So the ice cream sundae idea wasn’t Demo’s brightest idea. In his defense, he’d been so fucking excited tofinallyhave Paige and her boys under his roof that he’d gone a little overboard in the celebration. He didn’t want Paige to ever regret choosing him. After everything Richard had put her through—some that Demo knew about that Paige thought she’d successfully hidden from him—Demo wanted to give Paige the life she deserved, the life her boys deserved.
He was not too thrilled that life involved her father-in-law, whose crimes were still unknown to Paige. When he’d talked to Lucky about how the man dealt with it, Lucky had said that Ronald Hannigan was alive today because of Harper, and that was the only reason. But the second Hannigan did anything to upset Harper or endanger her or their family, the man was dead.
Lucky knew it, Demo knew it, and better yet, Hannigan knew it.
“Sometimes the best punishment isn’t death,” Lucky had said.“Sometimes it’s life. Hannigan knows what he did. He knows his son is dead because of him, and he knows that he owes me his miserable existence. He suffers every day, and that pain will last a hell of a lot longer than a bullet to the head will.”
Demo had to admit that Lucky had a point. He wasn’t married to Paige, but Ronald and Cynthia Hannigan were Nelly Bean and Mikey’s grandparents. He loved Cynthia. Unfortunately, she usually had Ronald with her when she visited.
Fucking bastard.
It tooka few days for the four of them to settle into a routine. Mikey went to kindergarten in the mornings. Paige and Nelly Bean hung out at the house or with his cousins while Demo was at work. Then they all went together to get Mikey from school and did an activity together. With Christmas right around the corner, most of those activities had to do with Santa, elves, reindeer, or gifts. Thank God the club had decided years ago that gifts were not to be exchanged between club members and only to the club kids or Demo would go broke with how the club had exploded in recent years. This was the first year the club kids were doing a Secret Santa between them too. Even Melanie, Steel and Jenna’s only daughter who was now a freshman in college, and Drew, their grandson, were included in the drawing.
Nelly Bean had drawn Aaron’s name from the motorcycle helmet and Mikey had drawn his cousin Conner’s name. Aaron was seventeen and a senior in high school while Conner would be three in May. They were getting vastly different gifts, but the rule for all the kids was no gift over twenty-five dollars.
The Christmas tree in their living room was already filling up with gifts for both boys, as well as Paige’s and Demo’s to each other. Santa’s gifts for the boys were currently stashed on a tall shelf in the master walk-in closet.
One gift, however, was still in its box and being stored in the club’s garage. Demo had already conned Lucky and Pumpkin into helping him build the trampoline on Christmas Eve after all the children go to bed. Scotty, who knew of the gift, was keeping to his gentleman’s agreement with Demo and had not spilled the beans yet. Demo knew it took a lot out of him to keep the secret, but he was impressed with his nephew’s restraint.
Speaking of keeping secrets, Nelly Bean and Mikey had a lot to learn. The two were adorable, trying to hide a surprise for Demo. Nelly Bean was, thankfully, over his stomach ache by the next day and was now his usual full-of-energy self. While Mikey was older and understood the idea of a surprise, he was still six and had absolutely no poker face.
Demo didn’t know why the boys were baking him a cake. Only that they kept running out to the living room to ask Demo if he liked sprinkles or to ask him what his favorite color was or if he knew how to spell his name. He didn’t know what state the kitchen was in, but it would be worth it, regardless. He’d been banished to the living room for the foreseeable future, as if he couldn’t figure out from the voices and giggles in the kitchen that a cake was being made for him. Paige was sending him kisses and winks from the doorway.
Her ass was looking fantastic in those jeans. But then again, she could have been wearing a garbage bag and he still would have gotten hard. It didn’t take much. Everything about that woman turned him on. She’d finally gained weight after practically starving herself in an effort to keep her sons’ bellies full. At first, she’d been self-conscious about it, but that was fucking ridiculous. In fact, Demo wouldn’t mind seeing her gain a bitmoreweight.
Hell, she could gain a hundred pounds and he wouldn’t give a flying fuck. So long as she was happy, healthy, and content. That was all that mattered to him.
The contentment Demo felt at hearing Paige and her sons in the kitchen was still new to him. He didn’t have a good home life growing up, and he’d been an only child. While his dad and he were working on patching up the rift between them, it wasn’t whole by any means. So having the carefree laughter of children in his home was a concept Demo had never been prepared for. Hell, he wasn’t even sure hewantedkids a year ago. And now?
Demo closed his eyes and just listened. Fuck, he’d dreamed of this. He’d bought this houseforPaige and her boys. He’d waited months for their words and giggles and innocence to echo off these walls. He was one lucky son of a bitch.
The pitter-patter of small feet came charging out to him. Demo opened his eyes to see Nelly Bean and Mikey aiming right for him. Opening his arms, Demo caught them with ease. Fuck, he loved these two. Having Paige in his life was incredible. He loved her with every fiber of his being. But there was something so entirely special about having Nelly Bean and Mikey in his life too. Like adding extra frosting to a cake. His life was more hectic, definitely, and he’d been cockblocked more than once, but there was no doubt that he was a better man. Demo couldn’t imagine living his life without these two munchkins.
Nelly Bean wiggled his little butt with so much excitement that he nearly tumbled off Demo’s lap. Keeping a hand on both, Demo balanced them as they sat up and tried to speak at once.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. One at a time,” Demo encouraged. “Now, what do you want me to do?”
“We have an early Christmas present we want you to give us!” Nelly Bean shouted.
“Shhh…” Mikey scolded his brother, looking horrified that Nelly Bean had spoiled the surprise. “We want you to come with us,” Mikey said quickly. He scrambled to his feet. Taking Demo’s hand, he pulled on it. The kid was nowhere near strong enough to lift Demo to his feet, though that was not from lack of trying.Keeping a tight hold of Nelly Bean, Demo stood. “Okay, now close your eyes.”
He sure as hell was not closing his eyes all the way while carrying Nelly Bean and being led around by Mikey. But he faked it well, closing his eyes until he could just barely see through his lashes.
Mikey pulled on his hand. “You can’t see your surprise until I say so!”
Demo wondered if the kid realized he had icing in his hair. “Of course not,” Demo promised the little boy.
“I added the sprinkles!” Nelly Bean announced.
Before Mikey could get upset that Nelly Bean had ruined the surprise, Demo steered the conversation in a different direction. “That’s so cool. Mikey, are you sure there’s nothing in our path I can trip over?”
“Um…” Mikey stopped pulling him. They were standing in the foyer now. Demo could make out a very blurry Paige with her phone out, recording them from the doorway of the kitchen. Even though the pile of shoes by the door was nowhere near them, Mikey still moved the shoes into a steeper pile that now resembled a mountain. Demo really needed to buy a shoe rack or something for the front door.
Mikey came back to take Demo’s hand. “Okay, it’s clear now! Let’s go!”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Nelly Bean squirmed in his hold. “Put me down. I want to help.”
Demo carefully lowered Nelly Bean to the floor. Both boys were wearing Christmas-y shirts with their favorite cartoon characters on them. As Demo straightened, Nelly Bean took his other hand.
