I know Noah’s sister used to date Duncan until she caught him cheating on her. He got bounced from the Black Diamonds because of sleeping with an assistant coach’s wife from what I heard.
“Chloe.”
“Wait, why does that name sound familiar?” Noah asks.
“Because it’s Dax’s best friend,” Graham finishes.
“Oh, shit. Are you serious?” I ask.
Dax slams the rest of his beer and nods his head. “I don’t know how it happened, but it did.”
“Wow. I’m sorry.”
He winces. “Yeah. It sucks.”
“Anything we can do to help?” I ask.
Dax smiles over at me. “Yeah, you can fix things with Stevie to distract me from my brother’s upcoming nuptials.”
“How do I even know if she’ll want me back? I can’t keep chasing someone that doesn’t want me. It’s not fair to either of us. Or Caleb.”
Caleb chooses that moment to start screaming, “Dada.”
“Did he really just say that?” Noah asks. “Do you know who Dada is?”
Caleb looks at me like the person talking to him is crazy.
“That’s so cute he said that.” Noah turns to Graham. “Maybe we need one of these.”
I grab Caleb. He looks so proud of himself. His hair is a mess, but he’s wearing the giraffe outfit Stevie got him.
“Find your own kid.”
“Damn,” Graham says. “And here I thought we could just take him home.”
Noah laughs, taking a drink of his beer. “Well, we’ll be here for him if he ever needs anything. The cool uncles.”
My heart blooms. I have more people who love me in my life than I ever thought possible. It doesn’t matter that I had a shitty childhood or parents that ran out.
I had Gran. I didn’t make things easy for her, but she still loved me.
Caleb’s mom is out of the picture. She terminated her rights with a note to not contact her. Considering I was in a trance those first few weeks, trying to figure out her motivations was the furthest thing from my mind.
It was okay though, because we had Stevie.
“Please,” Dax scoffs. “I’m going to be Caleb’s favorite uncle.”
“We’ll give you that. Each of us can be a favorite,” Noah tells him.
I smile at that. “Just like you’re Sam and Sadie’s favorite uncles?”
“Hey.” He points a finger in my face. “I am the favorite uncle.”
“Keep dreaming,” Graham jests.
“At least I get to be Caleb’s,” Dax says.
“What if Jasper is his favorite?” Noah goads him.
