Page 84 of Serpent & Saviors

“Andy. We—I—look at what we…I mean I…did. The floor—”

I could hear the pitch of her voice rise, fear threading through. I caught her by the hips gently and pulled her against me before she could bolt or something.

“Hey.” I tipped her chin until she met my eyes. “Breathe. It’s only water.”

“But—”

“I’ve got it. This is an easy, solvable problem.”

She sat there, still tense, mortification settled across her face in the cutest possible way. So I kissed her again until her shoulders loosened. Then I stood, grabbed a towel, wrapped her in it like a burrito, and deposited her on the soggy bath mat.

“Stay right there,” I said. “I do not want you slipping. Do not attempt to help. Don’t even look at the floor. “I’m a trained professional.” I puffed out my chest.

“Yes, Sir.” She stifled a giggle as I nearly slipped doing a dramatic lunge to wipe a corner puddle.

I had to catch myself on the sink. I kept going, scooting myself across the room on a towel with my dick swinging in all directions. That made her laugh hysterically, and I made a mental note to find ways to make a complete ass of myself just so I could hear the beautiful sound again and again.

“We’re going to need a backup stash of towels.”

“Really, you think?” she muttered, wiping her eyes.

“Yup, towels, a mop, maybe sandbags. Whatever is needed to fortify this bathroom for future…seismic activity.” I winked at her. “Oh…I know a drain.”

A beautiful flush climbed up her cheeks, and then she yawned. I wrapped the last remaining towel around me and carried her to the bed. I dressed her in the nightgown I’d found in the drawer and laid her down next to our son. Her arms immediately went around him, and she drew him close to her chest. I stood and stared down at them, feeling my heart swell with love.

All sense of exhaustion had left me, and I found myself suddenly filled with excess energy. I closed the door quietly. I’d have her things moved into my room tomorrow. Throwing some clothes on, I went down in search of the guys. Alek would be awake, especially with Kinsley still out of town. I was surprised to find him not alone. In fact, everyone was there.

I tried to keep the smug expression off my face. “Evening,” I said, walking over to the bar and grabbing a glass. The bottle of Vodka in the middle was celebratory if nothing else.

“Surprised to see you here, Counselor. Thought for sure you’d be sleeping snug with your new girl.” Alek smirked.

“The kid…fuck face, was in her bed.”

“Yes, the kid from what I’ve been told is a spitting image of you. Congratulations.” He poured me a shot and then poured one for the guys.

“You going to tell us what the status is on Cameron?” I asked Nik.

“Arrested on murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and child endangerment,” Nik answered.

“I don’t want to wait for justice to be served,” I hissed, seething with renewed anger.

“Duly noted and I think we are in agreement. Anyone wanna place bets on how the girls are going to react.” Alek quirked.

“I just hope your son’s presence will spur Kinsley’s biological clock to raging. She should be ovulating next week if my calendar app is right,” Nik said with a grin.

“Which we know it is,” Ivan said, slapping him on the back.

I was so out of last night that I slept almost straight through. Declan had a nightmare, but calmed down nicely once he realized he was safe and Fuzzy was there. His even breathing let me know he was still out. A sliver of light filtered in from the window. I slipped out from under the covers and went into the bathroom.

As I washed my hands, I really looked at my face. Gasping, I angled it, taking in the harsh bruises. My mind immediately turned to Jenny, and guilt consumed me. I stepped into the shower hoping that maybe washing my hair would make me feel human and less like the punching bag my face, neck, and arms declared me to be.

Declan was going to have questions. Ones I wasn’t sure how to answer. Andrew had slept in his own room last night out of respect for Declan, I was sure. Reality hit me. Andrew would officially meet his son today, and I had no clue how to go about facilitating that. I tried to come up with scenarios in my head as I washed up. Everything sounded horrible. Turning the water off, I went with a few of the better options. Clearing my throat, I tried one out.

“So Declan, the man you thought was your father really wasn’t. But hey, don’t worry, the man who saved mummy yesterday is your real dad. He’s a thousand times better anyway, so yay you.”

I sighed. That wouldn’t work, and my heart sank. I was completely unprepared to manage this conversation. I wrapped the towel around my body and stared at myself in the mirror.

“Declan, I’d like to introduce you to a very special man. His name is Andrew, but you can call him…no that won’t work either. Why is this so hard?” I lowered my head against the sink, feeling defeated. “Declan, I’d like you to meet the man who saved mummy—”