Page 55 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

Sam grinned and handed him another plate. “Every day, I think… is this real? A thousand times a day, at least.”

“What? Finding your life partner and getting six kids, a set of doting in-laws, and a Nana who loves to cook all in the course of a couple days isn’t normal?”

Sam snorted and turned back to the sink. “Well, when you put it that way…”

Vaughn loaded the plate into the dishwasher and walked behind Sam. He wrapped his arms around Sam’s waist and tucked his chin over Sam’s shoulder. “I wish you could feel the way I do, know in your heart that you’re where you’re supposed to be.”

Sam wiped his hands on a dish towel and turned in Vaughn’s arms. “I do know. It’s crazy, but… I know in my heart. It’s just my head that doesn’t quite understand what’s happening.”

“What can I do to help?”

Sam chuckled and cupped his hand around Vaughn’s cheek. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do. Keep being you. Keep helping the kids get through every day. Keep looking at me the way you are right now.”

“I can do all that and more, Sam.”

Sam leaned in and Vaughn accepted his kiss with hungry lips. He pushed closer, turning his head to notch their mouths together even further as their tongues tangled. Vaughn’s hand drifted lower, cupping Sam’s perfect ass… and a throat cleared. Sam pulled away with an embarrassed squawk and found his dad standing on the other side of the kitchen smirking at them.

“Dad!”

“What? You’re in the middle of the kitchen, son. What’d you think was going to happen?”

Sam groaned and thumped his head down onto Vaughn’s shoulder.

“Did you need something?” Vaughn asked. He noticed the little lines of pain had returned on William’s face.

“Getting a bit tired. Jean said you have an extra guest room upstairs. I thought I’d make use of it, if it was okay by you.”

“Dad, no,” Sam said. “You don’t need to be going up and down the stairs. Not with your back as bad as it is right now. We can stay up there again.”

“You can take the master,” Vaughn added.

“Absolutely not,” William barked. “You boys clearly need a little alone time, and I’m not going to be defeated by a set of stairs.”

“But, Dad—”

“Samuel Baker, I’m tired of being fussed over. Now, those kids aren’t likely to sleep through the night, not given what you’ve told me. You boys let them know that their new Grandpa William will be upstairs watching over them if they need me. You two stay down here and do what you were about to do right here in the middle of the kitchen. I remember the honeymoon phase, and it didn’t involve six kids who were likely to wake me up in the night because trust me, they’d have been even more traumatized by what they found. Your mama—”

“Do not finish that sentence. Dear God, please do not finish it.”

William cackled.

“Also… Grandpa William, huh?” Sam asked.

“I think it has a nice ring to it, don’t you? Stuart and I were discussing it, and we figured either you or Vaughn would be Papa and the other one some version of Dad. He’s leaning toward Pop-Pop and don’t you dare tease him about it either. I think it’s nice. I’m more old fashioned, myself. Jean’s already settled on Nana, so that’s good. Joanne’s still undecided, but she’s thinking Grammy. I mean, Grammy and Pop-Pop does sound good, don’t you think?”

Vaughn blinked and looked at Sam, who looked equally stunned.

William huffed and headed toward the stairs. “Sammy, bring my bag upstairs for me. Nana Jean said if she saw me carrying anything that wasn’t this cane, she was going to speak to me in her outside voice. Since I really don’t care to have that woman annoyed with me, I’m going to follow her rules. She’s a damn fine cook, and I’d hate to see what she’d do to me as punishment. Why are you still standing there, son? You keep your mouth open like that, you’re going to catch a fly.”

Sam snapped his mouth shut and hustled over to the back door where the overnight bag he’d packed for William earlier was sitting. Vaughn couldn’t help but laugh as father and son started up the stairs.

He finished loading the dishwasher and got it started before heading to the back door and watching his parents in the yard with the kids. They were playing some silly game, what looked like red-light, green-light, and the kids were all laughing hysterically as his dad spun around and tried to catch them moving.

Vaughn didn’t know how long he’d been standing there watching the kids play when Sam came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. “They having fun?”

“Yeah. Dad’s cracking me up. He used to play with me like that, but I haven’t seen him act like this in a long time. It’s good to see him having fun.”

“We should probably get showers started. They’re going to need time to wind down.”