“She seems like she’ll get bored if she’s not intellectually challenged,” Lavi said.
I chuckled. “I’d say that’s certainly a risk based on what I’ve seen so far.”
A knock sounded at the door and Sloane walked over and opened it. “Hey, Olivia,” she said, giving her a hug. Kaylee waited patiently for her turn before hugging Sloane with enough enthusiasm for me to pick up on the hero worship in her eyes.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Jace said as Olivia walked over to join us. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek.
“Is that for me?” Kaylee exclaimed when she saw Lavi standing there with the stuffed dinosaur.
“It sure is.” Lavi bent down and offered it to her.
“I love Brontosauruses! They’re my favorite,” she said beaming. “Thank you!”
“Is that what this guy is?” Lavi asked, her nose crinkling as she looked at it again.
“Yes,” I said. “The neck and body are slender which means it’s most likely intended to be a Brontosaurus and not an Apatosaurus.”
Kaylee took the dinosaur and ran over to me, making my heart somersault in my chest.
Will I ever stop feeling like the luckiest guy in the world when she wants to show me something?
Kaylee handed me the dinosaur. “Did you know Brontosauruses were almost thirty feet tall?”
I chuckled and looked over the stuffed dinosaur before handing it back. “I did. There are some dinosaurs that were over one hundred feet tall. Can you imagine that?”
“Wow,” Kaylee said with wide eyes.
I laughed at the wonder in her expression. “I’ll see if I can find you a kids book about it.”
“That nerd DNA is real strong, huh?” Jace said, smiling at me affectionately as Lavi offered to show Kaylee the bedroom.
“There is really no denying she’s mine even I wanted to.” I turned to Olivia. “Which I definitely don’t.”
“I know.” She smiled softly.
“Thank you again for watching her,” she said to Sloane.
“Oh, please, you’re doing me a favor. Now that Jace and Leo are grown, Lavi’s been trying to talk me into another dog for years. If she’s got Kaylee to hang out with sometimes, plus walking Thor for Adrian and Sutton, I might get out of the new dog thing all together.”
Jace laughed. “Unlikely. You’re about to cave anyway.”
Sloane narrowed her eyes at him. “Why don’t you all go on your date and get out of here. You just wait and see what happens the first time these two smile at you and ask for a dog. You’re not much stronger than me, buddy.”
Jace looked at Olivia and then settled his eyes on me. “They can have whatever they want.”
I laughed. “You think you’d cave for us? Just wait until Kaylee asks for a pet.”
“Shit,” Jace said, running his hand through his curls.
Olivia smiled. “If it helps, I don’t want a dog, Jace.”
“Good, because one more insinuation and I would have stopped and got you one on the way to dinner,” he said with a look of agony that told me he absolutely would get us a dog or anything else in the world we wanted.
We chatted for a few more minutes before we said our goodbyes to Kaylee, Sloane, and Lavi. By the time we were headed out, I’d forgotten why I’d been so nervous. Jace had been right about his moms being extremely chill. Maybe I wouldn’t even get sweaty palms when it was time to meet Olivia’s mother.
“Are you two planningto take me to dinner?” Olivia asked as soon as we were all in the car.
“Yes,” Jace said from the back seat while I pulled out of the condo’s parking lot.
