Squared Away (Out of Uniform 5)

Right on it turned out to be a few hours of forms. The senior chief also helped him get his off-base housing request pushed through so that he had permission to live at the house with Isaiah and the kids rather than the barracks while doing the instructor position. Finally, he went to the barracks, packed up more of his stuff, filling the car with Bacon’s help.

Thus, it was much later than he’d intended when he rolled back into the driveway at the house. Past dinner. Fuck. And he’d promised to help. He was falling down on the job already. Cursing himself, he entered through the side door, surprised by how quiet everything was. Were they in bed already?

A quick investigation revealed the truth—they were all in the family room, on the oversized sectional. A kids’ movie was playing softly on the TV, and Isaiah was passed out on the chaise part of the sectional, Liam asleep on his chest, girls sleeping cuddled up on either side of him, the blankets they were seldom without wrapped around them. Half a bowl of popcorn sat on the floor.

That seldom-used place in Mark’s chest pinged again, a deep ache that resonated through his whole torso. This was why he’d accepted the instructor position without much fuss. He couldn’t let it all fall to Isaiah. They’re mine now. Like it or not, these were his kids now, and it was time to start acting like it.

* * *

“Here you go, princess.”

Isaiah came awake slow, vaguely aware of Mark’s voice and presence in the room. But sleep felt so damn good that it took a bit of effort to fully wake up. He opened his eyes to find Mark, still in his uniform, carrying a sleeping Zoe and her blanket. And day-um that was a sweet sight.

“Hey. I was going to get her to her bed,” Isaiah protested softly, careful to not wake Liam from his place on his chest. Bedtime for all three had been a battle and a half, and Isaiah had finally just declared a movie night in pajamas for everyone. As he’d predicted, the overtired girls had fallen asleep ten minutes in, but he really hadn’t expected himself and Liam to join the snooze fest.

“I’ve got it. Already did Daphne.” Mark sounded a little proud of himself, which was cute. And understandable. Isaiah usually felt like doing a victory dance too when he managed to successfully transfer a sleeping kid.

“Okay, let’s see if I can make it three for three.” Cradling Liam close, he followed Mark upstairs, watching as Mark deposited Zoe and her blanket on her toddler bed, pulling the blanket close around her. He bent and gave her an awkward kiss on the top of her curls. It must have been dusty in the room because Isaiah’s eyes were burning again.

Desperate to not lose his shit again, he hurried to Liam’s room, where he did the arm-to-crib transfer with minimal fuss.

“Good work,” Mark whispered from the door as Isaiah checked to make sure the baby monitor was on.

“You hungry? Saved you some mystery casserole. This one wasn’t too bad—lots of cheese and salsa and some sort of meat.”

“I was going to help.” Mark sighed as they headed back downstairs. “I really was. Stuff at base took forever though.”

“Did you get it handled?” Isaiah got the foil-covered casserole out of the fridge and dished Mark up a SEAL-sized portion.

“Sort of.” Mark made a face. “I’ve got a couple of weeks leave, then I’m going to be doing a SEAL instructor stint while I figure out a long-term plan.”

“Me.” Isaiah hit the microwave buttons harder than he needed to. “I’m the long-term plan. Can’t wait for you to realize that.”

“You’re twenty-four—”

“And you’re what? All of twenty-eight? Twenty-nine now? Seriously elderly man.”

“Last I knew you were way more into partying at Hillcrest bars rather than doing diaper duty.”

“Well, maybe you didn’t pay attention close enough.” Isaiah refused to feel hurt that Mark didn’t really know him, didn’t know anything about him, who he really was. Other than those few days before the wedding, he’d never made any effort to get to know Isaiah. And that sucked. But Isaiah was not going to go all wounded deer about it. “Sure, I love my friends, but I’ve been all about this family. Far more than you. Just because I like to kick it with my crowd some doesn’t mean I’ll be a crap parent.”

“The kids need stability. Not someone with a new boyfriend every five minutes. So yeah, ‘kicking it’ isn’t the best—”

“Just say what you mean.” The microwave dinged and Isaiah all but threw the plate at Mark. “You’re still pissed that I slept with your friend Ben. He’s all married now and it really didn’t mean anything, but you haven’t been able to let that go.”