“Follow me,” he told the kids, leading them down the hallway and toward the basement door. Mia frowned but followed along. She remembered the basement as finished, but full of old computers and random equipment. Carter hadn't done anything to it yet since he was only here until the threats ended. She had assumed they would sleep on the couches in the living room for the night.
Carter grinned at her, his eyes twinkling with the light of a secret as he opened the basement door. The kids rushed down in front of him with Mia trailing behind. She gasped as she came down the steps and saw the transformation that Carter had made to the basement.
Instead of a regular basement, it looked like a house. There was a common area with three distinct bedrooms coming off of it. From just the open doorways, Mia could see that each room was fully decorated and furnished.
“When you said you had rooms made up for them, I assumed you bought some air mattresses and extra sheets,” Mia told him, standing in the common room and looking around.
“Right. Because billionaires buy air mattresses,” he replied. She looked up at him, and he winked at her.
She shook her head and went to see what each room contained. It was far more than just a mattress in each room. Each room was clearly designed for one of her kids.
The pale yellow room with turquoise accents was made for Lily. There were books about horses and other animals on the beautiful white wood nightstand. It was pretty and feminine, yet strong and elegant enough to suit a teenager. Lily already had her nose in a book about equine anatomy as she lounged on the bed.
Alexander's room was done in shades of blue and orange, with sports equipment and several signed football jerseys decorating the walls. Alexander sat on the foot of his football themed bedspread with a deliriously happy look on his face as he stared at the wall with the jerseys of his heroes.
Mia left him to find Grayson pretending to drive his race car bed around the room. The youngest boy's room was painted to look like a racing stadium. Painted crowds cheered as Grayson made engine noises and shifted a pillow gear shift.
“You outdid yourself,” Mia told Carter as she came back to the common room. She couldn't believe how amazing this all was. Even the common room was made for comfort. There was a large leather couch and a big screen TV. “I can't believe you did all this.”
Carter shrugged. “I was thinking about it the other day. I'm planning on having more foals, and the hay wasn't that comfortable,” he explained. “This way, they have a place to stay.”
“Just for foaling?” Mia asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Yeah.” He shrugged as if the complete home makeover was nothing more than getting a couple of extra pillows for the couches.
She went to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I think those kids might be growing on you.”
He chuckled. “Maybe a little.”
With a smile, he took her hand and together they went to tuck the kids into bed for the evening. Although, given how excited they all were, Mia doubted they were ever going to go to sleep.
Chapter 28
Mia
Mia kissed Grayson's forehead as his eyelids fluttered shut in the dim light of his nightlight. Even his nightlight was race-car themed with the light coming out of a pair of headlights on the wall. She carefully closed the door and stepped into the common room. The other two were tucked in bed with books and heavy eyelids that didn't look like they were going to last long.
Mia thought that the kids were going to stay up all night, enjoying their new rooms. It was the first time they'd each had their own room, let alone a room decorated to suit their preferences, and Mia has figured they'd be living it up.
However, the events of the day had worn them out. It was a testament to how well Carter had crafted each room that the kids all fell asleep in less than thirty minutes once teeth were brushed and pajamas on. The kids felt like they were at home and fell asleep with ease.
“Well, that was easier than I expected,” Carter announced as they slipped upstairs to the living room. “And they say parenting is hard.”
Mia laughed. Then they both held their breath as they waited for one of the kids to prove them wrong. After a statement like that, it was practically inevitable that one of them would call up the stairs needing a glass of water or needing just one more hug.
Nothing came, and slowly they let out their lungs.
“No more jinxing things,” Mia whispered. She gave him a gentle punch to his arm.
“How about a drink?” Carter offered.
“I'd actually love a cup of cocoa,” Mia admitted. “Your machine makes the best I've ever had.”
“The best you've ever had, huh?” Carter winked. “Do I need to pick up some pointers?”
“Be made of melted chocolate?” Mia offered. “You're already hot.”
Her compliment made him laugh as they walked to the kitchen. From there, Carter went to the cabinets and pulled out the cups and prepped the espresso machine with the cocoa pods. It hummed to life, frothing milk and heating the water.