I smiled. “Sure. Also, outside. Where you won’t run anyone else over. Also, that way, if you fall, one of you could land in dog poo and really lose the game.”
28
Beck
I’dwalkedthroughSawyer’sfront door to a variety of things over the years. Out of all the things I’d walked in on, though, I’d never been more shocked or pleased than when I walked into his house that night. I was hours late getting to the kids because of a problem with the plane, and I was in a shitty mood. Once again, Maria had made me look like a shitty fucking dad. How was I supposed to be there for the kids when she dropped them off at random times and just out of the blue? She set me up for failure, and I knocked it out of the park each time.
I was prepared for screaming and fighting when I walked in. The kids were all as close as siblings, and they fought like it. I knew Olive would be in a terrible mood, too. She was angry with me more often than not those days. When she was mad, she took it out on everyone around her. I already knew I had to find a big way to make it up to Winnie.
Instead of chaos, I found the kids, Sawyer, Jack, and even their fucking cat, Frank, all sitting at the table while Winnie demonstrated something to them. They were all silent as she spoke about shaping something one way or another. I leaned against the doorway, out of their sight, and watched as she fluttered around like a butterfly. She was graceful as she talked about changing the paper in front of them. Gone was the clumsy woman who babbled and blushed. Instead, Winnie looked sure and confident. She was clearly in her element.
Nick raised his hand, and I nearly fell to the floor in shock. “Freddie, I think I messed it up.”
Freddie? I watched as Winnie hurried over to his side and bent over to help him. My chuckle as I saw Jack trying to look down her dress drew their attention to me finally. Winnie looked at me over her shoulder. The image was one I’d seen before, in a completely different setting, and it sent blood rushing south.
“Dad! We’re making animals!” Arlo waved we closer and leaned his head into my side when I was close enough. “Freddie is teaching us art.”
“Freddie?”
Sawyer smirked. “Apparently Olive and Arlo met Winnie’s Mom today. Winnie was named after her father, Freddy. The kids love that Winnie’s mom calls her Freddie, and so... Freddie was born.”
Olive looked at me through her lashes. “Freddie’s mom is magic. Her house is rainbow and you have to drive through a forest to get there. She also saw that me and Birdie are supposed to be best friends.”
She could’ve told me she’d learned all about drugs that day and I still would’ve been grinning back at her because she was talking to me. I ruffled Arlo’s head before walking over to Olive and kneeling next to her. “That’s really cool, Olive. It sounds like you had a good day with Winnie.”
She looked at the colorful little girl next to her, the spitting image of Winnie, and nodded. “Freddie is cool.”
I noticed the little girl staring at me and smiled at her. “Birdie? Cool name. I’m Beck.”
Despite the pink hair, headband, and flower child clothes, Birdie turned out to be a ball buster. “You made Olive sad today. Do better.”
Winnie gasped. “Charlotte Birdie Lane! You and your Uncle Gabe are both grounded. You don’t get to just say everything you think to anyone, anytime you want. It’s rude, and that’s not okay.”
Birdie crossed her arms over her chest and frowned back at her mother. “You can’t ground Uncle Gabe. He’s older than you.”
“Watch me. I think it’s time for us to go, young lady.” Winnie looked at me and winced. “I’m sorry, Beck.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll apologize, Mom. Can we stay longer?” Birdie didn’t wait on her mom. She looked over at me and narrowed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
I could see Jack trying not to laugh out of the corner of my eye. The little spitfire had hit me where it hurt, but she wasn’t wrong. I needed to do better. “Thanks for sticking up for Olive, Birdie. It’s good that she has someone so fierce in her corner.”
Sawyer grunted. “Kid doesn’t mince words, man. She’s hurt my feelings like four times in the last half hour alone.”
Jack finally let out a deep belly laugh, one I hadn’t heard from him in longer than I could remember. He gripped his stomach and slapped his knee, laughing until tears leaked from his eyes and we were all staring at him. When he finally settled enough to talk, it was through a laughing wheeze. “She’s brutal. Think she made him cry a little.”
"She's definetly reinforced the fact that I don't want more kids." Sawyer shuddered. "This kid should be sent around to teenagers as a method of birth control. She'll bully them into not ever wanting kids."
"Amen." Jack said it under his breath, but I couldn't help laughing.
Winnie covered her face with her hands and then took the time to pull her hair up in a bun. The motion forced her breasts forward, and I forgot about her mean kid for a moment.
“I just told him that his elephant looked like a penis!”
The kids all fell apart, art project forgotten as they laughed hysterically. Sawyer tried his best to remain the adult and not laugh, but between the kids and Jack guffawing, he couldn’t help laughing, too.
I met Winnie’s gaze and grinned. “Seems there’s more than one Lane woman with an eye for art.”
Her cheeks turned the pretty red shade I liked so much, and she bit her lip. “Maybe Birdie isn’t the only one who should apologize.”