Page 11 of Dare Me

He chuckled in relief. “Brock?” he asked, in relation to my sister Caitlin’s boy.

“Oh, he’s the most excited, he’s been stuck with those females forever. He’ll be super excited to have another little man around.” My answer appeared to appease Colby, who cracked a genuine smile and slid his hand into Billie’s as soon as they got out the car.

Entering the house, I barely took three steps before I heard the loud patter of several pairs of feet rushing toward us, seconds later Milly, Belle, and Brock stood breathless and stared open-mouthed at Colby like he was a rock star.

“Wow, you must be Colby,” Milly, the eldest of Tammy’s daughters said, taking the lead. “You’re nine, right?” she asked, stepping forward and measuring her height against Colby’s.

“Yes, how old are you?” he asked in reply.

“It’s rude to ask a girl her age, you know? I’m taller than you, but I’m nine as well, ten next month,” she informed him, not quite reining in her sassy tone.

“I’ll still be nine then,” Colby offered, a little disappointed.

“Don’t worry, you’re still older than Belle and Brock,” she said. “He’s five or six, how old are you again?” she asked her little cousin.

“Five, but I’m tall my mommy said.” I chuckled at his reply, like height was suddenly all important to the conversation.

“I’m four, but much older than Bethany,” Belle offered.

“Bethany?” Colby asked, mentally counting there were only three children present.

“She’s our baby sister,” Milly informed him. “She can’t walk much, she’s still learning, but she’s not one year old yet.”

“Not my baby sister,” Brock interjected. “I’m an only boy.”

“Me too,” Colby said, “but when my mom marries your … what are you, uncle?” I nodded.

“When my mom marries your uncle, I’ll be your big cousin,” he said, proudly.

“We’ll all be cousins,” Milly stated, proudly. “Will you bring Colby to Arizona, Uncle Sawyer?”

“Depends on how well you all behave for your mom,” I told Milly, knowing she’d always tried her best to behave when there was something she wanted. Billie glanced at me, raised an eyebrow, and smirked like she didn’t expect me to have the parenting skill with a kid like Milly, and looked away as if she might laugh at my response.

“Where did everyone go?” My sister Tammy’s voice could be heard farther into the house, and I spread my arms wide and began ushering the children into the great room where her voice had come from.

“We’re here, being mobbed by your unruly brood, as usual,” I stated, picking up Belle, who had attached herself to my right leg as soon as I’d stepped closer to her. Belle immediately wrapped her little arms around my neck, pecked me on the cheek, and glanced down at Colby. “This is my boyfriend,” she said, moving her hands to my face, this time kissing my nose.

“Nuh-huh, you’re too little and he’s my mom’s … nearly husband,” he replied, struggling for the correct title.

“That’s right, Colby I’m going to marry your mom, but Belle here is so beautiful she needs someone to be her boyfriend to keep all the little boys from wanting to marry her.”

“Okay, well, you’ve got your hands full with my mom, so I’ll do that … if you want, Belle?” he said, holding his hands out down by his sides, His little suggestion tightened my chest and made me feel proud he’d put himself up for the job to prevent me becoming distracted from his mom.

As I’d predicted, the kids loved Colby and it was interesting to see how socially confident he was with them. It was a side of her son Billie hadn’t seen much of. We chatted about this and she supposed she hadn’t paid as much attention to this aspect of his development as she could have, due to working for most of the week and only having him at home every other weekend.

“I feel I’ve been selfish wanting him to myself the weekends I’ve had him at home. This is what he needs. Look at his eyes, they’re sparkling with excitement at being around other children, and from the little I’ve seen, I can tell he’s a natural leader, not a follower as I’d always thought him to be.”

“Is that what you think you are? A follower?” I probed.

For a moment she considered my question. “Not a follower per se, but I was never one to prompt discussions or push my thoughts out there until everyone else had their say.”

“So you’re a theorist and reflector, that doesn’t make you either. It tells me when you act it’s with deliberation.”

“I wasn’t very deliberate when I agreed to marry you,” she replied, referring to how she’d dared me to ask her.

“Ah, you’re correct, that was very spontaneous … and hot. I think that was your gut forcing you to know what was right for you. I mean, I’ve said it before, look at me … you’d have been nuts to pass on all this hotness,” I replied playfully with a wink.

Billie grinned, her eyes turning a deeper shade of blue when she made a show of looking. “Damn, I would have,” she agreed with a chuckle. “I do find you very attractive,” she added.

---