Adam, Enough Said (This Can't be Happening) (49 page)

I walked away from the ladder and headed into the kitchen where Mia’s voice had been coming from. When I walked in, I saw her standing at the counter, still in my huge t-shirt, pajama shorts and barefoot. She had no makeup on and her hair was in a tangled mess on the top of her head. Aaron and Aiden sat at the table while Madison sat in her high chair; all were stuffing their faces with food.

Mia looked up the moment she heard me walk in and she smiled. My gut clenched. I walked straight to her, came up behind her back and wrapped my arms around her stomach, fingers pressed in. I bent and kissed her neck. Then I reached for her left hand, picked it up and placed a kiss over her rings all while she watched me do it.

“Gross,
Dad!” Aaron called out.

“Yeah, Dad! Kissing girls is gross!” Aiden seconded.

Mia chuckled and I rolled my eyes, but spoke through my grin, “Oh yeah? Just wait until you’re fifteen. I’ll make sure I remind you just how gross girls are then.”

I walked out the back door with two bottles of water in my hand and headed straight for my wife. She was standing beside the same table Lex, Trish and Tony were sitting at. I wondered where Landyn was, but only for a moment because my attention was stuck on the one person wearing snug jeans, a white, sleeveless, button-down top that was tucked in, with a brown belt, brown sandals and a multi-colored scarf that hung loosely around her neck. Her hair was pulled up into a messy, yet sexy ponytail at the crown of her head, but the most beautiful accessory she carried was my baby girl, Madison.

“Dada!” Maddie shrieked happily as she tried to lung
e out of her Momma’s arms and into mine.

I put the drinks on the table and held out my hands. “Here, I got her. You shouldn’t be carrying her right now,” I scolded.

Mia sighed. “Adam, it’s fine. Don’t start freaking out on me already. I carried the boys - sometimes both of them at the same time - while I was pregnant with Maddie.”

I gave her an over exaggerated gasp and she lifted one eyebrow at me.

“What in the hell is going on with you two?” Lex asked suspiciously as she looked back and forth between the two of us.

I didn’t hesitate. “Mia’s pregnant.”

There were gasps all around.

"Oh good God, I thought Lex and Landyn were the baby making machines! Four?" Trish asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, four, but that's
it
," I told her.

"You know, Trish, you should really consider having another one because next thing you know, little Tony, Jr.'s going to be as old as Layla," Mia responded.

At Mia's reference to my oldest niece, I turned to search her out in the crowd. I think we all did.

She wasn't hard to spot either
, because she was the only one throwing a football around with someone's little boy who looked to be about her age. She'd changed out of her soccer uniform and now wore jeans that were too tight, a pink top that was too tight, pink chucks and her long black hair hung halfway down her back.

I guess feeling all eyes on her back, she turned and I could see her damn bright honey-colored eyes from here when she smiled and waved at us all.

The girl was gonna be a heartbreaker.

"She just had her first kiss," my sister-in-law Lex said softly to the table and all eyes hit hers.

"She what?" I asked low and dangerous.

"Oh, calm down, Adam. I haven't told Lan yet
, because I know he's going to be pissed. It was nothing, really. Layla said it was just a peck on the lips."

My lungs seized at the thought of some little bastard kissing my beautiful niece, but it seemed someone else had no problem breathing because his inhale was sharp and loud.

"Lexi, Baby, what the fuck did you just say?" Landyn asked in a growl, and I watched as Lex's eyes grew round.

"Uhhh..."

"Lexi," Landyn repeated in a cautioning tone.

"Oh, all right. It was nothing
, really. She said a little boy she likes kissed her, but she knows she can't have a boyfriend until she's sixteen. And before you go beating up little Brandon over there, it wasn't him."

I snorted at the mention of Layla not dating until she was sixteen, and Mia muttered, "Shut up, Adam."

Landyn looked in the direction of his oldest daughter, his shoulders slumped and he rubbed a hand through his hair as if in misery. I felt bad for him. I really did. It would be wrong to say that Layla was his favorite daughter, because that just wasn't true, but there was a special bond between the two of them. It probably had a lot to do with Landyn missing out on the first few years of her life, and the fact that she was a bit of a tomboy and all Landyn had were girls, but the relationship between them was amazing to watch.

And it made me think of my own baby girl.

I looked down at her in my arms and said, "Maddie, give Dada a kiss."

She leaned in and landed a big wet one right on my lips with a loud, "Muah!"

Then my eyes sought out my twin boys where they were playing with Tony Jr., a few feet away. Eric and Kenny were taking turns pushing each of the boys on the swing set, and I swear to God, had I been alone, the sight would have brought a tear to my eye.

My family.

Even that bastard Eric and his husband Kenny had become family.

I twisted my neck and my eyes
found my wife's.

She was already looking at me and I knew she was feeling the same sense of fulfillment I was.

I leaned down, put my face close to hers and asked low, "You my heart, Freckles?"

Her face softened when she replied in a small whisper, "Always."

I touched her bottom lip with my thumb and bent to take her lips with a quick, deep kiss.

"Enough said,
Baby."

Ten minutes later, I watched as my friend Johnny's truck turned into the entrance of our property. Since Mia's incident in the courthouse over six years ago, Johnny and his eleven year old daughter, Jasmine, had become a fixture in our lives. Johnny didn't have much family; he was a single dad and he worked a lot to support Jasmine, so we made sure they were invited to all our family celebrations.

The moment he parked, I watched Johnny and Jasmine exit the truck, but my body solidified when the passenger door opened and Breena got out.

What the fuck?

"Oh, good, he picked her up," I heard Mia say at my side, and when I faced her, she continued. "Breena's car broke down again. She called earlier and said she wasn't going to make it
, so I asked Johnny if he could swing by and pick her up since he doesn't live far from her."

"And she was okay with that?" I asked, shocked.

Mia replied, "Obviously."

Because of her past, Breena didn't really do well around men by herself, but maybe Johnny having Jasmine with him helped, and they had met a handful of times. Though, even from afar I could see she looked uncomfortable. My eyes moved back to Jasmine when she ran over to our table and gave a polite "Hello" to everyone just before she ran off to go play with all the other kids.

My eyes went back to where Breena was standing and Johnny now stood with her... no, he towered over her and I could see they were talking. It looked to be innocent... until he touched the apple of Breena's cheek and Breena's expression turned terrified.

I stiffened and was just about to stand when Mia grabbed hold of my hand and whispered, "Adam, don't. She needs this."

I knew she was right when a second later, Breena's stance relaxed toward Johnny.

Jesus. Johnny?

But just as I had that thought, I heard screeching tires from a car, right before it turned down our driveway. There were kids here and whoever was behind the wheel of that car was hauling ass and it pissed me right the fuck off. I stood as the little blue car barreled toward Johnny's truck, stopped right behind it and then the car door was thrown open.

Missy, Mia's cousin, ran out of her car like a mad woman and headed toward Breena and Johnny, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Mia stood and hissed, "This
can't
be happening."

I practically threw Madeline in Mia's arms and growled, "Baby, get ready to call the station. This is fuckin' happening."

The End...

or is it?

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for reading…

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really hope you enjoyed it…

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