Chapter Twenty-Five

Wheels

KYLER IS HOME from school already. It's one of his half days and the first thing he did as soon as we got in the house is run up to his sister's room. I left him to go see Mia because this is what he does every single day when he gets home. It doesn't matter who picks him up, Kyler wants to see his baby sister as soon as he gets home. It's like he's spent days and weeks away from her and now wants to be around her regardless of what he has to do. Plus, today I got a very good report about Kyler from his teacher when I picked him up. He's been in school for almost two weeks now and Kyler absolutely loves it. While he goes to see Mia as she naps, I want to tell Gavin and Brooklyn what I was told today.

Walking in the kitchen, I find my wife and best friend as they prepare Kyler's lunch together. Gavin isn't really helping as he wraps Brooklyn up in his arms and nuzzles his face into her neck, pressing his lips against her soft skin.

"I see you're bein' as helpful as ever," I tease Gavin as I step up to them and lean down to press my lips against Brooklyn's while she remains in my best friend's arms.

"I'm always helpful, Jayce. It's not my fault our wife is so fuckin' sexy that I can't keep my hands off of her. You aren't much better so you have no room to talk," Gavin tells me with a smile on his face.

"I know. So, I had a talk with Kyler's teacher when I picked him up today. She's very impressed with the progress he's made in the two weeks he's been in class with her. He does his work, helps other students around him, and always listens to the teacher and other adults. When it comes to his actual school work, he's doing so good. That's why he hasn't had much to do at home this last week. Kyler finishes everythin' in class and there's nothin' left for him to do. He's even progressin' with his reading better than most of the other students in class," I tell Gavin and Brooklyn as they stare at me with wide eyes and happiness filling their eyes as Brooklyn's fill with tears.

"That makes my heart so happy. I was beginning to wonder why he wasn't bringing anything home with him the last few days," Brooklyn says as she wipes the tears from her eyes and tries to jump up and down as Gavin and I hold her still so she can't.

"Don't be jumpin' around like that, Love. You're gonna shake our babies up in there and make them come out crazier than they already will be with us as their dads," Gavin jokes, laughter spilling from him as I realize how long it's been since we've heard that from him. It's been a long time and I'm happier than a few seconds ago to hear our home filled with laughter once again.

"Where is Kyler now?" Brooklyn asks, looking around the room for him.

"He went up to see Mia. You know he's been doin' that as soon as he gets home. I'm not gonna stop him because he's not wakin' her up or anythin'. This is what he needs after bein' gone for hours or all day long at school and he can have it. It won't always be like this, so I say we let it happen while it is," I answer my wife as she finishes putting his lunch together and Gavin grabs our plates and heads over to the table with them. "I'll go up and grab him so he can wash his hands and stuff too. We'll be down in a few minutes."

Leaving the kitchen, I head upstairs to Mia's room. When I stop in the doorway, I find Kyler quietly playing on the floor with one of his motorcycles. He briefly looks up at me before putting his attention back on Mia in her crib as she sleeps. Walking in the room, I sit down next to him because this is not the first time we've found Kyler playing in Mia's room while staring at the crib while she sleeps. None of us have said anything to him yet, but I think it's time we figure out why he does this.

"Little Man, are you okay?" I ask him, my voice just loud enough for him to hear me while not disturbing Mia.

"Yeah," he answers me, his voice as low as mine as he keeps his attention on his baby sister.

"Is there a reason why you sit in here every day while she sleeps?" I ask him as he finally looks up at me and blinks his eyes while they fill with tears.

"I'm her brother," he answers me and it shatters my heart because he doesn't need to say anything else.

"You know that you don't have to sit in here and be quiet in order to watch over Mia, right? We have a baby monitor that shows us a video of her as she sleeps. We keep it with us at all times and we can not only see her on the screen, but we can hear her too. You can look at the monitor when you need to see her, Kyler. Brooklyn, your brother, and I look at it all the time. You can help us watch her anytime you want, Kyler," I tell him, looking down at him as he continues to look up at me once again.

"I can't watch her?" he asks me, his voice wavering as the first tear spills over his lashes.

"You absolutely can watch her, Little Man. Come upstairs and see her, but you don't have to stay in here while she sleeps. You can come downstairs with us and do whatever else you have to do before she wakes up. Why don't we go down and I'll show you where the monitor is? Plus, Brooklyn has your lunch ready and we're all eatin' together," I tell him as he thinks about it for a few seconds and then finally nods his head and gets up off the floor.

Holding out my hand, Kyler takes it and together we walk down to the kitchen where Brooklyn and Gavin are waiting for us. I just give them a look as I move the monitor off the counter where we typically keep it when we're in the kitchen.

"Here's the monitor, Kyler. You can see your sister as she sleeps and hear things when she moves around in her crib. When we have her mobile on, you can hear the music as it plays too. Every single night we move the monitor into our bedroom with us so we have it close and can see and hear her. For today, we'll move it to the table so you can watch her and make sure she's okay. When we go to the livin' room, we'll take it in there with us too. We'll keep it in areas where you can watch it right along with us. We don't ever want you to feel as if you can't watch over Mia, Kyler," I tell him as I bring the monitor with us and we take our seats at the table and begin to eat our lunch.

I don't have to let either one of them know what's going on because they could hear us talking on the monitor. Gavin lived in the house where Kyler spent the first five years of his life and will know better than Brooklyn or myself what happened there. I don't have a doubt in my mind that Kyler was often found in Mia's room just watching over her as she slept. Gavin gets up and leaves the table, but doesn't leave the house. He makes his way to the bathroom on the first floor. Brooklyn goes to get up and go to him, but I shake my head toward her. He needs a few minutes to himself so he can get his emotions under control. This is a moment in time where he's living in the past and remembering how his dad treated him after they lost his mom. It seems things were better with Kyler but not by much.

Gavin didn't stay gone for very long. He got himself under control relatively quickly before rejoining us at the table and finishing his lunch. When we were done eating and had cleaned the kitchen up with Kyler's help, Gavin disappeared once again. I know where he's going and I have a feeling the two of us might be sleeping on the couch for a few days once Brooklyn realizes what we're doing. This is one of those times we're asking for forgiveness instead of permission. We'll find out soon enough how our wife feels about what we've done. And she can't just be mad at us either. There were a few more people who are helping us with this surprise for Kyler.

I take Brooklyn into the living room to relax when we start to hear Mia wake up on the monitor. Kyler's head immediately perks up as he stares at the screen and watches as his sister moves and stretches in her crib. She's not crying but there are small whimpers coming from her as she opens her eyes and looks around her room.

"I've got her, Little Warrior. You've been on your feet too much today. Relax and I'll bring her right down," I promise Brooklyn as she gives me a smile and sinks back into the couch cushions.

By the time I make it to Mia, she's got big, fat crocodile tears rolling down her face. "What's the matter, Princess?" I ask as I walk toward her crib. "Let's get you changed and downstairs, okay?"

I continue talking to her while I quickly dispose of her wet diaper and get her redressed. Picking her up, I breathe in the unique baby smell she still has and get excited when I realize that in a short time, we'll have two more babies added to the mix. Once downstairs, I get her set up on her mat which is near Kyler, then grin when I see him start chattering to her about what he's been doing while she napped.

Hearing a sniffle, I turn to see Brooklyn with her phone, taking pictures of the two kids while tears roll down her face. "You okay?" I question.

She waves her hand and says, "It's just the pregnancy hormones. I'm so emotional all the time, and it hit just now watching how he is with his little sister. He's so gentle with her, and I suspect he's spent a lot of time taking care of her."

"Yeah, we feel that way too," I admit, sitting next to her. My phone rings and I grin when I see it's Gavin. Guess we're about to find out whether or not we'll be sleeping on the couch. Glancing at Kyler, I grin as he's showing Mia one of his trucks from the set up Fetch put together for him. "Hey, Kyler?"

"Hey," he says, looking at me.

"So, Gavin and I have a surprise for you," I tell him. "Wanna go see?"

Kyler's eyes widen as he nods, quickly getting to his feet and coming to me. "Can Mia come too?"

"How about we all go?" Brooklyn suggests, confusion filling her face as she looks to me in an attempt to discover what we've done.

I suppress my grin because I'm definitely unsure of her reaction. I just hope if she's upset, she holds it in until the three of us are behind closed doors so she doesn't distress Kyler. "Good idea, I'll carry Mia."

When we get outside, Gavin's unloading the small motorcycle we found for him. Kyler, seeing what he's doing, screams excitedly, his hands in the air as he rushes to Gavin's side.

"What. . . what did you two do?" Brooklyn whispers. I glance at her and see she's got a shocked look on her face, but she isn't yelling so I consider it a win.

"Well, you saw the pictures of Kyler when he was checkin' out our bikes. We thought he might like one of his own to ride around the compound with us on. The thing doesn't go over like fifteen or twenty miles an hour and we've got him full ridin' gear. That's why Gavin disappeared after lunch. He went to pick everythin' up," I tell Brooklyn as she continues to watch Gavin and Kyler as they inspect the bike together.

The similarities in the two of them as they crouch down and look at everything up close is eerie. Yes, I know they're brothers, but to see them move and act the same way in certain situations is very different to just imagining it. I don't know that I'll ever get over seeing them together.

"Brooky, can I please go for a ride? Please, Brooky?" Kyler asks, his voice full of excitement as he rushes over to our side and looks up at Brooklyn with pleading eyes and a pouty lip.

"This is safe for him?" she asks me as Gavin walks up to us and takes Mia into his arms.

"It's safe. It doesn't go fast at all. I've watched a little boy ride the exact same model when I went to pick it up and his dad was able to keep up with him walkin'. Wheels and I can stay on either side of him as he learns to ride it," Gavin says, happiness filling him as Mia grabs his necklace and pulls on the chain around his neck.

"I can't believe you two did this without talking to me about it first. We're supposed to talk about important decisions like this," Brooklyn states as Kyler steps up closer to her and holds her leg.

"Please, Brooky. I'll be okay," he tries again as she looks down at him and I can see the second she relents and gives in to the little boy we've all fallen in love with.

"You can go for a ride, Kyler. Not a long one. When we say it's time to come in, you have to put it up and there will be no arguments. Okay?" she asks him, trying to be hard when she can't pull it off at all.

Gavin and I will have to play the bad cops when the kids get older. Brooklyn is too soft-hearted when it comes to the kids and I don't see that ever changing. I don't want it to change. They need that soft spot to land when they're scared or upset about something. Gavin and I can't always give them that, but I know our wife will always give them the soft when it's needed.

"Okay, Brooky. I love you," Kyler says, instantly bringing tears to all of our eyes because this is the first time he's said this to any of us.

"I love you, too, Kyler. Go for your ride and I'll watch from here with Mia. Listen to Gavin and Jayce. If they tell you to do something, make sure you do it. They've been riding for a long time and want to help you so you don't get hurt," she says, laughing as Kyler starts hopping around and I watch as Scorch and Goliath make their way over to us from their houses.

"You get a new bike, Little Man?" Goliath asks him, a smile on his face.

"Yeah. Brooky is letting me ride it now," he answers, pride filling his voice as we all watch Gavin hand over Mia to Brooklyn so he can go help Kyler get in his riding gear.

We're far enough away we can't hear what the brothers are saying to one another, but I have a feeling Gavin is explaining each piece of clothing he's putting on Kyler and why it's important for him to wear it. By the time Kyler is dressed in his gear, he's got a pair of special pants over his jeans, a coat that has a chest and back plate inside so if he falls the coat won't rip apart there. There are small riding gloves on his hands as Gavin sits on the ground to pull off Kyler's sneakers. He puts on the smallest pair of riding boots I've ever seen on his brother's feet before standing up once again. The final piece of equipment Gavin grabs is Kyler's helmet. It's his size and will protect him whether he's on his own bike or riding with one of us. Yes, Gavin got a harness we can use to take him on rides around town.

I walk up to them as Kyler sits on the bike, making sure to stay out of the way as Brooklyn and Goliath take pictures of Kyler. Gavin shows him how to start the bike and Kyler pays better attention than most adults I know. In seconds, Kyler has the bike started and we're off. He has tremendous balance already and doesn't wobble as I expected him to. Looking up, Brooklyn is filming a video of him riding around in front of the house as more people come out to see what's going on. Nanny is with us as she cheers Kyler on, her voice heard over the engine of the bike.

For an hour, Kyler rides his bike around and almost everyone in the club is out here to watch him. When Brooklyn taps her arm as if she's wearing a watch, we know our fun is up. Gavin motions to Kyler after getting in front of him and Kyler immediately turns toward the garage to put his bike up. We had to work on turns with him, but Kyler picked it up quicker than we thought he would. It's easy to see the shock and astonishment on the guys' faces as they watch him ride. He'll be riding bigger bikes in no time if we allow it. I guess we'll all have to suck up to Brooklyn because I see our boy wanting to race and dip his toes in that aspect of riding if we're not careful. We've created a monster at the tender age of five!