Page 13 of Pieces of You

I had this anger festering inside, and it grew every time I thought of Shay and every time I saw the suffering around me. Lives had already changed irrevocably. We couldn’t focus. We hated feeling helpless. We worried. Greer was apparently ready to go off and hunt down bad guys, something I was still trying to wrap my head around. Sloan had told me last night on the phone. Greer had packed a bag the evening after we’d watched the first press conference. It stood in the hallway, just waiting.

Colt was struggling too. He worked in security, and it was taking all his strength not to turn our house into a fortress. That was precisely what Kit’s parents had done. They’d sheltered him to the point where he’d had his personal driver take him wherever he needed to go. First time he’d used the Metro had been with us.

I cleared my throat and eyed Noa next.

“What about you, little one?” I asked. “What’s on your mind?”

He sighed. “Other than Shay? I’m writing a mental list of the pros and cons of having a bunch of kids all over House Mclean.”

Oh. All over might be a stretch, but sure, the downstairs area and the front yard and backyard showed no signs of kink. It was simply easier for the parents who wanted to be here, or had shouldered responsibilities in our crisis mode, if they could bring their kids.

“So many kids,” Kit whispered.

“Any pros on that list?” I wondered.

Noa shrugged. “They’re kinda cute in a way, I guess. And it’s fun watching Uncle Lucian make faces. He turned around in the bathroom door with a look of horror on his face the other day when Tate was in there helping Twin One and Twin Two with their swim diapers.”

My mouth twitched, having witnessed some of that myself. Lucian had all but hugged a wall when Greer’s toddler had run through the lobby. Little Dylan was a runner, fearless, and loved it when Greer and Archie had to chase him.

It wasn’t like we were running a day care, though. Lucian exaggerated when it came to kids. We were talking six kids who’d visited, and not all at the same time. Archie helped Macklin in the kitchen a whole lot, so he and Greer brought their two youngest. Ash and Nathan didn’t bring theirs. Like Sloan, they felt they’d rather not face the kids’ questions about what kind of place this was. August had stopped by for ten minutes with his and Ivy’s son to drop something off, and I knew Walker and Macklin were watching Ty’s granddaughter today. Then Kingsley and Tate’s daughters. That was it.

Truth be told, I was enjoying the vanilla break for the house, at least with what was going on. Macklin couldn’t find his focus in his restaurant, so he was experimenting for his fall menu at the house, where he had friends going through the exact same thing. Greer and Archie were staying in their cabin with Kyla and Dylan, finding some comfort in having all kinds of news sources ready for them in the club area. Colt, Kit, and I were here from morning till night too. Same with KC and Lucian with their two. It was nice, having so many loved ones close by, not for kink, but surviving this hopeless hell together.

“Dare I ask about the cons?” I glanced at Noa in the mirror.

He knitted his brows. “The Mini Greer tried to steal the fruit Daddy cut up for me. He wouldn’t take the veggies I tried to get off my dinner plate, but sure, yeah, go on and steal my strawberries and banana and apple? I don’t freaking think so.” He huffed. “Like, if you won’t eat my broccoli while Daddy’s not watching, I don’t need you in my life.”

I cracked a grin at that, and I locked eyes with Kit in the rearview. He was fighting his own amusement.

“Smile, baby,” I mouthed.

He unleashed a tentative one, at least. It was a start.

“Do you know the difference between a kid and a sticker?” Noa asked. “The kid isn’t quiet.”

But…both were sticky, got it. I chuckled. “I’d imagine kids are also more expensive than stickers.”

“Another con,” Noa agreed with a nod. “They leak too. They’re little snot fountains—to borrow Uncle Lucian’s term.”

Safe to say, nobody would ever ask the Leroux-Hayles clan to babysit.

KC was half an exception. He was actually very funny around children. He had patience, he liked to make the little ones laugh, and he had that paternal instinct. That said, he was also clear on the fact that he’d never been interested in having kids of his own. Noa had been an exception. A complicated exception, considering how their relationship had evolved. So, while he didn’t plaster himself to a wall like Lucian if a kiddo waddled by, KC was definitely only the kinky variety of Daddy.

“Do you remember when Colt and I were watching our nieces last year and Lucian stopped by?” I asked Noa.

I’d include Kit in the Babysitter Unit, but let’s face it, he was on the girls’ side in giving us grays. He riled them up and taught them about pranks whenever we were on uncle duty.

“He said, ‘I didn’t even like myself as a toddler. Why would I like children that age today?’” I finished.

Both Noa and Kit snickered, and it felt amazing to hear.

I might use Lucian’s distaste for children more if it brought the boys some relief from the misery.

Greer Finlay

“Hold on, baby—hold on.” I looked closer and scrolled on the laptop. We had six of them lined up on the bar in the club area, where we could dump articles and browse for news. Which wasn’t easy when you had a wild toddler bouncing in your arms. My boy was supposed to go down for a nap, not host a rave.

I scanned the news article and narrowed my eyes. The police had picked up on the different ways cartel affiliates were ending up dead in Los Angeles. Simple gunshots to the head and chest were one thing, but it took a professional to break someone’s neck.