Page 96 of Entirely Yours
“Ben is an irresponsible stupid head,” I replied, to peels of laughter.
“I’m going to tell Mama you said that.”
“She’ll probably agree with me.”
And then she asked me to pushher on the swings.
I texted Mom an hour later asking if I was allowed to return to my own home. She promptly responded with no, but I could go to their house.
Dad was waiting when we arrived, all of the ingredients to make peanut butter and banana sandwiches out on the kitchen counter.
“GoGo!” Chloe calls, hopping up onto a bar stool. “What are we making?” She rubs her hands together in excitement.
“The Elvis special,” Dad replies. Chloe has been very intoLilo and Stitchlately, so she knows exactly who he’s talking about.
We play music over the bluetooth and make sandwiches, pausing for dance breaks when necessary. It’s taken some time, but Chloe and I have built a mutual trust. I know I’m not her biological father, but I hope that she sees me as a father figure in her life as she grows up, and eventually, I hope we can make that official through adoption. I love her as much as I know I’ll love Emmett when he’s here. They’re both a part of Thea, a piece of her heart. Loving all of her means I get a chance to love all of these tiny humans too. That makes me pretty damn lucky.
Eventually Mom comes home, but I’m still not allowed to go back to my house.
“Is she okay?” I ask. I miss her and I hate that I haven’t been able to put my eyes on her today.
Mom’s hand pats my cheek. “She’s fine,mon chou.”
“So I can go see her?” I ask.
“No,” she replies, a sly smile crossing her face. “Not yet. We’ll go back for dinner. Bex and Anders are coming in.”
“Really?” That’s surprising. “What for?”
“This and that,” she says.
I untie my bun and re-tie it. “I love it when you’re vague.”
“Have I ever steered you wrong, my cabbage?”
No. No, she hasn’t.
Several hours later, Mom, Dad, Chloe, and I are finally on our way back to my house. We pull up at the same time as Bex andAnders, so I pop my head out of the window and call to Bex, “What are you doing here?”
She looks mildly offended. “Can’t a girl visit her brothers?”
“No,” I deadpan.
She gives me her signature eye roll and then continues unloading Molly from the car.
When I get to the front door, I’m greeted by the other two Bardot siblings. “What are you two doing here?” I repeat.
They shrug. “Thea called, we answered,” Ben says.
A pang of jealousy hits me. Thea called them instead of me? She’s slipping through my?—
Ben hits me upside the head. “Stop spiraling and go inside.”
“It’s creepy when you do the weird twin telepathy thing,” Gabe adds.
I ignore them both and push inside. Cole is there—another person in my house that is not the one I want to see. She doesn’t mess around though, and just points to the guest room. “She’s in there.”
Jogging the last few steps, I push the door open to see a room that’s been completely transformed.
