She even nibbles on a piece of cake, so I’m going to call this a win. When she opens the last present though, she holds it up with one raised eyebrow. “A calendar?”
Kellan looks at it, and I guess he didn’t notice me placing it in the cart because he looks a little confused too. I bite nervously on my bottom lip and shrug as I take it from her. “It’s magnetic and comes with dry erase markers.” I place it on the side of the fridge and take a dry erase marker to write in the days for this month. Taking extra care to add Raegan’s birthday to today’s date. “This should help keep track of the days a little. My mom has one and swears by it.”
I look around the room at all the confused, bewildered faces. I think I may have botched this one until Rae’s eyes light up and I see a little dimple in her right cheek pop that I didn’t even know was there. “Thanks, Phillip. That’s pretty cool.”
“Yeah! I want my birthday on there,” Braylen says, reaching his hand out for the marker.”
“Your birthday is in December,” Cason says.
“December 11th,” Kellan says with a grin, pointing out he does in fact know the kids’ birthdays. Something I never doubted.
“Well, there is a notes section. How about everyone who doesn’t have a birthday in October, we write them down there?” I ask, and everyone nods as the kids tell me their birthdays, and I write them down.
All in all, I’m going to call this a win. Hell, Raegan even gives Kellan and me big hugs before she heads off to bed. Kieran, Braylen, and Cason follow soon after, and it’s just Tatum, Kellan, and me picking up the mess.
“This was pretty cool, social worker.”
I laugh at the way Tatum addresses me and put the leftover cake in the fridge. “So cool you might actually call me by my name and notsocial worker?”
“Don’t push it,” the much bigger guy says to me, and Kellan pushes him with one hand, barely making his massive body move.
“Be nice.”
“I’m always nice,” Tatum says, and Kellan just shakes his head at his friend before his blue eyes meet mine.
“Thank you for this. She looked pretty happy.”
“Yeah, didn’t know Rae could smile,” Tatum says with a grin of his own.
“You’re welcome,” I say. “But it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Tatum snorts, looking at Kellan. “Can you imagine a social worker throwing you a birthday party?” Kellan shakes his head, and Tatum just nods grimly, his eyes meeting mine. “Me neither.” For a moment, I think he’s going to call me out for my odd behavior, but his smile is kind. “It’s pretty damn cool.”
“It is,” Kellan agrees, and I find myself blushing now.Great. I’ve gone back to shy teenager mode. Awesome.
Soon, Tatum leaves because, apparently, he has some side work scheduled tomorrow, and when Kellan offered to help, he waved him off. Though I suspect the money from the side work will benefit this little family in some way. My respect for him ratchets up every single time I’m around him.
After we finish cleaning up, Kellan plops down on the couch and pats the cushion for me to join him. My heart is beating wildly in my chest at the thought of being alone with him and sitting that close. I know I probably shouldn’t, but I also know I’m going to.
I sit down, keeping a safe-ish distance. “You’re a really good friend,” he says softly, and I get lost in his eyes when he speaks.
“You’re a really good big brother.”
He snorts, self-deprecating and no humor there. “I forgot her birthday. I can’t believe I did that. I was there for all of them. Every birthday until I just wasn’t. I should have remembered.”
I hate that he’s beating himself up about this. “You made it up to her.” I smile. “Let’s face it, seeing her big tattooed, muscled brother in a party hat and his even bigger even more tattooed best friend in a hat singing horribly off key at the top of his lungs made her very, very happy.”
He does laugh at that, shaking his head. “Fucking Tatum.”
“He’s a good friend too.”
He nods his head slowly. “The best. He’s like another brother to me.”
I can’t lie. Hearing that Kellan only sees the good-looking large man as a brother, it’s a relief to me.
“I feel terrible that he had to leave his house.”
I feel bad about that still, even though I know it was protocol, and no way I could have justified an unrelated man living with four minors. “You get through this year, and you get permanent custody, then you can make whatever decisions you want to. It’s clear the kids already think of Tatum as another big brother. Maybe one who annoys them, but they trust him.”
