By then, I spotted Jayden poking his head out on the porch, before he disappeared inside again and yelled.
“I think it’s your brothers, Darius!”
He was a cool little kid. I couldn’t deny that. He hadn’t had an easy life so far either, so I knew he was going to thrive with my brother and Gray.
Jayden reappeared with the rest of the family, including Justin, the four-year-old.
I heard Jayden say, “They have gifts,” and I grinned.
Darius was so fucking whipped. He’d cruised through his thirties and the beginning of his forties with a perpetual scowl on his face, but it was fading away these days.
It was good to see.
“Are we at the right place?” I asked. “I’m not seeing that many balloons.” Of course, in my brother’s view, his place probably looked like a Party City. I spotted balloons on the porch, as well as a banner wishing Jayden a happy ninth birthday.
Gray smirked and slapped Darius’s arm. “You hear that, baby?Not that many.”
Darius rolled his eyes but plastered a smile on his face, and at that point, we reached each other. Gray was the host in the family, that much was clear, because he did the whole spiel about how good it was to see us and so on. We didn’t really do that in our family. We were more those people who jumped into conversation immediately, as if no time had passed since the last visit.
Justin was quick to climb Gray like a tree, not happy until he was on Gray’s hip.
Darius looped an arm around Lias’s neck and spoke quietly for only them to hear.
“So, who’s the birthday boy?” I asked, holding up my gift.
“Me! That’s me!” Jayden smiled widely and stepped forward.
“Oh, that’s right—it’s you.” I chuckled and handed it over to him. “Happy birthday, kid.”
“Thank you so much. It’s fuckin’ huge.” He grabbed the box and ran for the porch.
I laughed.
“Jayden!” Gray hollered. “What did we remind you of earlier?”
Jayden stopped short on the porch steps. “I can’t even curse on my birthday?”
“Technically, your birthday’s tomorrow, small fry,” Darius drawled.
“Oh shit. I mean crap. Fucking dang it.” Jayden smirked and proceeded to leave the gift on a table on the porch.
“It’s a work in progress,” Gray chuckled.
No kidding. But if the kid had survived on the streets in Philadelphia, I reckoned he could curse all he wanted. Darius brought the kid with him to the gym quite a bit, and I’d started teaching him kickboxing. He was rough around the edges but sweet. He followed Darius around like a puppy too, something my brother soaked up.
“Don’t forget this one, kiddo,” Lias called, holding up his gift too. In a quieter voice, he asked, “Do they bite?”
I shot him a look.
Gray blinked.
“For chrissakes,” Darius chuckled. He smacked Lias upside the head. “They’re children, not cats. You’ve also met them before.”
“So?” Lias scowled. “Hazel magically turned into a biter at some point.”
True enough. Elise and Avery’s youngest was a quiet, innocent angel until someone got their fingers too close.
Justin leaned in to whisper in Gray’s ear. “I bite my food, Daddy.”
