“And your daughter’s?”
“She’s not get married … ever,” he shot back seriously, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “You laugh, but in my mind, she’s staying four … forever.”
“I wish you no luck.”
“Why not?”
“Because if Bellamy stays four, that means Thea stays pregnant … and is that really what you’re wishing on me?”
“Fine,” he replied, thinking for a second. “Bellamy gets to eight, your kid gets to four, which means he can talk, walk, and at least want to use the toilet by himself. Then we stop this whole aging business.”
“Deal.” We knocked juice boxes as I leaned back against the one wall we hadn’t painted. “What if he doesn’t like baseball?”
“Keep having kids. Statistically, one of them must like the sport.”
“I knew there was a reason I kept you around.”
“You aren’t keeping me around, your sister is. You…Well, let’s just thank God I’ve built a tolerance to your ego, oh great and mighty Levi Black.”
I cracked my jaw to the side glaring at him, his smug face so proud of his witty comment, apparently forgetting I was both petty and a sore loser. “Maybe it was that tolerance of mine, which made my father think you were peculiarly strange and not the right fit for Bethan.”
He glared back eyeing me carefully. “Bullshit. You’re trying to get under my skin.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “Maybe not, ask my father directly…if you can.” I grinned sucking on the straw of my juice box.
“You are a terrible person.”
At that, I laughed. “You knew that and still tried to pick a fight with me.”
He opened his mouth, most likely to curse me out, when all of a sudden, he was up and running toward the voice now screaming, “DADDY! DADDY!”
He was out of the room before I stood, and when I got into the hall, my sister pushed me out of the way, rushing toward the spare room. Tristan already had red-faced Bellamy in his arms as she cried hysterically. Thea was at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me wide-eyed.
“Sweetheart, what is it? What’s wrong?” Bethan wiped her face.
Bellamy’s lip quivered, and she sniffed. “I didn’t know … where … I … I was … I … didn’t … see you, Mommy.”
Tristan exhaled, relaxing, and kissed the side of her face as she hiccupped. “We came to Levi’s house.”
“This … no uncle’s house.” She pouted, rubbing her eyes.
“Uncle Levi moved to this place now. So we can get ready for Auntie Thea’s baby.” Bethan brushed her hair. Bellamy reached up to hold on to Tristan’s neck.
“We should go,” Tristan said to me, and Bethan nodded.
“Bye, princess.” I smiled at her when they came closer to me.
She didn’t talk, just buried her puffy face into Tristan’s chest.
“Once she’s like this, there is no talking to her,” he explained, placing his hand the back of her head. “We’ll come back another time when she’s fully awake, and we can finish our conversation.”
I’d gotten under his skin.
“Of course.” I nodded to him, letting him walk down first, followed by Bethan who carried Bellamy’s shoes. Walking behind them, Thea came back out with a few boxes of cookies.
“Thank you so much, Thea,” Bethan said with a hug.
I couldn’t look away from them as Tristan put Bellamy into her booster seat, and Bethan went around the other side to sit in the back with her.