Nick nodded, smiled. “I hope so. I intend it to be that way.”
He heard Devon laughing as Nick made it downstairs. He loved how gentle Devon was with Nick, how caring, like he’d known Nick his entire life.
It was a little embarrassing given how they met, and how he had accused poor Devon of everything under the sun. Dev hadn’t let him get away with it, though. Not even a little.
He washed up and changed into a better shirt. He was still pretty clean, but he wanted to be decent for company.
Weird how Nick wasn’t company to him, but Raven and Ben still were a little bit. He figured eventually that would stop, and they’d all simply be friends.
“I’m ready to help, baby.”
“Good, you can start by grabbing the Pack ’n Play for the little one and a couple of blankets for the oldest.”
“You got it.” He glanced at Nick. “Raven and Ben are on their way.”
Nick presented himself as well. “Ah, cool. What can I do, Dev?”
“You, I need help with knife skills. Come chop salad stuff.”
“Aye, aye.”
They all got busy, and Nick was visibly in a better mood by the time Ben and Raven rang the doorbell.
Sometimes Laird had to remind himself none of them were solitary creatures, and that Nick spent too much time alone.
“Hey, you guys.” Laird gave out hugs as they trooped through the door.
“Laird.” Raven hugged him, smiling as Ben carried kids into the house. “Smells amazing.”
“He’s been busy. Come on in.”
He determined right then and there to stop being so awkward about Raven, because he was Devon’s best friend and it didn’t matter that he made Laird feel like an upstart just by existing. The man was kind and sweet and dear to Devon, so that was that.
By the time dinner was done and the wee ones were snoozing hard, he felt as if he’d gone a long way toward his new goal, because Raven was actually teasing him.
“So you’ve known all along the baby is a boy?”
“Ever since he told Mom, yes.” Laird winked at Devon. “That’s okay. It’s been fun to watch him tiptoe around me.”
“Jerk.” Devon scowled, but his eyes were twinkling.
“Oh, God, he’s a huge prankster,” Nick put in. “Did you not know?”
Raven shook his head, and Nick launched into a long tale about how Laird had put a bowl of frozen cereal and milk in the fridge at work one morning and then watched everyone try to steal it and eat it.
It felt amazing to see Nick laughing with Devon and their friends, and to see Nick hunker down with Ben aftercards and talk investments while he and Devon snuggled on the couch, chatting with Raven.
“I really think that the lasagna came out great. I loved the cheese on the top.” Raven grinned at Devon. “Are you enjoying cooking?”
Devon bobbed his head. “I sort of am, yeah. I mean, it’s just another thing to make the hygge in this house better, right?”
“Hygge?” God, he loved how Devon worked to make their house a home. It was something he wanted to learn. “Is this something new?”
Devon nodded, then shook his head, and then kind of shrugged. “I just learned about it. I read this book from the library, and it’s basically this word that means cozy. You know how I feel about cozy. I just didn’t know that there was a thing, that there was a specific word, like it’s an aesthetic.”
He rolled his eyes, and Devon whapped him. “It’s true; you know me. I love the idea of cozy.”
Raven beamed and patted Devon’s arm. “You are a master at making people comfortable.”
