Page 105 of Fighting Shadows
“Is she ok?” I ask, staring at the baby.
“She needs a Ma, Autumn, just like that little boy does.” Kathleen stands and picks baby Clover up, cradling her in her arms, “Do you want to hold her?”
Nodding my head, I cradle Clover's head as Kathleen places her in my arms, and her bright green eyes shine in the sunlight.
Chase comes back in, wanting to show me his car, and I pull him into my side, listening as he tells me about the newest one Kathleen bought for him. His arms fly around wildly as he talks, but he’s careful to avoid the baby that’s cooing in my arms.
Somehow, it all feels right, but it’s far too soon for us to even consider adopting him or Clover.
I spend the rest of the day with all of them; Chase is adamant that we have a picnic in Kathleen's garden, and Clover fusses every time I try to put her down, so I hold her the entire time we sit out there.
A piece of my soul settles the longer I sit here, and as Chase runs around me in circles and the baby in my arms falls asleep, I realize that I needed this.
Chapter 51
Sebastian
‘If You Love Her – Forest Blakk’
Dominic’s phone pings with another notification; his mom, Kathleen, has been giving him updates from the moment Autumn arrived.
We know she can leave on her own now without fear of something happening to her, but we still worry, and I think we will for a while after everything that’s happened.
He groans, shoving the phone into each of our faces so we can see the newest photo that’s been sent of Autumn cradling a baby that could be Atlas’s and Chase, who is happily snuggled into her side.
From the moment Chase attached himself to her, we knew he was going to be our kid. It seems like the baby just became part of that package deal, something I have no issue with.
“Can’t wait to spoil them rotten.” Dominic smiles, hanging the lights around the tree.
“They’re going to turn into brats,” I point out.
“Nah, not my Chase. He’s the best,” he says.
“And the little girl? Cause we all know that we’re never going to be able to tell her no,” Zander says, throwing some lights over a branch, just like we did for Atlas’s and Autumn's first date together.
“Are we adopting her too?” Atlas asks.
“She’s your twin; obviously, we’re adopting her. Lucky bastard,” I mutter under my breath, setting up fake tealights around the blanket on the grass.
“It’s fate then, isn’t it?” he jokes, darting out of the way as I try to punch him.
“You sure you want to do this, Noah? Talks of adopting kids, and you’ve not even asked her to be your girl yet,” I joke.
Noah’s eyes harden, and he stares at me for a moment, completely serious, “I want her no matter what comes with it. I’ll adopt twenty kids if it makes her happy,” he says, fixing the blanket on the ground before moving over to help Dominic with the lights.
We all gather in the kitchen as Zander cooks the food for Autumn, just like he did for Atlas. Noah reaches over the worktop to steal a strawberry; his hand barely grazes it when Zander swats his hand with the wooden spoon, “I’ll spank you with this, I swear.” He threatens.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time, Z,” Noah winks at him.
“It’s not a threat; it’s a promise,” Zander winks back.
“No! Noah’s mine, my best friend,” Dominic whines, standing next to Noah and glaring at Zander.
“Not stealing your boyfriend, Dominic.” Zander holds his hands up in surrender, “But I will most likely see him naked, very soon.”
Noah’s shoulders shake as he laughs, and we join in as Dominic glares at us all. “Mine,” he says, licking Noah’s cheek.
“So gross. Why?” Noah whines, wiping his cheek.
