“It’s good he woke me up,” I admitted, glancing at the clock and realizing it was later than I’d expected. Dante, Tate, and Ryder had arrived later than planned last night with their kids, and I’d lost track of time when Dante and I stayed up and kept talking after everyone else went to bed.
It sounded like my friends were finally ready to make a permanent home in Blackwater, and I was glad I had kept the lot next to Katy’s house open for them.
“Why were you going to your room?” I questioned, my gaze sharpening as I watched Rhys start to fidget.
Rhys sighed finally, his small shoulders deflating. “Because Lucas keeps annoying me, and I don’t like it.”
“I thought Luke was your best friend,” I pointed out. Tate, Dante, and Ryder had adopted Lucas two years earlier, and Luke had become fast friends with Rhys.
“He is,” Rhys said, clearly conflicted.
“So, what’s the problem?” I asked gently.
“Leia,” Rhys spat out suddenly, his small face twisting with frustration.
My brows shot up. Last I checked, Leia was also one of Rhys’s best friends. Rhodes and Larkin’s daughter was only a few months younger than Rhys was.
“I don’t like it when Leia spends more time with Luke than she does with me,” Rhys explained with a frown. “They’re downstairs together right now.”
“You guys are all friends, Rhys,” I told him slowly, treading carefully. Skye and I had been suspecting something was up with Rhys for a few days now. He’d been acting weird, oddly quiet for a boy who was already showing signs of being Alpha himself one day.
“But …” Rhys made a sound of displeasure, his brows pulled together still.
“But what?”
“Leia’s not Luke’s,” he finally snapped, his dark eyes flashing. “She’s mine.”
Skye froze where she had been coming up behind our son. Her eyes met mine over his head in shock.
“Baby, what do you mean she’s yours?” Skye asked softly.
Rhys spun around. “I don’t know. But Luke shouldn’t touch her when she belongs to me.”
Skye frowned. “Leia isn’t a toy, Rhys. She doesn’t belong to anyone.”
Rhodes would disagree. His daughter and Larkin were his world. I was secretly glad my son wasn’t saying this in front of him since Rhodes would likely pack Leia up and move across the country if he heard what Rhys was saying.
Rhys seemed to deflate in front of us. “I know, Mom. I didn’t mean it like that. I can’t explain it.”
“How long have you been feeling like this?” I questioned.
Rhys shrugged. “Since always. But now that Luke’s here, it’s worse.”
Skye awkwardly knelt in front of Rhys. “Honey, I know you love Luke and you love Leia.”
His tiny face scrunched up in disgust. “Ew, Mom. Yuck. I don’t love Leia.”
Skye’s lips flattened as she hid her smile. “Of course not. But you need to remember that Luke and Leia are your best friends. Just have fun, buddy. And you can talk to your dad or me if you keep feeling like this, okay?”
“Okay,” he agreed after a second of thought. “Is it okay if I go read in my room for a little while before the party?”
“Sure,” she agreed. Our son had inherited our combined love of books at an early age. She patted his back as he walked away.
“That was interesting,” I murmured.
“Yeah.” Skye winced, still kneeling. She reached out a hand for help. “I can’t do this on my own.”
Chuckling, I got off the bed and hurried to help her back up.
“Should we be worried about Rhys?” she asked me hesitantly.
I exhaled hard. “We’ll keep an eye on him. He’s always been attached to Leia, you know that.”
She nodded. “Yeah. And I know he’s a third gen, but … they’re kids. He can’t be feeling like that, can he?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. The only ones we know of were both third gens. Rhys is a third, and Leia’s a second, but Rhys is also a Dashkov. You know your family seems to be extra special.”
“Great.” She rubbed her lower back, twisting it. My hands gently batted hers away so I could massage the tight muscles for her.
“That feels good,” she sighed, her eyes closing.
Grinning, I leaned in and nipped at her shoulder. “How good?”
“Oh no,” she said, shaking her head. “Not good enough to get me back in bed. It took me almost ten minutes to roll off the side this morning.”
I frowned, turning her around in my arms. “I would’ve helped you.”
She looked at the swell of her stomach between us and lifted a brow. “I think you’ve helped me enough.”
I splayed a hand on her stomach, grinning when I felt it move beneath my palm as one of our daughters kicked. “They’re active today.”
“They’re active every day,” Skye corrected, shaking her head. “And all day. It’s like they sleep in shifts so I can’t rest.”
“Why don’t you relax?” I suggested, wanted to tuck her back in bed. She did look tired.
“Because there’s a plane landing in a few minutes, which means we’re looking at even more people descending on this house in an hour or so,” she pointed out.
I sighed and nodded. Maybe inviting everyone over for Rhys’s birthday party had been a mistake, but we never missed a birthday party for any of the kids. We all showed up for each other.
But we’d never hosted a house full of people for a party when Skye was weeks out from giving birth to twins.
“Is my sister here yet?” I asked.
“She called,” Skye answered, her nose wrinkling. “Dillon had a bad night.”
The two-year-old little boy my sister and Maren had adopted a few months earlier was still trying to adjust. He’d had a rough start in life, and I knew my sister was worried that he would keep struggling.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
Skye pressed a finger to my lips. “Language.”
I wanted to laugh, but she was right. As comical as it had been for Sawyer to say, “Fuck it” a few weeks ago, it definitely wasn’t something I was proud of.
I nipped her finger instead.
“Which plane is landing?” I asked her as I headed for the bathroom to get ready.
Skye leaned against the doorframe in the bathroom, absently stroking her stomach. “My parents.”
“Your brother coming with them?”
She smirked. “Which one?”
“The married one,” I clarified with a laugh. “I’m assuming your parents are bringing Levi since he’s only seven.”
“It’s still weird that Rhys’s uncle is only six months older,” she replied, wrinkling her nose.
I tugged the end of her hair. “I thought you loved that they were close in age.”
“I do,” she insisted. “But it’s still strange. Anyway, Dimitri and Lulu will be here. I just can’t believe they eloped and didn’t tell anyone.”
“I can,” I muttered, brushing my teeth. “Took ’em long enough.”
“They had a lot going on,” she insisted defensively. “And speaking of brothers, any word on yours?”