I wrinkled my nose. “Rest in peace, Sonny.”
“You gonna let go of my woman, Pop?” Doom complained.
Sterling gave me a gentle squeeze. “In a minute.”
Doom was having none of that, taking my hand and pulling me gently away from his father. I chuckled. “There’s plenty of me to go around.”
“Like hell there is.”
“Hey, Pop,” Doc said, walking into the room. “Heard you were a dumbass.”
Sterling chuckled. “Guilty.”
“Come on back to my office and I’ll take a look.”
As they left, I wrapped my arms around Doom.
“You look gorgeous,” he said.
I wore a pair of faded skinny jeans and the dark blue, off the shoulder chamber top he’d suggested, along with a pair of blingy flipflops.
“Thanks, honey.” I smiled up at him. “But if I’d known your dad was Sterling, I wouldn’t have freaked out as much.”
He chuckled. “Baby, you freak too much about a lot of things you don’t need to freak out about. I’m learning it’s your process.”
“Oh, really?”
“Keeps you humble.”
“Dork.” I stood on tiptoes and kissed him. “I’m going to help the girls with dinner.”
“Okay.”
I walked into the kitchen and Willow was cheesing up some kind of casserole, while Jasmine was tossing a salad and Olivia was opening a bottle of wine.
“Can I help?” I asked.
“Can you grab plates, please?” Willow asked
“Of course,” I said, stepping into the pantry.
“Kids are eating,” Quin said, walking in just as I set plates on the island. “The guys have them, and I told them it’s going to take us at least ten more minutes to finish what we’re doing.”
“No, it’s not,” Willow countered.
“Yes, it is,” Quin said, flapping her hand toward the bottle of wine Olivia had just opened.
“Oh,” Willow said with a giggle. “Right. Yes it is. In fact, I should probably add more cheese and melt it on this mac and cheese.”
While Willow added more cheddar, Quin poured everyone else a glass of wine, and me a glass of sprite, then we toasted to the men who took care of our babies so we could hide in the kitchen and drink.
Once the mac and cheese was done, we started to carry things to the smaller table in the great room. It was just a few of us tonight and I liked that just fine, especially, because I got a chance to watch the dynamic between Doom and his dad, and it was amazing.
Their banter was easy, and they were obviously good friends, but Doom’s respect for the man who raised him was evident, and his southern raisin’ had been done right. I couldn’t wait to watch Doom with our babies, and I was so grateful they’d have a grandparent in their life.
Doom slid an arm around my waist and kissed my temple. “You good?”
I smiled. “So good.”
