Page 51 of Manny Included

He held out his hand and she came running over to take it.“I go wif my Bay-Bay.”

“Yep.You and me and Flynn and Pete.We’re going to meet Will for lunch, too.”

“Will?Hims nice?”

“He is.He’s been here to the house a few times to bring me papers to sign.”He wasn’t sure she remembered, though, as they were never actually introduced.“He’s also the one who organized the pre-cooked meals we sometimes have.He’s a good guy.”

“’kay.Should I bring hims a picture?”

Pete came down.“Grab your picture, honey.We’ll put it in the diaper bag.”

That answered that.And it would save them from having to add the picture to the kazillion on the walls, the fridge, the cupboards, basically every flat surface in the house.

“Are we all ready to go?”he asked, grabbing the keys to the minivan.

“We are.Let’s go have a family day!”Pete sounded so… cheery.

It looked like orgasms agreed with him.Which, yeah, was obvious.

He led the way out to the van.

“I appreciate you doing this with me,” Pete offered as he loaded Flynn into the car.

“It’s not fair that so much falls onto you.”And the business practically ran itself.Or at least, Will was able to do ninety-nine percent of it for him.It seemed all that had been needed was him letting go of some of it.He found himself inclined to let even more go every day, too.

“It’s my pleasure.Seriously.This is the family of my heart.”

“I think they’re your family of more than just your heart, Pete.”He held them together.

“I—I think so.”Pete beamed at him.

They got in the car and he started it up.“Do you have the address for the grocery store or do you just want to direct me?”

“I’ll just show you.It’s not terribly far.”

“Okay.”He headed out toward the main road.“We have a big list?”

“Define big.Mostly, it’s the basics—bread, milk, cheese, eggs, oatmeal, butter, flour, and sugar.”Pete rolled his eyes.“We’ll have the two oldest for an extra meal and a snack over the summer.”

“They’re getting excited about school being over soon, aren’t they?”

“Absolutely.They’re excited about camp.They’re excited about swimming.They’re excited about going to the park and sleeping in, and Belle’s old enough to have real school friends that have parties and sleepovers, and she’s very excited and nervous about that.”

“Do you know which kids she wants to play with?Should I have Will look into their parents to make sure everything is copacetic?”

“I—Is that a thing?I don’t know whether we should do that…”

“Okay, if you think it’s okay.I’m following your lead here.”

“God, I’m just as insane as all of them, right?”Pete chuckled softly.“You and I are just figuring it out together.”

“Yeah.At least you’ve been looking after the kids since they were born.This whole thing just dropped in my lap.Boom.”And he wasn’t complaining.It was just a lot and a lot that he had no idea about.

“Yes.I’m sorry.I mean, I’m not sorry we met, but I am sorry that… it happened like this.”

“Yeah, you and me both.”All this should have been Tony’s.All of it.But it wasn’t, and he had to focus on making sure the kids had the best life possible, not on what they’d all lost.

And maybe he was going to have to stop worrying about enjoying the relationship he’d gained too.