Page 63 of Come Alive
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“Yara! I was hoping you would make it out here soon. I saw you sent Kazi and Mateo ahead to deal with all thechildrents.” Izzy laughed, patting the space next to her on the bench. Emilio sat on her other side, acting as her pillow as he surveyed the yard intensely.
That man never relaxed, but I didn’t blame him with Izzy as a partner. She was always getting herself into trouble.
“Hey dad!” Izzy waved at James, but then she saw our baby in his arms. “Oh goodness, he is so small! I can’t believe you had another one after all this time.”
“You and I both know I was going to have a third eventually.” I chuckled as I watched Oliver and Kazi chase down a hoard of kids. Mateo was off to the side, arms crossed as he simply raised an eyebrow at an annoyed Min-ho.
“I’m going to go find the birthday boy.” James placed a kiss on my forehead and I, in turn, placed one on our son’s.
He crinkled in annoyance, babbling.
In the past I would have taken that as a rejection from my babies, but I knew now that it was just a part of newborns.
Maddox walked up on us, the last of Izzy’s men. I got up from the bench, offering him the spot. “Have you seen Eve?” I asked.
“She’s in the car. I’m not sure she’s ready, Yara.” Maddox inclined his head. “But everyone is with her.”
My heart heated in concern, looking around. Mateo appeared before me, as if he knew I needed him.
“How is Min-ho?” I took the hand he offered.
“Stubborn, but he understands family is important. And that his sister is to be protected,” Mateo explained, pulling me away from Izzy and into his arms.
She and I never got alone time anymore, but I had plans to change that. A girl deserved a night with her best friend. We may have traded the wine for mocktails, but we still did our best to watch a new episode of trash TV every week.
Mateo led us towards the back gate, but Kazi stopped us on the way.
He was out of breath and panting.
“Old man, don’t let those children get the best of you,” Mateo remarked. “You need to remember to stretch. It’s important to keep up with them.”
Kazi grumbled, but then wiped the sweat from his brow and placed a hot searing kiss to my lips.
“Ew!” Min-ho cut through our connection.
Kazi didn’t release me immediately. “What happened to her isn’t your fault. You need to remember that,” he advised in my ear before inclining his head to Mateo. “Ididstretch.” And then he was jogging off back into the foray.
“And what happened tohimisn’t your fault.”
Kazi quirked his lips but didn’t respond, running back into the hoard of children.
With Kazi’s words swirling around my brain, I marched to the gate. On the other side was a tinted black car; Simon stood outside of it, baby carrier in hand, while Logan was pulling open the back door.
My eyes found the door. My entire body caught in the reflection. But I didn’t wince, I didn’t even react. Instead of hate, loving words circled through me.
Kazi’s. Mateo’s. James’s.
My own.
My attention focused on the here and now instead. Peering inside the car, I found her. Her third partner on the other side watched me warily.
“Min-ho.” I acknowledged him.
He had been a wild card when he found his way into our town, a man back from the dead.
But that was a story for a different day.
