Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 133688 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133688 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
My eyes widen at the exact words of what I told her not to do.
“No…” I groan, already shaking my head.
“Oh yes, butt ass naked and all,” Gemma confirms. “Clothes and empty beer bottles on the floor. Tyler nearly burst a blood vessel.”
“What’d Archer say?”
“I don’t think anything. Probably wondering why the hell his friend is having him live there, but considering he doesn’t have any other options, I doubt he’s complaining much.”
“I’m just envisioning the first encounter Everleigh has with him and how she’s going to look like a hot ass mess. I hope she’s hungover as hell too.” I chuckle. “I told her to go home,” I whisper.
“Yeah well, that’s her problem to figure out now. She talked all this talk about Archer, and now she’s made a fool of herself—a first impression fool at that.”
“This is going to make for one interesting Thanksgiving dinner.”
* * *
OWEN
I sneak into Mom and Dad’s room after midnight once they’re asleep. The twins are in their bassinets swaddled up like little burritos. Luke wrinkles his nose as Finn makes funny mouth movements. Ever since they came home, Mom alternates between breastfeeding and bottle feeding. I didn’t even know the difference until Everleigh explained it to me, but then Mom got annoyed, and Everleigh promised to tell me more later.
Since it’s Christmas break, I don’t have to worry about getting up early for school and can stay up with the babies. Mom isn’t getting much sleep these days, and Dad’s working on starting his own contractor business. I hope to be like him someday because I like building things and getting dirty too.
It’s weird to think I went from having only a mom to having a dad and three brothers, but I like having a big family. Though I wasn’t sure what to think about it all in the beginning, I love it now. Noah’s such a good man for Mom, and I can’t wait till the summer when they get married. Mom says I get to be in the wedding with them. I’m not sure what that means exactly, but I get to wear a cool black tux.
Finn starts to get restless, and before he wakes up Luke or our parents, I take him out of the bassinet and carry him to the kitchen. He’s the oldest of the twins by three minutes and usually the first to wake up hungry. I bet he’ll be big like an athlete, and hopefully, I can teach him how to play basketball and baseball.
Dad taught me how to feed them, and I’ve watched Mom do it a hundred times now. Once the milk is lukewarm, I bring Finn into the nursery and sit in the rocking chair. He immediately takes it and starts sucking it down.
“Slow down, buddy. You’ll just spit it all up if you eat too fast,” I remind him. “The last time I burped you, half the bottle ended up on my shirt.”
I know he doesn’t understand me, but his sucking slows down, and I smile at him for listening. Luke always acts like he’s starving although he eats every two to three hours. If I ate that much, I’d have a stomachache and throw up too. I have a feeling Luke’s going to be the rebellious one.
“What are you doin’?” Mom walks into the nursery in a haze. “Why are you awake?”
“Finn was hungry…” I shrug, showing her his now empty bottle. “I wanted you to get some sleep.”
“Aw…you sweet, precious boy.” She palms my cheek. “Thank you.”
“I can feed Luke next,” I tell her. “Well, after I burp Finn. He can be stubborn sometimes and take a while.”
Mom chuckles softly. “That’s true. Why don’t I take him, and you can get Luke’s bottle ready?”
“Okay.”
She takes Finn, and when I stand, Mom sits in the rocking chair. I make another bottle just as Luke starts to fuss. It wakes up Dad, but I tell him I’ve got it. He smiles and tells me how much he loves me, then thanks me for helping.
Anthony thought I’d be mad once he told me about the night our real dad died, but I could never be mad at the man who stood up for my mom. Noah’s the best dad I could ever ask for.
Once the twins are fed and changed, Mom and I place them back into their bassinets. They’re wrapped up like burritos again, and it makes me laugh.
“You’re going to be the best father someday,” Mom tells me.
I nod with a smile. “Just like Noah.”