Chapter 48

CHAPTER 48

One Month Later…

“ I can’t drink any more tea until you ask me,” Logan explained only to have the little girl that he absolutely adored narrow her eyes on him as she held the plastic teacup up higher in silent demand.

Shaking his head, Logan finished tying his shoes while Emma knelt by the coffee table in his room, seething as she looked from him to the pink teacup in her hand to the iPad paused on the American Sign Language video that he’d showed her. Determined to do this her way, Emma held up the cup higher only to glare angrily at him when he shook his head while he signed “No” with his right hand.

For a moment, Emma glared at him until finally, she placed the teacup back on the coffee table, hit play, watched the video closely and when it was done, she played it again while she practiced the movements. When she was done, Emma faced him as she made the sign for tea followed by asking him if he wanted some.

“Yes, please,” Logan said, holding his fist up and made the sign for “Yes” before he placed his hand flatly against his chest and moved it in a circular motion.

With a nod of satisfaction, Emma refreshed his cup and handed it to him. Logan said, “Thank you,” and took the cup as he signed with his right hand. After he took a sip, he said, “Delicious,” making sure to sign the word. Logan sipped his imaginary tea as he watched Emma shift her attention back to the iPad and swiped to the next video.

After James examined the children and confirmed his suspicions that there was nothing wrong with Emma’s throat or vocal cords, Logan realized that he was going to need to find a way to help her communicate until she felt safe enough to start talking. He’d debated using a text-to-talk app, but that would only limit her while she was learning to read. It had taken him a few weeks, but now that he had a decent understanding of ASL, he’d decided that it was time to get his little shadow on board.

“I’m going to finish getting ready,” Logan said, signing for the little girl frowning down at the iPad and-

Found himself smiling when she raised her hand and slowly signed, “Okay.”

“Good girl,” Logan murmured as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head before he made his way into the bathroom.

Logan grabbed his shaving kit and set everything out. He made quick work of lathering his brush and applying shaving cream to his face. When he was done, he grabbed his razor and moved to start shaving only to think better of it when he thought about the way that Jill ran her fingertips over his stubble this morning, the sleepy smile on her face when she leaned in and brushed her lips against his and nearly fucking groaned.

God help him if she ever learned how much power she held over him, Logan thought, knowing that he would love every fucking minute of it. He cleaned up his neck and cheeks, deciding against shaving his face completely as he watched Caleb stumble into the bathroom in his teddy bear undies.

Yawning, Caleb stood there for a few seconds, watching him shave before he turned around and left only to return a minute later with the stepping stool that Logan built for them. He watched Caleb place the stepping stool on the floor in front of the bathroom sink before climbing on it and placed his teddy bear on the counter with a satisfied sigh.

Logan finished cleaning up his neck as he watched Caleb reach for his shaving brush and mug. Worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, Caleb rinsed off the brush and dipped it in the mug as movement in the mirror drew Logan’s attention to find Shane standing in the doorway watching them. He-

“It’s not working, Daddy,” Caleb said, taking him by surprise.

Swallowing hard, Logan looked down to find Caleb holding up the shaving brush to him. “Daddy?”

Smiling, Logan took the brush as he leaned down and kissed Caleb’s forehead. “Here,” he said softly, grabbing his shaving mug as he knelt down in front of Caleb and took his time lathering the little boy’s face. When he was done, Logan placed the mug on the counter and wiped the smudge of shaving cream that got on Caleb’s nose off with his thumb.

“All set,” Logan said as he stood up.

“Thank you, Daddy,” Caleb said, turning to admire himself in the mirror while Logan went back to shaving.

“You’re welcome, mīn swēte sunu,” Logan said as he watched Shane join them in the mirror. He watched the teenage boy glance from the shaving mug to him before reaching for it, his nervous gaze still flickering to Logan as he picked up the brush and began lathering his face.

“I need to shave, Daddy,” Caleb announced with a firm nod.

“Try this,” Logan said, grabbing a toothbrush from the drawer and handed it to the little boy to practice with.

When Logan finished cleaning up his beard, he glanced at Shane to find him staring down at the razor. Logan cleaned off his face with a hand towel before tossing it on the counter and stepped around Caleb, who was taking his time shaving with the toothbrush, making sure that he didn’t miss a single drop.

“You want to shave against the grain,” Logan said, gesturing for Shane to tilt his head back.

After a slight hesitation, Shane dropped his head back and stood still while Logan moved the razor over his throat. He quickly rinsed the razor off and held it out to Shane. “Why don’t you try?”

Nodding, Shane took the razor and did what Logan showed him. “Like this?”

“Just like that,” Logan said as he reached over and adjusted Shane’s grip.

When he was done, Logan helped the boys clean off the shaving cream and dried their faces before he grabbed the bottle of aftershave and put some on. When Caleb tilted his head back, Logan put aftershave on his neck before he did the same for Shane.

“We can ask Tomas to pick up a bottle of aftershave for you the next time he goes out,” Logan said, even as he debated bringing Shane out so that he could pick out his own aftershave, but he couldn’t risk it.

Not yet.

“I like this one,” Shane said, holding still while Logan finished applying aftershave to his skin.

“When this is all over, I’ll take you into town so that you can pick out your own aftershave,” Logan promised him.

“You don’t need to lie to me,” Shane said, looking away as he walked out of the room before Logan could say anything.

Biting back a sigh, Logan rubbed his hands roughly down his face, wishing like hell that he could make this better for them. He just…

Christ, he just wished that Shane knew how much he was loved.

“I need a tie, Daddy,” Caleb said with a firm nod that had Logan’s lips twitching.

“Let’s see what we can do about that,” Logan said, picking up the teddy bear and handed it to Caleb before he took his small hand in his and led him back into the bedroom, where he found Tomas waiting for him.

“Which one do you like?” Logan asked, opening his top drawer and picked Caleb up so that he could pick out a tie.

“I like this one, Daddy,” Caleb said, pointing to a navy blue tie.

“That’s my favorite one,” Logan said, kissing Caleb’s forehead before he placed him down on his feet.

“Mine too, Daddy,” Caleb said, nodding solemnly as Logan grabbed the tie and made quick work of tying it around the little boy’s neck. “All set, mīn swēte sunu.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Caleb said, hugging his teddy bear as he turned around and raced towards the door. “I’m gonna go show Mommy how handsome I am!”

“Where did Emma go?” Logan asked, watching Caleb pause by the bedroom door to adjust his teddy bear undies before he took off running.

“She kept doing this,” Tomas said, making a loose “C” and hovered it over his left hand before bringing it down on his palm and twisting it.

“Cookies,” Logan said with a chuckle, knowing his baby girl well enough to guess that she probably went downstairs to ask Jill to make more cookies.

“You haven’t asked about the brownstone or Pierce since we got here,” Tomas pointed out, watching him curiously.

“Things have changed,” Logan said as his gaze flickered to the pink tea set on the coffee table.

“Meaning?” Tomas asked, following his gaze.

“That I’m done with everything,” Logan said firmly.

“And Gray?” Tomas asked after a slight hesitation.

“Can have his revenge,” Logan said, watching the demon nod as he seemed to think that over and-

“You know that Magnus is never going to stop until he finds them, don’t you?”

“Which is why I plan on killing him,” Logan drawled.

“What about Pierce?” Tomas asked after a slight hesitation.

Shaking his head, Logan dropped down in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace and said, “It’s over.”

For more than eight hundred years, everything he did, every word out of his mouth, every step he took had one purpose, to make the men that took Elizabeth from him pay.

Nothing else mattered.

Until now.

Now, his days were filled with tea parties, coloring books, teaching children how to read and tie their shoes, and gutting a house to make his mate happy and he absolutely loved it.

More than anything.

He’d dreamed of having little girls that he could dote on and little boys that adored their mother. When Elizabeth died, he thought his dream of having a family died with her, but now…

He had no idea that it was possible to love someone this much.

He loved the demands for extra kisses, the glares that his baby girl sent him when he didn’t drink his tea fast enough, the late-night reading sessions in the library with Shane, and falling asleep holding the woman that he loved in his arms. He-

“That might be a problem,” Tomas murmured softly, looking lost in thought as he stared down at the file on the coffee table that Logan hadn’t noticed before.

“And why’s that?” Logan asked, only to have his stomach drop at the demon’s next words.

“Because he’s the one that put the bounty on Jill.”