Just watching the show brought a smile to my face.
Still smiling, he grabbed Imogen’s plasticBlueyplate and loaded it with some rice and an egg roll. “You gonna get some food, Ro?” he asked. “Deej and I didn’t drive all the way over to the Lucky Dragon for you not to eat.”
“Alright, alright,” I grumbled, grabbing a plate from the stack and spooning some chow mein and beef onto it. I followed Donovan over to the counter, where he slid Immie into her high chair and grabbed the last stool that happened to be between him and Gabby.
And as I sat, watching my kids interact with my boyfriend and his daughter, I realized something.
I may have been at war with my ex-husband, but my kids were well-adjusted enough to handle it, and hopefully, I’d be able to keep future therapy to the bare minimum. Whatever happened, they felt safe. I’d given them that, and I’d done it solo.
I’d taught my kids the ability to just roll with it and try to hold on to what was real. And when the world tilted back to its rightful place, they were going to tilt with it, no worse for wear.
CHAPTER 20
DONOVAN
The next couple of weeks passed without much incident, which was a relief considering all the bullshit going on behind the scenes with Evan and the custody case.
Ro and I took the kids up to Rock Springs to kit them out with back-to-school clothes and supplies, and we had a blast. Then we all went back a few days later to go boating and waterskiing at Flaming Gorge.
The kids loved it, especially Imogen, who was a total water baby. The best part of the day was that I got to perv on Rosie in cut-off shorts and a bikini top, and the worst part was that all the other men in the vicinity did too.
At one point, Rosie had to pull me back from punching some asshole who hit on her in front of my face.We got nose-to-nose before my woman dragged me away and told him to beat feet. Apart from that little blip, our day out was amazing, and the perfect swan song before the kids went back to school.
On the last weekend of the summer break, Cash decided to have a party at the Demons' clubhouse. Ro and I arranged to go to the shindig with Callum and Maeve. My brother had told Ma about Maeve’s pregnancy a couple of days after they gotback from their honeymoon, and as you could imagine, she was beside herself.
Mam was bursting to tell everybody, but Callum wanted to wait until Maeve was past the twelve-week mark, which incidentally fell on the same weekend as the party, so the happy couple decided they’d announce their news there.
I rushed home from work with Imogen and fed and bathed her. As soon as we emerged from the bathroom, Ma hovered in the background, itching to take over while I got my girl into her little sleep onesie.
“Should I take my granddaughter Imogen so you can get dressed?” Mam asked, her tone verging on desperation.
“Thanks, Ma. I’m good.” I carefully threaded my girl’s little arm into her sleeve. “I won’t see her all night. I want to spend as much time as I can with her before I go out.”
Imogen looked up at me, and I swore I saw her little eyes roll.
My eyes widened as I looked down at her, and in an affronted tone, I asked, “Excuse me, but what was that?”
Imogen heaved out a sigh, and in her sweet baby voice, she murmured, “Nana.”
Mam sniffed haughtily. “See? She wants her nanna, but her father’s too selfish to hand her over. I ask Mary mother of Jesus, every day how the angels could send me such a little fecker for a son. You’ve had her all day at work, and I’ve been lonely, and you don’t even care.”
“Alright, alright, I’m done now anyway. I’m pretty sure she’s ten seconds away from falling asleep.”
Mam swooped in and took the baby, settling her on her hip. “She’s not going to sleep anytime soon. I have a new mermaid story I want to read to her, and we’re playing sticker books for a while, aren’t we, Imogen love?”
My daughter looked up at her nanna and gave her a big, toothy smile before faceplanting her cheek against Mam’s chest.
“You’re going to have a little baby cousin soon, Imogen. Isn’t that grand?” Mam crooned. “We should go through the baby book and make a list of all the names we like and give it to your aunt Maeve. I’m sure she’d love some suggestions, don’t you? There are some beautiful Irish names we could tell her about...” Mam’s voice faded away as she took Imogen into the kitchen, no doubt so she could shove something sweet and full of additives down my kid’s neck.
My heart warmed as I watched them leave. Not for the first time, I wondered what my dad would have made of my daughter.
Lorcan O’Shea was a man’s man, but he loved the ladies, too. He made mistakes with my brothers and me, but he wasn’t that way with my sister Aislynn. Dad doted on her, called her his princess, and encouraged her to do and be whatever she wanted. It was Mam who was harder on Ash, and although they had a great relationship, Mam was always on her back to settle down and have babies, though hopefully, Callum and I could keep her happy in that department for a while.
Checking my watch, I realized I only had ten minutes until my ride was due. Heading into my bedroom, I paused to grab my cell phone from my back pocket and clicked on Rosie’s name.
She answered after the third ring with a soft, “Hey.”
My cock jerked because I only had to hear my woman’s voice to be affected by her.
