Page 6 of Happily Ever Never

“Take your time with that. We’re good being cousins anduncles and aunts right now.”

“Whatever you say.” As the younger Montgomery cleared histhroat, she murmured sweet nothings to Sebastian’s daughter.

“Thanks for watching her this afternoon, guys. I have thingsto do. And, well, Marley’s parents… You know.” He went ashen at the mention ofhis late wife.

We all stood frozen as awkwardness and pain settled in.

I didn’t know Sebastian that well. Only knew that,technically, he was my boss, even though he wasn’t even twenty yet. He ownedthe company—or at least had a small stake in it. The plan was that he would buymore into it one day. I didn’t know if that would happen now since he was ateenage dad and a widower to boot. The kid had been through hell and back andhadn’t even been able to truly live yet. I didn’t know how he was functioning.But with the size and heart of his family, I figured he would at least be allright in terms of babysitting and someone to lean on.

Nick leaned forward. “We don’t mind. Lake and I already havethe car seat set up in her SUV.”

“Okay, good. Thank you. I’ll just get a few of her thingsand head out.”

Sebastian nodded at us and then strode past, his gazelowered and shoulders hunched.

“Jesus,” Nick whispered.

I nodded tightly. “Yeah. But he’s out there. Functioning. Atleast, it looks like it. So, I guess we let him.”

Nick met my gaze. “You’re right. Go see your sister. Hug herhard for us.”

“Yeah, I think I will.”

I said goodbye and nodded at Tristan as he entered to workthe evening shift. The other man was texting at full speed as he walked andnearly ran into me, so I didn’t say anything to him on my way out.

Montgomery Ink Legacy was busy, and most of us had a waitinglist, though we did some walk-ins depending on availability. I was lucky I hadfound my place with the Montgomerys after bouncingfrom shop to shop since I was seventeen.

When I was younger, my dream had been to work for AustinMontgomery in downtown Denver. But, in the end, working for Austin’s son, Leif,a guy slightly older than me, made more sense. We were all growing in ourfields together and figuring out our places.

I was close to my family. And since the Montgomerysput family before everything, I counted that as a win.

I hopped in my truck and drove toward the park. Finding aspace was difficult, especially during lunchtime when people came from all overjust to relax on the bright sunny day. Still, I finally found one and got out,practically running to where I heard my youngest niece babbling to Caroline.

My sister sat on the blanket, the sun shining on her blondhair as she laughed at something her youngest, Beverly, whispered to her. Herother three daughters—Lane, Willow, and Ashlyn—ran around her, all in sight,playing politely and giggling.

It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

The fact that my sister sat with her hand over her belly,pregnant with twin boys, made my head spin.

“There she is!” I said, holding up my arms.

“Uncle Leo!” the four girls squealed at the same time.

All of them, between the ages of three and ten, ran to me. Iwent to my knees to gather them up in my arms, and then we rolled around on thegrass as my sister admonished me for the dirt. I ignored her but heard thehumor in her voice.

She didn’t care at all. We wouldn’t be in the park if shecared about grass stains.

“If you get them nauseated with all that rolling, you’recleaning it up,” Caroline teased.

“We’ll be good. Won’t get sick!” Ashlyn screamed in my ear.I winced and then stood, Beverly over my shoulder, Willow and Ashlyn on mylegs, and Lane standing beside me, prim and proper.

“Okay, troop, let’s see what help your mom needs.”

“You’re late, so everything is ready to go. We just need toopen the containers because I didn’t want bugs in everything.”

“I can smell that chicken, and I can’t wait much longer.” Mystomach rumbled, and the girls grinned.

“Uncle Leo’s stomach is growling,” Beverly said pointedly.