“I’ll drink to wild dreams coming true,” he murmured. “And I pray it’s all real.”
“It is. Master and I will remind you.” Archie let go of me and raised his glass. “To pipe dreams coming true.”
I took a swig of my beer and locked my feet with Sloan’s under the table.
His smile turned a little rueful as he spoke again. “Speaking of dreams, I reckon I became Carol’s nightmare earlier. More than I already was, that is.”
I lifted a brow. Had he already talked to her?
“I didn’t actually mention the children, but it’s implied,” he said. “I told her when she picked up Loki that I can’t afford the city anymore, so I’m moving in with you.”
Holy fuck. That was blunt.
“Oh wow.” Archie was surprised too. “Was this right after I left to drop off Kyla?”
Sloan inclined his head. “I’m sure we’ll fight about it soon—not that it matters. She didn’t exactly ask for my opinion before she accepted the job in Chicago, and she won’t get any support from her parents.” He shifted his gaze to me. “I’ve talked to them again. They’re ready to try to reason with her when she calls.”
“She’s more than welcome to call me too.” I smirked.
“Oh, I bet,” he chuckled. “But on that note, we should get our stories straight.” He turned serious, and I waited. And shoveled some food into my mouth. “Archie and I touched on this briefly earlier today too, and when it comes to our relationship, I’d prefer to be left out of things for the time being. In front of my four, I mean.”
As much as that bothered me, I’d seen it coming.
“When the kids are around, it’s you and Archie who’re together,” he said. “Even though I know they will welcome the move with open arms—and undoubtedly some cheering—they’re all at a sensitive age for different reasons. Jason’s default mode is moody preteen, Jamie’s just beginning to understand grown-up things, Jo sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night and wants to sleep in my bed, and Loki will probably take over her role soon enough.”
I nodded, understanding his side of things. For the sake of stability in an uncertain period, it made sense that Sloan remained “Shep’s best friend,” and, well, that Emma-Jo didn’t wake up at night to find other men in bed with Daddy.
It wasn’t unheard of for Jamie to tiptoe into Sloan’s room too, particularly if he’d had a bad dream.
“I get it.” I’d make sure Sloan knew I had no problems with this. Now that I’d gotten my way about everyone moving in, it was time for me to show flexibility and understanding to the circumstances. “Maybe it’s one of those things that will be brought to light naturally as the kids grow up and wonder. At least with Jason.”
“That’s what I’m thinking too,” he replied. A pinch of relief was visible in his expression. “Definitely with Jason. With the rest—I mean, I don’t wanna wait too long, and younger children tend to accept things easier.” That was true. “So…once Jason starts wondering, it’s probably a good time to break it to the others.”
It was a reasonable plan. A plan I was prepared would need fleshing out more than once over the years. Because our household dynamic would always err on the unconventional side, and we had to be mindful. We’d need a balance between teaching kids that relationships could look many different ways and understanding that they might face…questions, to put it nicely, from their peers. And that wouldn’t be the children’s fight to take on for as long as I was alive.
On that topic, we would always have to be one step ahead.
“We will find a balance,” I said confidently.
“I was just gonna say.” Archie nodded. “And in the meantime, we’ll be discreet and steal moments when no one is looking.”
I grinned. Absolutely, we would find those moments. We were a creative bunch, and we had babysitters, Mclean, and baby monitors. I wasn’t worried.
“Scandalous people, engaging in strange sexual activity on a Tuesday.” Sloan eyed the other cars in the carport while I snorted at his joke. “Where I’m from, this is weekend behavior.”
I patted his thigh and killed the engine. “In other words, you’re in a better place now.” A better community. We didn’t have to resort to pop-up events at regular nightclubs.
Soon as I stepped out of the truck, I heard music coming from the main house. It was fucking loud too. But it was good music—older, bluesy, seductive rock.
“Is there really always someone here?” Sloan asked, jumping out too.
So did Archie from the back seat.
“Pretty much.” I nodded. “Let’s go say hi.” I recognized KC’s SUV and Kingsley’s truck. River and Reese’s vehicles were here too, but the owners wouldn’t be. I’d managed to get Shay to confess they’d be home after Halloween in a few days.