I watch, mesmerised, as Mika sleeps. It's weird but the small things are always what you miss more. Watching his lips move as he talks, watching his chest rise and fall, just looking at him. "Staring is weird."
"I think it's romantic." I nuzzle my nose on his and he laughs, I missed that too. "Come on, sleeping beauty. We've been called into Church." Almost immediately, his arms are locked around my waist and his face is buried in my chest. "Baby, we have to go."
"Five more minutes." He grumbles, he should know that isn't going to happen because Bear is a persistent bastard and will call and call and call.
"You know we don't have five extra minutes." I manage to coax him out of the bed and force him into the shower. He's much more cooperative when I tell him that I'll join him only to be majorly disappointed when I don't give in to his pandering.
We finish getting ready before heading out, Mika races ahead of me like he usually does and I struggle to keep on his tail. He drives like a bat out of hell.
Ollie hugs me as soon as I get in the door and I keep him pressed against my chest as we head into Church. Gem is in here too on Hunter's lap and Bear doesn't seem surprised. "Right, we've got Bainbridge down in the cells, Reign and Saviour have already dealt with him though, Romeo you will be the one to kill him."
"Thanks guys." He looks creepily excited about that and while I should be freaked out, I'm just turned on.
"Hunter and Marielle are getting married in a week, which means all hands on deck decorating the garden to make it look like... Hunter, what did Marielle say?"
"Uh yeah, Lexie was the one planning the wedding. So, I don't have a clue." We all turn to look at Saviour, who is happily typing away on her phone, completely oblivious to the attention on her.
"Saviour!" Bear calls and Saviour jumps, launching her phone and turns her glare on him.
"You better hope my phone isn't smashed, Prez. What is it?"
"The wedding... you know? The one you're maid of honour for?"
"Ohhh, Lexie has a whole journal. Flowers, lots of them and chairs, lots of those too."
"You're no help."
"Easiest thing to do is listen to Lexie when she tells you to put whatever is delivered wherever it needs to go."
"Always the safest bet." Bear decides and we move on to whatever's next on the docket. We go over the financials of all of our businesses and discuss the next runs before Lexie slams in with her sadistic smile that terrifies the crap out of us.
"Hope you're finished in here, boys. We got a big delivery and a wedding to decorate for!" We all groan simultaneously, silenced seconds later by a harsh glare and the hands landing on her hips.
We spend hours unpacking flowers and twining them together. I look after the kiddies, little Miracle sleeping in a portable cot, the other two help me do some of the bouquets that will be tied to the aisle chairs and Ollie is enjoying ripping the petals off the spare ones to go in the flower basket for Gem to spread.
"Hey dad, what's that bruise on your neck?" I almost start laughing, I have to grit my teeth and clear my throat before I'm able to even contemplate the answer to that question.
"I fell, buddy. Don't worry about me." He clambers into my lap, still dismembering plants along the way and settles back against my chest. Gem is humming softly as she picks the flowers from the vast collection and ties them together meticulously, she's definitely a genius child, takes after her mother that way.
"Runner! Are you getting the kids to do all the work?" Lexie has been checking on all the workstations. She's got the bigger guys lifting logs and heavier fixtures. The prospects are setting up chairs, the rest are hanging lights or setting up mason jars with candles in it. The wedding isn't until next week, the flowers are immortal or something apparently and they must've cost a fortune.
Lexie said that Mari will always need a reminder of the day. Apparently saying the husband is also permanent was not a good retort to that. She punched me. "Uh no, I'm just indisposed at the moment." Gesturing to my child, I'm not going to move him. I know he had a hard time away from me and he's very tactile with the people he trusts, he needs me to keep him close.
"For God's sake, I gave you the easiest job!" I just laugh and hug Ollie closer to me as he dismantles the flowers that Gem decides aren't good enough or aren't needed.
It's another hour before Mika is freed from hanging lights and takes a seat next to us. Reign picked Miracle up a little while ago, Ollie is resting, Gem is still making the bouquets but hands them to me to tie them up and drops the spare flowers off to the side because she knows how much Ollie likes to tear them up. "How long has he been asleep?"
"About twenty minutes, we should probably get him home for some dinner. Gem, honey, why don't we finish this tomorrow? I'm sure your mama wants to see you." Gem lights up at the idea of her mother, she drops the handful of flowers and skips off to the clubhouse in her cute little dress with her pigtails.
Mika gently lifts Ollie into his arms and wakes him up because we'll be riding on a motorbike so he'll need to be aware of it. We strap his harness on and he doesn't wiggle like he normally does and the ride back to ours is quick.
"You're on cooking duty!" Mika declares and heads to the lounge with Kota and Ollie, putting the TV on seconds later. I whip up some quesadillas because they're Ollie's favourite and he can eat like four to himself without flinching so I have to make quite a few.
"Thanks, dad!" As I said, doesn't flinch. He shoves half of one in his face and almost chokes so drinks water like a fish to make up for it. We've tried to deal with that but he's a growing kid and he still thinks that we're not going to feed him sometime in the future.
He manages to put away three more with Mika following close behind and I roll my eyes at my boys. I'm gonna need to buy more fucking food if they consume it within an inch of their lives. If I tried to eat as much as them I'd end up in a food coma and wouldn't be able to move for weeks.
They both do this thing where they think they're not tired anymore after eating so they clean the dishes like they're on meth before racing each other to the lounge to put on a movie. As expected, twenty minutes into the movie, they're unconscious.
I carry Ollie to his bed and change him into his pyjamas before wrapping him in the duvet and slipping his stuffed bear into his hands, I kiss his head and switch on his nightlight. I make sure Kota is also tucked in - a habit of mine now - before heading back downstairs. Mika, my dear sweet Mika, has his head dangling off the couch while the rest of him is sprawled haphazardly across the surface.
Now, I have two choices... wake him up nicely or wake him up horribly.
I could be an asshole and get a bottle of water from the kitchen but I decide against such actions and creep over to him with a smile. I brush my hands against his face and kiss him gently, he rouses slowly and yanks me to lay on top of him.
Yeah, I should've gone for the water bottle.
"Do you not want to go to the bed that I spent two thousand dollars on?"
"That sounds like a great idea." He purrs seductively against my neck and I laugh breathily.
"Our son." I reply blandly, he huffs but still follows my advice.
Hopefully we'll be able to have a good night's sleep because I am exhausted.
YOU ARE READING
Runner (Riders of Apollo #3)
RomanceI know he's followed me when the door shuts and locks behind me. His breath is on my ear before I can even think about anything and I relax against him as his teeth nip at the lobe. He reaches around me to start the shower and starts undoing my belt...