Chapter 278

Alvin, Ian, and I all jump at once, spinning towards the room, peeking in the window to see –

“Duck!” I whisper, seeing Victor standing alone in the empty room, confused as he looks for his missing family. Alvin and Ian comply immediately, tucking their heads down below the windowsill, but I am either too slow or too large to fully hide.

“What!” I hear Victor gasp in the room, and then I hear his footsteps moving swiftly towards us. “Evelyn!

What the -!”

“Stop!” I hiss, popping back up to see him already at the window’s edge, reaching for me. I swat at his hand. “Be quiet! They’ll hear you!”

“What? Who?” he asks, making no effort to lower his voice. I swat at him again and Ian pops up, gesturing angrily towards Rafe and Bridgette in the yard, who, luckily, are too wrapped up in their conversation to have heard us.

Victor’s eyes go wide when he sees Ian crouched next to me, and then wider when he peers to my left and sees Alvin there, eating his candy, his focus already back on his uncle. “Oh my god,” Victor murmurs. “You’re spying – you have a spy platform –“

“Ya!” I say angrily, swatting at him for a third time. “And you’re ruining it! It was just getting really good!”

Victor groans, leaning forward and reaching for me, taking me under the arms and starting to pull me back into the house.

“Noo!” I cry out in a whisper, doing my best to wriggle away from him. “Put me down! I need to hear them!”

“You’re all coming inside right now – this isn’t safe –“

“Yes it is!” I protest. “It’s safe!”

“You’re pregnant, Evelyn!”

“I’m aware, Victor!” I object, angry, still trying to be as quiet as I can. “But it’s sturdy out here – I promise! We’re not coming in! If you make me come in, I’ll shout now, and then your brother will never get his girl back!”

I point vehemently towards Rafe and Bridgette, who are holding each other’s hands and looking deeply into each other’s faces. “Don’t make me ruin this moment, Victor,” I whisper, my eyes narrowing at him.

He pauses, and I know that I’ve got him.

He pauses for an instant longer and then relents. “Fine,” he growls, unhappy, but lets me go. “You’re lucky I had this roof inspected weeks ago as a potential fire exit –“

“Shhhh!” Ian whispers, spinning on his dad, angry.

Alvin throws a candy at Victor’s face. “You’re ruining it!”

“You’re all psychotic,” Victor mumbles, defeated and leaning against the window sill. I sit back against it so that my face is close to his.

“You like us this way,” I murmur back, putting my hand out to Ian for another helping of candy. He complies. “Go turn off the light,” I whisper to Victor, waving my hand at him. “It’s more cinematic that way.”

I hear Victor sigh and stand up behind me, moving away. A few moments later the light goes off, and then he settles back in his place in the room, peering out the window with us. I grin, then, loving my little family very much in this moment as the four of us lean forward, spying on my brother-in-law.

“I love you, Bridgette,” Rafe says, shaking his head at her. “I think – I think maybe I’ve always loved you. Or at least, you’re the only one I’ve ever loved.”

I press a hand to my chest, moved.

“It will be different now,” Rafe promises, slipping an arm around Bridgette’s waist and pulling her closer to him. “If you…if you let me make you my Luna, let me treat you the way you deserve. I promise, I’ll listen to you – I’ll do everything in my power to give you the best life. I love you, Bridgette. Let me show you how much – for the rest of my life, let me show you how much.”

I feel little tears prick at my eyes and Victor’s hand comes gently to the back of my head then, running down the length of my hair. He sends me a little nudge down our bond, letting me know that he makes that same promise to me. I send my faith back to him, the knowledge that I know that already – that I’ve known it, now, for a long time.

Then, as a family, we watch Bridgette take a step towards Rafe, tilt her head up, and then stand on her toes to kiss him. I hear a little “aww” from Alvin and can’t help but smile myself, truly touched by this moment, so grateful to have been able to see it. Their kiss deepens, Rafe bending Bridgette backwards a little bit, and I lift my hand to reach behind me, to touch my mate’s face with my fingertips, wanting him near me.

Of course, Ian ruins it all.

Suddenly, he jumps to his feet and whoops loudly at the top of his lungs. The three of us near him all flinch, tuning to stare at him, and I see Bridgette and Rafe clutch each other as they stumble in the grass, shocked, looking around for the noise.

“My auntie is going to be my auntie!” Ian shouts, lifting his hands in victory. “Yayyyy, Auntie Bridgette!”

I gasp and grab Ian by the waist, tugging him down into my lap, but the damage is already done. I see Rafe and Bridgette focus their eyes on us – on the four of us, clearly spying on them from above. Rafe narrows his eyes, clearly perturbed, but Bridgette bursts out laughing. I laugh a little myself when I see her cheerful face – she’s always been a good sport. She gives us a little wave as well.

And, well, with this family, these nephews? She really should know what she’s getting into.

“That’s enough,” Victor huffs, stepping back from the window to make space for us. “Everyone inside, now. Give them some peace.”

Laughing, I comply, climbing through the window and then stepping back to make space for the boys.

“Awww,” Alvin says, disappointed as he climbs through. “It was just getting good – it’s not my fault that Ian wasn’t being sneaky! I should get to stay!”

“I did you a favor,” Ian says, coming in next to his brother. “It was getting gross, with all the kissing. You didn’t want to see that.”

“Speak for yourself,” Alvin replies, dusting off his shirt.

I grin at both of them, laughing as Victor closes the window, locks it, and then comes back to my side.

“You’re going to need to build a bigger roof out there,” I say, pointing to the window and smiling up at him. “Because when the girls come, we’re going to need room for five –“

Victor groans, pulling me to him and then, reconsidering, bending down to put an arm behind my knees, lifting me up into his arms. “No,” he says, shaking his head and bringing his face close to mine.

“This is all ridiculous – you can’t sit on roofs with all four of our children like some kind of insane bat people –“

“Yes I can!” I protest.

“Yeah, dad!” Alvin shouts, running over to tug on his dad’s shirt. Laughing, Ian comes over too. “We are who we are! Don’t try to change us!”

“Maybe the girls will be sane,” Victor murmurs, sighing and standing up straight, looking around at us.

“Probably not,” I reply, giving a little shrug and a smile.

“And if they are,” Ian says seriously at my side, nodding contemplatively. “We can fix them.”

“Oh my god,” Victor murmurs, shaking his head and carrying me out of the room. “Bed! Everyone go to bed! This night is over!”

“But we didn’t even have supper!” I protest, laughing. But I let him carry me away anyway. Suddenly, as he carries me into the bedroom and kicks the door shut behind us, I’m not as hungry as I was before.

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