“I know!” Nix exclaimed. “So I had to tell him.”
“Fine.” Aries turned back toward the suitcase.
“What exactly is happening here?” Vin questioned.
Well, at least Aries would be able to surprise someone with his awesome idea. Dropping to his knees, Aries once again reached for the zipper.
Vin took several steps back, making Aries pause.
“It’s fine, man.” Gem patted Vin’s shoulder as he entered the room and walked toward the couch. “Nothing to be afraid of.”
“I don’t know about that,” Vin responded. “Anything that Aries and Nix conspired together to do has me worried.”
Gem barked out a laugh while nodding. “That’s fair.”
“It’s nothing bad, D— dang.” Aries very nearly called Vin Daddy. He tucked his chin into his chest. This was hard. Harder than he thought it would be.
Nix suddenly started to talk very loudly, drawing their mom and dad’s attention to him.
Behind him, Vin crouched, pulling Aries back against his wide chest.
“It’s okay,” Vin soothed. “No one noticed.”
“But I almost—”
“It would have been fine if you did. Remember everyone here loves you,” Vin said.
“I know,” Aries admitted quietly.
“So what secret have you been keeping from me?” Vin asked.
Turning his head to smile, Aries tried to assure his Daddy that there really wasn’t anything to worry about. “It was a good secret.”
Vin nodded. “Okay, I’ll trust you.”
Aries started to unzip the suitcase. He pushed the top over, banging it against the wood. “Oops!”
“It’s fine,” Evan said from his chair. “It would take a lot more than that to damage the wood. I repurposed that from a fallen log up the mountain.”
“Isn’t he the best?” Nix said dreamily.
Aries thought his Daddy was the best but decided to keep that to himself. Evan was cool and nice and perfect for Nix. Vin was simply better than the best. Aries started to dig through the suitcase looking for the surprise.
He pushed a familiar white bag to the side without saying a word. Of course his mama had brought that. Gem was going to be so annoyed. He finally found what he was looking for at the bottom of the suitcase.
Aries grabbed the surprises in his hands and pulled them out before tucking them into his chest.
“Close your eyes?” he ordered Vin.
“Why?” Again, the suspicion was strong.
Aries kissed his Daddy’s cheek. “Please?”
Vin sighed but did close his eyes.
Aries had to wiggle from between the coffee table and Vin’s bigger body.
“Where are you going?” Vin demanded, shooting out his hand and capturing Aries’s wrist.
