Rinse [manxman]

Chapter Four

"No, sir. You got Lizzy and Luca's presents tonight. You don't get the others until morning. That's how it works."

Farley whined, staring up at me with tired green eyes. He had woken up on the trip back from Elizabeth's. Once we returned home, I'd let him have a few pieces of the candy Elizabeth and Luca sent with us, but as usual, he spent most of that time begging for me to let him open presents.

"If you opened everything tonight, what would you do tomorrow?"

"Play," he said, coughing dryly.

I sighed and ran my hand through his hair. "Well, you can play once you start feeling better, and you can open your presents in the morning if you feel up to it."

The look he gave me assured me that he would feel up to it, even if he had to drag himself out of the bed to do it.

I smiled a little and kissed his forehead. "Sleep tight."

He wrinkled his nose, not really wanting to sleep, but the virus had drained most of his energy and was plunging him into sleep. I checked the cup of water on his nightstand, finding that it was still full.

I left the room, pulling the door halfway shut as I left and went down the hall. Dakota had tucked the girls in and said good night to Farley, but Farley had to have me say good night before he would go to sleep. Dakota said he didn't mind, but it bothered me. I didn't want him to think I was trying to replace him, because I wasn't. I knew full well that Dakota was their father, and I was the man that babysat when he had to work.

However, Dakota seemed prepared to fight me tooth and nail on that subject, which was why I started loading my guns as I went downstairs. When I reached the living room, I saw the front door opened and the screen door cracked. I scowled and shrugged on my coat before stepping outside. The storm door whined as I shoved it closed.

I turned around and saw Dakota standing at the edge of the deck, leaning over the wooden railing to look out at the snow-covered yard. Silver moonlight beaming from above made the snow glitter like diamonds rested atop it. He glanced back at me with a brow cocked before he turned to look at the yard again.

"Farley asleep?"

"Yeah. If he was feeling better, he would be trailing me and demanding to open his presents." I rolled my eyes. "Either that or trying to get into the candy Elizabeth sent back with us."

Dakota chuckled softly. "I bet you'd fight him over that."

"Living with someone that also has an insatiable sweet-tooth certainly isn't easy." I leaned my back against the wooden railing and crossed my arms tightly over my chest as I suppressed a shiver. "All right, we can chat inside. We're outside because this could get loud, so let's get it over with, because I'm freezing."

A little, white cloud billowed from his mouth as he sighed. "I really don't want to fight with you on my first night back."

"I don't want to either, but it happened. We might as well get it over with."

"Fine. Where did we stop?"

I glanced up at the sky and cocked a brow. "Oh, you were saddling up your high horse and chiding me about how I would never be able to handle fieldwork again." The words already had my blood simmering, and my response to it sat at the tip of my tongue, ready to erupt past my lips, and annihilate him.

"I didn't say that. I said that you weren't suited for it after what happened."

"Same thing."

"Not really," he argued. "You could handle it again, but you would actually have to work at getting over whatever it is you keep obsessing about."

"I don't obsess about it."