Page 28 of Surviving in Everton

“I’ll stay with you, Lovely,” Kayden offers.

Rowen gives him a sweet smile in response. “No, Kay, it’s fine. You five go. I need all four of you to make sure Nate here doesn’t do anything stupid,” she entreats the guys and I roll my eyes.

“I don’t need babysitters, Kitten,” I assert, crossing my arms.

“Of course you don’t, baby.”

“We’ll keep him in line, Lovely.” Kayden smirks in my direction as he agrees to Rowe’s demand.

“Thank you.” She beams at him.

With that out of the way, we start making plans for our trip Saturday. Forest Lake is a good drive, but luckily Declan’s been there before, so it shouldn’t be too bad. We’ll have to take Hudson’s SUV so we can all fit and won’t have to take multiple cars. By the time we’ve got a solid plan laid out, it’s time for dinner. Which, I really only know because my stomach has been growling. I look around for Rowe and Quinn to ask them what they want to eat, but I don’t see them. They must have snuck out when we were making our plans.

“Hey, y’all see where Rowe and Quinn went off to?” I ask the guys. They all look around like they’re just noticing they’re gone, so I take that as a no. I get up and wander through the house looking for them. After checking the kitchen, the bedroom, and both porches, Ifinallyfind them in the solarium. No idea why I didn’t fucking look here first.

“Hey, you two. Y’all about ready for some dinner?” I ask when they look up at me.

Rowe looks at the clock on the wall and I watch her eyes widen when she realizes how late it is. “How is it seven already?! Why hasn’t Violet come in demanding dinner yet? She must be starving.” She groans. “God, I’m such a bad mother.” She hangs her head, but I quickly walk up to her, grab her chin, and lift her head up.

“Uh uh, Kitten. You’re an amazing mother. Don’t for a second think you’re anything less. Violet has been playing in the playhouse to give us some space. She knew we had important things to talk about and she didn’t want to interrupt, so she’ll stay in the playhouse until someone goes out there and gets her,” I tell her.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I knowViolet. You’ve raised an amazing kid, Rowe. She’s smart and she’s thoughtful. She knows everything you’re going through right now and she only wants to help. Being five-years-old, there’s not much she can do, but shecanstay out of the way so we can talk and figure shit out,” I explain.

“Thanks, Nate,” she whispers.

“Anytime, Kitten,” I assure her, then place a gentle kiss on her lips and finally let go of her chin. “You good with takeout? Or you wanna just magic dinner tonight?” I ask her once I’ve stood and backed up slightly.

“Ugh, takeout would take too long and I’m suddenly starving. Someone can magic dinner tonight,” she says. I chuckle and nod my head.

“Alright, baby, I’ll tell the guys and get the kids. Where are we eating tonight?” I ask.

“It’s such a nice night, let’s eat outside,” she suggests.

“You got it,” I tell her then leave her and Quinn alone.

“I love you, Nate!” she calls after me just as I’m about to leave the room. I stop in my tracks and turn to face her.

“I love you too, Kitten. More than anything in the world,” I tell her adamantly. I leave the room with a smile on my face, knowing I finally have the love of my life, and she loves me back.

Chapter 13

Rowen

Today’s the day. The guys are driving to Forest Lake to find Brad. I don’t know why they’re all so worried about me, I’m not going, I’ll be fine. Didn’t stop them from arguing over who was going to stay the night Thursday and Friday. Somehow I convinced them to give me a night off. I was starting to feel a little suffocated.

They all agreed no one would stay the night last night, as long as they could all come over for breakfast this morning before they leave. Which explains why I’m up so early on a Saturday. No one should be awake before nine on weekends, but the guys have a long drive, so they wanted to get an early start. I swear, they’re lucky I love them so much. Interrupting my sleep like this.

“Mommy, can I help make breakfast?” Violet asks from behind me. I didn’t even realize she was awake.

“Sure, sweetie. Wanna get out the eggs?” I ask.

She gives me a big smile then runs over to the fridge, where she proceeds to take out two cartons of eggs and places them on the counter. Where the heck did we get all of those eggs? They’re not the standard dozen egg cartons either, each of these cartons has thirty-six eggs.

“Good job. Now get the bread out of the pantry please.”

I get the bowls down while she continues getting all of the ingredients out. I crack half of a carton of eggs in one bowl and the rest in another bowl, then pour some milk in both. “Alright, Bug, come whip these eggs for me.”

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