Page 40 of Tiny Precious Secrets (The Brothers of Calloway Creek The Montanas #4)

Asher

I glance out the back window. “She’s at it again with Christian.”

Allie cranes her head to see. “There are worse things than Bug playing soccer with Christian every day.”

I study the two teens. Playing soccer is a stretch. With Christian’s mobility limitations, he pretty much stands there and kicks the ball when she sends it his way.

“She used to do this with Mel, you know. They were on a rec team together for a few years when they were younger.”

“You should be happy she’s making friends.”

I scoff. “You mean friend. As in singular. Even with all our attempts to introduce her to every other teen in Calloway Creek, he’s the one she clings to.”

“He’s a great kid, Asher. And it’s nice that she’s not staying locked up in her room texting Mel all hours of the day like she did last month.”

“I suppose.”

I watch Christian through the glass, amazed at his determination. His drive to be so confident and cheerful in the face of his disability.

His dad, Carter, and I have become friends despite Allie not holding him in high regard—other than raising the amazing kid he’s raising.

But I think that just stems back to some old family feud.

It’s still a bit confusing why she’s best friends with Mia but has an aversion to her brothers, even her twin, Dax.

Oh, right… Mia is a twin .

“Has Mia given you any pointers on having twins?”

She laughs, taking our dirty breakfast dishes to the sink. “Mia is a twin. She didn’t raise twins. Big difference. If you want to know about all the mischief she and Dax got into as kids, then, yeah, I have a lot of stories. Other than that…”

I rub my brow. “No, no. I don’t want to know. I’d rather live in ignorant bliss thinking our kids will be little angels.”

“What fun is that?” She sets down the dish she’s rinsing. “You’re not going to be the kind of dad who doesn’t let his kids get into a bit of trouble now and again, are you? It’s all part of growing up.”

“You’re going to have to cut me a break. My only experience has been with Bug, who’s been the perfect kid.” I hear my own words and backtrack. “Present circumstances notwithstanding. I mean, the most rebellious thing she’s ever done was take an Uber without my permission.”

“The most rebellious, huh?” She takes the seat next to me. “How about the texts she sent to the women you were dating? The note with the flowers. The pool incident? The—”

I close my eyes. “Okay, I get it. So she’s not perfect.”

Allie grabs my hand and rubs it gently. “No child is perfect, Asher. All we can do is try to give them the proper tools to deal with whatever comes their way. You’re a wonderful father. And Darla is a good kid. You should be proud.”

“Proud, huh?” He gazes back outside. “I’m not proud of the way she treats you.”

“It’s not as bad as it was. At least she eats dinner with us now.”

“We’ve been living in Calloway Creek for weeks, and all we have to show for it is that she eats dinner with us? I’m doing this all wrong.”

“You’re doing nothing wrong. You’re letting her accept things at her own pace. Believe me, that’s better than forcing it on her.”

I turn and look her right in the eyes. “But sweetheart, I want to marry you. At this rate I’ll be old and gray before that happens.”

She touches my temple. “Who says you already aren’t?”

I laugh. She takes every opportunity to joke about our age difference. It doesn’t bother me, though. It just reminds me how lucky I am to have her.

“Speaking of that, how would you like to celebrate your upcoming birthday?”

I shrug. “Forty-one isn’t that important.”

“Every birthday is important.”

“Well then…” I wrap an arm around her and whisper in her ear, “I’d like to celebrate by making love to my beautiful—”

I stop talking. Because what I want to say is wife .

Or at the very least… fiancée . But I can’t.

Because the woman I love, who is carrying my babies and sleeping in my bed, is nothing more than my girlfriend.

I pick up her hand off my thigh and trace her finger.

“I can’t fucking wait to put a ring on this finger.

Maybe that’s what I want for my birthday. ”

“One, your birthday is only a month away, so I believe that will take a miracle. And two, if I’m still capable of making love by then, that will also be a miracle.”

“It’ll still be possible,” I say with a grin. “Believe me, I’ve googled ways.”

She caresses her stomach. “Maybe if I were only carrying one. Asher, I’ll be as big as a dump truck by then. I’m already waddling around. I can’t understand how you can even be turned on.”

“I’m turned on alright.” I run a knuckle along her cheekbone. “Every damn time I look at you.”

She smiles and leans in to kiss me when the back door flies open.

“Gross.” Bug slips off her shoes and motions to Allie’s middle. “Haven’t you done that enough?”

Allie hops up as quickly as a pregnant woman can and resumes doing the dishes.

This time, I get up too and take over. “Let me do this. You need to get ready for work.” I kiss her cheek and push her toward the hallway.

“I can do the dishes,” Bug says. “You can finish your coffee.”

I smile, wishing Allie were still in the room to see that Darla can in fact be an incredibly kind person.

When I turn to what I think will be an empty doorway, I see Allie hasn’t left the room.

She’s standing, watching Bug do the dishes.

But the expression on her face isn’t pride like mine.

It’s something else. If I’m not mistaken, it’s almost as if she’s annoyed that my daughter is doing a chore.

She shakes her head slightly, never looking over at me, then walks away.

“I’m thinking of trying out for the soccer team.”

Bug’s declaration rips me from my thoughts and stuns me into silence. I wonder if I heard her correctly. “Um… what?”

She turns off the water and dries her hands on a dish towel. “Christian says in small towns like this, you don’t have to be very good to get on the team. He said last year some girl made the cheerleading squad without even being able to do the splits.”

“Hold on.” I try to gather my thoughts. “Don’t you have to attend the school for the team you’re trying out for?”

“Technically, no. Homeschooled kids are allowed to be on sports teams in the school they’re zoned for. But…” She shrugs. “I’m thinking about going.”

It’s not even nine in the morning and she’s dropped two unexpected bombs on me. Good bombs in the overall scheme of things. Still, my jaw is in my lap. “You’re going to attend Calloway Creek High School. And you’re trying out for soccer?”

She spins back around and turns on the faucet. “I said I was thinking about those things.”

Knowing how fragile this situation is, I decide not to push it or get too excited about it.

We still have six weeks until school starts.

Lucky her, she got an extra-long summer as school in New York starts much later than school in Florida.

Here, they don’t start until after Labor Day.

Which is another reason not to count my chickens.

That’s a lot of time for her to change her mind about everything.

“Christian said the tryouts are next month, but practices start next week for anyone who wants to go. It’s not official practice because coaches aren’t allowed to hold practices outside of the season.

But he said it’s like a thing that all the girls who are going to try out get together and play a few times a week leading up to tryouts, and that players from the previous year’s team lead the practice. What do you think I should do?”

“I think Christian sure seems to know a lot about the girls’ high school soccer team.”

She shrugs. “He’s like the equipment boy or something.”

I raise a brow. “For the girls’ soccer team?”

“And the boys lacrosse and baseball teams.”

“But he’s not even a student at the high school yet.”

“It’s something about his dad knowing the athletic director and how he tends to get a lot of favors because people feel sorry for him.”

“People feel sorry for his dad?”

She shakes her head matter-of-factly. “People feel sorry for him . Because of his cerebral palsy.”

“And he’s okay with that?”

She picks up the dish towel and starts drying plates.

“Christian is smart, Dad. Like super smart. He wants to become a mechanical engineer. That doesn’t mean fixing cars like his dad, that means actually designing engines and stuff.

And he says that if people pity him and that pity results in him getting what he wants, like maybe getting into one of the top engineering schools in New York, then why should he care what people think? ”

“How does that have anything to do with him being the equipment boy for sports teams?”

She giggles. “I guess it doesn’t. I was just pointing out that people let him do stuff because they think he’s some charity case or something.”

“That’s kind of disgusting, Bug. He should be treated just like everyone else. You know, within the scope of his abilities.”

“Hey, if it doesn’t bother him, it shouldn’t bother you.”

I cock my head. “Is that why you hang out with him so much? Because you feel sorry for him?”

She scoffs, adding another plate to the pile. “I think you have that backwards. I’m his charity case.”

I give her a hard stare.

“What? It’s true.”

Allie reappears in the kitchen, ready for work. She grabs an apple off the counter, and I try not to grin or mention how she just ate thirty minutes ago.

“I’ll walk you out.” I follow her into the garage and shut the door.

“Bug might try out for the soccer team. And she’s considering going to Cal Creek High School.

” I rub my temples. “My head is sort of exploding right now.” But when I look down at her, she doesn’t seem surprised at all. “Why do I feel this isn’t news to you?”

“Mia told me a few days ago. She takes Christian out for dinner once a week.”

“And you didn’t think it was important enough to tell me?”

She opens the passenger door and tosses her shoulder bag inside. “I thought it was more important that you hear it from Bug when she was ready to tell you.”

“I’m calling bullshit. You just didn’t want to break confidence and have her think poorly of you.”

“You mean more poorly.”

I pull her to me. “Al…”

“She’s thirteen, Asher. For all I know, she was going to change her mind. I didn’t want to get your hopes up. And yeah, maybe I didn’t want to tell you because she’d be mad at me and Mia, and maybe even Christian. She has kind of a good thing going here, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“With her one friend?”

“How many friends did she have back in Florida?”

I shake my head. “Yeah, okay. You’re right. And maybe this soccer thing will be good for her. At least she’ll be around other girls and may end up with a few friends out of it.”

She leans up to kiss me. “I have to go. Don’t want to be late. Who knows how long I’ll be able to keep working full time.”

I chuckle. “Good thing you have an in with your bosses.” I tilt my head when something occurs to me. “You know, we’ve never talked about what’s going to happen after the babies come. Are you planning on working?”

She cracks a grin. “You want me home, barefoot and pregnant?”

“No. Or yes, if that’s what you want. It’s really up to you.”

“I can’t imagine not working. I mean, I have Natasha and I know she’ll be a huge help.

And maybe I won’t want to work full time when they’re little.

But honestly, I just don’t know yet. Like you said, good thing I know the bosses.

” Then her eyes narrow. “You said you’d want me barefoot and pregnant if that’s what I wanted.

Do you mean to tell me you want more kids after these? ”

“Baby, I’ll take as many as you want to give me.” I lean in and sweep my lips across hers. “But how about we just start with these and take it from there?” I open the car door for her. “Drive safely, you’re carrying a lot of precious cargo.”

“I will. You guys have a good day. Don’t work too hard. And don’t worry about Bug. Everything that’s happening is good. She’s growing up.”

“Yeah.” My eyes close for a brief second. “That’s exactly what I’m worried about.”