AIDEN sat on the park bench watching all the kids play, Dylan on his chest, Bee sleeping in her stroller. Dev was pushing Linds on the swings while Logan and Sarah teeter-tottered with Zack’s twins.
Dev looked in his direction and gave him a wide grin.
He waved, then kissed the top of Dylan’s head. “Your daddy’s having fun, sweet boy.”
Dylan gurgled at him.
Dev continued to romp with Aiden’s daughter, goofing around and having the best time. He was getting in over his head with Dev and needed to make sure that they were both at the same place, both at the same level of interest. God, he hoped they were both at the same place.
Even just sleeping with the man was something special. He liked waking up warm and held close. He loved having a partner to help, to talk to, to work beside.
The kisses were a damn good perk too.
Dev left Linds with Sarah and came over to sit with him. “How’s the not-crawling-yet set?”
“Happy and out of the sun. Dylan is wide-awake and watching.”
“Daddy D! Daddy D! Come back and push me!”
Dev’s eyebrow climbed into his hairline. “Did she just call me Daddy?”
“That’s what it sounded like.” See him. See him be totally cool.
“Wow.” He couldn’t tell if that was a good wow or a bad one.
“Daddy D!”
“I guess I better go push her.”
“I guess you’d better.”
“Yeah.” Dev leaned a little, like he was going to kiss Aiden, but then he jumped up and headed back toward the swings. “Coming, Linds!”
“Your daddy is a bit of a dork, you know?”
Dylan kicked and cooed at him. Such a sweet boy.
“I know. I love him too.”
Whoa.
Whoa.
He looked around, but nobody was there to hear but the two babies who weren’t old enough to yet to talk.
His gaze went back to Dev.
Yeah. He did. He sort of loved Dev. He hadn’t expected this. Not at all. Didn’t mean he wasn’t going to enjoy it. He’d thought Hank had been it. His one big love.
What he felt for Dev was… deeper.
That rocked him to the core.
He buried his face in Dylan’s soft curls, sucking in overwhelmed breaths. Glancing up, he watched Dev with his daughter, her face full of delight as she called for him to push her higher and higher.
Dev was laughing, so happy, so focused on Linds. Yeah. He loved the gorgeous bastard.
Dylan kicked and gurgled like he was agreeing.
“Thank you for your approval, kiddo.”
Dev and Linds moved to the teeter-totters, Dev helping Linds on one end and then going to the other and straddling the seat. Grabbing the handle, he pushed the teeter-totter up and down. It was sexy—a man who was good with his kids, who wasn’t afraid to get down and get dirty.
God, he had it bad.
“Daddy D! Whee!” Linds was having a blast.
Dev let the seesaw hit the ground a little harder, making Linds shriek with laughter.
Logan came over to grab juice boxes for Sarah and the twins. “How’s it going?”
“Good. The babies are doing great.”
“Dev’s got Linds well entertained. She’s going to sleep like a log tonight.”
“She is.”
“She’s calling him ‘daddy.’”
“She is.”
“You okay with that?” Logan asked, that left eyebrow of his going up.
“I think I am, buddy.”
“No shit?” Logan’s smile was genuine. “Good for you. Good for you all.”
“Yeah?” He really trusted Logan’s instincts. The man knew how to read people.
“Yeah. He’s a good guy. He loves that little boy you’re holding with everything he has, even though it hasn’t been easy. That bodes well.”
“He loves Linds and Bee too.”
Logan looked out to where Dev was still playing with Linds and nodded. “Yeah, I can see that.”
“I think he loves me too. God knows I love him.”
“Yeah, I guessed that. I can read your face pretty well.”
He blushed and leaned over to check on Bee.
Logan chuckled. “Okay. I better take the juices over to the troops. We’ve got maybe twenty more minutes before they’ve had enough I’d guess.”
“Good deal. We heading over to the Bean for lunch?”
“I think the girls would revolt if we didn’t. You want me to send Dev over to spell you so you can play with Linds?”
“Yeah, I totally do.” He wanted a little of that joy and to hear her talking to him.
“You got it.” Logan headed over, giving the girls their juices first, then talking to Dev.
Dev came jogging over immediately. “Sorry, sorry. You should have said something!”
“What? I just thought we could switch out, love.”
Dylan was cooing and struggling, eager for his dad.
“Of course we can! And you totally should have said something to me and I’d have traded sooner.” Dev picked Dylan up. “Hey, squirt. You’ve been a good boy, haven’t you?”
“He’s been an angel. Bee’s still snoozing. We’re going to head over for lunch in fifteen minutes.”
“Do they do grilled cheeses at the café?” Dev asked. “I’m having a craving for grilled cheese and tomato soup.”
“I know they have tomato soup daily. I bet they’ll make you one. If not, I’ll make you one tonight.”
“Thank you.” Dev gave him a warm smile, looking schmaltzy as hell.
“Daddy!”
“Coming, Linds.” He winked. “Her Majesty calls.”
Dev laughed for him, face all lit up. “She does. She’s a harsh taskmaster.”
“She’s going to be prime minister one day.”
“I can totally see that.” Dev turned his attention to his boy. “And will you be her aide? Would you do that? Or are you going to be an artist? A magician? A mathematician?”
“Astronaut,” Aiden suggested, sounding sure.
“Daddy!” Linds called.
“Coming!” He jogged over, grabbed her, and swung her around, Dev’s happy laughter following him the entire way.
He played with Linds until he heard Bee starting to complain, but when he looked over, Dev seemed to have it in hand, putting Dylan in the stroller and picking Bee up, popping a bottle in her mouth.
Linds tugged at his hand. “More seesaw, Daddy!”
“One more time and then lunch!”
“No, Daddy, I don’t wanna go.”
“You don’t want to see Uncle Zack and play Legos?”
She frowned mightily, clearly torn. And just as obviously verging on exhausted. Someone needed a nap and there was a fifty-fifty chance she was going to have a meltdown.
“I bet there’s chocolate milk,” he wheedled.
“I like chocy milk,” she conceded. “Two more times, then go?”
“Sounds fair to me.” He kissed her cheek. “Love you, Lindsay-Lou.”
She threw her little arms around his. “Love you, Daddy! Now play!”
“Playing!” He laughed and went to play with his little girl.