Then I paid.
Twenty minutes later, we walked into the house, and I said, “Okay. Go find the movie, buy it if you have to, I’ll get the popcorn started.”
We were all on the couches in the family room as we watched the movie.
Certain scenes had all of us chuckling.
And then I felt it... as if the moment Pete had been referring to was about to come on.
Lila’s eyes went to Madalyn, as the main character sat at the bar top and ate those things.
And the moment he found out what they were, Madalyn’s face went green, so did Cole’s, and if I had to guess, mine did too.
Cole and I both winced and placed our hands over our balls.
Seeing our looks, Lila burst into laughter so hard she was snorting.
Fuck me.
Adorable.
Her eyes came to mine as she was still laughing.
But there was something in those crystal baby blue eyes of hers.
Something I’ve never seen before.
And it was something that terrified the fuck out of me.
***
What was a man to do when everyone who was supposed to love him... didn’t.
***
After I walked Lila out to her car and thanked her for the day she spent with us, I tapped the roof of her car and headed back into the house.
I pulled the card I had been given from my back pocket as I walked through the house and locked it up tight.
I had just started up the stairs when I heard Madalyn call out, “Lila made it home.”
I nodded to myself.
Cole shouted, “Good.”
I stopped at Madalyn’s door first and saw her shifting through the bags on her bed.
All four of them, I frowned, “Didn’t buy more than that?”
She looked over at me and smiled, “Lila told me that you can accessorize and do all kinds of things with different outfits. I’m going to give it a try.”
I winked, “Okay, precious. Get some good sleep.”
She smiled, “You too, daddy.”
Then I moved down the hall to Cole’s room.
As I stepped into his room, he was towel-drying his hair.
