Affection went sliding through my veins. Was crazy how much I adored these kids.
“Oh, I bet you’ve been busy. What’s her name?”
“Is there ever a name?”
Of course, there was one dancing at the tip of my tongue.
Hope.
What the hell it was about her, I didn’t know. But all day, she’d been taking possession of my thoughts without my permission, my mind continually traipsing back to the heat lighting on her cheeks, that sweet shyness I wanted to dip my fingers into, desperate for a taste.
Rynna grinned at me as she headed into the kitchen to help Rex. “Oh, I’m sure there are plenty of names. You just forget them before you’re on to the next one.” She washed her hands, looking back at me. “And that baby looks good on you, by the way.”
“Only because I get to give him back when he starts crying.” I shot her a wink. “And, well, I always look good. It’s kind of impossible for me not to.”
Rex’s expression was nothing but adoration when he gazed over at her, amusement playing around his mouth. “Can you believe this guy?”
She giggled with a shake of her head. “He’s your friend. You’re the one who decided to keep him around all this time.”
“Hey,” I drew out, fighting the laughter. “Don’t be knocking my presence. Doubt very much the two of you would be together if it weren’t for me. I was the one who knocked some sense into his stubborn ass.”
Rynna pushed up onto her toes and pressed a kiss to Rex’s jaw, her voice not meant for me. “I’m pretty sure he would have found me either way. Some people are just meant to be.”
She almost did a double take when she looked back and found Ryland was already conked out in my arms.
“Oh, make it look easy, why don’t you? He hasn’t slept a wink all day.”
“Magic touch right here. Kids love me, and you know I love them.” My brow lifted. “Just as long as they aren’t mine.”
Frankie was suddenly right there at my feet, a box of fat markers in one hand and a frilly pink notebook in the other. A pout pursed her lips. “Uncle Kale, you said I was always gonna be your favorite girl. That means I belongs to you. You don’t want to keep me anymore?”
I looked down at the adorable thing, who was growing way too fast, her sweet lisp starting to sort itself out but still evident enough to fist me right in the heart with the sweetness of it.
Swore, the kid had me wrapped around her little finger.
Rex was grinning as he was rinsing the potatoes in the sink. “Now tell me how your gonna dig yourself out of that one, my friend. And don’t you dare go breaking my Frankie Leigh’s heart.”
“Never.”
I shifted Ryland into the crook of one arm so I could rustle my fingers through Frankie’s hair. “What are you talking about, Sweet Pea Frankie Leigh? Do you have beans growing in your ears? Here, quick, let me take you to the office so I can look in there, because you heard me all wrong. I said you’re always going to be mine, not as long as they’re not mine.”
Giggling, she wiggled all over the place. “I don’t gots any beans growing in my ears, Uncle. I think you’re teasin’ me.”
“And you know I only tease my favorite, favorite girls, right?”
“Uh-huh,” she agreed as she scrambled onto a dining room chair so she could show me how she wrote her name, completely assuaged, not another thought about me leaving her behind.
“Smooth,” Rex said with a shake of his head, dumping the diced potatoes into a pot of boiling water.
“Skilled,” I tossed back.
“So, tell us about this new position. What did you think?” Rynna’s demeanor had shifted, all concern as she looked back at me.
I roughed a hand through my hair.
Didn’t want to tell her I had to come straight from the office because I needed reassurance that Ryland and Frankie were just fine. That something horrible hadn’t crept up in the time I’d been away.
It was funny because, for years, I’d given Rex crap about being too overprotective of Frankie, always rushing her to the ER whenever the slightest things went wrong. I’d continually made light of it and razzed him that he was ridiculous.
Truth was, I’d been in knots while I’d waited for them to arrive, terrified something was seriously wrong.
I saw so much bad shit come through the ER doors every single day.
Had experienced it firsthand.
Had felt death’s claws tear right through my skin to rip my life apart.
Like it was teaching me a lesson.
But the last thing I wanted was to make him worry more than he already had been. He was coming to me for reassurance, not to be launched into some kind of tailspin.