20. Shibaby

20

Shibaby

“T hat Shibaby in mine Daddy’s bed? Her tired?”

I came to slowly, hearing Dylan’s little voice in my dreams.

Early morning sunlight dappled my closed eyelids and warmed my face.

Another voice joined the first.

“I bet she’s tired,” Maeve replied drily, a smile in her voice. “Let’s leave Daddy and Shibaby to rest, hm?”

My eyes popped open and stared directly into Gabe’s. Smile lines fanned out from the corners of his startling blues as his mouth, soft from sleep, curved up in a smile. Sleep lines from the pillow creased his cheek, his hair stood on end, at least five days of scruff covered his jaw, and he’d never looked more delicious.

I wanted to straddle him and pin him to the mattress with my knees.

But his mother was in the room.

With his daughter.

I think I might have whimpered.

The door to his bedroom snicked shut, Maeve and Dylan’s voices receding down the hall.

He raised a finger to his lips. “Sh.”

My eyes bugged out. “Sh?”

He smiled wider. “If we pretend we’re sleeping, she might leave us alone for ten minutes.”

I looked around the room. “How far off the ground is that window? Think I can make it?”

Pulling me across his chest, he wrapped his arms around me. “You’re not jumping out the window.”

“That doesn’t exactly answer my question.”

His chest rumbled with contained laughter. As quiet as we were, it didn’t help.

Little feet stomped down the hall and burst into the room.

Thank God I had on Gabe’s t-shirt and a pair of his boxers. I quickly rolled away from him.

“Hey there, Daddy!”

Dylan’s compact little body hit the side of the mattress as she struggled to pull herself up. After two attempts, Gabe reached over and hauled her up.

She scrambled over his chest and immediately curled up on top of him like a cat, her ear over his heart. A sweetly serene contentment settled over her little face. “Hey there, Daddy,” she whispered.

I couldn’t look away. I knew exactly how she felt.

His heart; her home.

His big hand gently stroked her curly head. “Hey there, Dilly-bar,” he whispered back.

His big hands, tender and sweet.

Her little face, serene and content.

Their love, a beauty so pure and primal it hurt.

She smiled even as her curious eyes moved to me, her sharp mind five steps ahead of her body.

“Hey there, Shibaby,” she whispered. “You is tired?”

“Say yes,” Gabe demanded.

“Yes?” I answered uncertainly.

“You want to play mommy with me?”

The blood drained from my face.

Gabe’s smile dropped from his as he reached for my hand.

Dylan sat up on Gabe’s chest and plopped her feet on the mattress between us. “I the big mommy, you mine baby.”

I exhaled a shuddering breath and gave Gabe’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

Dylan crawled across the space between us and hovered over me, her little face so close to mine her features blurred. “You want to play mommy with me?”

I stared into her eyes and nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

Moving closer until her two eyes merged into one, her nose touching mine, she explained, “I going to tuck you in. You sleep now, okay, Shibaby?”

I nodded again, quelling my smile, wholly fascinated by the sight of Gabe’s eyes set in her tiny face.

Moving around the bed, she tucked the blankets around me, grunting with exertion and climbing over me while she worked.

The weight of her little body, those hands, so tiny and so capable, her tiny face intent and determined.

“There, there, Shibaby,” she cooed, her breath on my face as she patted my head. “Don’t cry. Be a good baby sleepin’,” she murmured before turning to Gabe to do the same.

By the time she left in search of a more exciting activity, we looked like two burritos laying side by side.

Maeve hollered from the kitchen. “Breakfast in 30!”

Gabe chuckled.

I extracted my arm from the covers and threw it over my eyes. “Your mom is making us breakfast.”

He freed one arm and reached for me, tucking his hand under my neck. “Yup.”

“This is quite the mindfuck,” I giggled, peeking at him from under my arm.

He turned his head and grinned at me. “She’s so excited you’re back in my life she’s lost all boundaries. Count yourself lucky she hasn’t tucked herself in here beside you to catch up.”

“I’ll be out back.” Brian’s low rumble came next.

My mouth gaped open. “Your father is here.”

“Those two tend to move in a pack,” Gabe murmured.

“That’s nice,” I mused.

“It is.”

The lawn mower started.

I began to laugh. “Is your dad mowing your lawn?”

Gabe nodded, his eyes dancing. “He’s uncomfortable with emotional displays. He’s uncomfortable with emotions, period. He feels bad about yesterday.”

“What about yesterday?”

Gabe’s face shuttered. “The whole school thing.”

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “I had a hard time at school. He thought I was lazy. Sometimes he was harsh. Things were tense between us for a while.”

“That must have hurt,” I murmured.

He shifted, the muscle in his jaw clenching. “It’s past.”

I changed the subject. “The whole family is here.”

His mouth quirked up at one side. “It appears so.”

“Your daughter just tucked me in and told me to be a good baby.”

He snickered. Throwing off the blankets, he rolled on top of me. “Being Dilly’s baby and getting sent to bed is my favorite game.”

I looked up at him, completely lost in his happy eyes, I returned his smile. “I could probably get used to it.”

His entire face lit up.

After breakfast, I headed home to Mistlevale with plans to meet Gabe there after he showered and dropped Dylan off at daycare.

By the time I got out of the shower, he was waiting on the porch, hands shoved in his front pockets. With the sun beaming down on his messy black hair, gorgeous face, and ink-covered arms, he looked like a fallen angel.

And I was all set to make him my religion.

He was here. For me.

I opened the door.

His eyebrows shot up in excitement. “Ready?”

“For what?” I asked suspiciously.

Huffing out a laugh, he challenged, “Don’t you trust me?”

“Last time I trusted you, I ended up balanced on a tight rope fifty feet in the air.”

“Do you have any regrets?” he asked softly.

My mouth twisted to the side. “None.”

His smile bloomed. “Well, all right then.” Dipping down, he brushed his mouth across mine. “You’re going to need a clean change of clothes.”

I groaned.

He laughed and turned me back into the house.

Half an hour later, I realized I should have stayed there. “Gabe, no!”

“What do you mean, ‘no’? It’s perfectly safe!”

I pointed at the dirt bikes lined up against the fence. “I can barely ride a bicycle!”

He scowled. “You can so ride a bicycle.”

“I know,” I snapped. “But not one with a motor.”

He moved closer, a sly smile moving across his face.

I held up my hand. “Oh no. You stay back. When your stupidly handsome face gets too close, I make bad decisions.”

He grinned. “Stupidly handsome?”

I harrumphed in response.

Laughing, he hauled me into his arms as I squirmed and laughed. “Did you not just say half an hour ago that you had no regrets?”

“Gabe,” I groaned.

He dropped his mouth to my ear. “Remember when we used to go go-carting? Kayaking on Crystal Lake? Fishing in Little River? Remember the day we leapt off the bluffs at Hailey’s Falls?”

“That was supremely foolish,” I reprimanded.

“It was,” he conceded, looking down for a moment. “But we made it. And we’re older and wiser now.”

I leaned back and gaped at him. “Are we? Are we really, Gabe?”

He looked down his nose at me, his smile smug. “We are.”

I relaxed in his arms as I eyed the bikes.

After my dad got sick, I became a cautious, timid little thing. Gabe coaxed me back out of my shell and uncovered a hunger for adventure I hadn’t felt since. There was a time when this wouldn’t have phased me in the least.

Suddenly, the bikes didn’t look so scary.

“Besides,” Gabe murmured in my ear as he turned me around. “We’re taking the ATVs this time. We’ll save the bikes for next time.”

I slumped with relief in his arms, and demanded, “Why didn’t you say so?”

He laughed. “If I’d led with the ATVs, you would have argued just the same.”

“Maybe,” I muttered.

I looked at the ATVs, excitement unfurling in my stomach.

“There’s my wild baby,” he praised, his eyes warm on my face. “Let’s have some fun before we die.”

I snorted out a laugh and took his proffered hand.