Someone still had it for him.Bad.He grinned and grabbed a triangle of grilled cheese and very deliberately dunked it, giving Ian a wink.
The kids watched him like a pair of hawks, then in sequence, they dunked too.
That was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen.He chewed and swallowed his mouthful, then dunked again.“Reminds me of being a kid,” he told Ian, keeping an eye to see if the kids would dunk again or if they actually didn’t like it.“I guess that’s why they say it’s a comfort food, eh?”
“It is.Perfect for a rainy day.”
The kids devoured pieces of sandwiches, dunking, jabbering as they ate.
“They like having you around for meals, JP.”
“Yeah?I don’t know if it’s because I’m me or because I’m new,” he admitted.
“It’s a little because you’re new, but it’s mostly because you’re their dad.”Ian shrugged and smiled.“I mean, you belong here with us.”
He smiled back at Ian and nodded.“Yeah.I think I do.”He felt settled and right here in a way he never had in Florida.
Peter stared at him for a second.“You’re our dad.This is your house, too.”
Tori nodded.“Hims lived inhockey, brother, and then when he got hurt, he had to come home.”
“Do you want to hockey?”Peter’s little face was so worried.
She nodded.
“But sister, you can’t move to hockey.You can’t leave to hockey.You can’t leave me!”
“It’ll be a long time before Tori has to make that kind of decision, Peter.Lots and lots of years from now.And who knows, maybe you’ll be her agent and travel with her.”He wasn’t going to say Peter would be in hockey too, because he knew it was going to be work just to get Peter to skate at all.
“I will always be with you.”Tori rolled her eyes.“We aretwins.”
Ian’s expression was bittersweet, a hint of smile and tears.“You guys have so many adventures before you have to stress this.You have school and vacations and puzzles.Learning to read.Learning everything.”
“Everyone’s going to be fine.Great.And your Daddy is right.It’s ages before either of you even considers going your own way.”He had another bite of his sandwich.It was really good.
That was obviously good enough for his daughter, who set right to eating against.
Peter needed a little jollying along from Ian.
He kept eating, munching on the delicious sandwiches, dipping them into the soup.Tori seemed to be trying to keep up with him, quarter sandwich after quarter sandwich.He was part impressed, part worried she was going to explode.
“Tori, slow down, baby girl.You’re going to have a tummy ache.”Ian shot him a ‘slow down’ glare.
He put down the grilled cheese triangle he’d just picked up.How was this his fault?He hadn’t asked her to copy him that closely.
Tori sighed softly and put her piece down too.
Damn.Okay, so now he knew, and he could adjust how much he ate a single sitting.Snacks were totally a thing.
“Someone is a little competitive.We’re working on it, but it’s hard.”
“Even with me?”He didn’t mind the competitiveness – that would do her well in hockey, and in life – but she couldn’t keep up with him in a lot of areas.
“Sometimes with me.It’s just her personality.”Ian shrugged and winked.“Sometimes, though, it’s not a race.We all have our own needs.”
“Sometimes our needs meet…” he gave Ian a wink.
“I—” Ian blinked, then went bright red.“They do.So much.”
