Must Be Wright (The Wrights 3)

She looked up at Gypsy, helpless, now also on the verge of a meltdown.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, honey. It’s just a jar of sauce. We’ve got plenty more. I just don’t want you to get hurt. Stay right there,” Gypsy said. “I’ll get it.”

She had socks on and carefully picked her way across the kitchen and opened the pantry door, looking for the broom and a dustpan. Even as she reached for it, Belle joined Cooper in sobbing misery, and Gypsy realized the mix of glass and sauce was going to be way more complicated to clean up than she had hands for at the moment.

“Mama,” Cooper whined. “Belle made a mess.”

“It was an accident. It’s okay, accidents happen.”

Belle’s cries turned to squeals, the kind that made fear cut through Gypsy’s chest. She pivoted to find the water boiling over the side of the pot and running down the stove to the floor. But Belle obeyed Gypsy’s earlier order and stood frozen.

“Shit.” Gypsy hurried toward Belle, only remembering about the glass after dozens of shards tore through her socks. “Ow, ow, ow.”

She flipped off the burner and swept Belle up in her free arm just before the boiling water reached Belle’s bare feet, then retreated to a far corner of the kitchen, breathing hard, her brain numbed from the confusing event. Not because the broken pasta sauce or the boiling water or even the upset kids were confusing, but because her brain was so clouded with fatigue, nothing made sense.

Gypsy’s tired body gave out, and she slid down the cabinets, landing on her butt with both kids in her lap. She joined the other two and started to cry, which only further upset Cooper and Belle.

As fate would have it, Wyatt chose that moment to walk through the front door. Gypsy laughed, then cried harder.

“I’m home,” he called with glee filling his voice. “Where are my little monsters?”

Both kids squirmed in her arms to get loose, but Gypsy held on tight. “No, no, you can’t run on the floor. You have to stay here for just a few more minutes.”

“Here, Daddy.” Cooper had started calling Wyatt Daddy even before he and Gypsy were married. Belle still called him Wyatt most of the time, but even she slipped into calling him Daddy more and more as time passed. And God, the gleam Wyatt got in his eyes when they called him daddy thrilled Gypsy’s heart.

Hearing Cooper use the phrase now made more tears slide down Gypsy’s cheeks just as Wyatt came around the island and found them.

“Oh my God. Is everyone okay?” He moved toward them, and glass crunched under his shoes. He looked around as he crouched, taking in the mess. When he met Gypsy’s eyes, he could read her it’s-just-a-clusterfuck-no-one-is-hurt expression. And he started laughing. Which made Gypsy laugh. And Belle and Cooper laugh.

When he stopped, he wiped his eyes and met Gypsy’s with a sparkle of mischief. “Looks like Mama’s been cooking again.”

Gypsy managed to reach out and slap his arm.

“Come here, you little monkeys.” Wyatt took a kid in each arm, then gave Gypsy a stern look. “Don’t you dare move.”

He told Belle to grab a kitchen towel as he passed the counter and settled the kids in the family room in front of the TV while Gypsy wiped her face with both hands. She was so exhausted, she didn’t even have the strength to get up. Wyatt returned and crouched in front of her wearing a smile that twisted her heart, one filled with humor and love so deep, she couldn’t fathom a bottom.

“Dinner got a little out of hand, did it?” he asked.

Gypsy laughed, pushing more tears out of her eyes.

“Girl, you’ve got pasta sauce everywhere. If those munchkins were in bed, I’d lick every last drop off you.”

He reached up and pulled a kitchen towel from the counter and started gently cleaning her face and neck.

“How’s my sugar?” he asked, his voice gentle and sweet. “Are you hurt, or just a hot mess?”

Laughter bubbled up again. “I’m a serious mess.”

“A seriously hot mess,” he amended.

Gypsy sighed. “I’m sorry. I was trying to do too much at once, I guess.”

He lowered the towel. “I’ll call for pizza and clean this up after the kids are in bed.” He cupped her jaw and slid his thumb across her cheek. “Then I’ll come find you and make it all better.”

Gypsy’s body sizzled with desire, but her fatigue tried to snuff it out. Wyatt picked her up and carried her into the living room, then pulled off her socks and patiently pulled every last sliver from her foot with tweezers, by which time, the pizza arrived.

Once the kids were fed, they could barely keep their eyes open. Gypsy picked up Cooper and Wyatt picked up Belle, and the four of them started up the stairs. When they were tucked in, Wyatt met Gypsy in the hall between the kids’ rooms and slid his arms around her.