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Navy
I MANAGED TO get a few hours of work in before Hatch arrived with Devon. Cade had not felt comfortable leaving me, so Hatch had offered to pick Devon up and bring him over.
“What does Devon like to eat?” I asked, pulling open my fridge.
“Anything and everything,” Cade said.
“Roast chicken?”
“You seriously gonna cook, cook?”
I closed the fridge and faced him. “What’s the difference between cooking and cooking, cooking?”
“Microwave or grill versus oven.”
I cocked my head. “And where does a crock pot fit in?”
“Shit, baby, if you’re pulling out a crock pot, then you’re coooooooking.”
I let out a quiet snort. “You are both exceedingly easy to please.”
He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close. “We can just order a pizza. You don’t have to do anything.”
“We will not be ordering a pizza, Lumpy. I have a chicken that needs to be cooked, and all the fixin’s, so I will be roasting a chicken and Devon can decide if he wants cake or cupcakes for dessert.”
“You feed him, and he’ll never leave.”
“That’s the plan.” I smiled. “Do you have a problem with me inviting Dot?”
“Not at all. I can walk her over if you like.”
“That’d be great.” I kissed him quickly. “I’ll text her.”
Once the plans had been set, I went about prepping our dinner.
Hatch and Devon arrived just after four and Hatch immediately went about charming his way into a dinner invitation.
“There’s not enough,” Cade said.
I chuckled. “I have two chicken breasts in the freezer I can throw in the oven right now.”
“No you don’t,” Cade countered.
“Yes, I do, and you can peel a couple more potatoes.”
“If he wants potatoes, he can peel his own.”
“I can peel the fuck outta potatoes,” Hatch said. “Where do you want me?”
Cade scowled and I patted his chest. “Don’t worry, big man, you won’t go hungry.”
“You don’t know my brother,” Cade grumbled.
“What about the cupcakes?” Devon asked. “Hatch loves cupcakes almost as much as I do.”
“We’ll double the batch,” I said.
“Sweet,” Devon hissed.
I made my way to Hatch. “I’ll have you peel a few extra since Cade’s worried you’re going to eat me out of house and home, and his as well, apparently.”
Hatch laughed, heading to the sink to wash his hands while I gathered the potatoes and peeler.
I pivoted and headed back to Cade, wrapping my arms around him. “Love you, Lumpy.”
He grinned, kissing my temple. “Love you, too, baby. Put my kid to work, yeah? He needs to learn manners.”
“Aw, Dad, why’d you have to go and ruin the lifestyle I’ve become accustomed to in my head?”
I chuckled, pulling away from Cade and showing Devon how to set the table.
“We’re doing fancy plates?” Devon asked.
“Is that okay?”
“I’ve just never been anywhere special where they’ve pulled out the fancy plates,” he said, setting a plate on a placemat. “I mean, that wasn’t at a restaurant.”
“I think having a nicely set table makes every meal feel special, even if it’s just your family.”
He looked me dead in the eye. “Are we your family, Navy?”
“If you’d like to be. I don’t want to take the place of your mom, but I love your dad with all of my heart, and I consider him my family, so by extension, you too, but only if you’d like that.”
He grinned, then dropped his head. “Hell, yeah.”
My heart soared as we finished up the table setting and then it was time for Cade to collect Dot. I called her to make sure she was ready, then he made his way next door.
* * *
“You’ve accumulated several sexy men, sweet pea,” Dot said as she sipped her wine.
I blushed. “That fact is not lost on me, madam.”
She speared Hatch with a stare. “What’s a girl gotta do to get invited to one of your biker orgies?”
I let out a gasp, wine going straight down my windpipe and breaking out into uncontrollable coughing. “Dorothy!”
“What? Is there like an age limit?” she asked. “Look, I may be getting up there, but with my age, comes a lot of experience.”
“I bet it does,” Hatch murmured.
“Oh, honey, you don’t know the half of it. There was a time I would have bent you over backwards in bed, handsome, but I’m afraid I might break a hip pulling a move like that these days.” She sighed. “Never mind. I’ll just leave the sexual debauchery to you young people.”
I leaned over and covered Devon’s ears with my hands. “Dorothy Gertrude Levy, there is a child here!”
Hatch and Cade both bust out laughing.
“Don’t worry, baby,” Cade said. “He’s heard worse.”
“That doesn’t make it okay,” I admonished.
Devon grinned. “This was way more fun than hanging with Cullen and Cameron all weekend.”
I rolled my eyes. “Behave or there’ll be no dessert.”
“What’d I do?” Devon asked.
“Not you, sweetie.” I jabbed a fork at Dorothy. “Her.”
“Oh, I’ll get my dessert.” She waggled her eyebrows at Hatch. “One way or another.”
“I give up.” I threw my hands in the air. “We’re going to hell. You all need therapy. Or Jesus. Or something.”
* * *
Dinner wrapped up and Devon had been ensconced in the spare room with a video game (Hatch had brought his console) and Dot insisted Hatch walk her home on account of the fact Cade was ‘taken.’
“I’m taken too, sweetheart,” Hatch pointed out.
“Is she here?” Dot challenged.
“Dorothy?” I said on a groan. “I’m going to need to leash you.”
“I’ll let him do that.”
Hatch laughed. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
Dot and Hatch left, and I faced Cade. “I’ve never seen her like that.”
“Don’t bring her to the club, then.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Because you’ll see her and a hundred other women like that.”
“He’s good looking, don’t get me wrong, but you’re...” I licked my lips, sliding a hand around his waist. “...all that and a bag of chips.”
Cade leaned down to kiss me. “Just a bag?”
“A big bag.”
He chuckled. “Glad to hear it.”
“Are you sleeping on the sofa or bunking with Devon tonight?”
“What the fuck?”
I frowned. “What do you mean, what the fuck?”
“I’m sleeping with you, Navy.”
I gasped. “Not with Dev—”
“Devon already knows we sleep together, Navy. He’s not gonna freak out if we sleep in the same bed.”
“Wait, what? He does?”
“You slept in my bed the other night,” he reminded me.
“Right.” I sighed. “Shit, I forgot about that.”
“Why are you freaking out?”
“I’m not his mom,” I whispered. “It seems wrong somehow.”
Cade chuckled. “Baby, you did more for him tonight than his mother ever did. He’s good.”
“No shenanigans.”
“Fuck that.”
“Lumpy, the guest room is right next door to mine.”
“Quiet shenanigans,” he countered, but I shook my head. “Navy—”
“I can’t have sex with you with your teenage son right next door, Cade. It’s just wrong.”
He slid his hand to my bum. “Gonna get with Cullen and Cam and put your basement on our schedule.”
“Eh?”
“We’re gonna reno that basement. Start thinkin’ about what you want done. We’re almost done with this job, so we can start on it in less than two weeks.”
“You’re going to renovate my basement?”
“Yeah.”
“Wait, Lumpy.” I leaned back to meet his eyes. “I don’t have the budget for that yet. I won’t for another year.”
“You let me worry about that.”
“I don’t have the budget and I’m sure as hell not letting you do it for free.”
“You gonna marry me?”
I gasped. “Cade, we just reconnected.”
“So? You gonna marry me?”
“You haven’t asked.”
He suddenly pulled away, slipping his hand into his pocket before getting down on one knee and holding up a ring box. “Navy Simmonds Henderson, love of my life, will you marry me?”
I gasped. “Lumpy. What about Devon?”
“Already asked him and he’s all for it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, baby. I don’t make big decisions without him.”
“Then...” I burst into tears. “Yes.”
He rose to his feet and pulled me against him, kissing me gently before sliding the ring on my finger. “If you don’t like it, the guy said we can come in and you can pick something else.”
“I love it, Lumpy. It’s exquisite. But it’s really big.”
He chuckled. “That’s what she said.”
I let out a quiet snort. “It’s gotta be at least two carats.”
“Two point two oval with a pavé halo,” he confirmed. “Another one carat total down the sides of the band.”
“Holy hell, honey, it’s like you know me or something. And it fits perfectly.” I stroked his face. “I love it and I love you. And I’d love you even if the diamond was tiny.”
He smiled. “I know, but the second I saw it, I knew it was you. Connor agreed.”
“Hatch was with you?”
“Yeah.”
“When did you buy this?”
“I plead the fifth.”
I looped my arms around his neck. “Why?”
He sighed. “I bought the ring three days after I saw you at the deli.”
“What?” I breathed out.
He gave me a gentle squeeze. “I knew, baby, just knew I wasn’t gonna let you go this time. And once I was sure you felt the same, I measured one of the rings you wore all the time to get the right size, so I’d be ready.”
Tears slid down my cheeks as I buried my face in his chest. “I love you, Lumpy.”
“Love you too, baby.”
“Why’s Navy crying?” Devon demanded as he walked into the room.
“Just asked her to marry me, bud.”
“So are those good tears or bad tears?”
I held up my hand and smiled. “They’re good tears, sweetie, but only if you’re okay with it.”
“Will you bake me cupcakes on the regular?” he asked.
“Kid,” Cade warned.
Devon shrugged. “What? I’m just askin’.”
I laughed. “Yes, honey, I will bake you whatever you like, especially on your birthday. I can’t promise it’ll be all the time, because, you know, your dad and I have gross jobs and stuff, but on the weekends, definitely.”
“But it wouldn’t matter if you fed him gruel, he’d be happy,” Cade pressed.
“What the hell’s gruel?”
“Something no one here would ever subject you to,” I promised. “It would be cruel and unusual punishment.”
“Oh, like mom’s mac and cheese?”
Cade shuddered. “Worse.”
Devon made puke noises in the back of his throat, and I bit back a laugh. “Okay, so no mac and cheese.”
“If you make mac and cheese, it’ll be great,” Cade said. “Diana made hers with brown sugar as she did with her spaghetti sauce.”
“And sprinkled on her salads,” Devon added.
I grimaced. “What kind of maniac sprinkles brown sugar on a salad?”
“My mother,” Devon supplied.
“Right,” I said. “Well, I won’t badmouth your mother in my home, but I promise there will be no brown sugar in my mac and cheese, spaghetti sauce or salads when I cook.”
“When can we move in?” Devon asked.
“Slow your roll there, kid. There’s a lot between engagement and moving in. We gotta give Navy time to get to know us as a unit. We’ve got a lot of adult decisions to make first and we’re not gonna rush this, got it?”
He nodded.
“I promise we’ll keep you in the loop, okay?” I said. “I don’t want you to ever feel like you’re left out. And if you feel like you are, please tell us.”
“Okay, I will. I’m really glad you said yes, Navy.”
I grinned. “Me too, buddy.”
“Can I have a snack, please?”
I laughed. “You bet. You want some nachos?”
“Um, yes! I was just gonna ask for some chips, but nachos is way better.”
Cade rolled his eyes. “He’s gonna get spoiled.”
I patted Cade’s chest. “That’s what I’m here for.”
I headed to the fridge to pull out the cheese just as Hatch returned.
“That took a while,” Cade said.
“That lady can talk,” Hatch said with a chuckle.
“Dad can you help me with this game real quick.”
“Sure.”
Cade and Devon headed out of the kitchen, and I faced Hach with a grimace. “I’m so sorry about Dot. Next time, I’ll walk her home.”
“It’s all good, sweetheart. She’s a hoot. I’m taking her out to dinner next week.”
“Shut up, really?”
He nodded. “We gotta take care of our old people. They’re important.”
I bit back tears. “Aw, that is so sweet.”
He nodded to my hand. “I see you said yes.”
“Oh,” I squeaked. “Yes. I did.”
Hatch grinned, pulling me in for a hug. “Congratulations, sweetheart. You both deserve your happy.”
“Thanks, Hatch. I appreciate it,” I said, pulling away and wiping my fresh tears with my sleeve. “I’m making nachos for Devon, do you want some?”
“Hell, yeah, that’d be great.”
“You got it.”
Cade walked back in, and Hatch congratulated him then went to find Devon while Cade made his way to me. “You cryin’ again?”
“Did you know that your brother is taking Dottie out to dinner next week?”
“Really?”
I nodded. “I am just humbled by how incredibly lucky I am to have been invited into this amazing family, Lumpy. Thank you. I won’t ever take any of you for granted.”
He wrapped an arm around me and smiled. “I’m the lucky one, beautiful. Don’t ever doubt that.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.” He gave me a squeeze. “You want some help?”
“I’d love some help.”
He stepped over to the sink and washed his hands, then we went about making a metric ton of nachos for my new family.
