And honest to Christ, she never looked so beautiful.
His kids were in the kitchen with her and it looked like a pancake batter bomb had exploded.
Needless to say, his kids had taken the news that their father had a new wife and they had a new sister on the way without even blinking. Hop wasn’t surprised. It was good and kids sucked up good just as much as bad, so they had no problem settling into it.
Molly especially. Cody, thank Christ, had come into this world shielded by invisible steel. Not much affected him. But Molly had a mind to her dad since she could form coherent thought. Not close with her mother, Molly was Daddy’s little girl from the beginning. She wasn’t old enough to process it, but that didn’t mean she wanted her old man alone and coasting on the scraps of goodness life could give him. She seemed to relax when she got the news that Lanie was legally bound to her father and they were cinching that with a kid. Then again, his girl been relaxing since Lanie came into the picture.
Yeah, kids totally sucked up the good.
“We’re teaching Cody to make waffles, Dad!” Molly shouted with excitement.
“Don’t know why,” Cody stated, but did this from his station manning the waffle iron. “I get a woman, she’s doin’ all the cookin’.”
Hop stared at his son then cut his eyes to his wife to see her body shaking with silent laughter.
He had to stop himself from staring as his whole f**ked-up night melted away at seeing his woman laughing.
She trusted him. Totally trusted him.
He’d left their bed in the middle of the night to do Chaos business. She’d gone back to sleep and stayed asleep, waking up alone, and there she was, making waffles with his kids and laughing.
Not anxious. Not freaked. Not wound up.
Laughing.
He’d done it. Pulled her out of the shadows and brought her into the light of family.
And she was basking in it.
He let that feeling smooth through him and turned back to his son.
“You plannin’ on shackin’ up soon, boy?” Hop asked.
“Soon’s I graduate high school so I don’t ever have to do laundry, clean, or cook,” Cody answered.
Hop bit back laughter.
Lanie didn’t bother. She giggled out loud, so Hop turned his head to watch her beautiful face beaming bright with happiness and he did it until he was sure he’d go blind.
“You’re stupid,” Molly declared, and Hop tore his gaze from Lanie to look at his daughter. “Everyone knows women don’t do all the cooking and cleaning anymore.”
“Lanie does it for Dad,” Cody shot back. “And she works. And she has an ace ride.” Cody looked to his father. “I’m gonna get a Lanie, ’cept,” he screwed up his mouth as he narrowed his eyes on Lanie then looked back at his old man, “blonde,” he finished then thought better of his conclusion and said to Lanie. “Not bein’ mean. You got pretty hair, too.”
Lanie opened her mouth to say something but she was laughing too hard to get it out.
“Someone kill me. My son is already ordering up his woman,” Hop muttered and Cody looked at him.
“When did you have your first girlfriend?” he asked.
Hop wasn’t going to answer that. Instead, he homed in on the point his son was not making.
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“Oh dear,” Lanie mumbled.
“Totally, Dad!” Molly gave it away. “He has three.”
“Oh dear,” Lanie repeated, but this time those two words shook with amusement.
“Three?” Hop asked, his eyebrows shooting up.
Cody lifted up the lid on the waffle maker to check progress all the while talking, “Seein’ as I already decided to hook up early, I figure I gotta get my experience in now.”
This time, Hop bit back a curse.
Molly cried, “Gross!”
Lanie kept laughing.
“Son, look at me,” Hop called and Cody decided the waffle wasn’t done yet so he dropped the top back on and looked at his Dad. “You are way too young for me to be sharin’ this but seein’ as you’re jumpin’ the gun, I gotta lay it out. You want a Lanie, one at a time. You never, and hear me, boy, never jack a girl around. You jack her around, you live with doin’ that to a girl who doesn’t deserve it but you also answer to me. Are you hearin’ me?”
Cody nodded solemnly. “I hear you, Dad.”
Hop felt something in the room. He looked to his wife and he saw she wasn’t laughing anymore. Her face was soft, her eyes were warm and he felt that warmth deep down, straight into his bones.
He returned the look then aimed his gaze back at his son.
“More advice,” he started. “You can get your experience in about seven years. Now, concentrate on kickball or something.”
“I already kill at kickball,” Cody bragged. “Don’t need no practice at that.”
“Right, whatever,” Hop replied, “I think you get me.”
Cody studied him before giving in by mumbling, “I get you.”
“Good,” Hop stated. “Now, feed me. I’m starved.”
Cody grinned.
Lanie got him a cup of coffee and gave it to him with a kiss on his jaw before she turned her attention back to supervising waffles.
Then they all sat at the kitchen table, Hopper Kincaid at the head with his family around, talking, laughing, giggling, shooting the shit over waffles.
It wasn’t a birthday. It wasn’t a holiday.
It still felt like a celebration.
And, even though it started shit, it was the best day of his life.
Just like every day after he won the love of Elaine Heron Kincaid.
But especially the day, seven months later, when his wife gave him his second son.
Nash Kane Kincaid.