“You absolutely can, your highness.” He smiled. “The moment I put the batter together, it’s all yours.”
“Yes!” She pumped her fist in the air in celebration.
“ButIwanna stir it,” LJ chimed in, folding his little arms over his chest and pouting.
Xander stepped away from the stove, squatting beside him.
“Well, LJ, if you’re over there stirring,” he said, “who’s gonna crack the eggs for me?”
LJ’s face lit up.
“I gotta see if you were paying attention the other day when I taught you how to crack them the right way.”
“Yay!” LJ shouted. “Cool!”
Xander held out a fist for him to bump, and LJ accepted.
As he returned to his full height, his eyes met Rylee’s from across the kitchen. She was leaning against the wood-paneled entrance, her expression a mix of humor and something else… annoyance?
When he’d shown up at the brownstone that morning, on his day off, she hadn’t looked too pleased.
She’d sighed the second she opened the door.
“Didn’t we talk about this?”
He handed her a paper cup of coffee from her favorite spot down the block, lifted the bag of groceries in his other hand, and leaned in to kiss her lips.
“I was in the area and thought I’d take making breakfast off your hands.”
She closed her eyes and exhaled. Her lips parted to say more, but Nova’s voice interrupted.
“Uncle Xander, yay! LJ, Uncle Xander’s here.”
Xander winked at Rylee and stepped over the threshold. She stepped aside to let him in.
“Uncle Xander’s here,” Xander teased, stealing another kiss from Rylee.
Since then, she’d been giving him subtle death stares from across the room.
It had been almost three years since they made things official. He loved that woman and loved his time with her. But his time with her kids? That was unmatched.
They were amazing. He’d known that from the moment he met them at his mother’s daycare during the week they stayed at Future Seeds Daycare. Since then, he’d been at every birthday, every school event, even helped them sell holiday candy, taking the catalogs to work and bullying his firefighter crew into buying holiday tins.
He might as well haveDad in Trainingtatted on his forehead.
And while the thought was a mix of pride and nerves, Rylee’s constant reminders tochill about ittook some of the wind out of him.
Like now… her arms folded, that too-tight smile she gave the kids when they pulled her into their bubble.
He turned the fire off beneath the last strips of turkey bacon and plated them.
“Aight, LJ.” He lifted the boy onto the wooden stand Xander bought for the children last year when they first showed interest in helping him cook. It helped them reach the counter and made them feel like grown-ups. It was cute.
“I’m gonna leave these here with you,” he said, tapping the closed carton of eggs. “I want you to crack eight.”
“Eight eggs?!” LJ looked excited and nervous all at once.
“Eight eggs, big boy,” Xander confirmed, tapping LJ’s belly playfully. “You got this.”
