“Like Aspen who got a spanking at the last gathering,” Brooklyn suggested, remembering the sound of her friend’s cries from her nursery. All the Littles had welcomed her back with hugs when Aspen had returned. No one commented on her blotchy face at all.
“Let’s go erase these tears and greet our company properly,” Caden told her.
With her face clean of the makeup she’d worn to court, Brooklyn clung to her daddy’s hand as she followed him to the kitchen. Aspen, Giana, and Pippa crowded around her in a flurry of greetings. Brooklyn turned from the last embrace to meet Max’s kind gaze.
“I think your daddy has a surprise for you,” the large man suggested.
“Let’s go check out your nursery,” Caden said, sweeping a hand toward the hallway.
Brooklyn forced herself to walk to the closed door. Turning the knob, she peeked into the room and gasped. She pushed the door open and bounced inside, turning to look at the walls.
Ever since Brent had been inside her nursery, it hadn’t felt the same. Like his presence had somehow left a shadow over the beautiful room. No darkness could exist in this area ever again. The walls were a bright sunny yellow with flowers, cute animals, and smiling insects. It was like being in the middle of a gorgeous meadow.
She walked forward to touch one grinning ladybug. Caden caught her hand. “It’s wet, little girl. You don’t want to smudge Max’s work.”
Whirling to stare at the large man now standing in the room with the others, Brooklyn asked, “You painted all of this?” Her first impression of the burly soldier aligned better with cutting firewood with an axe than holding a paintbrush.
“I did. I almost skipped joining the military to go paint pictures in Paris,” Max told her with a wink.
“Thank you so much.” Brooklyn ran forward to throw her arms around his waist. The impact with his hard body felt like running into a wall. “Oof!”
“Careful there, Brooklyn. You don’t have to thank me. I was glad to paint you an army of cute friends to guard you,” Max told her.
Brooklyn turned to scan the room one more time. He was right. She could never be scared in this room with all these creatures to back her up.
“I love this so much,” she whispered.
“You’re going to have to name them,” Pippa suggested.
“Want to help me?” Brooklyn asked, grinning at her friends.
As the Littles debated different names, Brooklyn overheard the men talking behind them.
“I decided to take an art class at the local community college,” Max told the guys.
“Are you going to sit around and paint fruit?” Koa asked.
“No, it’s a human figure drawing class. We’ll have models,” Max explained.
“Clothed?” Hank asked.
“Sometimes,” Max answered.
“Maybe I should take this art class with you,” Hank said.
“You’ll have to qualify by showing them your portfolio,” Max told him.
“I’ve seen you sketch wiring plans for explosives,” Jerico said. “They’ll bump you back to art history.”
“Probably. Looks like you’ll have to excel on your own, Max,” Hank told him. “Let’s go eat. All this talk about models makes me hungry.”
“Alright, Littles. Let’s go raid the food,” Caden suggested, holding a hand out for Brooklyn’s.
She skipped to his side. “Let’s go, Daddy! I’m starving.” As they walked, she whispered, “Can I sit on a cushion?”
“No way, little girl. Sitting on your hot bottom might remind you to make better decisions.”
Brooklyn pouted for the rest of the way to the kitchen. When he settled her at the kitchen table with a plate of her favorite foods and chocolate milk, she couldn’t help but smile at him. He showed her each day how much he loved her.
