“Are you trying to leave me all alone?”
Raiden opened the back door and let them inside.
“You’ll be better off,” Kit said. “I’m a burden at this point.”
“Like hell you are.” He wouldn’t let her get away with making it seem like she’d be doing him a favor. “You happen to be one of my favorite people in the world. How could you be anything but amazing?”
Fears she was hiding a serious—terminal?—medical condition intensified. How the hell would he do any of this without Kit?
CARYS CHANGEDRUE’Sdiaper and fed her as Blaize and Raiden prepared a meal. Kit sat at the kitchen table, nursing a glass of water. She’d done a number on her forehead, come home with wound-care instructions that Blaize had her go over with all three of them in the room.
Her heart went out to the baby. With no other relatives and a dry well of foster families, Rue was most likely going to have to spend the night at the orphanage.
Since beating herself up wasn’t productive, she started thinking up ways to keep a close eye on Rue. Could she volunteer at the orphanage? She had connections. She knew the director. There was no way she could ask her boss to give them a call and make the recommendation. Still, as a CPS agent, her background had already been picked apart and processed. No job was too small. She would be willing to do janitorial work if it meant being close to Rue until Carys could come up with a plan.
It was too late to redact her statement about Blaize denying paternity. Was it even possible for him to gain custody of Rue without actually taking a paternity test, a test he would surely fail?
After he shared the state of his finances, hiring a hotshot lawyer would be out of the question. She would contribute funds if she had anything left over. Paying living expenses and student loans took a good chunk of her income every month.
It’s fine. It’ll be fine. Everything is fine.How many times had she repeated the mantra growing up? It had gotten her through difficult years. She could only hope it still held some of its magic.
“Dinner smells good,” Kit said, interrupting Carys’s thoughts. “What are you boys cooking up?”
Raiden brought over a tray and set it on the table. “Cowboy Chili on Fritos.”
Blaize brought over bowls and spoons.
“I thought chili had to slow-cook all day,” Carys said.
Raiden laughed. “We have a cheat code to speed it up. Basically, we just doctor already-made chili from the can.” He dipped a spoon inside the large bowl and scooped up a Frito before handing it over. “Taste it for yourself.”
Rue was asleep in Carys’s arms. She tried to finagle taking the spoon.
“Here, let me help.” Blaize took over and fed her a bite.
“Mmm. That’s amazing.”
His self-satisfied smile shouldn’t have been as sexy as it was. What could she say? She would never get tired of seeing that man smile or the effect it had on her.
“Do you want me to hold her while you eat?” Blaize asked.
“I’m just scared that if I set her down, I’ll never get to hold her again. Is that weird?”
Heads shook around the table as each person offered a look of understanding.
“I’ll just put her in her carrier.” It was on the floor sitting right next to her. She could eat and keep one eye on the baby. Blaize took a seat on the other side of the carrier, with Rue in between them.
Carys glanced around at the faces at the table as tears welled in her eyes. She blinked them back as she realized this was the first real family meal she’d experienced. An ache formed in her chest as a picture of these people eating dinner with her every evening took form. It caught her off guard how natural it felt and how easily conversation flowed.
Blaize got his brother up to speed over the meal. They traded playful barbs, which thankfully lightened the mood. Kit piped in every once in a while with a quip of her own, making everyone laugh. It was easy to see why Blaize loved his grandmother so much.
The meal ended too soon. It was time to take Rue to the orphanage.
“I should probably give her a bath before we leave.” Was she stalling for time? Hell yes.
“That’s a good idea,” Kit offered.
The prospect of figuring out how to bathe a baby must’ve contorted her face based on the way everyone looked at her.
