“LINDS, get your boots and coat on! We have to go! Dev, will you help her?” Aiden caught the babies as they both tried to crawl off. “Oh no you don’t.”
“Come here, bug. We need to get ready if we’re going to go play with Sarah and the twins.” Dev had the huge diaper bag on his shoulder. “You know, you never told me that everything was twice as hard as soon as they started crawling.”
“Linds was walking when I got her. I had no idea.” He got the hooligans in their stroller. “Come on, sweetie. It’s Uncle Zack’s birthday, and I want to see him.”
“Oh, the gifts!” Dev darted back inside, coming back with another bag. He shoved the diaper bag into the bottom of the stroller, choosing to carry the present. “I’m not convinced he’s going to appreciate the tablet, but he could sure use it.”
“Yeah. He has to join the internet generation.” Zack’s girls were going to have to be able to play if they wanted to succeed.
“You said it. Is it me or has it gotten awfully nippy?” Dev did his zipper up on his coat and grabbed his gloves out of his pockets. “You warm enough, bug?”
“It’s cold, love. Seriously. You want to walk or take the van?” They’d traded in Aiden’s car for a midsized SUV that held three babies comfortably after Dev had sold his place. It was a good married-guy-with-kids vehicle.
“I’m all for taking the van—that wind is going right through my coat, and I don’t want the babies to be cold.”
They turned right and went to the van sitting in the driveway, making short work of getting all the kids belted in and folding down the stroller. It seemed like a lot of fuss for not having that far to go, but worth it to keep the kids warm.
They toddled down to the Bean, then the whole process repeated in reverse, with Logan and Sarah coming out to help.
Sarah took Linds’s hand, and they skipped into the coffee shop together. It was adorable.
Logan grabbed Dylan and Dev took Bee, and they all headed into the warmth of the Bean.
“Hey, guys!” Zack waved at them from the big round table, Dirk sitting next to him. It was about time he came to their little daddy get-together; they’d invited him right after he’d helped Dev move.
“Hey there! Happy birthday!” Aiden went to Zack, hugged him so hard. “Having a great day?”
“I am. The girls made me breakfast in bed.” Zack’s eyes went very wide as he said it, and he didn’t need to say another word for Aiden to guess what a mess that had made the kitchen. And possibly the bedroom.
“Impressive. Good job, girls!”
Marci and Missi waved from the play area.
Dev chuckled and leaned down to press his cheek to Zack’s, holding on to Bee. “Happy birthday, man. And Dirk, hey—you finally made it.”
“I did. Got on full-time at the school, so my hours are a lot more regular now.”
“That’s great. And is that your girl in the play area with the others?” Dev began to work Bee out of her lightweight snowsuit, making her suddenly seem half the size.
“Yes. That’s Melinda.”
Linds was already over there, jabbering away, talking to the shy, dark-haired little girl.
“She’ll be one of the gang in no time,” Dev noted. “Linds will make her feel welcome.” Dev held Bee up. “Who needs baby time?”
Zack immediately reached for her, and she went to him, frowning for the first few seconds before she started jabbering. Logan, of course, kept hold of Dylan. He took his job as godfather very seriously.
“You want a hazelnut latte, babe?” Dev asked, hand lingering on Aiden’s arm.
“You know me well.” He leaned over and took a quick kiss. “And a carrot muffin, please?”
“You got it.” Dev smiled, looking happy all the way to his bones. And when he turned to go to the counter, that afforded Aiden his favorite view of Dev’s ass.
“You two amaze me,” Logan said. “I’m so jealous.”
“You’ll find someone,” Aiden told him. “When you least expect it.” He certainly hadn’t been looking for Dev when he’d found him.
“I hope so. I really do.” Logan grinned. “Not that you two aren’t enough to give a man cavities.”
“Are you saying we’re sweet?” He didn’t mind. There were worse things to be called.
Logan snorted, and Dylan crowed like he understood. That child adored his Uncle Logan.
Dev came back with two steaming coffee cups, handing one over before dropping into the chair next to Aiden’s. “So how is everyone?”
“I’m good. Busy, but work will ease up drastically closer to Christmas,” Logan said, and Zack chuckled.
“It’ll be the opposite here, man.”
“Yeah?” Dirk asked. “I’ll have Christmas break if you need a hand.”
Dirk was a good guy. He had to have had his daughter pretty young; there was no way he was even twenty-five—Aiden would guess closer to twenty—and that little girl was at least Linds’s age.
“We could babysit all the girls a few times, if it would help either or both of you,” Dev offered, then grinned at him. “As long as it’s okay with my better half, that is.”
“Sure. Linds would love company.” Aiden winked at his lover. Dev had come into his own and was a spectacular father.
“Oh wow, really?” Dirk gave them a grateful look. “I just got full custody of Melinda, and it’s been harder than I thought it would be to keep on top of everything.”
“We’ve all been through that,” Dev noted. “You’re in the right place, though. My life really turned around when I started coming here for daddy-and-kid hour with the guys.”
“I appreciate the invite. Seriously. Would you guys mind if I brought some more toys for the playroom? Some stuffed animals? I can even make kid-sized furniture….”
“Kid-sized furniture?” Zack nodded eagerly. “It really is my birthday. That would be awesome, Dirk, thank you.”
“We’re going to need to name the group at this rate.” Dev took a long swig of his coffee.
“Desperate Dads?” Aiden suggested and Dirk almost choked on his coffee.
Dev cackled for him. “Maybe something not so on the nose.”
Logan was laughing too hard to chime in, but he did point at Dev and nod.
“The Teddy Bear Club,” Zack suggested. “Something kid-friendly.”
“But totally us,” Aiden agreed.
“Oh, I like it.” Dev nodded, grabbing a bottle out of their diaper bag as Bee began to fuss in Zack’s arms. He handed the bottle to Zack, who stuck it in Bee’s mouth without missing a beat.
“Me too. So this is it,” Logan pronounced. “Welcome to the first official meeting of the Teddy Bear Club. Someone hand me my coffee.”