“What do we get if we win?” Sebastian asked, taking a box and shifting excitedly as he eyed his cousins.
“Your uncle’s undying love,” Trevor said, laughing. “And the knowledge that you won.”
“And probably a cookie or two,” Zoe added, knowing how the Bradford mind worked.
Johnnie nodded firmly. “Let’s go.” With that, all four children strolled casually towards the side of the house until their cousins narrowed their eyes on them and gave chase. Several excited squeals later, and all seven kids were running towards the backyard, leaving them to follow at a leisurely stroll.
“It’s so beautiful and peaceful here,” Zoe said, sighing contently the way she did every time they came here, which was often. A lesser man might be insulted that his wife got a dreamy-eyed expression on her face every time she looked at another man’s house, but he knew that his wife absolutely adored the house that he’d fixed for her. The few times he’d offered to build a house for her, she glared at him as if he’d said something insulting.
It always made him feel good to know that he made her happy. After the really fucked up start they’d had, he was glad that he was finally doing something right. Well, right with a lot of little mishaps along the way. But they were happy, unfucking-believably happy, which still surprised him. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have found the perfect woman.
She was beautiful, smart, funny, a great wife and mother, a horrible singer, a decent cook, and baked things that even their dogs wouldn’t touch and she was his and he wouldn’t change a damn thing about her. Zoe still didn’t bother with makeup or care about the latest fashions, but she still managed to turn him on with very little effort and probably always would.
“Did you bring your bathing suit, sweetheart?” Trevor asked, already picturing her in that black one-piece that showed off a decent amount of cleavage and her shapely hips. He’d kill to get her in a two-piece, but the stubborn woman only laughed like he was joking when he suggested it.
He wasn’t.
He was in love with his wife’s body and it truly pissed him off when she thought that there was something wrong with it. Her body was perfect. She hadn’t lost any weight since they came together all those years ago, but she also hadn’t gained any even with the pregnancies. If she ever lost the extra weight that made her soft and curvy, he was pretty sure that he’d cry.
“I left it at home,” Zoe said with a shrug as if she hadn’t just wrecked his plans for the afternoon. He’d been looking forward to sitting back with an ice-cold beer as he ogled his wife. Now, he’d have to settle for having her luscious ass resting on his lap, Trevor thought with a shit-eating grin as she released his hand so that she could place the anniversary gift they’d brought for Jason and Haley on a table overflowing with gifts for the happy couple.
He let his eyes run over the pretty pink cotton sundress she’d worn for the occasion and damn near sighed. She was so damn beautiful that she made him ache.
“Trevor!” Jason yelled, grabbing his attention. He looked up from his wife’s beautiful legs to find Jason gesturing him over towards a new large gas grill and several tables covered with food.
As he walked past Zoe, he ran his hand over her bottom, giving it an affectionate squeeze that he knew had her blushing without having to look, but he did anyway. She looked so pretty standing there that he couldn’t help himself. He bent down and gave her a quick kiss before she playfully pushed him away.
“Your children are punks,” Jason said affectionately as Trevor grabbed a beer from one of the large coolers and joined him.
“So are yours,” Trevor said, chuckling as he gestured to the trio, who were currently wrestling with their grandfather in front of what appeared to be a large platter of cupcakes while two of Trevor’s kids egged them on.
He wasn’t at all surprised when he spotted Sebastian and Mathew sneaking around the distracted group and lifting the platter of cupcakes before they made a hasty retreat. They signaled for their brother and sister with a soft whistle as they made their way towards the back of the pool with the large platter of cupcakes.
“Your children truly frighten me,” Jason said even as he caught the little sneaks’ attention with a low whistle. The boys paused a few feet away from the pool fence and freedom and shot their father and uncle a calculating look, probably trying to figure out the odds of escaping with all their ill-gotten cupcakes were. Between him and Jason, they weren’t good.
“They frighten me as well,” Trevor admitted even as pride filled him. His kids were fucking brilliant, devious, and entertaining as hell.
He took another sip of his beer as he watched his children walk towards them, shooting nervous glances over their shoulders every few feet to see if Jared or any of their cousins had realized they’d been duped. They hadn’t.
Jason sighed heavily as he grabbed an ice-cold root beer and walked over to his grandmother-in-law just as the feisty old woman tried to steal an abandoned beer off the table. Without a word, Jason grabbed the beer out of the woman’s hand and replaced it with the root beer, earning a glare that Trevor wasn’t buying for one minute. Everyone knew the old woman had a soft spot for Jason.
He watched as his four children stopped less than five feet away from them even as they kept the large platter of cupcakes between them.
“You can have one each,” Sebastian said firmly as the children eyed them.
Trevor and Jason shared a look and snorted out a laugh before they looked back at the children.
“We get eighty percent of the haul,” Jason informed them.
“That’s not fair!” Jessica said, crossing her arms over her chest as she tried to glare up at her favorite uncle. When that failed, she let her bottom lip and chin tremble as her eyes filled with unshed tears.
Jason rolled his eyes. “How many times do I have to tell you, Jessie? Don’t start with a glare, go with a hurt look and never try it on another Bradford when food is involved,” he patiently explained.
Just as quickly as they came, the tears were gone and she was frowning. “I forgot.”
“It’s okay. You’ll learn,” Trevor said, knowing that she would probably have it mastered by Christmas. “Now,” he said, gesturing for them to bring the cupcakes closer, “give us our eighty percent.”
Johnnie and Sebastian frowned. “But that’s twenty cupcakes, leaving us with five cupcakes,” Sebastian pointed out.
