Forbidden Heir (The Heirs 8)

Chapter 22

DANNY

The only sound in the room comes from the TV that’s on a music channel. My gaze jumps from Mom to Dad to Ryker, who are all deep in thought.

We’ve discussed everything there is to discuss. All the tests have been done. Now we wait.

I let out a sigh. It’s going to be a long night, by the looks of things.

The door opens, and when I see Uncle Rhett, a smile instantly tugs at my lips.

He glances at everyone then lifts his eyebrows. “Looks like I came just in time,” he grumbles as he walks to me. He presses a kiss to my forehead then holds out a DVD to me. “For old time’s sake.”

Frozen.

Emotion washes over me. “Aww… Uncle Ledge.” I grin at him. “Let’s do this.”

He puts in the DVD then comes to sit on the bed with me. I snuggle against my godfather’s side, and a soft smile forms on my face as Frozen begins.

I reach for his shirt and begin to rub the fabric between my forefinger and thumb as we watch our movie for the millionth time.

When it nears our favorite scene, I slap Uncle Rhett against his arm as I sit up. “Get ready, Uncle Ledge.”

He straightens up as the song starts, and we begin to sing along. When it gets to the chorus, we’re belting the lyrics at the top of our voices. “Let it go. Let it go. Can’t hold it back anymore!”

By the time the song ends, we’re both breathless as we begin to laugh.

Just then, Christopher and Dash come into the room, followed by Tristan and Hana.

“I thought I heard Frozen,” Christopher chuckles.

After everyone has said hello, Ryker asks, “Why do you call Uncle Rhett Uncle Ledge?”

“Cause I’m a fucking legend,” Uncle Rhett answers.

Letting out a chuckle, I explain, “I couldn’t say legend when I was little, so I abbreviated it to ledge.”

“It was at your princess party for your fourth birthday,” Dad adds, then he begins to chuckle. “Rhett dressed up as a jester, bells and all.”

“I rocked that shit,” Uncle Rhett laughs.

“That will be a hundred dollars,” Aunt Jamie says as she comes into the room with Uncle Julian, her husband.

“Highway robbery,” Uncle Rhett grumbles as he takes cash from his wallet, but there’s a huge smile on his face.

Aunt Jamie swipes the money from his hand, then she looks at me. “Want to walk with me to get some coffee? Your uncle’s treat.”

Uncle Rhett pauses the movie. “We can watch the rest later.” Which means he’s staying for a while. The thought that I’ll have my family with me fills my heart with warmth.

I get up off the bed and slip on my shoes.

Before I leave with Aunt Jamie and Mom, I give Uncle Julian a hug. “Thanks for being here.”

“Of course.” His eyes scan over my face. “Let me know if you need anything. Okay?”

I nod and then go to press a kiss to Ryker’s lips before I leave the room. I hook my arm through Aunt Jamie’s then say, “Thanks for coming. The surgery is at seven, so I can’t have coffee.”

“Shoot.” Aunt Jamie comes to a sudden stop.

Tugging at her arm, I say, “But you can have some. Come on. The walk will do me good.”

I reach for Mom’s hand, and her fingers instantly clamp around mine.

“Remember when it was just the three of us?” I ask

“Yeah.” A nostalgic smile spreads over Aunt Jamie’s face.

“It was hard times, but we had fun,” Mom murmurs. “God, that pink phase you went through. You drove us insane.”

I let out a chuckle, remembering that was around the time Dad found us and our lives changed forever.

RYKER

The instant Danny leaves, it feels like a shroud of death descends over the room. It has me standing up and shaking my head, I say, “We’ve all taken this hard, but we need to get our shit together. For Danny. This is going to be hard enough on her as is. We need to cheer her up and remind her what she’s fighting for.” I lock eyes with Uncle Rhett. “Like watching Frozen with her. We need to come up with things like that.”

“I have a whole collection of DVDs I can watch with her,” Uncle Rhett says.

“Tristan and I can play board games with her,” Christopher mentions.

“I’ll keep her up to date with what’s happening at work,” Uncle Carter mutters.

Everyone begins to brainstorm, and it lifts the mood in the room a little. I pull my phone out and send a text to the group chat telling them the same thing.

Danny comes back with Aunt Jamie and Aunt Della, and they hand out the coffees they got.

When the room grows quiet, I say, “Let’s watch the rest of Frozen, Uncle Rhett.”

He presses play, and I watch as Danny grins at the funny scenes. She lip-syncs along to every song. When the movie comes to an end, Christopher and Dash get up to leave, and not soon after, Tristan and Hana follow.