He cleaned himself and brought back another washcloth to clean her up. After he turned off the lights, he removed his prosthetic and arranged her against him.
Cole kissed her temple. “How are you now?”
“Mmmm.”
He rolled his eyes. He didn’t think he’d be getting anything else out of her, but that was okay. As long as he had her in his arms, he was happy and content.
The next morning, several guys went to the airport to wave off Cole, Jade, and Blake.
He shook Eric’s hand. “I hope to see you soon.”
Eric nodded. “You will. We’re already packing up our things and looking for places to live.”
“I’ve been checking into that, too. I’ve been living at one of the condos, but I’ll talk to Jade and see what she thinks.”
“We could always live together in a huge house.” Eric grinned.
Cole laughed. “I’ll see what Jade thinks about that.”
“See you soon.”
They got as comfortable as they could on the plane with Jade between him and Blake. The guys tried not to laugh at the sight of her trying to make space for herself.
“You guys are squishing me,” she complained.
“Deal with it,” Blake said.
She gasped. “You’re being so mean.” She turned to him. “Daddy, make Blake be nice to me.”
Cole cleared his throat, smiled, and tried to act sternly. “Blake, please be nice to Jade.”
Blake snorted but didn’t mess with her until they were in the air. Cole had just closed his eyes when Jade and Blake started arguing about the snacks they brought. He grunted when Jade jammed her elbow into his side.
“Daddy, he’s doing it again,” Jade hissed.
Cole rolled his eyes. “Can’t you two just get along?”
He opened his eyes to see Blake staring at him. “What?”
“You’re no fun,” Blake said.
Oh, for God’s sake.He closed his eyes again, and they dealt with each other while he got some much-needed rest. He might reconsider if this was what it was like to have children.
Finally, they returned home, and the three piled into Cole’s car.
“I’m tired, Daddy.”
Cole snorted. “It’s no wonder. All the two of you did was fight and eat.”
She sniffed and ignored them.
“Guys, Eric was talking about maybe getting a huge house together,” Cole said.
Blake gasped. “Hell, she’d be bossing us around all the time.”
Jade reached out and smacked Blake’s shoulder. “I would not. But I guarantee I’ll probably be hurting several of them.”
Cole knew that would be the answer, but he just had to try.