Page 27 of Love’s Strongest Soldier

“Yeah?”

“Luxe, what were you doing?”

“Nothing right now.”

Wren sighed and replied, “Can I ask a huge favor of you?”

“What?”

I scratched the side of my thigh, waiting to see what she wanted.

“The nanny is sick with the flu. Maniac and I had a date tonight. I was wondering if you can come over and watch the kids for a few hours. I promise not to be out all night.”

Since I knew for a fact that I didn’t have anything else better to do than sit in this apartment for the rest of the night, I said, “Sure. Why not?”

“Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver!”

I wouldn’t call me all that . . . “I’m getting up now. I’ll be there soon.”

“Thanks a million.”

The call disconnected, and I got up from the couch. Stopping by Ghost’s bedroom, I knocked on the door. I didn’t want to get any more surprises.

“Yeah?”

Opening the door, I poked my head inside and said, “We have to go to Maniac’s. They are going out, and Wren asked me to keep the kids for a bit.”

“Okay.” Without hesitation, he got up from the edge of the bed. That’s one thing I loved about Ghost. He let me do whatever I wanted and never disagreed with me, knowing that he had to be right there with me.

“Let me toss something on right quick,” I told him and pulled his door back up behind me.

When I got in my room, I found a pair of tights and a T-shirt. Since I was going to be dealing with kids, I didn’t need to be all fancy. This attire will work perfectly fine.

By the time I came out the room, Ghost was in the living room, waiting for me. “Have you ever babysat children before?” I asked him as I headed for the front door with him right on my heels.

“How hard can it be?”

I snickered because Kairose was something else to watch. I loved my niece to death, but she damn sure was Maniac’s daughter.

We went straight to their house. Wren and Maniac were already dressed when we got inside. “Y’all look nice,” I made known as I removed Massimo from Wren’s arms.

“Thanks. We need this night,” Wren said and then pecked Massimo on the forehead.

“Where’s Kairose?” I questioned her.

“Somewhere upstairs,” Maniac answered and then grabbed Wren by the hand and led her toward the door.

They left out the house, and I went upstairs to find my niece. I bet she was gon’ be excited to see me. I entered her bedroom with Massimo on my hip to find Kairose lying on her back on the floor with her iPad up to her face. These children and their tablets these days. This was the exact reason why they didn’t want to go outside anymore.

I set Massimo down on the floor and went over and took her tablet from her. She smacked her lips at first, but when she realized it was me, she hopped to her feet and wrapped her arms around my legs.

“Tee Luxe!” escaped her lips, and a smile overtook my face.

Kairose always got excited whenever she saw me. She was the firstborn. My baby for real. I think we understood each other so much because she was the firstborn of her generation. She acted a lot like me as well.

“You hungry? Let’s go fix y’all something to eat.”

I took her by the hand and grabbed Massimo. We all went downstairs to the kitchen. Ghost was sitting on the living room sofa looking crazy as we passed the door. Kairose leaned all the way back just to get a glimpse of him.