Page 6 of A Baby for the Firefighter
My mouth dropped open just slightly. Was my nine-year-old nephew blackmailing me?
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have him around. Really, why shouldn't he come? It wasn't like Dean and I were having a date or anything. “Okay,” I said eventually. “You can come, but only if you promise to go to bed after the second movie.”
“Promise.” Jake's grin grew wider, but I knew he was going to stick to our agreement. He was a good kid when he wasn't breaking my stuff or blackmailing me.
Now I only had to talk to Eli about our weekend arrangements. Make sure he and Matt didn't already have something planned for Jake.
My brother greeted me with a stern look when I dropped his son off at his house after our little hike in the woods.Uh-oh.I knew that look. “What, did I do something wrong?” I held my hands up defensively.
“Where were you? I tried to call you an hour ago! I was waiting with dinner.”
“Dinner's ready?” Jake squeezed past Eli into the house while I rubbed the back of my neck.
“You called? I'm sorry, I didn't hear my phone.”
Eli seemed nonplussed by that response. “I called like five times! You know I worry when you take Jake out into the forest. Do you even have your phone with you?”
“Not like anything is going to happen to us in the woods. You don't have to worry.” I went out all the time, and nothing ever happened. And honestly, after all these years, Eli should know that he could trust me with Jake.
“You never know when something's going to happen,” he insisted. “And you shouldn't wander out there without a phone. It's irresponsible!”
“Of course I have my phone!” Or did I? I searched my pockets and came up with nothing.Damn.For some reason, I could never remember to take the stupid thing. “Okay, maybe I don't have it. But nothing happened.”
Eli sighed. “I'm going to have to inject a tracking device into you. Or into Jake.”
“A little drastic, don't you think?”
“Just kidding.” He waved me off. “But if thatwasa possibility...”
“Dude.”
Eli gave me a half-hearted shrug. “You'll get it when you have your own kids.”
That comment stung a little bit. “You know I love Jake like a son.”
“I know, I know. I'm sorry. I just can't be laid-back where he's concerned, that's what I meant. It's some omega instinct gone crazy. You'll see what I mean.”
Would I?
My silence seemed to make my brother reconsider his words. “I mean, if you want to have kids.” It wasn't a question, but it sure felt like one.
I didn't know how to respond to it, though. Yeah, I wanted to have kids someday, butsomedayseemed to be slipping farther and farther away. At this point, I wasn’t sure it was ever going to happen. Didn’t matter, though, right? Because I could still spend time with Eli’s kids. It wasn’t some great tragedy if I never had a baby of my own. Not every omega needed that.
It would sure be nice, though…
When I watched Eli with his husband and children, I couldn’t deny that I wanted what he had. I had no idea how to go about getting it, though, and so I only shrugged in response to my brother. “Maybe.” And because I really didn't want to continue this line of conversation, I changed the topic. “Is it okay if Jake stays over at my place this weekend? Saturday to Sunday.”
“If you don't have anything more fun to do on your weekend...”
I wondered if my brother realized his constant subtle attempts at getting information about my love life weren't so subtle at all. “What could be more fun than watching cartoons with my nephew?”
“Watching cartoons with your nephew and your niece?” Eli tried.
I laughed. “Oh no, that's not working.” My niece was just under a year old, and I adored her, but I spent enough of my time babysitting already. “Boy's night.”
“It was worth a try. Oh well. You can have Jake. Just have him in bed by ten.”
“Sure, I will.”
