Shifting Boundaries

Chapter Thirty-One

Felix

"Errit! Pop!"

Griffin's voice was soft enough that he never would have woken me up if he wasn't also jumping on the bed. He slipped and fell down, landing with his head on Everett and his feet on my stomach. There was a moment of startled silence before he started wailing.

"Ssh!" I reached for him and hugged him against my chest, turning his face against me in a desperate attempt to keep Griffin from waking up Everett. Everett was already stirring, so when Griffin wriggled in my arms and reached for Everett, I let him go.

Everett had his eyes squeezed shut like they were every morning when he was first waking up. He hugged Griffin with one arm while his other hand rubbed sleepily at his eyes and cheeks. He yawned widely and I smiled, feeling no small amount of satisfaction at just how thoroughly I had worn him out last night. We snuck back into our bed a little after midnight and Everett had gone out like a light.

"What time is it?" Everett asked. His voice was still rough and he cleared his throat, clearly annoyed, but I liked when he sounded sleepy like this. These quiet moments with my family were precious to me.

I picked up my phone from the bedside table and lit up the display. "A little after eight." In fact, I was shocked Griffin had let us sleep as late as he did. Maybe his breakdown yesterday had tired him out.

Everett nodded and relaxed back into the bed, curling his body around Griffin's small form and wrapping the blankets tighter around them. It was a beautiful image, and one I didn't get nearly enough time to admire. Everett's eyes snapped open after only a few seconds and he sat up, startling Griffin to tears.

"Molly's supposed to be here at eight thirty! Here, take him. I need to get dressed and get breakfast started." Everett thrust Griffin toward me and dashed to the closet. It wasn't a big deal if we didn't have breakfast on the table when Molly got here, but I knew Everett wouldn't listen to me if I told him that, so I let him go.

"Let's get you cleaned up and changed, huh?" I said to a bewildered Griffin, whose tears of surprise were already drying.

I walked Griffin into his room across the hall and got him changed out of his training underwear. They were saturated just like every other morning. I was just grateful he seemed to be mostly potty-trained during the daytime. Griffin picked out his own clothes, settling on a lime green shirt with a rocket ship on it and periwinkle shorts that clashed horribly. Everett would be upset when he saw the outfit, but I didn't care if Griffin's clothes matched and I couldn't say no to him when he looked so excited about the clothes he'd chosen. I did swap out Griffin's chosen socks when he wasn't looking since I knew Everett would never stand for a mismatched pair of socks, even on a toddler.

"Your daddy is a little anal," I said to Griffin as I walked him down the hall, tickling his belly as we went. I loved to hear him laugh and this was a sure-fire way to accomplish that.

"I heard that!" Everett said wryly as I walked into the kitchen. "I know you're understating it, so thanks, but maybe don't use that word with him? I don't want people to get the wrong idea if he starts repeating it."

I laughed at his blush and kissed his pink cheek. "Sure."

Griffin liked to keep us in sight, so we had a plush rug set up in the corner of the kitchen with a couple of his toys and a stack of books. I set him down and headed to the stove. Everett had eggs scrambling but was too busy cutting fruit to tend them, so I took over the job. By the time Molly walked into the house fifteen minutes later, we had breakfast laid out on the table, waiting.

"I hope you don't mind I brought company," she said when she saw the spread. Patrick walked into the room behind her.

"Of course not! There's plenty of food," Everett said. He grabbed another couple of plates from the cabinet and poured more juice while I hugged Molly and Patrick.