“Thinking we just had too much sugar before bed,” Demo said, his voice soothing. His words were both for her and Nelly Bean.
Paige stepped over the edge of the tub. Demo moved over while also offering his hand that had been on Nelly Bean’s back to her. She came under the lukewarm spray, ignoring the coolness. She personally preferred a much hotter shower.
“Fever?” she asked. Coming forward, her bathrobe was quickly soaked. Her unruly, brunette curls straightened with the weight of the water.
Demo wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her in close to him and her son. Her hand replaced his on Nelly Bean’s back as she laid her cheek on Demo’s muscular bicep by Nelly Bean’s face. Her boy looked miserable. She pressed a kiss to his warm forehead.
“Low grade,” Demo said softly. “Also threw up in his bed, on himself, and on me. Figured this was the easiest way to clean up and help with the fever.”
It had been months into their relationship when Paige discovered that Demo had been getting secret lessons from Bear, the club’s Road Captain and a registered nurse, on, well,children. Neither Nelly Bean nor Mikey were infants, but Demo had never had experience with kids, so he didn’t know what to look for or how to help one if there was an injury or illness. He also took child CPR classes, learned about vaccinations, and different developmental stages. Paige was pretty sure he knew more about childrearing than she did now.
Turning away from her boys, Paige reached for her essential oil bottles that she kept in the shower. Some were for medicinal purposes, while others acted as aphrodisiacs and were meant for her and Demo’s personal uses.
Placing some peppermint, lavender, lemon, and chamomile drops on a sea sponge loofah, Paige kneaded the soft material asthe scents rose in the humid air. She stepped back over to Nelly Bean, who still had a death grip on Demo’s neck, and started slowly rubbing the sponge up and down his back.
“My poor baby,” she crooned. “I’m sorry you’re not feeling well, Nelly Bean.”
Her son hiccupped around his thumb. She did not scold him for sucking on the digit when he was so upset. “My tummy hurts,” he whined.
Paige’s heart tugged at her son’s misery. “I know, baby. I guess having an ice cream sundae picnic this evening was a bad idea.”
Demo had surprised Mikey and Nelly Bean with a massive ice cream spread after dinner, along with a movie and picnic set up on the living room floor. Paige had been as excited as the boys were when she’d seen it.
“It was too much,” Demo murmured. “I shouldn’t have?—”
Paige stopped him with a look. “It was wonderful,” she defended. “It was sweet and wonderful and so much fun. Kids throw up, baby. He’ll be fine.”
Demo didn’t look convinced. “I should go clean up his bedroom. I was trying to be quiet so I didn’t wake you, but since you’re here, if you want to take him, I can go get started on his sheets.”
But when Demo went to lift Nelly Bean off his chest, Nelly Bean’s grip on him tightened.
“Easy,” Paige soothed, continuing to rub the sponge up and down Nelly Bean’s back. She also placed her other hand on the small of Demo’s, her fingers tracing over his Apollo’s dimples. They’d had more sex in the eleven months that they’d known each other than Paige and her husband had had in their entire six years of marriage. Beyond that, the trust and intimacy between them was unmatched. There was no comparison because both had been absent in her marriage to Richard.
The look on Demo’s face showed his shock, and she realized in that moment that he wasn’t just worried for Nelly Bean. He felt guilt too. He thought that Nelly Bean getting sick was his fault, as it had been his doing to put out the ice cream sundaes. In his mind, it made no sense that Nelly Bean would want to stay with him instead of going to his mother.
Paige pushed up on her tippy-toes, careful of the slippery porcelain beneath her feet, to kiss Demo’s cheek.
He blinked at her, flabbergasted. “What was that for?”
“You silly man. He loves you as much as I do,” Paige said with certainty.
Placing the sponge in Demo’s free hand, she carefully got herself out of the shower. She grabbed her towel off the rack as she dropped her soaked bathrobe off her shoulders.
Wrapping the towel around herself, she turned to face her boys in the shower. “Sometimes I amaze myself with my genius.”
Demo raised an eyebrow. He was still rocking Nelly Bean, trying to offer him as much comfort as he could. “I’m usually the one who has to remind you of how smart you are.”
Paige smiled widely at him. “True, but this time I realized it all on my own.” Winking, she added, “I chose you. Smartest decision I ever made.”
“If I recall correctly, there were some scary needles and witchy powers, that you still deny, involved in that decision.”
Chuckling at the memory, Paige said, “Cherish this time. All too soon we’ll be sending him off to college.”
Demo’s groan followed her out of the bathroom.
CHAPTER 2
DEMO
