God, I love Ty. He’s doing so much better now than he did a year ago, though he still has panic attacks sometimes and goes all OCD on me when he’s stressed and organizes everything by color and shape. But he’s better.
And I want everyone to be better. I love my little family and my friends. I want to make sure they’re all fed and cozy and warm and happy. That they’re all right all the way to the bone, all the way to the soul.
That even if we’re exhausted and still battling our demons, we’ve reached the end and found it’s not an end but a happy new beginning.
***
Once we’re home, Dylan takes charge of the kitchen, and I let him because I may be secure in my cooking skills, but he’s a pretty good cook himself, and I need to convince Isabella to sleep, kinda hard with so many people around.
The doorbell rings at some point as Isa yawns, and by the time she finally drifts off and I leave the room, baby monitor in place, I find Rafe and Megan with their baby son there, too.
“Hey!” I hurry over to give them hugs and coo at the baby who’s a perfect mixture between the two of them–golden hair and cat-like eyes like him, tanned skin and dark gaze like her. “So glad you came.”
“Tyler called us,” Rafe rumbles and grins, flashing his deep dimples at me. “We hope you don’t mind.”
Always such a nice boy, Rafaele Vestri. “I was just asking Audrey about you guys today. So happy to have you here. We should do this more often, now that the babies are a bit older.”
“Yeah, Zane wouldn’t sleep through the night for a long time,” Megan says, and I blink at her.
“Zane?” The baby’s name is Zane? “I thought you’d name him after Rafe’s dad.”
Rafe’s golden gaze darkens. “Zane’s a much better man than my dad ever was.”
Okay, that makes sense. Rafe’s father was a Mafioso, his family killed because of his betrayal, and although he did turn against his Mafia buddies that didn’t redeem him in Rafe’s eyes.
Not when it cost the lives of his mother and sister, too.
“Little Zane.” I tap the baby’s button nose and smile. “That’s a good name. Does Zen-man know you named your kid after him?”
The baby wiggles, dark eyes blinking up at me.
Rafe shrugs. “I haven’t really talked to him much lately.”
And that reminds me… Our group isn’t complete. “Where are Zane and Dakota and the little one?”
“Can’t come, so Dakota said.” Tyler’s dark eyes grow troubled. “Had a bad night.”
“Was it because of the baby?”
“No.” He scratches at his stubbled jaw, glances at Rafe and then back at me. “Because of Zane.”
Chapter Three
Tyler
Erin is frowning, and I look away. I don’t wanna worry my girl over this, not when she’s so tired with taking care of our kids, but Dakota sounded so stressed out on the phone, and knowing Zane’s also the reason Dylan wanted to talk to us about, I’m sure my own concern is written all over my face.
But Erin has always been able to read me, no matter how I try to put on a relaxed face, and the glances the others are sending my way tell me they know something’s off, too.
“Okay, guys, you’re scaring me,” Audrey says, coming closer, those big green eyes of hers wide. “What’s wrong? Are Dakota and the baby okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, they’re fine.” I can at least give them that. “Tired, is all.”
A faint, collective sigh of relief goes through the room.
Yeah, that’s good. I’m grateful all the mothers and babies of our extended family are well, so I let them all relax a little. It’s damn crazy how protective I feel of every single one of them. Maybe it’s because I’m the oldest—albeit by a couple of years—but I’d take the burden of their problems and troubles if I could, even if it broke me all over again.
“Hey, guys? How about you sit at the table while I bring out the food?” Dylan’s blond head appears at the kitchen door. “The roast is warm and ready and the salad…” He trails off, his eyes narrowing. “What the hell happened?”