She kisses my cheek. “You never need to thank me for being your mom. It was and is my privilege.”
“I was so busy being mad at Dad for abandoning us and trying not to become him, I forgot I had a support system.”
“It didn’t stop you from giving Stuart a hard time when we began dating.”
I smirk. “It’s my duty as your son to give any man you date a hard time.”
“Maybe, but I could have done without you setting his house on fire.”
I roll my eyes. “We didn’t set his house on fire. It was merely a bit of smoke. And it was an accident.”
She laughs. “I hope your children are as rambunctious as you are.”
“Adele is the perfect baby girl. There’s no way she’s ever going to sprint naked through downtown while being chased by sheep.”
She pats my back. “You keep on thinking that.”
“But my next child?” I shrug. “Who knows?” I scan the room. “Speaking of which, where’s Sloane?”
Mom blinks. “I don’t know.”
She’s obviously lying. Mom never loses sight of anyone in her pack. “Mom?”
“Let’s get those discharge papers. Your brothers are waiting to hear how Adele is doing.”
I should have realized the Raider clan is here. We always show up for one another. Except for when I’m off on an adventure. I glance down at Adele. She’s the only adventure I need now.
We’re swarmed by my brothers the second we reach the waiting room. Adele is handed around until I growl and declare no more.
“Where’s Sloane?” I ask as I scan the room.
“We should go.” Eli herds us out of the hospital into the parking lot.
“What about Sloane? She needs a ride,” I say as I strap Adele into the car seat.
Miles jumps into the driver’s seat. “I’ve always wanted to drive the dad-mobile.”
He switches on the car and drives out of the parking lot. “Wait. What about Sloane?”
“Did you switch off your computer before you left the distillery?” Kai asks.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t exactly thinking about computer protocol.”
We arrive at home. “Thanks for the ride,” I say as I release Adele from the child seat. She doesn’t wake up. The doctor said she’ll sleep a lot for the next day or two.
I assume my brothers will return to work at the distillery now but they follow me into the house. “I need to get Adele settled.”
I place my baby girl in her crib and grab the baby monitor. I search my bedroom and the spare bedroom, but Sloane isn’t here. Did we leave her at the hospital?
“What’s going on?” I ask when I enter the living room, where my brothers are waiting for me. “Every time I brought up Sloane’s name, you changed the subject. And she’s not here.”
“We wanted you to get Adele settled before bringing up the topic,” Eli says.
“The topic? Sloane isn’t a topic. She’s my girlfriend.”
He lifts a brow. “She is?”
“What the hell? Of course, she is. She lives here with me and Adele.”
