BOOM!
“Mommy, Mommy!” Nova’s sharp little voice pierced through the air. “Can we have?—”
Both of her children gasped then squealed at the sight of Xander.
“Uncle Xander!” LJ shouted, running up to his mother and Xander, immediately jumping into Xander’s arms.
Rylee couldn’t help but both smile and ache at how Lennox Jr., who they all called LJ, wrapped his little arms around Xander’s neck.
“What’s going on, big boy?” Xander asked, hugging LJ then setting him down on his feet. He crouched down to be at level with LJ when Nova ran up to Xander, only stopping when her arms wrapped around his brawny shoulders, barely.
“I made a car at the home improvement store last weekend with my grandpa,” LJ reported, his face beaming, smile fixed on his face. “Wanna see it?”
“Oh, Ihaveto see it,” Xander replied.
“Uncle Xander, can we make pancakes?” Nova asked next, her arm now resting on his shoulder in his crouched position in front of them.
“We gotta,” Xander said with no hesitation. “What shape we making them into this time?”
“A star!” LJ shouted.
“A heart,” Nova supplied.
“A heart and a star,” Xander repeated, standing to his feet, the children’s heads tipping back to keep their eyes locked on him. Xander extended both hands for them each. “Let’s get to it. Who’s cracking the eggs today?”
“Me, me,” LJ and Nova replied in unison, their voices amplified and bouncing off the floors and walls.
Rylee stood behind them, completely left out of their huddle, but in complete awe at the sight of the three of them. She watched Xander and her children sink into their own worlds, laughing, talking in her bedroom.
He was so good with children, and it wasn’t just because his mother owned a daycare and he was used to being around them.
He was just so good, period. At everything.
She watched as they held his hand and guided him out of the bedroom, not even glancing back once at their mother.
Her breath caught as she dropped herself back onto the foot of the bed and sighed.
“So much for you leaving before the kids get up,” she mumbled to herself, shaking her head.
That was the only reason she let Xander in last night.
In that moment, she thought back to the night before, the moment this whole “morning problem” began.
“Xander, what are you doing here?” Rylee whispered, peeking behind herself into the dark brownstone.
She’d just put the kids to sleep when she got the call from Xander letting her know he was out on her stoop.
He looked at her through his low-lidded gaze, bottom lip in the bite between his teeth. He extended his hand in front of him, caressed a finger down her tee. “Can I come in?”
Rylee rolled her eyes and fought back her smile. “You gotta stop just popping up like this.”
He closed the space between them and pulled her closer to him by the hem of her shirt.
“I just put them to sleep.”
“Perfect.”
“No, not perfect.” She settled into his arms as he wrapped them tight around her in her doorway. “You know I only like for you to stop by when they’re at their grandparents.”
