Heir looked up at Viggo, his brown eyes locking on him before tilting his head. It reminded Viggo of Heavy, the same shit he did when he was studying a car engine or instructions for something. When he flashed his grin, Viggo couldn’t help but straighten up as Harlee came crashing into the room again with her purple unicorn dress and jelly sandals. Viggo froze.Nah, it couldn’t be,he thought.
“I really appreciate this, Petal. I know you’re doing this because of Remi?—”
“Partly. Those babies also need somewhere to stay.” She nodded to Heir and Harlee standing near Viggo. “Remi is practically family, and we look out for each other. Now, you plan on sticking around this time, right?” Petal rose from her chair.
“Yeah. They deserve somewhere stable and safe to grow up.” Giselle leaned back in her chair.
She took in the small kitchen. The entire house was half the space she was used to, but she had ideas she was going to put together for the kids to make it feel more like home. With everything on one floor, she enjoyed the ranch style floor plan.
“Is cash okay for the payment?”
“Sure. Let me go get the paperwork from my car and the keys. Viggo, everything good with the hot water?”
“Yeah. You’ll just need to go to the utility company and get the lights, and everything put in your name.” He pushed himself off the door frame, and Petal moved past him.
Giselle followed, ending up in the living room beside the fireplace. She loved the stone crafting of it and the little space for her to sit and watch the logs burn if she wanted to. Another car pulled into the driveway, and she heard voices along with Petal, all heading toward the front door.
“You sent me this long ass list, and Viggo already here?”
It’d been years, but she knew that voice. Sometimes she yearned for it. Every now and then, she would close her eyes and replay that last moment together in Remi’s hallway. Immediately, it registered in her core, and she slowly closed her eyes, savoring it, but also mentally preparing for it all to change. He was bound to be angry, resentful. All things she earned. Coming home, she knew there was inevitably no way around this.
“Hush. I wanted you to come do an inspection anyway in case he missed something,” Petal argued.
Footsteps hit the hard wood floors, and Giselle remained seated in front of the fireplace.
“You know that boy a little slow,” Horace piped up.
“Aye, I heard that!” Viggo came strolling down the hall from the kitchen. “Y’all be talking hella shit when I ain’t around.”
“I’ll say it to your face too,” his grandfather quipped, crouching and playfully swinging on Viggo as Heavy appeared in the doorway.
Gripping an old, rusted toolbox in one hand, he filled out a pair of cargo pants, a black t-shirt, and black steel toe sneakers. A black fitted hat rested on his head, and his warm eyes latched onto Giselle instantly in surprise. His cologne slowly filled thespace, some kind of bergamot that blended well with his natural man scent. Giselle didn’t know how to react, but her lungs were constricted, robbing her of air as she waited for him to say something.
One glance, and she’d stolen his next breath. It was subtle as his light eyes raked over her curiously and his grip tightened on the toolbox.
“Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.” Horace pushed past his grandsons and admired Giselle with a grin. “Giselle, right?”
She cleared her throat and smiled, although it was obvious she was putting on. Somberness rested in her big, doe eyes, and Heavy took note of it. There was something else, but he couldn’t name it, drinking in her womanly curves in the tight jeans, t-shirt, and cardigan. There was no make-up, but her nails were in an almond shaped French tip design as she locked her fingers together.
“Yes. Horace, right?” She examined his bruised face and the hospital band on his wrist.
“I’m hard to forget, ain’t I?” he teased, playfully hiking his brows.
“Yeah, because you an old fool,” Petal spoke up, rolling her eyes. “Even all black and blue.”
Petal accepted a long time ago that her husband was a flirt. He’d never cheated on her, that she knew of; he just liked to entertain women. He didn’t get inappropriate or disrespectful, even when his wife wasn’t around. Although she worked every nerve he had, he loved Petal Sapien from the top of her thick, naturally curly hair that she wore wild, like the late Angie Stone, to the sole of her bare feet. She was his heart in human form. He could talk all the shit he wanted about her but let anybody else come at her incorrect, and he would be ready to knock them back a decade or two.
Finally able to catch his breath, Heavy listened and thought his ears were deceiving him when he heard the laughter and little voices as the pitter patter of small feet raced in their direction. He damn near caught whiplash when Harlee and Heir cut through him and Viggo to get to Giselle.
“Mommy, Heir scared me. He jumped out the closet and made monster noises!” Harlee hugged her mama’s leg and peeked around it at her brother with a cute pout.
Heir was still laughing and smiling mannishly. When he turned, he examined Heavy, craning his neck to take in his large frame. The man was in a trance, looking into the little boy’s eyes. The curve of his grin, the shape of his face, and his rich, caramel skin… all familiar. His eyes drifted to Harlee, still holding onto her mama’s leg and peeking around her with a furrowed brow. Sienna colored curls like him and Henna, and a serious stare damn near a mirror to his own on her pretty little face. Twins.
The realization landed like a punch. Heavy looked up into Giselle’s eyes, searching. She didn’t speak. She didn’t need to. Every answer was written on those two little people’s faces. A long silence stretched between them, and Heavy lowered the toolbox to the ground. So many thoughts swam through his head; he almost felt dizzy.
“Whoa!” Horace expressed. “Petal, you see these babies?”
“Yes, Horace. They’re gorgeous.”
