“Whoa there, cowboy. Myharem? Who said anything about a harem? That has been all you guys.”
“Please, who’s in denial now?” Alex sasses me, and I groan and collapse down on him. He wraps his arms around me and rolls us so he’s on top. “Face it. You, Jacinta Summers, have a harem, or a potential harem, so why not embrace it?”
“Nope, nope.Ixnay on the aremhay.” I try to pull away, but he just chuckles and kisses me until there’s a knock on the door.
“Look at that! Saved by the bell.” Alex lets go of me. I get up, but he stays where he is, his hands behind his head, posing for whoever it is at my door.
Peering through the peephole, I’m a little surprised to see Cole with Spencer in his arms.
“Hi,” I say as I open it.
“Hi, Jazzy, hi! Mummy brought me with her, and Daddy is going to spend the day with me while she’s busy.” Spencer races into my room, but he skids to a halt when he sees Alex on the bed. “Who are you? Did you tuck Jazzy into bed last night? Have you seen her tigers?” He throws himself onto the bed and bounces up and down while Alex looks on with a delighted smile on his face.
“Well, hello there. I’m Alex. Who are you?”
“I’m Spencer. My daddy is Batman. Jazzy is my best friend.”
“I’m sorry. He was eating Fruit Loops for breakfast when I picked him up from Hayden,” Cole apologizes while Alex gets up on the bed and grabs Spencer’s hands. The two of them bounce together, Spencer madly giggling the whole time.
I wave my hand. “Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing more pure than happy children. What are you guys doing today?”
“I’m not sure, but he demanded a visit when I arrived. Hayden must have told him you were here. Apparently, you’re all he can talk about—you reading him a story and the baby tigers.”
“Come on, the others are having coffee on the balcony. Let’s have one.”
Alex has turned on the TV, and he and Spencer are discussing the merits ofPaw PatrolversusBluey, both of them settling cross-legged on the bed.
“He’ll be fine. Alex is basically just a big kid.”
The other three greet Cole, and Shane hands me a coffee before pouring one for Cole while Ash lights up another smoke. “Where’s Jace?” I finally get a chance to ask Shane.
“He’s gone out to the plantation with Emma and Molly for final preparations. Alex needs to head out after lunch, but we were hoping you’d like to play tourist with us this morning.”
“That sounds like fun. Ash, what about you? You want to come play tourist?”
Ash blows out a stream of smoke and shakes his head. “No, I’ve got a call with my sister this morning. We speak every Saturday.”
“That sounds nice. What about you, Cole? You and Spence want to play tourist with us? We should get beignets and have a carriage ride. I bet he’d like that.”
“Maybe for a little while. He’ll probably get bored quickly, but then we can find something else to do.”
We leave Ash to do his thing while the rest of us head out to explore New Orleans. First, we head to Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets. Spencer and Alex giggle when they get covered in powdered sugar, which istotallyan accident, of course. Next is a carriage ride through the French Quarter and down Bourbon Street. After Spencer starts to rub his eyes, universal kid code for being tired, Cole brings him back to the hotel for a nap. Alex, Shane, Riku, and I have gumbo for lunch, and afterward, Alex insists we go pay our respects to Anne Rice.
After Alex places a bunch of flowers at her tomb, we wander around the cemetery for a little while, looking at the different tombs and mausoleums. It’s kind of creepy, but Alex keeps us entertained with wild, made-up stories about the residents of each tomb.
“Look, this one’s open!” Alex calls out. He hurries ahead a little bit since Shane and I are perfectly happy wandering hand and hand, taking our time. Riku decides to give us a little privacy, taking a business phone call and telling us he’ll wait in the car.
Shane groans as Alex disappears inside the white-washed building. “Shit, we’re going to have to go after him.”
“Go into the tomb?” I hesitate, but Shane doesn’t let go of my hand, dragging me after him.
“Come on. If we don’t reel him in, he’ll be a menace.”
We enter the tomb hand in hand, and I wrinkle my nose at the dank and moldy smell. It’s dark inside with the only light coming from the open doorway. I gaze around once my eyes adjust. It’s neglected, the large double stone casket caked in dust, and I can see puddle stains on the concrete floor from where the roof must have leaked during the last rain. Alex is standing on the other side of the casket, wiping it clean with his hands before clapping them together to remove most of the dust. He then wipes what remains on his shorts and leans over to read the inscription, running his finger along the etched words.
“Together forever in eternity. Isn’t that romantic? Together beyond death. We should have a custom casket made for us, so we can all be interred together when it’s time.” His eyes sparkle with delight when he grins at the two of us.
“Ah, yeah, sure, if you count two bodies rotting inside as romantic. Could you imagine what it would be like with all of us? No thanks.” I shudder, and Shane chuckles.
