“Cool!” Garin said, finally seeming like the six-year-old he was.
“Did you see that, Kino?!” Zayne shouted.
“I did.” Kino replied, grinning.
Niall took his phone from his pocket and snapped a photo. “I like this,” he murmured to his boyfriend. “Dad mode suits you.”
Jax smiled for the camera, even doing a few funny poses where he pretended to juggle the boys. He hadn't thought about it much in his twenty-eight years, but Niall was correct. Dad mode suited him just fine.
The McGinn children were a huge part of Niall’s life. Jax had heard about them constantly since he and Niall first began dating. Niall couldn’t go a day without bragging about the twins learning their numbers or Zayne cutting a straight line using scissors. The past few months, Jax had been so fixated on his boyfriend’s relationship with Ronan and Teal that he’d almost forgotten that Niall was also deeply attached to the boys. Maybe even more so.
When Jax came home yesterday to discover the kids in his bed—thwarting his plan for sexy time with Niall—he’d been disappointed. But the prospect of doing fun things with them quickly replaced that initial reaction. He’d been only mildly shocked to learn that the reason Niall had taken the boys home was because the couple was helping Sorcha through his heat.
Jax wondered whathelpingmeant, but Niall didn’t have many details. That hadn’t stopped some very naughty images from entering Jax’s mind. And judging by Niall’s smirk when he'd shared the information, he'd had the same idea.
Jax wanted to ask how Niall felt about the possibility Ronan and Teal were engaging in intimate activities with Sorcha, but he figured that conversation needed to wait until they weren’t surrounded by children.
For today, Jax was excited to play the part ofsupercool babysitter. Niall was already a father figure to the boys, or perhaps more like a very involved uncle. Jax was grateful for this opportunity to carve out his own relationship with them. It made him feel closer to Niall and strengthened the familial feeling he’d gotten from Ronan and Teal at the barbeque.
He put the boys down so they could investigate the plexiglass window bubbles that created the illusion you were sticking your face in the water.
“They’re such good kids,” Jax said to Niall. “I’m glad we got this day together.”
“They really are. It’s nice for them to have a chance to relax and do something fun. Being Teal McGinn’s son isn’t easy. Zayne is mostly oblivious, but Garin and Kino are quite perceptive.”
A moment later, Kino slipped his small hand into Jax’s large, tattooed one and said, “Hey, Dad. Can we go look at the otters?”
Jax glanced down at him in confusion.Dad?
He was further confounded when Garin walked over to Niall and said, “Yeah, come on Daddy, let’s go see the otters.”
Jax and Niall locked eyes over the boys’ heads. Jax was about to ask the twins what they meant when he noticed two mean-looking alphas skulking at the end of the tunnel.
The men scowled at Garin and Kino. They were with their own toddler-aged alphas, who stuck their faces in the plexiglass bubbles next to Zayne.
Leaning against the wall with their arms folded across their chests, the big alphas blocked Niall and Jax’s path. They must have entered from the other direction, Jax realized, cursing himself internally for not clocking their arrival.
The larger of the two men narrowed his eyes at the twins. Now Jax understood what Garin and Kino were up to. If these men were traditionalist alphas, they might be in danger. The boys’ names and faces had been posted online in enough news stories about their parents. It wasn’t unreasonable to suspect they’d been recognized.
“Come on, Dad,” Kino insisted. “I’ll get our little brother.” Kino was so smart, not saying Zayne’s name.
Luckily, Zayne hadn’t heard his brothers referring to Jax and Niall as “Dad” and “Daddy,” so he didn’t spoil the ruse when Kino pulled him away.
As the five of them made their way out of the tunnel, the smaller alpha man asked Jax, “These your boys?”
“Yes,” Jax answered neutrally. “Do they go to school with your kids or something? Have we met?”
“No. We thought—” the other alpha piped in. “They look like… Nevermind. They just looked familiar.”
“Oh. Okay,” Niall said. “Well, have a nice day.”
The first alpha stepped in front of him. “You know something that’s rare?” he asked, dragging a hand over his jaw before cracking his neck. “Twins. Twins are rare. Especially alpha twins.” He turned to Garin. “What’s your name, son?”
Garin looked him directly in the eye. “Landry.”
The alpha frowned. Jax assumed the surly man suspected these were the McGinn children. What was the chance he would do something in the middle of the aquarium? Some of these pro-alpha folks were insane. Jax couldn’t risk it.
He scooped up Zayne, and he and Niall muscled past the alphas, tugging the twins along into one of the main rooms where there were more people around.
