THREE
“There’s nothing that makes you more insane than family. Or more happy. Or more exasperated. Or more . . . secure.”
~Jim Butcher
DECLAN
“You did what?”
She turned back to me as she casually said, “Melody asked me to poison Liam’s mouthwash before you all came home. What did he do?”
My mouth dropped open and for some reason my mind could not process this. Wait. “You help Melody poison my brother and ask what he did wrong?”
“You and I both know Melody loves Liam more than she loves anything in this world. She’s torturing him a little bit…because again he must have fucked up. So what did he do?” She came over to me and pushed me on to the edge of the bed as she pulled off my tie. I held onto her waist.
She was right. But still. “She’s never been the poisoning type. I expected her to take a bat to his ribs or something.”
“Yes, because that’s more civil.” She giggled as she unbuttoned my shirt. I loved it when she giggled; her nosed bunched up and her brown eyes sparkled. Pulling her closer to me, I rolled us both over on to the bed.
“I missed you tonight. Everyone had their wives beside them and meanwhile, I was surrounded by bitchass cops and Ethan, who is so much like Liam, it’s kind of scary,” I said and she reached up to brush my hair.
“Someone has to hold the fort down. And besides, you survived, it didn’t you.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re supposed to say you missed me too, Cora.”
“Am I? Honestly I was so busy with everyone I—”
Grabbing her wrist, I rolled on top of her and pinned her hands down. Her dark brown hair fell in waves cropped at her shoulders. Gravity pushed her breast up higher, and I kissed the top of them both.
“Declan—”
“Say you missed me,” I said above her.
“Make me, baby.”
“Gladly—” We both paused when we heard the baby monitor go off. “Damn it.”
Sighing, I got off of her, helped her up and she kissed my lips softly. “I’ll be right back.”
Nodding, she moved around me and towards Darcy’s nursery, he was only two years old and yet he was expert in cock-blocking me. Taking out the cotton bottoms she’d brought me, I changed and put my phone and wallet on the nightstand before walking into the nursery as well. Darcy was wide-awake. The grin on his face and the way his hazel greens were staring at his mother was contagious. Moving to them, I reached out for him and as he always did he stared at me before trying to grab my nose.
I kissed his light brown finger tips, “You and I are going to have to work on your timing. Daddy was about to—Ahh.” Cora punched, yes punched my side. “He can’t understand me.”
“You don’t know that.” She crossed her arms. “For all we know, Ethan is so much like Liam because you all kept talking about your work in front of him as a baby.”
“He’s like Liam because he’s like Liam. He could have been born deaf and still been the same way. He went on the job with Liam today—”
“He what? Does Melody know?”
“She does now.”
“That explains the poison,” she muttered, running her hands through Darcy’s thick curly hair. When he was first born, his hair looked almost blonde, even his skin was very light, but with each passing day, he got just a little more color to him. He was just as gorgeous as his mother, and had her smile too. Helen, our daughter, even though she was adopted, took after me. She was always breaking things and tearing them part just to see how they worked.
“I heard Helen took apart your laptop?” I asked softy trying not to smile.
She sighed, as if she couldn’t even find the words to say.
“Baby, you look exhausted, go lie down I got him.”
“But—”
“Father son bonding time. Darcy, say night-night to mommy.” I held him with one hand and pushed her towards the door with the other.
“I’m going. I’m going.” She laughed, kissing us both before leaving. When I sat down on the rocking chair with him on my chest, I couldn’t help but shake my head…what had happened to all of us?
The big bad Callahans all at the mercy of our children. It was madness…
“Excuse you” I said he when burped
…It was perfection.
However I was nervous…the longer our peace lasted, the harder it would be if something happened and something was always happening with this family.
NEAL