Chapter 266

#Chapter 266 – Early Morning Wake-Up Call “Daddddd!” Alvin shouts the next morning, bursting in through the door to our bedroom banging a toy drum as hard as he can. “Come on! It’s time for our concert!”

Ian comes marching behind him, playing the kazoo as loud as his little boy lungs will let him, and I follow up the rear, banging two plastic cups together and keeping time to my sons’ miniature marching band. The cups aren’t an ideal instrument – but they’re the best I could find in my sons’ room on short notice.

Victor sits up stark in bed, his eyes wide, but then seeing that it’s no real threat, he groans and falls back against the pillows. Laughing, Alvin and Ian jump onto the bed, Archie following them, barking. I dance towards Victor’s side of the bed, still playing the cups.

“Come on, baby!” I laugh. “Time to get up and start your day!”

“Death,” he mutters, glaring up at me, his word muffled by his pillow. “I promise death to you for this –

and vengeance on your progeny –“

I swoop down and give him a kiss on his cheek. “Luckily,” I say, a big grin on my face, though I stop banging the cups together. “My progeny is your progeny. So, you’ll have to take us all out for full vengeance, and we are a fearsome crew. I don’t know if you have it in you.”

“I will do it, and then I will have silence,” he growls, though I can see the start of a smile on his face as he swipes an arm out, trying to knock his sons over so they’ll stop with the infernal noise –

I laugh, deciding to give him a break, and whistle to my boys. “Come on!” I call, marching out of the room, two boys and a dog following me like the pied piper. “Let’s go wake up uncle Rafe next!”

But to my surprise (and, I admit, disappointment), when we go downstairs, Rafe is already up, standing fully dressed at the sink, doing the dishes of all things. I can’t help it when my mouth falls open a little bit as he opens his arms, going to one knee to give his nephews a warm hug.

Then, he grins up at me. “Morning, Evelyn,” he says, a wicked gleam in his eye. “How’s Victor?”

“Traitor!” I say, laughing and pointing at him as I come into the kitchen. “You got him drunk! Not the other way around!”

He laughs, admitting it with a shrug and running a hand through his hair. “I took it easy, but yeah, I may have encouraged him a little bit. Though honestly,” he looks at me and raises an eyebrow, “it didn’t take much to convince him. Is he stressed out about something?”

I sigh, putting my hands on my hips and looking up the stairs. “He’s been…busy, lately. I think maybe he needed a night with his brother to relax. So, thanks for that.”

Rafe looks surprised when I turn my smile on him, even a little taken aback. I think that he’s used to me being hard on him – and rightly so. But…damn it, he’s growing on me. And I admit that it’s good to see him fresh this morning, ready to take on the day.

Maybe he really is turning a corner.

Before I can think about it any further, though, the front door swings open and Bridgette sweeps in, a big smile on her face. “I brought donuts!” she sings, happy, smiling around at all of us. Rafe goes still in the kitchen, staring at her, and I work hard to keep my wicked smile off my face, failing a bit.

Rafe glances at me, narrowing his eyes, but I ignore him, moving forward to give Bridgette a hug. “So happy you could come for family breakfast!” I say, perhaps over-cheerful, giving her a wink. She’s in on the plan, of course, though I admit that I did expect Rafe to be in worse shape than he is. This was supposed to be his punishment, but as he stares at her, and she smiles at him, I wonder if my little revenge plot…

Well, if it perhaps was just what they need.

The boys rush over to Bridgette, shouting their greetings and eagerly taking the box of donuts from her hand, rushing to the table. I move past them, keeping half a meddlesome eye on Rafe and Bridgette as I move to the coffee machine. As I start to brew, I hear her say a tentative good morning, and Rafe stumble in his efforts to greet her.

I smile to myself then, pleased.

But I turn when I hear footsteps on the stairs.

Victor comes halfway down and then stoops to glare at us. “Seriously? A party? At six am?”

“Just family,” I say innocently, turning and leaning against the counter. “What’s wrong with a family breakfast?” I give him a cheeky smirk and he narrows his eyes at me, his glare promising punishment later. But I just give him a wink, letting him know through the bond in our minds that he can give me a spanking if he wants.

He blinks at me, surprised, and then laughs, shaking his head and coming down the stairs. He takes a moment to greet Bridgette before coming to me, wrapping a warm arm around my waist. “I’ll take you up on that offer, mate,” he growls in my ear.

I turn my head to him and playfully snap my teeth. “You’d better,” I mutter, low enough that no one else hears.

Then he kisses me swiftly and turns to survey our happy family. “Who wants pancakes?”

“Me!” Alvin cries, his hand shooting in the air. “But, um,” he hesitates. “Can Burton make them?”

“Burton?!” Victor says, standing straight up, offended. “What’s wrong with mine?”

“Yours have egg shells,” Ian replies, biting his lip.

“Yeah,” Alvin says, twisting his face in disappointment. “Pancakes are not supposed to be crunchy.”

“Well, Burton has the day off,” I say, clapping my hands and giving Victor a little nudge. “So crunchy pancakes it is!”

__________________ An hour or two later, Rafe and Bridgette wander towards the little woods out in the back of the house, towards the burned-out wreckage of where the big house was. Alvin and Ian give Victor and I twin scowls as they head back into the cottage. They’ve been forbidden from spying today, instead instructed to give Bridgette and Rafe their peace.

They’re mad about it, but…oh well.

“Can I spy?” I ask, grinning at Victor. We’re both seated on two chairs on the cottage’s back porch, pulled close next to each other.

“If I said no, would it stop you anyway?” Victor asks, taking another sip of his coffee, his voice dry. I laugh and reach out a hand to lay gently on his arm, wanting to touch him. He turns and smiles at me.

“Did you have fun torturing me this morning?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say, my smile broadening. “But you had fun being tortured, admit it.”

He just shrugs, neither confirming nor denying, but I know the truth.

“Are you all right, though?” I ask, turning my head to the side. “Rafe implied that you might have…

needed a boys’ night. To blow off some steam.”

“I think he was right,” he says, drawing his eyebrows together. “Though I’m not sure I knew it. It was good to stay up with him, have a few laughs. Do you mind that?”

I shake my head, telling the honest truth that I don’t mind at all. Besides, if he needed a night to have a few drinks, I’m not…well. That’s not something I was very interested in last night, anyway. “Is everything all right, though?” I ask, truly wanting to know.

“It is,” he says, his voice firm and assured. “But we have…we have some big decisions coming up, Evelyn. It’s time to start making some moves.”

Intrigued, I pull my blanket closer around me and look at him solidly, ready to hear more.

“To begin,” he says, pausing and maybe assessing me a little, to see if it’s something I want to hear. “I think that it might be time for you to decide…what happens to your dad.”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” I say after a moment of hesitation. “And Victor, I think I need to talk to my sister and my mom. I don’t think I can make this decision without them.”

“I understand,” he says, taking my hand. “But the sooner you do that…the better.”

“All right,” I say, decided. “I’ll go see them this afternoon.”