“Something wrong?” he asked, glancing her way.
“We can’t stay here,” she mumbled. “The kids… they’ll…”
“The kids will be fine, and so will you,” he assured her. “It’s just a house. Brick, glass, a roof… same as every other home.”
“No, Brexton,” she said, exasperation in her tone. “This is nothing like every other home. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Blossom, it’s just a house. Really. What is it that has you so worried?” he asked as they stopped in his four-car garage.
“What if the kids break something, or ruin your floors or walls?” she asked.
“Then I’ll have someone fix it.” His brow furrowed. “I’m not sure I understand why you’re worried.”
“Brexton, this house has to have cost you a fortune, and I can only imagine what it looks like inside. The things you have likely aren’t cheap. My kids can be really sweet, but they’re really destructive at times too. Drew has been known to draw on walls or floors, or stick toys down the toilet and overflow the bathroom.”
He reached over and took her hand, giving it a slight squeeze.
“Blossom, the things you’re talking about are all just objects, just random things that can be fixed or replaced. In twenty years, are you going to be angry that Drew decided to mark the walls or floors, or are you going to look back on that memory and be able to smile? If the bathroom floods, then there are several others to choose from while that one is repaired. You’re worrying over nothing. It’s not material things that matter in life, it’s the people we share those lives with. The people are what makes us rich.”
She blinked a few times and the tension slowly eased from her body.
“Wait here for just a moment,” he said. “I’m going to take some of the bags up to the kids’ rooms and make sure everything is in place for them. I have a housekeeper who would have let the delivery men in if the furniture is here already.”
She looked into the backseat at her sleeping kids and nodded.
Brexton gathered as much as he could carry, then went inside. Mrs. Connors smiled in greeting, a twinkle in her eyes.
“So, a baby bed and toddler bed were delivered an hour ago. Something you’d like to tell me?” she asked.
“We’re going to have guests for a while,” he said.
He kept moving but she followed him up to the second floor and down the hall to the two rooms that had previously been empty. The toddler bed had been placed in Drew’s room, which had pale green walls. He didn’t know if that was appropriate for a small human boy or not, but they could repaint if they needed to. After putting Drew’s things away, and leaving Mrs. Connors to make the bed, he went to the next room to put RaeLynn’s belongings in her dresser and the toys into the box in the corner of the room. Mrs. Connors set up the baby bed next.
“Brexton, I’ve never meddled in your life,” she said, making him snort because that was precisely what she did on a regular basis. “But bringing two children home is out of the ordinary for you, and there’s rumors circling that you have some secret family.”
“I’m just trying to help them,” he said. “We were cornered while we were shopping and I…”
“You what?” she asked, hands on her hips.
He sighed. “I told the fans that she was my girlfriend. Now everyone seems to be under the impression her children are mine and that I’ve been hiding them from public view.”
“And have you?” she asked.
“Mrs. Connors, are you really asking me that?”
She shrugged. “You’re not the first celebrity I’ve worked with, so it wouldn’t surprise me. You’d be amazed at the things I’ve heard and seen over the years. I didn’t get this gray hair from living a quiet life.”
He smiled. “You’ve often told me that Mr. Connors gave you that gray hair, so don’t go blaming me or anyone else for it.”
She waved her hands at him. “Are you just going to leave them in the car or bring them inside? I want to see those babies!”
He shook his head and went down to the car. Lifting a sleepy Drew out of his car seat, he waited for Blossom to pick up RaeLynn, then he led the way inside and up to the kids’ rooms. Blossom stared at everything with wide eyes, and when she saw Mrs. Connors waiting in the hallway, she stopped and froze.
“I’m Mrs. Connors, the housekeeper.”
Blossom gave the woman a tentative smile. “I’m Blossom, and these are my kids. Drew and RaeLynn.”
“May I?” Mrs. Connors asked, reaching for the baby.
