Six Single Dads' Nanny (Love by Numbers 5)

Her words struck me like a melodic chord on a guitar. She was right. The thing that made my dad and the kids’ mothers such dirtbags wasn’t that they left, it was that they left and never came back. People made mistakes, and the important thing was to face them, not to run from them. What I’d seen was meant to convince me that my men were evil, and it worked for a while, but I knew now that I had been taken advantage of. I had to get back to my family. I owed them an apology for leaving them, and I had to start working to patch things up right away.

That night I didn’t sleep, but for an entirely different reason. I was too excited to get back to the men and my kids. I packed the things I’d been keeping at Khloe’s place for the past few weeks, and as soon as day broke, I made my way for Dallas. If I was quick enough, I could catch the kids before they left for school. I used my drive to come up with the perfect way to tell them that I was sorry for letting them down.

I pulled up in front of Ethan’s house and used the key I still had to let myself inside. I was happy to see that he hadn’t changed the locks. They truly hadn’t moved on from me. With the way I behaved, it was surprising. I could smell the rich smell of Ethan making his morning coffee from the kitchen and knew I’d find the man in there. I walked into the kitchen, and saw him standing there, staring into a pot of coffee. His eyes had bags under them and his hair was unkempt; he looked stressed and exhausted.

“Hi,” I greeted.

Ethan turned and looked at me, and he dropped the pot from his hands causing it to crash into pieces on the floor. He raced across the kitchen, and held out his arms, that I leapt into, catching his lips in a passionate kiss. He gripped me tightly, and even feeling his arms starting to constrict me a little too much, I didn’t let go or ask him to. I wanted to feel him against me. I wanted to feel us back together.

“I’m so happy you’re home,” he whispered to me.

“Me too,” I said, not able to stop the tears from cascading down my cheeks. “Harrison made a pretty convincing argument.”

“You mean Adam?” Ethan replied and I just shook my head.

“I don’t even want to talk about it,” I said with a chuckle.

“Jordan!” I turned and Davin and David were racing into the kitchen.

I whipped out of Ethan’s arms and held out my hands to the boys. “Stop!” The boys came to a screeching halt, both looking shocked and hurt. “I’m so happy to see you and I’m going to hug you, but your father broke a glass and it’s everywhere. I don’t want you to hurt yourselves.”

“Take them into the foyer. I’ll clean up and meet you out there,” Ethan said, taking another quick kiss from me before turning and tip toeing back towards the shattered glass.

The boys backed out and I followed them, and once we were safely out of the kitchen, I dropped to my knees and they both threw themselves into my arms. I was crying and David was as well. Davin, ever stoic, was holding it together, but even he was sniffling a little as I held on tight.

“Where did you go?” David asked.

“You missed our baseball game,” Davin complained.

“I know, I’m so sorry.” I kissed them each on the cheek. “I got a little afraid and ran from a problem that I had, but I sorted it out, but I’m so sorry that I hurt you. I promise I will never, ever do it again. Okay?”

The boys continued to hug me tightly with an understanding, until Ethan came back into the room. “Boys, school.”

They both gripped me tighter and it broke my heart. Last time they parted ways from me, I disappeared, and no doubt they were afraid that would happen again. I put a hand on each of their cheeks and looked them each in the eyes.

“I promise you, I will never leave you again. I’ll pick you up from school today, just like always, okay?” I said.

Davin and David nodded, and then finally released me and rushed upstairs. I didn’t want to part ways from Ethan so he could bring the boys to school and go to work, but it was necessary. With another kiss, I promised him that we would definitely be making up for lost time, all seven of us, once they were all off of work for the evening. By the time I was picking the kids up from school, I’d received word that they would all be dropped off at Ethan’s sister’s for care for the night, and that I should meet back at his place and prepare myself for a long night. I was more than excited. I’d missed my men.