart and soul,” my dad informs me.
“Do you know that your dad and I almost split up a few years ago?” my mom suddenly asks as I turn to look at her with shock filling my face.
“No you didn’t,” I state as if I know everything about my parent’s relationship.
“She’s not lyin’. We did. I felt much the same way you do now. I was bored and we had a really rough time with all the kids bein’ gone. It was like we didn’t know one another anymore. So, yeah, we almost called it quits. The only difference is we talked about shit and we let our chosen family help us through shit too. We didn’t bottle everythin’ up and keep it some kind of secret because we didn’t want to deal with it,” my dad says as he looks at my mom in the kitchen.
“That’s when we started doin’ date nights and shit like that. We got back to who we were as a couple without kids around. Instead of getting into bed and going right to sleep, we spent time every single night talking about our day, what we had planned for the week, and how we were feeling about things. You kids were the only ones who didn’t know what was going on because we didn’t want to involve you. Anthony, we understand more about your situation than you realize. So, I’m telling you right now that you need to make the time to talk to Kasey. Don’t wait for the right time or have a ton of excuses ready about why you aren’t meeting up. Make it happen now. Life is too fucking short to waste time and play games,” my mom says, a sad smile on her face as she plates up our breakfast.
“Okay. When I see Kasey to drop the boys off today, I’ll set up a time to meet and talk,” I promise my parents as my dad gets up to help bring our plates over to the table.
I put Griffin in his chair while Andrew climbs up in his. Making sure the boys are strapped into their booster seats and won’t fall out, I push them in close to the table and head to the kitchen to grab milk for them to drink. With their cups filled, I walk back over and set them on the table before going to grab a cup of coffee for myself. We all sit down and have breakfast together as Andrew starts talking about going to the playground and what he wants to do. He gets us all laughing as he talks about swinging and flying high up into the sky. I know Kasey doesn’t push him that high so it’s more his imagination than anything else.
The boys and I have been at the playground for a few hours. Kasey is going to meet us here to take them home with her. My parents spent the afternoon with her at the shop. The only time we left the park was to grab takeout from the diner. I have a blanket in my truck and we set it out on the ground to have a picnic. The boys loved it. They loved eating outside and watching the birds fly close for any scrap of food we’d give them. Andrew started screaming and waving them away as they got closer and closer. I couldn’t help but laugh at him when he stood up, put his hands on his hips, and yelled at the birds.
“Our food. Not for you. Go away!” he yelled, his little voice going louder than I’ve heard it in a while.
