Page 65 of Wolves & Watercolors
“Sorry,” he mutters softly against my hair.
Onyx raises his hands to pacify Cedar, though his small smirk is telling. Before Cedar can react, I pull his hand off my waist and twine our fingers together. With purposeful steps, I lead him past his brother and settle onto the other log. Cedar sits beside me, placing himself between me and Onyx.
“You guys have a good day?” Onyx asks, one eyebrow quirking up.
“Actually, yeah. Did some painting,” I say.
“I can see that,” he says, his smirk no longer small.
I turn to Cedar, my brows furrowing. Then I spot it - a streak of gold across his neck, dipping under his shirt near his collar bone.
“Crap,” I mutter. Reaching up, I rub at it and the dried paint peels away easily. “There, I got it.”
“Too bad, I like having a reminder,” he whispers. Before I can respond, footsteps interrupt us.
Hazel lets out a huge yawn and drops into an Adirondack chair beside me.
“No Slate or Timber?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I don’t think she can be around the smoke yet. Besides, it's way past her bedtime. Slate’s pretty tired too. He’s been taking the nighttime wake-ups.”
“That’s sweet of him.”
She smiles and tips her head toward me conspiratorially. “It’s really nice having someone there to just pop the baby on my boob. I hardly have to wake up and he deals with the dirty diaper after.”
My nose scrunches up as I laugh with her. Motherhood suits her. There’s a confidence about her that she never had before she came here.
“What are you guys whispering about?” Onyx says, his forearms resting on his knees as he leans forward.
“Baby stuff,” I answer.
Onyx sticks his tongue out and Cedar bristles beside me.
“Hello my darlings!” Marigold arrives in a flurry of reddish-gold curls and huge smiles. Her positive energy shimmers around her and I’m suddenly curious if I could tap into it for magic.
She throws her arms around Hazel and sways while squeezing her tightly. Jasper appears at her side, and once she releases my sister, the two drop into the open Adirondack chair. Marigold perches across his lap and his hand settles at her hip possessively.
I glance at Cedar. His eyes flicker from his brother to me, and the small, private smile he gives me makes my stomach flip. Those dimples are irresistible.
He tugs at my hand and leans closer. “Stop looking at me like that.”
My teeth have sunk into my bottom lip suggestively and entirely unintentionally. Oops. I relax my face, adopting a demure smile in place of my former flirtatious expression.
“I want to hear everything about Timber!” Marigold says, clapping her hands together before lacing her fingers over her knee.
Hazel sighs. “You just saw her a few hours ago when you babysat for my meeting.”
“I know, but you didn’t tell me much about how the last twenty-four hours have been!”
“The same,” Hazel says, rolling her eyes. “She’s not that exciting yet. She makes cute poopy faces, loves feeding, and she sleeps a lot. No smiles yet, but it’s really early.”
“I can’twait! If you don’t take a picture of her first smile and I’m not there, I’m going to freak out.” Jasper jostles his partner, pulling her against his chest and distracting her.
Hazel laughs lightly, looking into the flames. Her eyes squint, and then she breaks into another lengthy yawn, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.
“Anyone ready for some sugar?” Onyx asks, pulling a woven tote bag from behind his seat.
“Yes, please!” Hazel makes grabby hands, and Onyx obliges by popping open a glass container and removing something rectangular wrapped in wax paper.
