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“Youse even taller dan Daddy,” she said, her sweet little voice clearly in awe.
“I know,” Cade replied, a grin on his lips as he halted next to us. “Hey.”
“Pandering to her every need, I see,” I said with a raised brow. Belle didn’t want for any attention, not with her four uncles and older brother, and don’t even get me started on Sal, who had taken to her calling him Popa. He loved every second that little girl doted on him.
“It’s what big brothers are for.” He shrugged, his eyes widening at something behind us. He’d been away at college for the last two years, but anytime he could get home for the weekend he was living it up with pretend tea parties and letting PB give him a makeover. He was a sucker when it came to his sister, but it didn’t fail to put a grin on my face.
“Quick,” he ducked down. “Hide me. Aria is coming over.”
“Ara?” Belle asked. “Where Ara?” she said, louder that time as she searched the crowd. She waved her hand in the air. “Ara! We over here!”
“Shit,” Cade cursed.
“Shit,” Belle repeated.
“Dammit, Cade,” Brody groaned. “What did I tell you about—”
“Dammit, Cade,” Belle repeated.
I moaned. The girl was a sponge, and she soaked up every little piece of information and knowledge. Unless it was bath and bedtime. Then she magically lost her hearing.
“Right, come on down now, Belle. Let’s go and see Uncle Ford.”
“Nope.” She shook her head and held on to Cade’s hair tighter. “I staying wiv my big brover.”
“Belle,” I warned, already tired after the full day we’d had. “You can come back and—”
“She’s fine,” Cade said, straightening as another few people joined the circle. “She can be my buffer.”
“Your buffer?” Brody asked, flicking his gaze over at the newcomers, greeting them all with a nod. “Sal, Jan, Aria.”
They all said their hellos, but it was Aria’s face that had me frowning. She was the spitting image of her mom with her shocking red hair and pale face, but it was the blush spreading on her cheeks that had a smile lifting back on my face. She’d met Cade after he was shot, and she’d been around constantly since. We all knew she had a crush on him, but she was eight when they met, which meant she was only thirteen now. Cade saw her like a little sister, but she hadn’t gotten that memo.
“Hi, Cade,” she greeted, her soft voice barely able to be heard. Where Jan was loud and in your face, Aria was the complete opposite.
Cade shuffled his feet on the floor and readjusted his grip on Belle’s legs. “Hey.”
“Are we ready to get this party started?” Ford asked, pushing through us all and reaching for Belle. “Baby Belle!”
“Unkie Ford!” She squealed and tried to leap off Cade’s shoulders, but she didn’t realize it was a long fall because of how tall he was. He’d even surpassed Brody’s six-foot-four height. Only by an inch, but Cade loved to remind him.
Ford caught her and held her to his chest. “Thanks for coming, Baby Belle.”
She pressed her small hand to his stubbled cheek and flashed him a toothy grin. “Anytime, Unkie Ford. We go play now?”
He blew out a breath and grinned at me. “I thought she’d never ask. Let’s get outta here, I hear I have cake in my near future.”
He took a step away from us as Belle answered. “You does, Mama made it.”
He groaned. “I can’t wait.”
Everyone filed after him, Aria sticking to Jan’s side and Cade taking up the rear, but neither Brody nor I moved.
“Do you ever wonder what life would be like if we’d never have gotten here?” I asked.
“No.” He shook his head and cupped the sides of my face, getting as close as he could with the growing bump in the way. “Not for one second. Souls like ours aren’t destined to be apart. We would always find each other, it just took us a little while.”
I closed my eyes and basked in the feel of him. “I love how sappy you are.”
