She jumped into his arms and he held her tight. He carried her to the sofa and sat with her on his lap. He didn’t want to let her go.
“I missed you, baby doll.”
He noticed she was wearing clothes he’d never seen before. Some tights with pictures of dachshunds on them and a T-shirt dress with Princess written across the chest.
Seemed someone had taken her shopping. And let her Little loose.
“Don’t go away again,” she demanded, waggling her finger at him.
His lips twitched. “Believe me, I’ll try not to. Definitely won’t be going anywhere with Hunter Black again. That guy is cranky.”
She broke out into giggles.
“Hey! What’s so funny?”
“It’s just you complaining about someone else b
eing cranky. Your nickname is Dr. Cranky, Daddy.”
He growled. “Well, he’s crankier than me. And he can’t cook for shit. And the lodge where we were staying was filthy. Spent half my time cleaning it.”
“Poor Daddy.” She patted his cheek lightly.
“Yes, feel sympathy for me. I missed you the entire time. I need cuddles and kisses to make up for it.”
She laid kisses all over his face then hugged him tight. “Want to see my coloring?”
“Of course.”
She wiggled off his lap and held up the book that had been sitting on the coffee table.
He glanced at the picture. “That’s gorgeous. Where’d you get the coloring book from, baby doll?”
He hadn’t seen it before, either.
“Papa bought it and the pens for me! He also took me shopping yesterday for new clothes.” She got up and did a twirl, nearly tripping over her own feet.
Archer jumped up and grabbed her, steadying her as she giggled. “Whoops.”
“Steady, poppet. We don’t want you getting hurt.” Archer spoke calmly but with a note of command. Then he picked their girl up, sitting with her on his lap.
The look of happiness on his brother’s face made Doc smile in response. Fuck. This felt so right. Coming back to the two of them was coming home.
“Papa?” he asked.
Archer shrugged. “Figured having two daddies was a bit confusing.”
“Well, it’s about damn time,” Doc muttered to him.
Archer just rolled his eyes.
“Come back and give Daddy more cuddles, baby doll,” he commanded. “He’s had you all weekend.”
She bounced back over to him with a giggle as Archer just smiled. She plopped down on his lap.
“Tell me about your weekend.”
She proceeded to go through their shopping trip, playing with bubbles, and the fact that Papa went through a drive-through instead of some fancy, stuffy restaurant.