"Gotta go."
Ah, hell. He didn't even want to check out that bed. His revamped budget would have to stretch to cleaning help as well as a nanny.
Daniel sidestepped discarded pj's and performed a military pivot round the corner into the bathroom. He plopped Austin on the tile floor.
In front of the neon-green plastic attachment to the john.
God. His bachelor digs now sported a freaking training seat. He liked the kid and all. Even Trey wasn't a major pain in the ass anymore, his snotty attitude having downgraded to minor pain in the ass, with the occasional quip that actually had Daniel laughing the minute the kid left the room.
He was managing. Doing okay. But that training seat pushed it.
Austin climbed up the step and took aim. Daniel leaned against the doorjamb and waited. And waited. Man, the kid was going like a racehorse. Daniel snagged the footed pj's off the hall carpet along with the pull-up.
Huh?
Well, hell. The thing was dry.
He spun back to Austin. "Way to go, bud."
"Oo-rah." With a big-toothed grin, Austin reached over the sink and pumped purple soap from a dinosaur dispenser.
The spare room door cracked open, Trey stepping out, his yawn closing into a frown. Big surprise. Not. "Wanna hold the party down? Some of us are trying to sleep."
Austin's smile faltered, and Daniel vowed he'd slip peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches in the kid's lunch for a week if Trey didn't ditch the attitude at light speed.
"We're celebrating Austin staying dry through the night. And so should you, pal, since Austin sleeps on the top bunk."
A grin tugged Trey's somber face. He held up a high-five palm.
Austin launched off the footstool and smacked his brother's hand, shouting, "Oo-rah!"
"Hoo-ya," Trey parried with the Navy grunt, anything other than a nod to the Air Force.
Yesterday Trey had chanted an Army cadence as he circled the pool. The day before that he'd taped a computer printout of the "Marine Hymn" to Daniel's bag of licorice—a bag that was suspiciously light.
Trey let loose another hoo-ya. Daniel snorted on a chuckle. Trey turned, a wicked glint sparking his brown eyes. The way would never be easy with this kid, but at least Trey had found his sense of humor.
Daniel burrowed a hand into a laundry basket—of clean stuff, he hoped—and yanked free a pair of Austin's shorts and a T-shirt. Once they passed a quick sniff test, he tossed them to the little guy. "What do ya say we head out to IHOP for breakfast before I swing by base so Mary Elise can sleep in?"
Guilt bit over how he'd kept her up late more than once grilling her about where she'd go. What she'd do. Of course, now he wondered if maybe she did have a plan and just didn't care to share it with him.
"Pancakes?" Austin cheered, pushing his head through his wrong-side-out T-shirt.
"IHOP?" Trey echoed with a shrug and an almost disguised grin. "Yeah, I guess that's okay, even if it is a regular hangout for you Chair Force dudes."
"Don't push your luck, kid." He thumped Trey in the stomach with his shoes.
Eyes well off the master bedroom door, Daniel charged down the hall. Leave a note and let her sleep. He wasn't up for resisting a sleep-mussed Mary Elise, anyway.
She might be stubborn, but so was he, and he had reinforcements. Each day that passed, it was obvious she loved Trey and Austin. The boys were his trump card for convincing her to stay.
He locked the front door while his brothers sprinted toward Darcy Renshaw's Firebird easing into her parking spot after her night flight. The boys launched at her as she stepped out. She had to be dead on her feet but didn't wince. He owed Wren and Max more than he could repay.
Daniel finished bolting the door and turned to thumb the remote on the truck lock. "Come on, fellas," he called, striding down the walkway past the mailboxes. "Leave Wren alone so she can go to sleep. Let's get a move on, or I'm ordering Trey chocolate chip pancakes."
"Eww!" Trey's exaggerated gag drifted across the lot.
"You're talking to a man who ate rabbit eyeballs in survival training. I'm not impressed with your bellyaching about the menu, kid."