Eight Days a Week (27 page)

“Uh-
huh
! You wuv hew. Yooooou . . .
wuv hew
!”

I laughed so hard I had to spit out my sandwich. “I know! I just told you that, kid.”

His face broke into a smile. “Awe you gonna stay wif us?”

I nodded. “Of course. What did I tell you, Brady? Huh? What did I promise?”

“Fowevew,” he said with a nod, like it was final.

“Exactly.”

We stared at each other, and it reminded me of my first day, when he stared me down like a mute gunslinger. The sun was directly above us, and a breeze rustled through the yellow and orange leaves. The air was becoming crisp, and the sound of the creek was like a quiet lullaby just beyond our toes. Brady’s nose was slightly pink, and his cheeks were ruddy from excitement.

“Awe you gonna be my daddy?”

“I . . .” My mouth went dry and I tried to swallow. “I don’t want to replace your daddy.”

He sighed and put down his sandwich before scooting closer and placing his hand on my knee. We stared out at the water while it trickled over the smooth rocks and sand at the base of the creek.
 

“But I want a daddy,” he whispered. “Pwease, Dee?”

I leaned over and kissed his head. “Anything you want, kiddo,” I murmured against his hair. I’d give all of them what they wanted. What they needed.

Because it was what I wanted and needed, too.

With Brady it was just that simple. I loved Gwen. I would be his daddy.
 

We finished eating, and he proceeded to launch himself off the creek bank and into the trees to chase after beetles. It kept us occupied for a good hour before he realized he could find bugs a lot easier under rocks, along with worms and roly-polies to dangle in my face.

He was pretty tired by the time I got him home, and so was I, but I’d promised Bree I’d take her out for ice cream. So I said a quick hello to Gwen, which included a hefty squeeze of her delicious ass, and then I was back out the door with Bree.
 

At the ice cream shop, Bree took her sweet-ass time deciding on her flavors, and I had to remind her we had her school’s carnival that evening. She stepped on my foot and made a face but gave the cashier her choices. Once she had her cone and I had my basic chocolate on a waffle, we sat outside in the sunshine.
 

“What do you want to talk about?” Bree asked from her seat, taking dainty bites of her ice cream.

I pulled my brows together in question. “Why do you think I want to talk?”

She sighed. “Daddy used to take me places like this when he wanted to talk. You took Brady out alone. Now it’s my turn, right?”

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“Are you leaving us?”

My shoulders slumped. All those kids ever thought was that they were being abandoned.

“It’s the opposite, Bree. I never want to leave.”

She stared at me. “Did you tell her you love her?”

I nodded.

She smiled. “It took you long enough.”

“You’re a brat, you know that? It’s not very easy to tell someone you love them.”

“Why not?” she asked. “I love you. There. Said it.” She shrugged and went back to eating.

“Well, I love you, too. There. Now
I
said it.”

Bree frowned and tucked her hair behind her ear. “So what does this mean? Are you going to marry Gwen?”
 

“If we get married—”

“
When
you get married.”

I gave her a look. “Fine.
When
we get married, you will be our children, and we’ll all be a family. Got it? No one is going anywhere around here. Period.”

She gave me a sly smile. “So you do want to marry her.”

I rolled my eyes. “What’s it to you?” I asked with a raised brow.

She shifted in her seat and placed her chin on her hand. “Then you’ll need help. Just like with wrecking the dates. You are kinda hopeless, Dee.”

“Hopeless? Where did you learn that word?”

Bree shook her head, her eyes wide. “I read. Duh.”
 

I was going to have my hands full once she turned twelve. But she was right. I’d been hopeless from the start, and the only reason any of my plans were working out was because of the kids.

Ainslie was the first to greet us as we arrived at the school grounds for the carnival that evening.

“Welcome,” she said and bowed deeply.

“Dee! Auntie G! Candy! Keegan!” Brady’s head was about to spin off his neck.

Gwen handed him a fistful of tickets and walked him over to Keegan’s parents, setting down ground rules for Brady to follow while he looked right past her toward the cotton candy.
 

She returned looking flustered. “Keegan’s dad promised to have him back right here at eight.” She was chewing her nails and scanning the fairgrounds.

Ainslie smiled and patted her on the back. “I’m manning the ins and outs. I won’t let him escape.”

That seemed to placate Gwen for the moment, so I turned to ask Bree where she wanted to go.

“I want to stay here with Miss Tate. Please?”

Ainslie nodded, and I took hold of Gwen’s hand. A smile spread across Bree’s face as she noticed the gesture. Gwen looked down at our intertwined fingers and then up at my face, her eyes full of emotion. I kissed her forehead, and we wandered through the crowds, watching kids playing together and squealing on the rides.

Rounding the corner to the game section, I pulled on her hand and stopped her in front of a game where a stacked pyramid of cans needed to be knocked over with a baseball.
 

“One?” asked the guy behind the counter.

I handed him a ticket, and he gave me two balls.

“Careful with those balls,” Gwen said.

I blinked. “Are you done?”

She wiped her face and stood up straight.

“Please respect the player,” I said as I brought my arm back to pitch. She dissolved into giggles, and it fueled my desire to prove just how good I was. The cans exploded off the table on impact, and Gwen went silent. She shook her head in disbelief.

“What do I get if I knock a second set down?” I asked the stunned carnival worker. He tore his eyes away from the destruction of his pre-glued cans and looked above his head at a giant panda. He pointed to it with a shaky hand.

“Cool.” I threw the second ball, and it landed with a crack against the aluminum.

He handed over the giant-ass panda begrudgingly, and I secured it under my arm, full swagger intact while we walked across the grounds.

“I think Bree will like this.”
 

“Dee!” Brady shouted, and I turned to see him, running alongside none other than Debra, with her husband, Kevin, rolling along in a wheelchair next to her.

Brady was yanking on Debra’s hand, pulling her over to us. Keegan’s father followed, nodding toward me when Brady reached us.

“Come here, Brady.” Gwen took his hand from Debra’s grasp. She gave Kevin a warm hello and then turned to her mother. “What are you doing here?”

Debra glanced at me. “Kevin is speaking on behalf of his Shriner division. They help fund this event.”

Gwen nodded. “Okay, then. Kevin, do you need help onto the stage?” She took the handles of his wheelchair in her palms, then stopped and turned him back to face us. “I apologize. Kevin, this is my
boyfriend
, Andrew Lyons.”

I stepped over to shake his hand, and he gave me a knowing smile. “My wife’s bark is worse than her bite,” he said through gritted teeth.

Noted.

Brady followed the two of them up onto the stage so he could stare out at the gathering crowd and perform his booty dance. Keegan joined him, and they did a full rendition of “Baby Got Back” that garnered an even larger audience.

Debra puckered her lips and crossed her arms, displeased. Like he was acting that way because of my influence or something.

“Look,” I said to her. “You don’t have to like me. But you have to stop being so cold to your daughter because we’re together. I don’t mean to sound rude, but the kids don’t even like staying with you anymore because you’re taking it out on them. I’m not going anywhere, so you’re going to have to accept it. I know I’m not who you expected her to end up with. But she is smart. She’s successful. And she’s selfless. I’m not here to screw up her life. I’m not the poor deadbeat you think I am.”

Her head snapped up, and she narrowed her eyes.

I shrugged. “It’s true. I came into some money. And I’m giving it all to the kids.” My filter was off and I was in too deep to stop now. “Plus, I love Gwen, just so you know. And I love the kids. They’re my family.”

She stepped back, her eyes wide.

Without another word, I walked over to join everyone. Bree’s eyes lit up when she saw her panda, and she gave me a soft kiss on the cheek as payment.

“Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome.”

She smiled wide and hugged the bear close. “I love you, Dee.”

“Love you, too, princess.” I didn’t know where the new term of affection came from, but it earned me her hand in mine.

Chapter 30

Baby, You’re a Rich Man

My father was staring at me with the strangest expression on his face.

“Son, I need you to repeat that, please.”

I took a deep breath. “I asked if you would give your blessing, Dad.” My eyes shifted over to my mom and sister, sitting on the couch with their mouths open. “Am I supposed to ask all of you . . . or . . . am I doing this wrong?”

“I have no idea what to say,” Cece said.

“That’s a first,” I said, hoping to lighten the mood.

She pressed her knuckles against her chin. “Please tell me this is real and you’re not trying to give me some sort of quarter-life coronary.”

“This is a huge decision. Are you sure?” My mom sounded both elated and like she was about to cry.

“I know, Mom. And you can imagine how hard this is for me, since the biggest decision I’ve made before this point was to leave home and live in another country.” I glanced back over at Geoffrey. “I can do it on my own, but—”

“No.” His voice was firm. “Your money is yours to do with whatever you want. And you have the right to use it in any capacity. Change your mind a thousand times and it’s still yours. I just had no idea it would be for this.” He sat down in his office chair and pulled out a stack of paperwork. “It will take some time, you know. But it shouldn’t be a problem.” He smiled. “I’m astounded by the change in you, Andrew. I never in a thousand years saw this coming. I . . . I’m proud of you.”

It was exactly what I wanted to hear, and I couldn’t exactly process it. I rubbed the back of my neck and looked down at my feet. “Thank you. I didn’t see this coming either. Trust me.”

Cece made a tentative move in my direction, and I shrank back against my chair. She stilled and blinked, speechless. We just stared at each other before her face broke out into the biggest smile.

“Oh. My. God. You meant it!”
 

Before I could brace myself, she jumped into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck to hug me so hard I couldn’t breathe.

How had I not noticed my sister’s arms were like pythons of death? That yoga was paying off.
 

“Okay, okay,” I gasped and patted her awkwardly on the back.
 

And then both my parents flanked our sides and wrapped their arms around us—a huge Lyons family sandwich. My mom pressed her face to my temple, and my dad rested his chin on my head, while Cece was nuzzled up against my neck. And even though I couldn’t breathe, I didn’t need to.

I’d finally made amends. I’d finally made them proud.

When the ruckus died down, I walked out to the Family Wagon—as it would be named from that day on—and sat down in the driver’s seat. What I had just done would change my life forever, and I needed to remember why I was rushing. I reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the little drawing Brady had given me earlier in the week. My eyes roamed over every inch of the paper and the crayon picture that stared back at me.