#Fate

by Cambria Hebert

  There were obviously some tough moments, and the kid was stubborn as hell. If he didn’t want to do something, it could easily turn into WW3 up in the house. I’d learned very quickly to pick my battles with him. It was actually a tip we’d gotten from the counselor who met with him every week.

  We’d also learned a lot of stuff from some of the classes we had to take as part of the fostering-to-adopt program.

  Overall, though, that boy did me proud. He warmed up to the family, and now he ran around with the other kids as though he’d been with them since he was born.

  I give our brothers and sisters a lot of credit for that too. They were very hands on with our kids, and they were understanding that sometimes Travis needed a little extra attention.

  “I think they would have called if he wasn’t,” I replied, gazing at the house.

  With the wedding set for tomorrow, there were people Ivy had hired everywhere. I’d almost had someone else take Drew to PT, but Rimmel swore she’d keep an eye on Travis and call right away if he was having a problem with the strangers.

  “Stay there,” I told Drew, preparing to step into the rain. “I’ll come around.”

  “It’s just water,” he said, reaching for the handle.

  “Mask,” I intoned, commanding his attention.

  There’d been no transition, no learning curve to him answering when I called him Mask. It was instant, as if that had always been his name.

  When he turned back, I was leaning over the center console, crowding his space. “Stay put until I come around.”

  He gave a slight nod, letting his hand fall back into his lap.

  My stare dropped to his lips, which parted almost instantly, the perfect invitation. Holding his stare, I leaned in closer, kissing him fully on the mouth, making sure our lips were good and melted together but not closing my eyes.

  “Blue is my favorite color,” I rasped when I finally pulled back.

  His tongue ran over his lower lip, licking what was left of me into his mouth.

  Later. I promised myself.

  I didn’t flinch when the rain splattered my shoulders and weighed down my hair. Jogging around the matte gray SUV, I pulled open the passenger door, leaning in to where my almost husband waited.

  He’d left his seatbelt clasped.

  Smiling faintly, I leaned around, making sure my hand brushed fully over his crotch on my way to undo it for him. The belt retracted automatically, but me?

  I stayed where I was.

  Rain pelted the part of me still outside the car, but inside, we were dry. The pattering sound, along with the cloudy lightning, set an intimate atmosphere.

  When I turned my face just a fraction, our noses nearly bumped.

  “Tomorrow’s been a long time coming,” he murmured, rubbing a hand across my freshly shaven jaw.

  “I would have waited longer.” The time I’d wait for him was infinite.

  Pushing off the seat, he kissed me this time.

  Muffled sounds from somewhere nearby were just that… muffled. All my senses were consumed by the man whose lips were on mine.

  “Trent,” Drew said, pulling back from the kiss.

  “Hm?” I said, blinking open my eyes.

  “Dad!” someone yelled. “Dad!”

  “That’s not one of ours,” I said, leaning back for more of his lips.

  Drew’s hand covered my shoulder, stopping me from continuing forward. “Yes, T. Yes. It is.”

  “Dad!”

  Recognition slammed into me, and I jerked back, hitting my head on the doorframe as I spun around.

  Travis was standing on the front porch. He was jumping up and down, a phone in his hand. But it wasn’t the way he looked or even the happy smile on his face.

  It was what he was yelling.

  “Travis,” I called out, my heart hammering heavily against my ribs.

  The smile on his face got bigger, and then he was running down the steps, rushing through the rain, eyes focused solely on me.

  “Dad! You’re home!”

  A strangled sound nearly choked me.

  His feet splashed over the driveway, and I barely had time to brace myself for the way he launched himself at me.

  Catching him, I lifted, and his legs went around my waist. “I’ve been waiting for you to get here.”

  “Is something wrong?” I asked, pushing through the veil of emotion pulling me deep as concern took over.

  “I caught this shiny Pokémon!” He held up the cell, showing me the screen with some Pokémon character that apparently was really important in the center.

  Did I mention this kid loved Pokémon?

  He was obsessed.

  I stared between him and the phone, trying to catch up to what he was saying. The entire time, rain fell splashing us both.

  I was glad for the rain. Glad because it disguised my tears.

  “Did you call me dad?” I whispered.

  He nodded, a shy glimmer coming into his eyes. “But you didn’t answer.”

  My heart stumbled. “I’m sorry, bud. I didn’t know it was you. You’ve never called—” I paused, trying not to make this a thing.

  But holy fucking shit, this was a thing.

  A big fucking thing.

  “You’ve never called me dad before.”

  “You said I could,” Travis said, lowering his eyes.

  “Hey, hey,” I hurried to say, taking his little chin in my hand. When he looked at me, I smiled. “It makes me so happy when you call me that.”

  “Really?”

  Rain slid between my lips as I nodded. “I’ll always answer from now on, okay?”

  Travis nodded. Then he held up the phone again. “Look!”

  I blinked, trying so hard to focus on that fucking creature he was so proud of, but oh my God, I couldn’t. All I could do was stand there and hold my son.

  My son who’d just called me dad.

  Abruptly, I rotated, wanting to share this moment with Drew. He was right there. He’d stood from the car and was right behind us, rain slicking his hair and clinging to the beard he’d yet to shave.

  “Did you hear?” I whispered.

  He nodded, eyes filled with emotion, and I wondered if some of the rain on his face was actually tears too.

  “Dad!” Travis yelled again.

  “What?” I said, my voice a little raspy.

  “Not you,” Travis said, pointing right at Drew. “My other dad.”

  Drew tossed out a hand, grabbing the top of the door to steady himself. A whole host of emotions played across his face, and I reveled in it.

  It was the best movie I ever watched. This moment, I knew, would become one of my greatest memories.

  Drew’s throat worked, and he nodded. “Yeah?”

  “Look! I caught this!”

  His eyes glanced at the screen but then back to our son’s face. “That thing lives in my phone now?” he asked, making a face.

  Travis nodded. “Your phone’s cool!”

  “What about my phone?” I asked, making a face.

  “Your phone is cool too, Dad, but not as good as my other dad’s.”

  I hugged him. I couldn’t hold back. I crushed him against my chest, holding him tight as I stared at Drew.

  “What in the world are you doing out in the rain?” Ivy called across the driveway. “Get in here!”

  Pulling back, Travis smiled at me. “I got a haircut!”

  I noticed his hair for the first time. It was shorter than it had been before, and it wasn’t uneven anymore. “Aunt Ivy said it was a surprise for the wedding!”

  “You’re going to be the best-looking man there,” Drew told him.

  “The hair lady is still in there. Aunt Ivy says you have to get a haircut too!”

  Drew grimaced, and I laughed.

  Ivy yelled for us again, and I set Travis down. “You go first. I have to help your dad.”

  He raced back off across the driveway and up the steps to the house. I was about to turn
toward Drew when Ivy gave a low shriek, making us both look up.

  Both of us started laughing. Travis, who was definitely wet from the rain, was shaking his head like a dog in front of her, splattering his aunt with water.

  “Kid’s a savage,” Drew said proudly.

  “Takes after his dad,” I said.

  Drew’s eyes softened. “Which one?”

  “Who cares?”

  Noting his booted foot was still inside the SUV, out of the rain, I offered him my back. “Let’s go.”

  “What?” Drew said, suspicious.

  I slapped my shoulder. “Jump on.”

  He hesitated, but his laugh floated over my shoulder. “You asked for it.”

  “Ye—” My reply was cut off when he literally leapt onto my back. “Argh,” I said, nearly toppling over. Recovering, I stood, hooking my hands under his knees and lifting him a little higher. “How much weight did you put on?” I teased.

  “Not enough.” His voice rumbled right beside my ear.

  “Give it time, baby,” I said, no longer teasing. “You’ve been through a lot. So has your body. You’ll get back to where you used to be.”

  He made a soft sound and shoved the car door closed. Seconds later, his chin rested on my shoulder. “You gained back everything you lost. I swear you got bigger,” he muttered.

  I laughed. “I had to. I gotta haul you around now.”

  “Fuck you,” he said, but it was practically a term of endearment.

  “You know, I wouldn’t mind if you stayed this size,” I confessed. “I like carrying you around.”

  “I live with a bunch of giant football players and my own personal giant,” he quipped. “I look tiny next to you guys.”

  Turning my head, I told him, “You take up the most room in my heart.”

  “Don’t sweet talk me.” He grouched, but he wasn’t really grouchy. He was charmed.

  “Now, baby,” I teased, heading toward the house. “You can’t be grouchy the day before our wedding.”

  “Ivy’s making me get a haircut.”

  “I miss the scruff,” I said.

  I felt his small jolt of surprise. “You said you liked the beard.”

  “I like you any way I can get you. But the scruff has always been my kryptonite.”

  “Noted,” he murmured, and it brought me back to the first time we’d ever kissed. When I’d been so twisted up inside from his proximity that I’d blurted out just how much I liked his unshaven jaw. That was exactly what he’d said back then too.

  Ivy and Travis disappeared somewhere in the house. The voices of the pack of kids we all created echoed somewhere close by.

  “Hey,” I said, pausing before the pre-wedding family craziness took over everything. “You’re mine later.”

  “Aren’t I always?”

  I smirked. Well, yes. He was. “I mean we have a date.”

  He drew back. “A date?”

  Nodding, I hefted him a little higher onto my back.

  “We’re inside. You can put me down now.” He reminded.

  “I don’t want to.”

  When he settled against my back once more, I reveled in the way his arms looped around me from behind. How every part of him was touching me.

  “We have a date?” He went on. “The night before our wedding? Isn’t that kinda… unconventional?”

  “Who the fuck cares?”

  He considered that for all of two seconds. “Okay.”

  “I’ll pick you up in a few hours.” Gently, I put him down on his feet and handed him the crutches.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To see my daughter,” I said. It had been a couple hours. I missed that sweet face.

  “I want to come too.”

  “Drew!” Ivy appeared. She sounded like Bridezilla, and she wasn’t even the bride.

  Drew was.

  Ha. I made a joke.

  Funny, right?

  Somehow, he got it into his head that he was the “girl” in the relationship. I tried to tell him there was no girl in our relationship, but I knew he still pondered this. He must have been talking to Braeden.

  “Andrew!” Ivy scolded. “Look how wet you are. Come on. The stylist has been waiting. You’re getting a haircut.”

  “Ives—” He started to protest.

  “Don’t you Ives me. You look like a caveman. That is not a good wedding look. I want to see your face in the wedding photos.”

  “Fine.” He relented.

  I gave him a wave as Ivy hauled him away. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  “Where we going?” he called out.

  “It’s a surprise!” Ivy declared.

  He glanced at me for answers, but I shook my head. She was right. It was a surprise.

  43

  Drew

  * * *

  After my trip to the salon, aka Ivy’s stylist who made a house call in the center of our kitchen, I tried to go home.

  She wouldn’t let me. She gave me a pouty lip and started crying because I was finally getting married and she was “so happy.”

  Why did girls always cry when they were happy?

  So I caved like the big brother I was and let her shove me into the shower, a fresh stack of clothes I didn’t even know I owned piled on the bathroom counter. I swear my sister had a closet full of clothes—not just for herself but for everyone.

  Good thing the house was so big.

  When I was done, I went to find Trent and my kids. I was starting to have withdrawals from them. When Travis rushed out of the house, calling for his dad, my heart damn near burst out of my chest. Hearing him say it to Trent was just as good as when he turned his dark little eyes and said it to me.

  I loved them. More than I seriously ever thought possible.

  Rimmel was sitting in the center of the living room floor, which was strangely quiet, with a pink bundle in her arms. London, who had been the baby of this family up until Andi came, was sitting in front of her, stacking some jumbo blocks together.

  She wasn’t quite two yet, but she was a tiny version of her mother. Dark hair, small build, and an innocence shining in her blue eyes. The eyes were the only thing she’d gotten from Romeo.

  “Look at all these pretty girls,” I said, trying to maneuver around the furniture.

  The twenty-five dogs that were Rimmel’s harem all jumped up and practically formed an army in front of them like I was some kind of enemy intruder.

  Fine. Twenty-five was a bit of an exaggeration. There were probably like six in here right now. But there were more around here somewhere.

  All the ruckus they were creating made the one-eyed cat, Murphy, stand up indignantly from the arm of the sofa so he could saunter away.

  As if sensing I was grossly outnumbered, Fry rushed in from the kitchen, shoving up against my side to join in the barking.

  I patted his head because he was a good boy.

  “Down, boys,” Rimmel said, amusement in her tone. “It’s just Drew.”

  The dogs obeyed her as if they didn’t know almost all of them were bigger and could take her down.

  Although, these dogs were smart. They knew if they tried, the alpha of their pack would charge in here and make them all suffer.

  “I don’t think they like the crutches,” Rim said apologetically.

  “Yeah, well, me either.”

  Fry jumped up on a nearby chair and flopped down. No one batted an eye at the animals jumping on the furniture in this place. It was a common occurrence.

  The only person who kinda minded was Braeden, but he put up with it because he was forever Rimmel’s BBFL.

  BBFL = big brother for life.

  London grabbed Ralph’s tail on her way to me, and the dog didn’t even bat an eye. When she was farther up his body, she tugged his ear, using it for balance.

  “Lo.” I smiled, forgetting the crutches to pick up my niece and kiss her cheek.

  She planted a wet, messy kiss on my cheek, then wiggled to get down and go
back to her blocks.

  Did I mention this girl had a glowing golden halo to Romeo? He loved all his kids, but his baby daughter who looked just like his wife? Good luck and Godspeed to any man who ever came around here for her, because he’d never live.

  Add the fact that she had four older brothers?

  May the odds be ever in her favor.

  They weren’t. The odds were not in London’s favor. I wasn’t sorry, though. I had a daughter now too. I fully understood Rome’s position.

  “Where’s my girl?” I crooned, reaching down to lift her out of Rimmel’s arms. When she saw me, she smiled.

  Her smiling at me gave me the exact same feeling as when Travis called me dad.

  “Guess I don’t have to ask if you recognize me,” I said, and she smiled again.

  Pressing a kiss to her dark hair, I snuggled her close as she kicked her feet. She was still small but no longer frighteningly so. She’d gained some weight. Her cheeks were chubby, and the doctors were pleased with her overall health.

  “Where’s Travis?” I asked.

  “With Trent,” Rim answered, clapping for the tower London made.

  “All the wedding people leave?”

  “Most of them. The rest are down on the property. Ivy is making them put up a tent in case it rains tomorrow.”

  “Poor people,” I muttered.

  Rimmel laughed.

  “So what do you know about this date I’m going on tonight?” I asked.

  She smiled. “Everything of course.”

  I turned, showing her my ear.

  “Oh!” She feigned surprise. “I think I hear Uncle Trent outside!” Rimmel stood, reaching down to pick up her daughter. “Let’s go see.”

  “Brat!” I called as Rimmel ran off.

  “You calling my wife a brat?” Romeo said, coming in from the next room.

  “Drew!” she called from the front entry. “Your fiancé is here!”

  I rolled my eyes but smiled.

  “Give me my niece,” Romeo said, reaching for Andi.

  I pulled her back, making a face. Her stare was already focused on me, and it made me want to be a better man. It made me want to make sure she had the best life possible.

  “You be good for your Uncle Romeo and Aunt Rimmel,” I told her. “We’ll be back later, okay?”

  She made a couple sounds, and I kissed her cheeks. “Love you, peanut.”