Holden pulls back, a huge grin on his face. “Hi.”
“Hi to you too,” I say, returning his smile.
“Missed you.”
I squeeze him to me, laughing when he lets out a little grunt. “I missed you too. Did you guys have a good day?”
“Yes. Such a good day. We got his tux first and then went to the mall. That kid is something else. We’re going to be besties, I just know it already.”
“Good.” I brush my lips along his temple. “You need someone to keep you in line.”
Holden sits back, glaring at me playfully. “Rude.”
I lean forward, pressing my lips to his quickly. “I’m kidding.”
“I know,” Holden says, rolling his eyes. “But anyway, we had a lot of fun. Eli got a shitload of clothes. Like it was actually insane the amount he picked out. He about passed out when he saw the total.”
I can’t help but smile. “Wait until Beck finds out you didn’t take his card.”
“How do you know I didn’t take his card? Are you going to snitch on me?”
Uh, no. Will not be doing that. If for no other reason than I’m not in the mood to piss Beck off or listen to him and Holden going at each other. I swear they’re just as bad as Wren and Warren. Worse, maybe. Because I can’t threaten to take their iPads iftheydon’t chill out. “Of course not. I’m firmly on your side. Unlike Roman, I know how to be loyal.”
Holden scoffs, which makes me grin. “Yeah, I’d believe that if you didn’t start calling me a chaos twink twelve days after we started dating.”
Well… “If the shoe fits, darlin’.”
Holden blinks at me a couple of times before rolling his eyes. “What’s the plan for this weekend?”
I let out a heavy sigh, already questioning the intelligence of my plan, but I figure if we ask Beck and Roman and see if they’d like to join us with Eli, maybe we won’t be overpowered and it’ll be alright. “I was thinking we could take a family trip to the zoo.”
There’s a beat of silence, and then Holden’s slumping against me with a groan. “It was a nightmare last time,” he mumbles, his words muffled against my chest.
“Yeah, I know. But I was thinking if we invited the rest of the family, it wouldn’t be so bad.”
Holden sits back with another groan. “Okay, yes. But if they can’t, we aren’t going. It should be easy, Jules. Twoof us, two of them. It’s not easy. How do they multiply in public? How is it that we get in the car a family of four, and get out at the zoo a family of seventeen?”
A laugh rumbles through my chest at his accurate description. “If I knew the answer to that, I’d be a rich man.”
“Okay. I’m going to go peek in on the kids. You find out if Ro and Beck are good to go with us, and then can you please make your homemade Chicken Alfredo for dinner? I bought the stuff a couple of days ago.”
He sticks his bottom lip out at me in the most adorable pout. He’s most certainly too used to getting his own way. But hey, I created this monster. Not like I’m really struggling to live with the consequences. “Sure thing, darlin’.”
With one more quick peck, Holden climbs from my lap. He gives me a bright smile and all but skips off toward the kids’ rooms.
I’m unbuckling Warren from his car seat while Holden gets the stroller out when Beck and Roman pull in, parking beside us.
Warren lets out an ear-splitting squeal when he sees Beck. Poor Roman. Can’t get a kid to like him more tosave his life. I get him out of the car and head around to the back, helping Holden get the stroller opened up. The double stroller was a lifesaver—until Wren decided she was officially too big to need it and wanted to walk everywhere. It’s fine, really.
And it mostly is. It doesn’t help the two kids turning into seventeen thing, though. Thankfully, we have four sets of grown-up eyes today. Otherwise, I already know this would be a disaster. I really have no idea how both kids, who share zero DNA with Holden, somehow managed to acquire his chaos tendencies.
When Beck and Roman step out of the car, Eli climbs out behind them. He’s clearly dressed up in one of his new outfits. “Looking good, kid,” I say, nodding toward him.
He glances down, flushing bright red as he takes in his outfit. It’s just a pair of shorts and a cropped t-shirt, but he’s also wearing hot pink high-top Chucks, and he has a light dusting of makeup on. “Uh. I shouldn’t have worn it, but thank you.”
“Nope,” Beck says, and Eli jumps, flinching away. I can tell instantly that it hurts Beck’s feelings, but he takes it in stride. “You can wear whatever you want. Right?”
Eli nods after a long pause. “Right,” he whispers.
