At that moment, with our faces this close to each other, I could see the handful of dark brown spots in her eyes more closely and the spattering of freckles across her nose. Tana was as adorable as she was beautiful, both qualities creating the perfect storm for me.
Moving slowly so I didn’t spook her, I tilted my head slightly and moved in to kiss her.
“Dada!”
The shriek had us jerking away from each other to look over at my son, who was now on his stomach and moving like a worm to get to us.
As I got up to get him, I gave her a look that promised we’d finish what we’d just started later. There was no way it wasn’t going to happen, and if the look she gave me back was anything to go on, Tana was on the same page as me.
Fucking finally.
Coming home at night to find Tana working on her book was now part of my daily routine. As I let myself into the house, expecting to find her curled up on the couch with Tobe playing on the floor or watching a cartoon next to her, I felt the excitement stirring in my belly.
Routine didn’t always mean something became boring, especially when you’d never had a harmonious routine like I had with Tana. In fact, it became even more exciting and fueled me to come home earlier each night.
Tonight, something was different. I could hear her talking to someone and Toby giggling as I made my way to the doorway leading into the living room.
“Shut up and take it like the little bitch you are,” a deep voice I recognized as Croix’s growled, followed by Tana snorting at whatever was going on.
“I didn’t know it meant that much to you,” a blatantly pubescent voice, judging by the squeaky crack halfway through the sentence, replied.
“You know,” Tana drawled, “Hart’s ass that close to your face is just asking for some sort of weapon of mass destruction. How do you not know that, Croix?”
There was a pause, and then the weirdest sounding fart I’d ever heard filled the room. Poking my head around the corner, I watched as my son fell into Tana’s chest from laughing as hard as he was, his eyes trained on her laptop screen.
Squinting, I made out the disgusted expression on Croix’s face as he gagged and leaned his head away from the ass balanced on his shoulder from where he had—who I assumed was—Hart bent over it. Dropping him on his feet, he swatted at the air around him.
“That’s fuuucaka-ing disgusting!” he clipped, wiping his face with his t-shirt. “Why the hell would you do that in my face?”
Hart winked at the camera smugly. “Blame our sister. She gave me the idea.”
Tana laughed into Tobe’s neck, the snorts making him chuckle even harder. “I didn’t, I warned him because I know you that well.”
Hart’s eyes moved to where Toby was giggling. “Well, at least my man Tobias appreciates me, don’t you, Bub? I’m his favorite uncle, you know, Croix.”
“Only ‘coz you shit your pants like he does,” he clipped back, glaring at their little brother now. “Once he’s old enough to know good taste and manners are qualities to aspire to have, he’ll be all over me.”
“Good taste and manners?” Tana and Hart spluttered at the same time, looking at each other incredulously before yelling, “Jinx!”
Watching them had me pulling out my phone and firing a text off to my brother, Rett, and my sister, Odette. They were both in the military, Rett in the Marines with Croix, and Odette in the Navy, but they’d get them and reply at some point.
“Yo, Remy, tell them what a good influence I am on your kid,” Croix called, obviously seeing me standing in the background. “Way better than a thirteen-year-old who still craps his pants, right?”
“Would you stop saying that!” Hart shoved him as hard as he could. “It’s a lie.”
Croix dodged the next hit. “I saw the state of your underwear, man. Those train tracks didn’t lay themselves.”
It was fascinating to watch someone else’s siblings fight and argue. It was hard to take a seat on the sidelines when it was my own because they always dragged me into it somehow. I was also mightily impressed with Hart’s strength and the tactics he used on his older brother.
Sitting on the arm of the couch next to where Tana was, I leaned down and kissed the top of Tobe’s head as he watched them with a fist in his mouth, his legs excitedly pumping like he wanted to be in the thick of the battle. As I straightened, I brushed my lips across Tana’s cheek, too, enjoying the way her breath caught as I did it.
“Hey, he’s touching our sister, Croix,” Hart squeaked, his voice half deep, half Mickey Mouse.