“Riot. You left your toys out,” E said, coming into the room. “Get those picked up, OK?”
Riot looked at E for a moment before turning to Ellis, seemingly deciding whether ignoring E for Ellis was worth the trouble he’d get into.
“Riot, toys. Now,” I said. “Ellis and the twins will be here waiting for you.”
He still didn’t move. Instead, he stared intently at Ellis.
“I can help you, Lizard,” Ellis said, her little hands moving in sign language as she spoke to Riot.
I blinked rapidly.
“Ellie-bear, do you know sign language?” I asked softly.
She nodded, grinning at me. “Yes! Aunt Weena and Unkie Dunkie helped me to learn! I learn lots of stuff with Unkie Dunkie and his brothers. Even Jameson knows how to do it too!”
“Who’s Jameson?” Kingston asked, wrinkling his nose.
“He’s my other best friend,” Ellis said, her voice and face very serious.
“If you have him for a best friend, then who is the other one?” Sante demanded.
“Lizard is the other one.” She smiled at Riot. “Right?”
He nodded, a stern look on his face.
“You can’t have two best friends,” Sante said.
“Yes, I can. You can be my third if you want.”
Sante cocked his head, contemplating it. “OK. I’ll be the third.”
“I’m the fourth,” Kingston cut in.
“Uh, toys, Riot. Please,” I said, trying to divert my sweet princess from adding more kids to her bestie group.
Dom chuckled softly. “You’re in so much trouble later, Scott.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered as Fallon clapped me on the back.
The kids ran off, all opting to help Riot clean his mess before they went to his room to play. It didn’t escape me that Riot held Ellis’s hand all the way up the stairs.
I turned to find E lingering in the kitchen, watching the kids with a frown on his face. He was clearly thinking the same thing I was.
We may have a problem later.
“Dinner was amazing, Rosalie,”Dom said as he settled back in his seat. “Cole, the cake could use some work.”
“I didn’t make it,” I said immediately, holding my hands up. “I got it from that new bakery down the street. Short order. They didn’t seem happy with me.”
Rosalie reached out and patted my hand. I immediately wrapped my hand around hers and brought it to my mouth, where I placed a kiss on it.
“Ew!” Sante shouted from his seat at our formal dining table.
“He spit on her hand!” Kingston joined in.
I sighed. Those twins were a handful. Dom likely tried to pull his hair out nightly.
“My daddy doesn’t spit. You take that back, Kingston! I won’t dance with you again!” Ellis shouted.
