Sloane stares after him. I squeeze her hand. “You’re part of this family, sweetness,” I whisper to her. She smiles up at me and I can’t resist. I meld my lips to hers.
“Hell yeah!” Eli shouts and I tear myself away from Sloane to glare at him.
“You can’t be mad at me for being happy for you.”
“I can be mad if you’ve been making bets about us and are happy because you won.”
Before Eli can respond, Rhett strolls back into the room. “Dakota’s on her way with the kids. And Mom will be here in an hour with lunch.”
Jaxon fiddles with his glasses. “I’m uncertain why I’m here.”
“I figured you could put the bookshelf and cupboard together faster than anyone else.” I shrug. “I guess I was wrong.”
Jaxon narrows his eyes. “You’re not wrong.”
Sloane smirks. “I have an idea. Why don’t we have a little competition? Jaxon can put the bookshelf together while Eli does the cupboard. Whoever loses has to babysit Adele on five different occasions.”
“No fair. A bookshelf is way easier to put together than a cupboard,” Eli claims.
“Not for me. I’m in. I’ll put the cupboard together faster than you can do the bookshelf. Unless you’re too scared?” Jaxon raises an eyebrow.
Eli glares at him. “You’re on.”
They shake hands before sprinting to the nursery. “Hold on,” Sloane chases after them. “We need rules.”
Rhett barks out a laugh. “Rules? Sloane should know better than to impose rules on Raiders.”
He’s wrong since when Sloane returns with Jaxon and Eli, they’re nodding in agreement to whatever she’s saying while they each carry a large box.
“I’ll get my toolbox.”
By the time I return from the garage, the furniture has been moved out of the way. I set the toolbox in between the two large boxes before backing away. I don’t want to be anywhere near Eli or Jaxon when they begin.
“Ready! Set! Go!”
As soon as Sloane says go, they break into the boxes. The door opens and Dakota enters with Pearl and Mira.
“Unka Eli!” Pearl shouts and rushes to him.
Sloane scoops her up before she reaches him. “Do you want to play with me this morning?”
“Mom! I’m going to play with Aunt Sloane.”
Sloane’s eyes well with tears. But she sucks them up and smiles at Pearl. “What do you want to do first?”
I watch as they walk toward Sloane’s bedroom. I know I’m going to screw up with her a lot. One thing I did right, though, is to give her a family. I can’t repair her relationship with her mom or find her dad, but I can share my brothers and their partners with her.
And I can give her children. I already consider Adele hers but she needs more children. A big family is what she’s always wanted and I’m ready to give it to her.
I need a bigger house.
Chapter 28
“Sometimes love feels like riding a carousel with smugglers yelling sea monster noises.”
Sloane
Icheck my phone for the tenth time in the last minute. Still no news from Zane.
