He sighs heavily. “Just show me the damages.”
We finish the trek down the stairs. There are fake cobwebs and tombstones in the dining room across from us. Spiders hang from the ceiling. There are witches hats scattered about.
“Want to see my favorite thing?” I ask him.
He sighs. “Yeah, I guess so.”
I lead him into the family room, where in the corner there’s a lifelike mummy that’s nearly as tall as he is. It’s easily six feet tall.
“I call him Osiris—that’s the god of the underworld.”
He snorts. “Only you.”
“So what do you think?”
He looks around and shrugs. “It’s not as bad as I thought. I was expecting a coffin or something.”
“Oh, that’s in the front yard,” I tell him honestly. “You must’ve been so excited to see me that you missed it.” I wink.
He shakes his head. “God, I missed you. Talking on the phone every day wasn’t enough.”
“Is that your way of saying you love my crazy ass?”
He chuckles, looking around at the cobwebs above the TV. “Yeah, it is. There’s never a dull moment with you, that’s for sure.”
His phone beeps and he pulls it out of his pocket, looking down at the screen. “That’s Jensen. He says they’ll drop the kids off in an hour. They want to do dinner and a movie and then they’ll pick them back up.”
“Oh, thank God. I know I wouldn’t survive an overnighter.”
He laughs. “What are you going to do with our baby? She’s not going anywhere at the end of the day.”
“Yeah, but she’s ours so naturally, she’ll be perfect and never cry, need to eat, or pee and poop,” I joke.
He chuckles. “You wish.”
Since we have an hour until the kids are dropped off, I spend the time cleaning up and then I make dinner. Since the kids are young I opt to do hotdogs and macaroni and cheese. That’s kid friendly, right?
They finally arrive and I feel … nervous.
Like somehow tonight is going to make or break whether or not I can handle this whole parenting thing—which is stupid, because ready or not, this little girl is coming.
Xander lets them in the gate and they park before bringing the kids inside.
“Thanks for doing this,” Jensen says, shaking my hand and setting down the carrier.
He’s a big guy, huge, really. I call Xander a Viking, but this guy is a tank.
He has floppy brown hair and bright blue eyes with a heavy beard. His wife is tall and curvy with sleek straight blond hair.
She smiles at me kindly and hugs me. “Thanks for doing this. I don’t think we’ve ever been properly introduced. I’m Katrina.”
“Thea,” I reply with a smile, trying to be nice.
“Congratulations on your little one.” She points to my stomach, like I don’t know it’s there.
“Thank you.”
“Anyway—” she smiles, placing a hand on her daughter’s shoulder “—this is Kira, and this is Ryland.” She then points to the floppy haired little boy running in between her husband’s legs. “And the tiniest one is little Finn.”
The baby boy gurgles from his carrier and waves chubby fingers. I have no experience with babies, but I’d guess he’s around four months.
“I’ve written down everything you need to know here.” She hands me a piece of paper, and I promptly hand it to Xander because he’s more responsible and I’ll lose it. “We’ll check in after dinner, and our movie is at eight, so we should be back here by ten-thirty. Thank you both so much for doing this. Jensen said you guys wanted to get some practice in, and I can’t blame you. I wish we would’ve thought to have done that. Going home with a baby is the scariest thing ever.”
“Babe, we need to go.” Jensen urges her to the door.
“Okay, okay.” She drops down and hugs and kisses both of the two older kids. “I love you both, be good for Xander and Thea, please?”
“Love you, Mommy.” Kira hugs her mom back.
“Wuv you, Momma.” Ryland wraps his chubby arms around her neck and smacks a loud kiss against her cheek.
Jensen hugs the kids goodbye and then they’re gone.
Five seconds later Finn starts to cry and then all hell breaks loose.
Ryland runs through the house, shrieking like a banshee, and Kira begins to cry, asking when her mommy and daddy are coming back.
I glare at Xander. “This is your fault.”
He holds his hands up in surrender. “We’ve got this.”
“How do you turn them off?” I point at the crying baby and screaming Ryland.
“They’re kids, Thea, you don’t turn them off. You comfort them.” He glares at me, like somehow it’s my fault I have no motherly instincts whatsoever.
“Well, okay, mother hen.” I purse my lips. “Tell me what to do.”
“You take care of the baby, and I’ll wrangle the toddler. That one looks most dangerous.”
“What about the other one?” I ask, pointing to the crying four-year-old on the floor.
“She’s stationary for the moment, so I think we’re good.”
Xander runs after Ryland, the toddler somehow having stripped naked, even his diaper gone.
I remove the baby from the car seat and rock him in my arms. He’s drooling a lot and looks up at me with tear-filled blue eyes.
“Hi, Finn, how you doin’?” I ask, since I have no idea how to talk to a baby.
His pouty lips turn down in a frown and he only screams harder.
I bounce him on my hip and make a funny face. That seems to help some. At least he starts to cry less.
“You like that?” I ask. I stick my tongue out at him and wiggle it around. “What about that?”
He giggles and reaches for my tongue.
“Ah, we like that, huh?” I tickle his chubby belly and he laughs loudly. His cheeks are still damp with tears, but no fresh ones fall. “I can so do this whole parenting thing. I’m awesome.”
Since the baby has quieted I bend down to Kira. “Hey, sweetie.”
She looks at me between her fingers and hiccups. “Where’s my mommy and daddy? I don’t know you.”
“They’ll be back soon, I promise. You’re hanging out with us right now. Do you like movies? Or want to play a game?”
“I like movies.” She brightens.
I hold out my hand. “Come on, let’s find a movie then.”
I lead her out of the foyer and into the family room. When she sees the couch she scurries up onto it. I grab the remote and sit down, holding the baby.
I find the kids movies On Demand and let her pick. She goes with some recent animated movie and I click to let it begin playing.
“Do you want some popcorn?” I ask and her eyes light up like I’ve asked her if she wants to go shopping—at least, I imagine that’s what I look like when someone mentions shopping.
She nods enthusiastically. I keep a hold on the baby and go to make the popcorn.
Xander is still chasing the naked toddler through the house.
How did the kid get naked? Seriously.
The popcorn finishes popping and I pour it into the extra large bowl we have. I carry it and the baby back into the family room and sit down next to Kira. She’s completely sucked into the movie.
“Did you eat dinner?” I ask her.
She nods. “Yeah, I had dinosaur chicken nuggets.”
“Oh, those are my favorite too,” I tell her. “Dinosaurs are cool.”
“Yeah, they are. Can you be quiet so I can watch my movie?”
I laugh and hand her the popcorn. “Yeah, sorry.”
Minutes later, Xander collapses onto the couch with Ryland pinned in his arms with a dishtowel around his waist.
“Is that our dishtowel on the kid?”
Xander glares at me and blows out a breath, which fans his hair around his forehead. “He started to pee everywhere so I grabbed a dishtowel and tackled him to the ground.”
/> “You tackled a two-year-old?” I snort.
He groans. “It was a soft tackle, I promise. I didn’t hurt him. I’m pretty sure a tank couldn’t take out this kid.”
Ryland wiggles in Xander’s arms and then he’s on the loose again.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Xander takes off after him.
It doesn’t take him nearly as long to catch him this time. He comes back into the room with the kid over one shoulder and their bag in the other.
He then manages to wrangle Ryland back into some clothes and a diaper.
“Who would’ve thought,” I begin.
“Huh?” He looks over at me.
“That I’d do better at this than you. I’m quite impressed with myself.” I smile at him.
He chuckles, but the tone isn’t all that humorous. “You got the easy ones.”
“They were both crying, now they’re not,” I point out.
He bites out a gruff laugh. “I guess you’re the baby whisperer then.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear.”
Ryland wiggles away from Xander and moves over to me. He looks up at me with wide brown eyes and then plops beside me, sucking his thumb.
“I’m surrounded by children and I don’t want to die, this is a miracle.”
Xander chuckles. “They like you.”
I look around at the kids. “I can do this, can’t I?”
He nods. “You definitely can. I’m now questioning myself.”
I laugh. “Oh, please, our child will probably hate me and love you.”
He shrugs and glances at the movie playing. “I guess only time will tell.”
“Even with all this screaming and crying you still want five kids?” I ask him, and it’s a serious question.
He presses his lips together, thinking, and after a moment he nods. “Yeah, I want that. It’s chaos, and non-stop insanity, but think of all the amazing memories we’d make along the way.”
I can’t believe I’m coming around to the idea, but I am. A big family is starting to seem less and less scary, and more and more like something I want too.
What is happening to me?
Jensen and Katrina check in with us after their dinner, and we let them know everything is fine. The kids are still watching the movie, and once it’s over it’s time for baths and bed.
Xander goes to start the bath while I somehow manage to get the three kids wrangled into the downstairs bathroom.
The baby, thankfully, doesn’t need to be bathed.
Since he’s taken a liking to me, I hold onto him while Xander undresses Kira and Ryland.
I sit on the closed toilet lid, bouncing a babbling Finn. He’s actually kind of cute, in a wrinkly, drooly, sort of way.
Kira climbs into the tub on her own and Xander lifts Ryland in.
Ryland immediately starts splashing water everywhere.
“Don’t do that, kid,” Xander scolds, but Ryland only giggles. “Come on, sit down. Stop kicking the water,” he pleads. “Here, you want a cup to play with?” Xander asks, grabbing a paper cup from under the sink.
Ryland takes it gladly, fills it with water, and dumps it on Xander’s head.
Xander sighs and looks over at me. I bust out laughing because he looks like a drowned rat.
“That’s a good look for you,” I snort.
“Thanks,” he mutters. “Give that back.” He takes the cup from Ryland.
Ryland plops in the water and begins to cry. “You’ve done it now,” I tell him.
He sighs. “Let’s just get you washed,” he mutters.
He washes Ryland first since he’s making the bigger mess, and once he’s clean sets him out and wraps him in a towel.
“Come on, Ryland.” I stand up and guide the little boy out of the bathroom.
We left their pajamas in the family room so I lead him there and somehow, still holding the baby, I manage to dress the two-year-old in his Batman PJs.
Katrina packed their blankets from home so I set them out and fix the couch for them to sleep since it’s bedtime for them.
Xander comes out of the bathroom with Kira a few minutes later and dresses her.
We then fix her and Ryland on separate places on the couch and read them a book together, both of us making voices for the characters, which the kids seem to like.
By some miracle, they both fall asleep quickly. I’m sure it’s because they’re exhausted from being in a strange environment.
Xander and I end up taking the baby upstairs to our room and we lie on our bed with him in-between us.
It isn’t long until little Finn falls asleep too.
“I’m going to shower,” Xander tells me. “Are you okay here?”
I nod. “I’ve got this. But it looks like you’ve already showered,” I joke, referring to the fact that he’s still slightly damp from all the water poured on him.
He pulls his damp shirt away from his chest. “The kid tried.”
He stands up and shucks his shirt, tossing it toward the basket.
I yawn, fighting my tiredness. It shouldn’t be much longer until Katrina and Jensen come to pick up the kids.
Was it crazy there for a while? Yes, but overall it wasn’t too bad.
Finn kicks his feet in his sleep and makes this adorable little purring sound.
I brush my finger over his chubby cheek. “You’re not so bad. I think I can do this whole mom thing.”
It’s definitely not easy, that’s for sure, but it doesn’t seem so bleak anymore.
I might also be riding high still from the fact that I had an easier time than Xander.
I thought for sure Mr. Perfect would do just fine and I’d be the one floundering with this whole babysitting thing.
Xander finishes his shower and changes into a pair of sweatpants. He doesn’t bother with a shirt—lucky me.
His phone rings and he answers quickly before it can wake Finn.
“Hello?” he whispers. “Yeah, they’re all sleeping. Yep, all of them. Uh-uh. Okay. See you in a few. They’ll be here in ten minutes. Should we try putting him in his car seat?”
I shake my head. “I think we should let them do it, they’re probably used to doing it and can do it without waking him.”
Xander nods in agreement. “That’s true.”
When Jensen and Katrina arrive, Xander lets them in. He comes back up with the carrier and Katrina behind him.
“Thank you so much for doing this,” she whispers, so not to disturb the sleeping baby. “I hope they were good.”
“They were great,” I answer, and Xander snorts which makes Katrina raise a brow.
“There was one incident … or two with Ryland.”
She laughs. “Those terrible twos truly are terrible,” she sighs. “What’d he do?”
“It wasn’t too bad. Just some screaming and he stripped naked. There might’ve also been a bathtub incident.”
She laughs, shaking her head. “That boy will be the end of me. Thank God, so far this one seems to be calm.”
She gently lifts Finn and places him in the car seat without waking him up.
“Thank you again, guys, this meant a lot.”
She buckles Finn into his seat and he lets out a small cry before stilling.
“I’ll carry him down for you,” Xander tells her. “This thing is heavy.”
“Thank you,” she tells him gratefully. He leaves and to me she says, “I’m busy with the kids a lot, I don’t like to leave them with other people, but if you’d ever like to come over for lunch I’d love that.”
I nod. “I’d actually like that. It’d be nice to have a mom my age to talk to.”
“Great.” She smiles. “I’ll give you my number.”
She points to my phone lying on the bed and I hand it over so she can put her number in.
“I sent myself a text so I’ll have yours. I better go now. The kids will be grumpy we woke them up.”
I wave goodbye and collapse on the bed, exhausted.
<
br /> Xander joins me a few minutes later and we lay side by side, looking up at the ceiling.
“I guess this is a bad time to tell you I planned another party for Halloween.”
He laughs. “I’m too exhausted to think about parties.”
“That’s what I figured.” I roll over to face him. “Give me your hand.”
He hands it to me and I press it to my belly. “Feel that?” I ask, looking over at him.
He nods, his eyes wide. “It amazes me more and more every time. She’s so strong.”
“She’s the most active now. She’s going to be a night owl, which doesn’t bode well for us.”
He rubs his thumb over my belly. “That’s okay, night owls are cool.”
I place my hand over his, my eyes growing heavy.
We both fall asleep, clutching my stomach and feeling the steady thrum of the baby’s kicks, reminding us that she’s there, and she’s coming.
Thea
We wake up in the same position we fell asleep, only now, the baby seems to have fallen asleep because there are no kicks.
I move Xander’s hand off my belly and go to shower.
My aching back needs it. As much as my back hurts now I’m scared to imagine what it’s like when I’m ready to pop. It’s not going to be pleasant.
After my shower I dress and style my hair, doing my makeup as well.
Xander’s awake by that time, already making breakfast, because he’s awesome like that.
I head downstairs and slide onto one of the barstools.
“I smell something delicious.”
He grins, his hair a mess from sleep. “Homemade pancakes and eggs.”
“Mmm, my favorite.”
I wait anxiously for him to finish making them and when he piles three pancakes onto my plate I barely add syrup before digging in.
“I think everybody’s coming to your game this weekend.”
Xander has a home game this weekend, which is why he’s home for the time being. Then he’ll he gone on the road again for a little while.
“Cool,” he replies, shoveling food into his mouth. “It’s fun when everybody comes. Is it crazy to say that the energy is better?”
I laugh. “No, not crazy. Home games are the best. It’s your own turf.”
“True,” he agrees. “So … another party?” He raises a brow. “You never mentioned that in any of our calls.”
When Constellations Form (Light in the Dark Book 4) Page 20