Forever (Always & Forever 2)

Robert had to mash his lips closed to keep from laughing. To Landon’s horror, they had no idea how she’d created Lolo out of Landon, but it had somehow stuck. It looked like he’d be Uncle Lolo forever now. She guided Landon toward the garage door. It seemed she worked out the best options, getting her strong Uncle Lolo to pick up the car seat.

“Start the car so it’s warm for her?” Landon said, over his shoulder.

He nodded, bending across the center island to see Landon taking the stuffed animal to hold as Kylie guided him through the kitchen. “You excited about your little brother?”

“Yes, but I’m the big sister. I’ll always be bigger than him,” she explained reasonably, causing Landon to laugh as he opened the door leading to the garage. When she brushed her hair away from her face, Landon looked over at him and winked.

“Bye, Lauren.” Robert left the kitchen, heading straight out the front door to his waiting car.

He’d barely gotten the car warming when the garage door lifted. Landon came out, carrying the car seat in one arm, and Kylie and the stuffed animal in the other. She chatted endlessly to Landon. He sweetly nodded to whatever she said. By the time they got to the car, Kylie happily announced, “I get to sleep with you tonight, Uncle Wobert. Uncle Lolo said I could.”

Robert lifted his brows to Landon, questioning that decision as he placed Kylie in the car first to get her out of the chilly October air then placed the car seat inside. “We can sleep in our clothes or on an air mattress next to the bed. It’s reasonable since she’d be in a new place and she might be scared.”

Robert’s brow lifted a little higher, watching Landon try to figure out the buckles to the seat. “I always thought I’d be the one to spoil and you’d be the strict one.”

Landon gave him a side smile. Letting Kylie take over, getting herself locked in, showing Landon how to work the car seat properly.

When she was strapped in, and he dropped down in the passenger seat, Landon said, “I’ve got a lot to learn.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Robert said. “We always do.”

“Let’s go see my bwother.” Kylie kicked her feet in her excitement as he backed out of the driveway.

Landon placed his forearm between his head and the headboard then repositioned his ass, staring at the television in his and Robert’s bedroom. Robert lay on the other side of the king-size bed. He looked pretty comfortable with his head raised by several pillows and a bowl of popcorn balanced on his toned abs. He munched steadily, showing Landon his husband was well-acquainted with this position. Kylie lay between them, on her belly with her head closer to the foot of the bed. She had a smaller bowl of popcorn beside her and her gaze riveted to the television where Frozen played. She wore her Elsa sparkly blue gown and slippers, apparently the only thing packed inside her backpack, and her feet had a steady rhythm of kicking, one right after the other. This was the second time tonight he’d watched this animated movie.

“She likes it a lot,” Landon whispered, bored out of his mind.

“You have no idea,” Robert whispered, turning to show he wasn’t quite so absorbed in the movie as he appeared. “I can recite the lines, sing all the songs, even do some pretty solid impersonations.”

“Shh,” Kylie said as if she might miss something special.

Landon cocked his head toward the door, urging Robert out. His mister nodded and shifted until he sat on the side of the bed. He placed a hand on Kylie’s back.

“We’re going to make more popcorn. Do you want some?”

She shook her head, her bowl still full.

“I think you’re fighting sleep. It’s well past your bedtime. You should try to go to sleep. We need to go see your brother again in the morning.”

“Are you sleeping down there?” She pointed toward the ceiling, but he assumed she meant the twin-sized air mattress he’d inflated earlier. He suspected Robert planned to sleep in the guest bedroom tonight while he encouraged Landon to take the air mattress. They had a pending power struggle over that one.

“Yes. Now, go to sleep. I’m going for more popcorn.” Robert took her bowl, stacking it on top of his then grabbed her drink. Landon was already at the door, watching their exchange. He had worried about the stairs with Kylie being new to their place, so he went to the store to find a moveable childproof gate to block it off. For Landon, it then became a death trap to navigate over it each time they needed to go down the stairs. It seemed so easy for an adult just to tumble over. Landon went first, hiking one leg over the gate then the other, glad he hadn’t caught his junk on the metal frame this time like he had before, then trotted downstairs. Since Robert didn’t yell out or roll down on top of him, he must have made it over the gate safely too.