Page 77 of Loved By You

“Come in,” I call.

The door opens full force and in comes a bouncing Lexi, a slightly stressed looking Ria and smiley Elle on her hip, chewing on her hands and drooling.

“Hello ladies.” I smile, standing from my chair to walk round my desk and greet them.

“Hey, are you sure about this? It’s not too much?” Ria asks, sounding hesitant.

“Firstly, no, it isn’t. I told you I’d watch the girls whilst you did the training. I’m just sorry it’s in the middle of the day, and secondly…” I press a gentle kiss to her lips. “Hi, sweetheart.”

She lets out a breath. “Hi.”

I reach out and take Elle from her. “Go, go get a coffee and relax. You've got twenty minutes, me and miss Elle here are going to read through some contracts and Harry is coming to color with Lexi, and he might have some M&M’s,” I say looking down at her and the grin on her face makes my heart skip a beat.

“Yesssss.” She claps.

“Okay, okay, everything you need is in this bag,” she tells me, handing me a bag the size of a suitcase.

“What the heck is in this? I packed less for a deployment to Afghanistan.”

She laughs. “Trust me, you’re gonna need it.”

“Be good, girls.” She blows them a kiss and heads for the door, and I watch her ass sway in her uniform.

“Right, who wants to have a snack?”

“Meeeee,” Lexi squeals, shooting her arm in the air.

Harry shows up with enough art supplies for Lexi to fill an art studio and they make a picture on the floor.

“Harry, no, that bit is pink, this bit is blue,” she scolds when Harry apparently gets it wrong.

“Sorry, Lex,” he grumbles. “I thought it looked good blue.”

“It doesn't,” she says so matter-of-factly.

“Getting put in your place by a four-year-old, Haz… priceless,” I laugh.

Elle has been bouncing on my lap and dribbling over paperwork and in between kisses on her head and cuddling her and her using every gadget on my desk as a teething ring. I think I am handling this babysitting thing. It’s then I realize I don't just want to babysit, I want this to be my life. I want my days spent with them.

The office door opens, and Brad enters making a gagging sound. “Jeez, what is that? It smells like ass in here,” he says, covering his nose.

I lift Elle’s butt to my face and sniff. I gag. “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. “That smells so bad.”

“Do you know how to change a diaper?” Harry asks.

“I've watched Ria do it loads of times. Get the bag.” I point at Harry. He opens it and starts pulling out various things.

“Jesus, what the hell is in here? It’s likeMary Poppin’sbag,” Harry says.

“Pass me that.” Grabbing the diaper-changing mat, I lay it on my office desk.

“You're doing it on there?” Brad asks, his face dropping.

“Where else am I meant to do it?”

“I don’t know, man, but not on the oak desk,” he replies, his tone horrified.

Fuck, I’m sweating. I don’t know what I’m doing here, but if this is going to be my life, I need to figure it out.

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