“You’re so full of shit,” I laughed, giddy at my unexpected company.
“Uncle Bram! Uncle Trev!” Gavin yelled, hopping from his spot on the floor.
“Hey, little man,” Bram said softly, pulling Gavin into his arms.
I looked around the crowded entryway, so excited I didn’t know what to do with myself. My favorite people in the entire world were all in one place. If Alex had come with them, it would have been completely perfect.
“Alex wanted to come, but he didn’t have any leave.” Henry read my mind, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Now, do you have beer in this house, or is it all apple juice and breast milk?”
I punched him lightly in the chest and dragged him toward the kitchen.
I couldn’t wait for Keller and Sage to get off the bus that afternoon.
“What time does Shane get home?” Trevor asked as the entire group migrated to the kitchen table.
I ignored Bram’s scowl as I passed out the last of the beer in our fridge. I wasn’t even sure how long the stuff had been in there. Shane and I rarely drank. “He usually gets home between four thirty and five,” I answered. “Was he in on this?”
“Hell no,” Bram grumbled, setting Gavin on his feet as he picked a spot at the table.
“Oh, man. He’s going to be stoked,” I exclaimed, clapping my hands together.
“Doubtful.”
“Can it, Bram,” I scolded, but there was little heat in my voice. I couldn’t believe they were all there, sitting in my kitchen and bantering back and forth. I freaking loved it.
“So what’s the plan for your birthday?” Henry asked, kicking back in his seat. “Any good bars around here?”
“I have no idea.” I chuckled. “I don’t get out much, and I lived in Carlsbad before.”
“Well, we’ll find one. Karaoke bar?” Anita asked, grinning.
“Not happening.” Trevor scowled.
“Bawk!”
“Real mature, Ani.”
We sat around the table for the next two hours as Gunner woke up and the boys ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. We rarely had anyone but the Camden family or Miles over for dinner. I wasn’t sure the kitchen had ever held so many people at one time.
Sage and Keller were equally excited when they clamored off the bus to see their aunties and uncles waiting for them on the front porch. I sighed in happiness as Keller wrestled around with Trevor and Bram in the front yard, his giggles echoing throughout the neighborhood.
We’d needed this, and I hadn’t realized how badly until I saw how happy the kids were.
Anita and Henry brought Sage with them to the store for supplies that afternoon. By the time Shane got home that night, I had a huge pot of spaghetti simmering on the stove and my face hurt from smiling.
“What the hell?” Shane asked, laughing as he came in the front door. His eyes immediately found mine across the room. “We’ve been overrun.”
“Hey, man!” Henry called, climbing off the couch. “Long time no see.”
“How the hell did you get here?” Shane asked in amazement as they wrapped their arms around each other and did the weird back-patting thing guys did.
“Had some time, decided to take it and come visit my favorite cousin,” Henry answered with a smile. “Trying to get stationed out here. We’ll see how it goes.”
“Kate would fucking love that,” Shane said with a nod.
The noise in the room grew with everyone talking over each other, and I relaxed into my brother’s side on the couch. I was so incredibly happy I could have screamed with it.
* * *
“You’re staying here?” I asked everyone, looking around to where they were lying on the floor and couches.
“I told them it was a bad idea,” Anita called out from where she was resting her head on Trevor’s belly. They looked like a giant T covering half the living room floor. “No one listens to me.”
“We don’t have that many beds,” I said softly, looking over to where Henry and Shane were talking shop across the room.
“Couch!” Bram and Trevor yelled at the same time, locking in their places to sleep for the night.
“Nice, guys,” Anita grumbled. “Real fucking gentlemen.”
“I can sleep anywhere,” Henry piped up with a chuckle. “The floor’s going to feel like a fucking feather bed.”
“Ani can sleep in my room,” Shane said, tipping his beer bottle toward her.
“The fuck?” Bram growled, looking between Shane and me.
“I’m not gonna sleep in there with her, asshole,” Shane scoffed, a snarky smile crossing his face. “We don’t use that room anyway.”
Ani’s eyebrows lifted up and down when I glanced at her, and I shook my head in annoyance. My excitement over their visit was slowly losing steam.
The kids still had school in the morning, and after staying up well past their bedtime that night, they were going to be complete terrors in the morning. How the hell was I going to get them ready to go when I had people sleeping on every available surface in the house?