Chapter Three
Trey sat in the front seat, looking out the side window of Travis’s car on their way to Darian’s house. He couldn’t get his mind off Travis and Nia. He felt something tug at his heart when he and Travis were sitting having a drink after dinner the night before. Travis had put Nia to bed because she was so tired from playing that day.
His gaze had shot to the doorway as Nia came through, dragging a small pink fuzzy blanket behind her. She was dressed in a short nightgown that came a few inches above her knees. He could tell Travis wasn’t the least bit surprised when he raised his arm so she could sit in his lap while he continued talking to him.
He then went on to cuddle her up against his chest and cover her with the blanket.
“You do this a lot?” Trey asked him.
Travis looked up at him and grinned. “Yes. Nia has a hard time sleeping without me by her side.”
“I get scared,” she mumbled.
Trey smiled as she drifted asleep quickly.
“When they come to their daddies’ offices, you’ll see them walk into a meeting sometimes because they need to sit on their daddy’s lap.”
“What do others think of that?”
“They’re used to it, and many of the people we work with have littles of their own or are looking for one. We explain the situation to the new customers. If they don’t like it, they can go somewhere else.”
“You don’t resent it at all?”
“Hell, no. She’s everything to me. I never knew I could be this happy or content.”
Trey had thought about that and had noticed his friend was happier than he’d ever seen him.
“Daddy, are we almost there?”
Nia’s voice coming from the car’s backseat brought Trey’s mind back to the present.
“Yes, baby. Just a few more minutes,” Travis said.
“But you said that hours ago,” Nia complained.
Trey smiled.
Travis snorted. “For one thing, Darian doesn’t live hours away, and for another, all I said was we were just about there not ten minutes ago.”
Nia huffed in the backseat. “Well, it feels like it’s taking forever.”
“Because you haven’t seen some of these girls for a few weeks,” Travis told her patiently.
Five minutes later, Nia squealed in the back and started bouncing up the long driveway.
“Why didn’t we take the driver?” Trey asked.
“Because she gets frisky on long drives in the back of that car, and we’ll probably be staying the night. That’s why I had you bring on an overnight bag.”
They pulled up and parked beside another car.
“Shit, this place looks like a castle.”
“Everyone says that.” Travis grinned.
Nia scrambled out of the car.
“Nia, stop. You’ll walk in with us, and I don’t want any running.”