Breathe, Mills, dammit. Ty, immediately leaned forward, dropping his duck and shouting his approval. His favorite person, Piper thought, was back and all was right with his world.
Jaeger pushed the button to release Ty from his safety belts and lifted the baby into his arms, placing his mouth on Ty’s temple and inhaling his special baby smell. Then Jaeger grimaced and held Ty away from him, shaking his head at his son.
“Is that your way of punishing me for staying away? By greeting me with a loaded diaper?” Jaeger asked, smiling. “That’s a highly effective reprimand. Respect, dude.”
Jaeger tucked Ty against his side, grabbed the stroller and finally, finally looked at her, his eyes guarded. “Hi.”
Piper lifted her hand to hold her throat, wishing she could get more air into her lungs. He was dressed in navy pants, a brown leather belt that matched his shoes and a plain white shirt. He looked insanely hot. Situation normal, then.
Piper looked again and noticed his ragged edges. His beard was days past trendy, and his olive complexion looked a shade lighter. His hair suggested that his hands lived in it, and his eyes were as bloodshot as hers.
Jaeger nodded at Johnson. “I’ve got this, thanks. Thanks for letting me know she was here.”
It took a moment for Jaeger’s words to sink in, and when they did, Piper spun around and glared at Johnson. “You alerted him I was here? Why did you let me think I was on the kooks and crazies list?”
“Stop giving my staff a hard time, Piper, and let’s go up.”
Piper gave the now openly amused Johnson a slitty-eyed glare as Jaeger pulled Ty’s diaper bag from the storage area below his seat. He asked Johnson to park the stroller, and Piper followed Jaeger and Ty to the bank of elevators. Jaeger stopped in front of a smaller single elevator she hadn’t noticed the last time she was here and watched as he placed his thumb on a scanner. Within seconds the doors opened, and Jaeger waited for her to enter first.
As the elevator lifted, Piper turned to him. “What have you done with my house?”
The smallest smile touched Jaeger’s face. “We’ll get to that.”
Piper started to argue, but then the elevator doors opened. Instead of seeing a hallway, Piper faced a wall of Jaeger’s siblings. Their eyes bounced from Jaeger’s face to Ty’s, and they instantly made the connection. Oh, crap! Piper took a step back and then another until she reached the back of the elevator.
“Linc, Beck, Sage, meet Ty. Your nephew.”
Sage squealed, Linc laughed and Beck grinned. Three sets of hands reached to take Ty. Ty, who didn’t have a shy or retiring bone in his body, laughed and blew raspberries.
“You take him, you change him. Warning, he’s ripe,” Jaeger said, and those eager hands disappeared. Jaeger rolled his eyes. “Thought so.”
With the hand not holding Ty, Jaeger reached out, grabbed Piper by the wrist and tugged her into the hall. “We’ll be in my office, my locked office. Leave us alone.” Jaeger threw the words over his shoulder as he led her to his office. Piper looked back at their bemused expressions and lifted her shoulders in a tiny shrug. At least Jaeger had publicly acknowledged his son. Maybe that meant he wanted to claim Ty as his own.
Jaeger locked the door behind him and nodded to the sofa in the corner. “Take a seat while I change Ty.”
“I can do it,” Piper protested.
Using just one hand, Jaeger cleared a space on his desk, pulled a blanket from the diaper bag and spread it over the sleek wood. He put Ty on his back and quickly and efficiently changed him. She stood by the door, listening to the rumble of his voice as he spoke to his son, his tone too low to make out his words. Judging by Ty’s soft chuckles, he was enjoying their conversation. Within minutes, the diaper was disposed of, Ty was back in his arms and Jaeger rubbed his cheek against Ty’s head, closing his eyes as he inhaled Ty’s scent. “God, I missed you,” he said.
Piper swallowed, trying to dispel the knot of emotion in her throat. Jaeger loved Ty, absolutely adored him. She just wished he felt a fraction of that love for her.
“I want to share custody of Ty,” Jaeger stated, looking at her.