ONE
GAVIN
Me: I’m at your front door.
Aiden: Mine?
Me: No, Beckett’s.
Aiden: What are you guys doing?
Me: Taking Finn to the park.
Brooks: Have fun. Need me to bring anything for dinner tonight?
Aiden: Can I come to the park? Which one? I can be there in ten minutes.
Me: No.
Brooks: LOL
Aiden: Why? You nervous Finn will be more interested in hanging out with me? That he’ll leave your grumpy ass sitting on the bench while we play tag?
Brooks: Aiden, remember he’s your coach now. That’s why he’s grumpy.
Me: I’m not grumpy.
Beckett: You really are. It’s weird when I’m known as the fun brother.
Aiden: You’re not. Don’t worry. That would still be me.
Beckett: Duck you.
Me: Still standing at your door. You gonna open it anytime soon?
Beckett: It’s open. Livy and the babies are asleep upstairs, so grab Finn and get out.
Me: LOL. See? You’re still the grumpy one.
Beckett: No. I’m the tired one. You’ll understand when you have kids.
Me: Yeah, that’s not going to happen. And no way would I follow in your footsteps and end up with 25 of them.
Beckett: I have five. You going to come inside or what?
Aiden: Beckett, want me to pick up Addie and Winnie? I am the favorite uncle, after all.
Beckett: Sara and Brooks are taking them so I can nap with my wife. Any other questions?
Aiden: Jeez. You are the grumpy one.
I chuckle as I pocket my phone and head inside the brownstone, where my brother lives with his twenty-five kids. I tease him because, for a while, he really did live with a shit ton of kids, but truthfully, I’m jealous of the life he has now. Up until this year, I didn’t think I wanted that kind of life. Had zero interest in settling down or having kids. But now?
Well, now the only woman I want that with is gone, and everything in my life is wrong because of it.
I scrub a hand over my face and push her from my mind. There’s no going back.
“Uncle Gav!” Finn shouts loud enough to rattle the walls. At the same time, Deogi comes bounding toward me. He’s some type of oversized mutt Beckett brought home as a surprise for his kids last year. Liv was less than impressed, but she certainly had a surprise of her own when, that same night, she told him they were having twins.