He and Tiel were still searching for that perfect unicorn nanny. Until they found that person, she was with the baby each morning and Sam was with him each afternoon. Dave had a small crib in Sam's office and a tiny hardhat, but they didn't visit many constructionsites.
"Gentlemen, it's happened," Patrick said with a nod toward me. "Young Master RISD has found himself a woman worth keeping. Naturally, he's wrecked the wholething."
"Did you leak more photos? Is that what happened?" Samteased.
"Shut up, Sam," Patrickreplied.
"What's the root issue?" Matt asked. "Walk usthroughit."
I stared at Matt and the shiny red apple between his fingers, and I thought about asking him to leave. I couldn't discussthe issuewith him here. Not unless I wanted to experience some first-handdefenestration.
But then again, I couldn't discussthe issuewith anyofthem.
Shambles.
"She says I'm not ready," Ireplied.
"Why?" Patrick asked. "Whatprecipitatedthat?"
"Um, I, uh, haven't, I mean," I stammered. "She's worried that I still have feelings for—forsomeoneelse."
Matt's head popped up at that, his brows arched as he met my eyes. He didn't say anything, but he didn'tlookaway.
"Who?" Sam asked incredulously. "Sure, you've got your slutty history like the restofus—"
"Excuse me," Patrick snapped. "Sluttyhistory?"
Sam waved him off between pats to Dave's back. "Please," he said. "You whored it up like the rest of us. You're just too domesticated now to remember your tomcat days." He speared me with a glance over his shoulder, but the burp cloth draped there softened the effect. "How could you have feelings for anyone else when you can't remember theirnames?"
"Doesn't matter," Patrick said. "Alex believes it. You have to deal with thatheadon."
"Or deal with the other woman head on," Sam offered. "Call her up. Unburdenyourself."
I could talk to her. Lauren. Maybe it would help. The prospect was terrifying and it was more likely to result in a level of destruction I'd never before achieved, but wasn't that the only way? Wasn't an armload of real fear the only thing that could give me the strength to rise from thisrubble?
That had worked for Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. I had a fifty-fifty shot of saving the city and wreaking havoc. As perusual.
I blinked back at Matt, and his eyebrows climbed higher. Like he could hear my damnthoughts.
What the fuck is thatabout?
"You could also put your head down and cry," Sam continued. "I'm fairly certain each of us has done that at somepoint."
"Your advice is terrible." Patrick rolled his eyes. "Can we finish this conversation over some beers? It's after four on a Friday, and this fucking week just needstoend."
"Amen to that," Sam muttered. "But it has to be a restaurant or something. No bars. It's too noisy, and I can't bring the baby to a bar and expect that my wife will let me sleep with her tonight. Oh, and I need to grab thediaperbag."
"So many damn issues," Patrick muttered. "There used to be a time when we could go out for a drink without alerting a half dozen people and packing luggage for smallchildren."
Matt tossed his apple core in the waste basket, snickering. "You say that as if your balls aren't dangling from Andy's keychain."
Patrick tossed up his hands. "They're all hers. She cankeep'em."
"You bitch and whine now," Sam said. "But wait until you have one of your own. You'lladapt."
I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms over my chest, squinting at my brothers as they sniped at each other. "Should I call Will instead? Maybe Tom? Or literally anyone else because you can't talk about anything but your own assholes? My life is in actualshambleshere."
"Now that you mention it, Will could be helpful. I'll text him. He's got a lot of negotiation skills. Not from the Navy SEALs, but, you know, from living with Shannon." Patrick stood and herded the others into the hallway. "Let's get out of here. We need to talk containment and clean up," he said. "Andbeer."
