Page 74 of A Major Puck Up

Liv cups her mouth, hiding a smile. “And with that, I’m out. Beckett, give me a minute to get settled, then bring the girls upstairs for me, please.”

My brother watches his wife with so much love in his eyes I feel sick. For months and months, I’ve been jealous as fuck of what he has. And now I’m envious of him not only because he gets to be with the love of his life, but because he has a partner to do this with. A woman who wants to raise their children alongside him. And poor Vivi just has me.

Maybe it’s selfish to keep her. Just about any person out there would be a better parent than me.

Dylan squeezes my arm. “Okay, let’s figure out what you need. She’ll need to eat soon, so we should place an Instacart order and have it delivered.”

Beckett stands, wearing a cocky smirk. “I duplicated the order we made for the twins and had it sent to his apartment.”

My heart squeezes in my chest at my grumpy brother’s thoughtfulness. “Thanks, Beck.”

Liv scrunches up her nose. “Um, Beckett, we ordered two of almost everything.”

“Fuck,” I mutter.

“Duck,” Beckett reminds me. “You’re a dad now. Act like it.”

My gut clenches. Dammit, he’s right. How the hell am I going to do this without totally screwing this child up?

“I’ll text Brooks and Aiden. Have them hang out at your place and wait for the order,” Beckett offers. “They can separate it all and return what you don’t need.”

Since the moment I opened that door and found Vivi, my body has been strung tight, but for the first time tonight, a little of that tension ebbs. Because my brothers are the fucking best. “Thanks. Seriously, I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.”

“Okay, I’ll put in a grocery order too. Do you have a car seat?” Dylan peers around, and her eyes light up when she sees it in the corner. “You do! Oh, good boy, Gavin.”

Beckett laughs as he heads for the stairs. “Don’t think he has a base, though.”

“Hmm.” Dylan frowns, her brow furrowed.

“What’s a base?”

“It’s the piece you buckle into the car so that the seat doesn’t go flying.”

“Huh. So that’s why Brooks and I couldn’t make that thing stay.”

“How did you get here?” Dylan asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Um, I wrapped the seatbelt around it like five times and then held it in place.”

Dylan covers her mouth and giggles. “Oh no.” Then she takes a deep breath and schools her expression. “Let me run next door really quick. We have an extra for when Willow rides to the stadium with Cortney and Beckett.”

“That’s a thing? They carpool?”

“Your brother is very needy,” Dylan says as she heads for the door.

I peer down at Vivi, who’s still watching me, curious. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

The car seat base is a genius invention. Once Dylan installed it, Vivi’s seat popped right in. But as soon as we make it back to my place, Vivi becomes inconsolable.

“Why won’t she stop crying?” I hold her out in front of me and turn her from side to side, searching for another offending item that could be cutting off her air supply like that damn hat. The rest of her clothes seem loose fitting.

“She’s probably hungry,” Dylan says. “I’ll heat up a bottle.”

My brother settles on my couch and rests an ankle on a knee, as if he’s enjoying the show.

“You could help, you know,” I grumble.

He laces his fingers behind his head and laughs. “I have five kids. I’m pretty sure you could handle one.”

---