Page 133 of 12 Months of Mayhem

I watch them, my heart swelling. For all his rough edges, Rex is putty in his daughter’s hands. It’s moments like these that remind me why I fell for him all those years ago. At the time, I was still young and dumb, but I knew there was something about this man. Our journey may have been winding with dead-ends, dead bodies, and my father’s legacy actually exploding, but it’s worth all of that to have what we have now. But, there’s something off with Rex. He has always been good about hiding his emotions from the kids. The few times we’ve fought since getting back together, little things here and there, the kids were totally unaware. He can’t hide them from me, though.

“Hey, what about me?” Beaux’s calls out from the doorway. We all turn to see him standing there in his Halloween costume - a grim reaper fully equipped with a plastic scythe.

“Well, would you look at that? The Grim Reaper himself has graced us with his presence.”

Beaux grins, twirling his plastic scythe with surprising dexterity. “Cool, right? Mom helped me with the face paint.”

I can’t help but feel a surge of pride. The kid’s got talent when it comes to the spooky stuff. We’d spent a good hour perfecting the skeletal design on his face, and it shows.

“You look badass, son,” Rex says, setting Birdie down gently. He crosses the room to ruffle Beaux’s hair, careful not to smudge the face paint. “Just like your old man.”

Beaux beams at the compliment, puffing out his chest a little. It still amazes me sometimes how quickly he and Rex bonded once they finally met. There’s no denying the kid is his father’s son.

“Alright, you two terrors,” I say, pushing myself up from the couch with a grunt. “Let’s get this show on the road before I change my mind and decide to take a nap instead.”

Rex chuckles, wrapping an arm around my waist. “You sure you’re up for this, Rem? We could always stay home and hand out candy instead.”

I shoot him a look. “As much as I would love to take you up on that, we both know that we will never hear the end of it if we miss the Halloween parade in the quarter. Birdie has been talking about it for weeks.”

“True,” Rex quips. “But I can handle Birdie if you aren’t feeling up to it.”

“I’ll be okay,” I assure him. Unlike Beaux, this pregnancy hasn’t been as easy. We’d had a few scares early on, but we are inching closer to the finish line now.

Rex nods, his eyes still filled with concern. “Alright, but tell me if you need to sit down or head home early, you hear?”

“Yes, dear,” I say, rolling my eyes but smiling. His protectiveness can be annoying at times, but I can’t deny it’s also comforting.

As we start gathering our things, Birdie tugs on Rex’s pant leg. “Daddy, can we get beignets after the parade? Pretty please?”

Rex glances at me, eyebrow raised in question. I shrug. “Why not? It’s Halloween, after all.”

“Alright, princess,” Rex says, scooping Birdie up. “Beignets it is. But only if you’re good during the parade, deal?”

“Deal!” Birdie squeals, wrapping her arms around Rex’s neck.

As we head out the door, Beaux falls into step beside me. “Mom, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, baby. What’s up?”

He hesitates for a moment, fidgeting with his scythe. “Do you think...do you think Dad will still want to hang out with me after the new baby comes?”

My heart clenches at the uncertainty in his tone. I stop, turning to face him. “Beaux, listen to me. Your daddy loves you more than anything in this world. Nothing, not even a new baby, is going to change that. This new addition to our family,” I pat my belly, “is just gonna be one more person to love you. They’ll need a good big brother to keep them safe.”

I pull him into a hug, careful not to smudge his face paint. “How about this? Why don’t you ask your dad if you two can have a special day together, just the two of you? I bet he’d love that.”

His face lights up at the suggestion. “Really? You think he’d want to?”

“I know he would,” I assure him, ruffling his hair. “Now come on, let’s catch up before your sister convinces your dad to buy out the entire beignet shop.”

We hurry to join Rex and Birdie, who are waiting by the car. Rex gives me a questioning look, but I shake my head slightly. We’ll talk about it later.

As we pile into the car, the excitement starts to build. Birdie’s chattering away about all the candy she’s going to get while Beaux practices his best scary voice. I can’t help but grin as we pull out of the driveway.

I glance over at Rex, expecting to see him rolling his eyes at the over-the-top decorations, but instead, his gaze is distant and unfocused. His hands grip the steering wheel tightly, knuckles white against the black leather. Something’s off.

“Rex?” I ask softly, reaching out to touch his arm. “You okay?”

He blinks, coming back to the present. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he mutters, but his eyes don’t quite meet mine.

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