I listened but heard nothing. I lifted up and saw my clock said it was nearly nine thirty.
Merry, I was discovering, woke early, even without an alarm clock.
Ethan, on a weekend, slept as long as he could.
Curious as to what Merry might be doing in my house with no one awake, I pushed the covers back, threw my legs over the side of the bed, got up, and headed straight out of the room.
In the hallway, I saw Ethan’s door was open.
Interesting.
Walking down the hall, I heard it. Voices murmuring. Being quiet.
They didn’t want to wake me.
My two guys in the kitchen, my son up early because Merry was there, being quiet in order not to wake me.
I’d never admit it to anybody, but that made me feel warm too…and squishy.
My feet silent on the carpeting, I headed to the living room through it, the murmurs becoming more distinct, but I couldn’t hear much of anything.
Until I hit the doorway of the kitchen. I heard them. I saw them.
And my knees went weak.
Ethan was in his jammies at the table, hair a mess, shoveling waffles in his mouth.
Merry was at the counter, jeans on, shirt on but untucked, feet bare, standing next to the waffle iron but taking a sip off coffee, his mouth curled up, his eyes on my boy.
Oh yeah. Shit.
Warm and squishy.
“So I was all, ‘kiss my butt,’ and they were all, ‘whatever,’” Ethan was saying.
I had no idea what he was talking about, but whatever it was, Merry found it amusing.
I liked this. I liked Merry making my kid waffles. I liked the fact he could do that at all, considering I’d paid three bucks for that waffle iron and it’d only worked once, so I was glad he’d fixed it. And I liked my kid having a guy in the house to babble guy shit to, getting up early to do it on a Saturday morning.
I leaned against the jamb and instantly got two pairs of eyes, my brown ones in my son’s face and Merry’s blue ones in his beautiful face.
“Mom! Cool! You’re up!” Ethan cried. “Waffle time!”
“Seems you started without me,” I noted.
Ethan smiled. “I was hungry.”
I looked to Merry. “How many has he had so far?”
Merry was still grinning but now doing it at me. “Three.”
“I’m a growin’ boy,” Ethan decreed.
“You’re definitely that considering I’m soon going to have to sell my plasma in order to keep you in Oreos,” I returned.
“I’ll sell mine too so we can double up on America’s finest cookie,” Ethan offered.
I shook my head, doing it smiling, and moved into the kitchen. I went straight to my son and didn’t push my luck with gooey. I just reached out and shoved his head to the side, but I did it tousling his hair just a little bit, hoping he wouldn’t notice.
He noticed and I knew this when he muttered, “You’re a goof, Mom.”
“Whatever,” I muttered back and moved to Merry.
He watched me and I watched him, thinking he looked right at home in Janis Joplin’s kitchen.
I got close, put a hand to his abs, and lifted up to kiss his jaw.
“Mornin’, baby,” he said quietly.
I pulled back my head but stayed close, looking him in the eye, trying to decide if him making my son waffles in my kitchen was a better “mornin’” than the one he’d given me the day before.
It was an impossible decision. I was just going to have to equally enjoy all the boons he was giving me.
I didn’t suspect this would be hard.
“Mornin’,” I replied.
“Want waffles?” he asked.
“Want coffee,” I answered, shifting away. “After teeth brushing,” I went on. “Then waffles after coffee,” I finished, wandering out of the room.
“I’ll get on that, princess,” Merry said.
I gave him a look as I hit the doorway.
“Mom!” Ethan cried again like I wasn’t five feet away from him.
I turned in the door and lifted my brows.
Hold On
Kristen Ashley's books
- Holding the Dream
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Moon Island(Vampire Destiny Book 7)
- Illusion(The Vampire Destiny Book 2)
- Upon A Midnight Clear
- Son Of The Morning
- MacKenzie's mission(MacKenzie Family Saga #2)
- Loving Evangeline(Patterson-Cannon Family series #1)
- A Billionaire's Redemption
- A Convenient Proposal
- A Dishonorable Knight
- A Headstrong Woman
- A Passion for Pleasure
- Atonement
- Beyond a Doubt
- Beyond Control
- Cavanaugh on Duty
- Colton's Dilemma (Shadow Breeds)
- Conceal, Protect
- Conflict of Interest
- Confessing to the Cowboy
- Dreams Don't Wait
- Explosive Attraction
- Find Wonder in All Things
- Forbidden Fires (Bondage & Breakfast)
- Galveston Between Wind and Water
- Game On
- Gone with the Wolf
- Honor's Players
- Illusions of Love
- Intaglio Dragons All The Way Down
- Just One Song
- Living London
- Lone Wolf (Shifters Unbound)
- Love Resolution
- Lyon's Crew
- Mountain Moonlight
- Need A Want Companion Novel
- Of One Heart
- Once a Bad Girl
- Once a Thief
- Once Again a Bride
- Once and Again
- Once Touched, Never Forgotten
- Once Upon a Kiss
- Once Upon a Prince
- One Desert Night
- One More Kiss
- One More Sleepless Night
- One Night of Misbehavior
- One Night Standoff
- One Texas Night
- Only Love (The Atonement Series)
- Operation Endurance
- Primal Bonds
- Questions of Trust A Medical Romance
- Reflection Point
- Retribution
- Savage Redemption
- Second Chance
- Secure Location
- Someone I Used to Know
- Son of a Preacher Man
- Soul Bonded
- Sunset Seduction
- Sweet as Honey (The Seven Sisters)
- Sweet On You
- Tempting Cameron
- That Carrington Magic
- The Bridgertons Happily Ever After
- The Demon's Song
- The Dragon and the Pearl
- The Lone Rancher
- The Millionaire Cowboy's Secret
- Translation of Love
- Twisted Perfection
- Vision In White
- When Love's Gone Country
- The Lost Tycoon
- Down on Her Knees
- Love, Your Concierge
- A Demon Made Me Do It
- Campbell_Book One
- The Lady of Bolton Hill
- Born to Ride_A Clubhouse Collection
- A Question of Honor
- Blood on Copperhead Trail
- Passion and the Prince
- Top Secret Twenty-One
- Dungeon Royale
- Make Me Bad(Private Lessons)
- My Fair Billionaire
- Writing Our Song:A Billionaire Romance
- Kissed by Moonlight
- Redemption in Love
- The Masterful Mr. Montague
- Diamonds are Forever
- Every Second with You
- If You Only Knew