Joke's on You (SWAT Generation 2.0 6)

I was even more happy to find out that Delanie had gotten home early and offered to open the shop for me, and I didn’t have to deal with her dogs.

Not that I disliked the duty or anything, but that was just two extra hours I got back of my sleep, and I was thankful for it.

Not that today was one of those days that I was going to get caught up on my sleep.

Because the moment that my sister sent the text that she’d dealt with the dogs, Booth’s doorbell had rung.

And since Booth was once again in the shower, I answered it before Asa could.

“No,” I called out when he went running—streaking—in his underwear toward the door. “I’ll get it.”

“Nobody bad comes here,” Asa declared as he reached for the door handle.

“Asa Pena,” I called out a bit more roughly than I’d intended. Stupid no sleep. “Don’t you dare open that door, young man.”

Asa pouted at me. “Go get some clothes on, please. You know better than to run around naked.”

“Daddy lets me run around naked,” Asa pouted.

I didn’t fall for the pout.

I wanted to, though.

“I know,” I said. “But, if someone is here, that means that you need to put clothes on. And I know that your daddy makes you put clothes on when you have guests.”

Asa knew I was right, too. Because he didn’t argue as he streaked off toward his room in search of some clothes.

When I got to Booth’s door, I cautiously opened it to find his… entire fucking family standing on the doorstep.

I blinked, startled to see them all there.

Well, ‘them all’ being relative.

His mom, dad, and middle sister Belle were there. Bourne was jogging up the driveway with my competition’s donuts, and they were all staring at me with amusement.

“Ummm,” I said as I stood there in my borrowed Booth clothes, blinking owlishly at them all. “Hello.”

Georgia, his mother, grinned. “Sorry, dear. We didn’t know you would be here. Or we wouldn’t have brought donuts.”

I just shook my head. “It’s fine. I like their donuts, too.”

Georgia giggled. “We thought we’d check on Asa and Booth, then head over to Bourne’s place and eat. Since we weren’t sure of the state of Booth’s place.”

“Papa!” Asa came out, his shirt half on, half off of his body.

His head was practically still covered by the shirt, and the only thing he could see out of was one eye.

But he made it to his grandfather and threw himself at him.

Nico picked him up, helped him with his shirt, and then wrapped his arms tightly around him.

“Asa, you feeling better?” Nico’s dark, forbidding voice asked.

When Nico spoke, I always got the feeling that I should listen.

He didn’t talk much, but when he did, it was always something that I tried to listen to.

Or, more like compelled to listen.

I didn’t know what it was about the man that made me feel so… in trouble. But yeah, the man likely had a really good ‘dad voice’ as I liked to call it.

I bet if he would’ve told Asa to put some clothes on, there wouldn’t have been any argument at all.

“I’m feeling much better. Can I have one of those donuts?” He looked to me instead of his grandparents or aunts.

“I…” I hesitated. “I don’t really know, bud. I mean, you threw up about two hours ago, and though you feel better, I’m not really sure that a bunch of sugar is really going to help settle your tummy.”

“I agree.” Booth came out much the same way his kid had, only he didn’t have trouble getting his head through the hole of his t-shirt. “You should probably stick to the bread off of the kolache for now. And if you’re able to hold that down, then we’ll discuss a donut later.”

All eyes turned to him, then back to me, and then back to Booth.

It would’ve been quite comical if they weren’t silently judging me.

I could practically feel their curiosity.

And Belle, though I didn’t have much dealings with but still knew her enough to know that she was blunt like her father, stared at me.

“Are you and my brother dating now?” she asked.

Belle had Asperger’s.

She didn’t like new places. She didn’t like new people. And she didn’t like women.

So it was honestly a surprise that she was even talking to me.

“Umm,” I hesitated. “Yes?”

I didn’t see any point in denying it or trying to hide it.

That wasn’t going to be easy with our family.

Most importantly, he had a kid that my sister was the mother of. Even if I wanted to keep it from her, I wouldn’t. And I didn’t want to lie to Asa.

“They are!” Asa cried out. “Did you know that she slept in Daddy’s bed last night? When I went in there to tell them that I threw up all over the bed, she was in Daddy’s arms. Hey, can I have a donut, please? I really am feeling better.”