CHAPTER THREE
Present day…
I knew I should have stayed upstairs.
But how could I avoid Wrath and Trinity’s after-wedding breakfast and not seem like a dick?
I can’t.
Instead, I’ll sit here and try to smile in the right places, even if I’m not feeling it.
Since they took off right after the wedding for their honeymoon, this celebration is a little late.
“Welcome home, newlyweds!”
I don’t have to turn around to know that’s my sister. A little of the irritation tightening my chest loosens.
Until I turn and find my best friend’s arm wrapped around her.
Yeah, I’m trying to accept the two of them as a couple. Doesn’t mean I love it. Or love seeing them all over each other all day, every damn day.
Who I do love without reservation, is my niece and I happily accept her into my hands as Heidi drops into the chair next to me. “She missed you,” Heidi says breathlessly.
Fair enough. I sure missed her.
“How was Belize?” Hope asks.
“Fucking amazing,” Wrath answers.
“She didn’t ask what you did, she asked how it was,” Z cracks.
“That would be amazing fucking,” Sparky corrects with a straight face.
“That too,” Wrath agrees.
Trinity laughs and leans against him, staring up at him like she worships him.
“Maybe that’s where we should go next,” Hope says, poking her elbow into Rock’s side.
He gives the predictable answer. “Whatever you want, baby doll.” Because there really isn’t a single thing in this world my prez won’t do for his wife.
All this lovey-dovey shit in the air has me in a foul fucking mood. A mood I don’t even want to be in, but can’t seem to shake off.
While all the happy couples have spoiled my appetite, Swan went to a lot of trouble to set up a big breakfast buffet for everyone. I accept the plate of food Heidi sets in front of me a few minutes later without complaining.
She rests her hand on my shoulder and softly asks, “Do you need anything else?”
Man, do I hate having my little sister baby me. It’s one of the reasons I keep pushing myself so hard at physical therapy.
“I’m fine.” I reach back and squeeze her arm. “Thank you.”
On my lap, Alexa squirms and loudly lets me know I’m not paying enough attention to her. “Sorry, baby. You hungry?” I kiss the top of her forehead, taking an extra second to breathe in her calming scent.
She coos and giggles when I turn my attention on her, clapping her little hands together.
“I fed her when she woke up,” Heidi says, digging through her bag. “Here. Try these.” She passes over a small container of blueberries and some kind of baby-biscuit-cookie things that look like they taste like cardboard.
After I shake a few blueberries into my hand, Alexa settles down and plucks the berries out of my hand one by one. Roughly seventy-five percent of them actually make it into her mouth. The rest bounce onto the floor where Z’s dogs are happy to scoop them up. Alexa’s happy and that’s what matters.
“Thanks for helping me balance their diet,” Z says with an eye-roll.
“What? Blueberries are good for them.”
Dex leans over, watching Ziggy and Zipper. Their loud slurping noises make everyone groan. Every now and then one of them bumps into our legs and let’s just say these two aren’t puppies anymore. “Well, at least they’re good floor-cleaners.”
“Hope?” Heidi says. Her voice quiet, as if she doesn’t want the rest of us to hear this conversation, draws my gaze up and away from the dogs.
“I meant to ask you earlier.” Her gaze darts around the table. “Have you ever done an adoption?” she asks when she has Hope’s full attention.
Hope cocks her head, studying Heidi. Her gaze slides to Murphy, then back to Heidi, and a brief smile flickers over her lips before she answers. “No, honey. Why?”
Murphy clears his throat and leans forward. “I want to formally adopt Alexa. We thought you could—”
God damn does that fuck me up. In a good way. He’s officially been with my sister not even a couple months. Barely engaged and he’s already planning to take Alexa on as his own forever.
By now, everyone’s staring at them. Heidi twitches from having all of our attention on what she somehow thought would be a private conversation. But honestly, she should’ve expected this reaction. We’re always in each others’ business.
Murphy and Hope are more practical about our interest, they ignore us.
“I haven’t,” Hope answers. “And I might not be a good choice because of our relationship.” She’s quiet for a minute. Thoughtful. “You know who could probably do it, Heidi? Your former law guardian, Charlotte.”
Charlotte.
“Oh. Wow. She’ll probably be disappointed—”
“Hey,” Murphy says, beating me to it.
Hope seems to know exactly what Heidi was going to say, and flashes a sympathetic smile. “Charlotte’s not judgmental like that, Heidi.”
Oh, how I’d love to call bullshit on that one.
“And you have nothing to be embarrassed about,” Hope finishes.
Heidi glances at Alexa. “I know.”
“I thought it would make things easier, you know, when she starts school and stuff, for her to have my last name,” Murphy says.
“You’re right.” Hope hesitates, running her gaze over both of them before continuing. “You might need to wait until after you’re married. Like I said, I haven’t worked on any adoption cases, but from doing other family law work, I think that might be required. Give Charlotte a call.”
I sit back against my chair, hugging Alexa to my chest. Haven’t seen Charlotte in almost three years. Not since my grandmother’s funeral.
That whole scene has bugged me ever since. My own damn fault. She’s another in a long line of women-I-had-no-business-getting-involved-with.
Shit, what if she won’t help Heidi because of me?
“What if she doesn’t even practice law anymore?” I blurt out.
Hope glances over, a slight frown on her face. “I just spoke to her last week about a former client of mine she’s now representing.”
“Oh.”
Murphy narrows his eyes and studies me. Not even he knows about my night with Charlotte. I glance at Hope, who’s gone back to discussing things with Heidi. Now she’s sharp. She suspected something more was going on but didn’t say a whole lot at the time.
“I’ll call her. Thanks, Hope,” Heidi says.
Hope reaches over and squeezes Heidi’s hand then turns to Wrath and Trinity.
I tune them out and go back to feeding Alexa her blueberries. Fed up or tired, I’m not sure, she slaps the container away, sending it into Heidi’s lap.
“Someone’s cranky today,” I say, making a pouty face at my niece.
“She might need her diaper changed. Here, let me have her,” Heidi says.
“You all right, bro?” Murphy asks after she leaves.
“Yeah, why?”
He lifts his shoulder. Fuck, it’s bad enough having my sister babying me since the accident. Everyone does. Except Rock, who has no problem choking some sense into me. Wrath too. Cane or not, he’s happy to kick my ass and tell me when I’m being a dick. Today, he’s too wrapped up in his new bride to notice my mood.
I swallow hard and meet my best friend’s concerned gaze. “I’m fine.”
He’s watching me like he expects me to say something. It finally occurs to me he’s waiting for me to comment on him adopting Alexa.
“When’d she talk you into that?” I jerk my head toward the dining room doors where Heidi and Alexa disappeared a few seconds ago.
His jaw drops and the conversation at the table dies down. “She didn’t talk me into anything. Why you being a dick today?”
“Aren’t I a dick every day?”
“Yes,” Wrath says without taking his eyes off Trinity.
Probably to diffuse what she thinks is a situation, Hope reaches over and grasps Murphy’s arm. “If Charlotte can’t help, she can give you a good referral.”
Charlotte.
I both love and hate that name.