Page 16 of Embattled Return

John chuckled, loving the bright shine of her eyes. It made the disappointment he’d been fighting with the Logan search fade away. They had a few precious hours to savor together before they had to be at the dinner.

The boys were overjoyed, of course, to see their mother. Wyatt bounced up and down in her arms, but Caden curled up against her and pressed his face into her neck. Caden had always preferred his mother’s arms, and there were no substitutions.

John wondered what would happen if they added another baby to the mix. Somebody would be mad. Displaced.

They packed the boys into the truck and headed for home. Shannon was twisted around in the seat as far as her seatbelt would allow talking to the boys and listening to their gibberish. It was adorable. John could decipher a fraction of what they were saying. Shannon seemed to be able to understand even the smallest of sounds. He knew she was guessing as much as he was, she just made it more believable.

When they got home, Shannon unloaded the boys to the driveway, then reached into the back for her suitcase. Caden stuck close to his mother and tried to help her with the bag. He was more of a hindrance than a help, of course, but Shannon still let him. John guided Wyatt ahead of him and unlocked the front door, shooing the boy in before he rolled into the room. They left the door open for Shannon and Caden to bring her bag in.

Carmella met them at the door, the golden flag of her tail waving. She gave Wyatt a long lick up the cheek, sending him into giggles. When Shannon walked in the door, Carmella went crazy. It had been just as long for the dog as it had been the family.

“I love all the love,” Shannon laughed, ruffling the dog’s fur. Then she gave John a critical look. “Or did you not feed her while I was gone?”

John made a face at her. “Do you seriously think I would forget to feed my own dog?”

There was no way in hell he was going to admit that he had, in fact, forgotten. There’d been food in her bowl the first night, but the second night, it had only been when she’d whined that he’d remembered to refill her bowl. He’d done the cats, then, as well.

“When are these kids going to be old enough to pull their own weight?” John huffed, removing Wyatt’s coat. “Is it time to assign them chores, yet?”

Shannon laughed, as he’d wanted her to do. “I’d be happy if they’d just learn to go to the bathroom on their own. We’ll have plenty of time to give them chores.”

Shannon moved through the house, kicking off her high-heeled boots and slipping into a pair of house tennis shoes. The dog and the kids trailed along in her wake, waiting for some scrap of attention. The Pied Piper of the house who doled out loves.

John had a feeling he wouldn’t be getting any personal attention in the near future. And he was pretty much okay with that, although his body was clamoring for some kind of touch. Yes, he’d been touching her ever since they picked her up at the airport, but they had to keep it PG at the office. It was a standing rule. There had been a few close calls in the break room and shower over the past few years. So, Duncan had put out a memo limiting PDA. John, since he was a partner, had been bending that rule a little bit, he admitted, but he and Shannon had never been caughtin flagrante delicto.

Wyatt brought him one of his favorite trucks. John played with him for a little while and listened to Wyatt’s chatter. The kid could spin a story, even if John only understood a little bit. It was fascinating listening to the rise and fall of the natural cadence of his words.

“Hungry, Daddy.”

Wyatt held his arms up to John. He gathered the boy against him and rolled into the kitchen. Caden must’ve been hungry too, because Shannon had just given him small cup of goldfish crackers. She handed a second cup to Wyatt, and the boys sat on the floor together, munching and playing.

John caught Shannon’s gaze. There was a soft, hazy expression on her face that was precious to him. It meant she felt like her heart was overflowing with love, and her home was complete. He loved making her feel that way.

And she made him feel that way as well. Yeah, he liked to be the bad ass in the group, but the past few years had really softened his heart. John knew that if Shannon wanted another baby, he doubted he could tell her no. He didn’t necessarily agree with the timing, but he would go with what her heart wanted.

Besides, anything that would get him more sex would be a good thing.

The gods seemed to understand his need because after the boys ate some snacks, they started to get a little drowsy. Shannon slid a look his way, her eyes lighting with an internal fire. “I might have a chance to take a shower and get rid of the travel grunge,” she murmured.

“And I might have a chance to make you retake your shower,” John said, grinning.

Shannon grinned as well, and even more important, she didn’t say no. In fact, she quirked one of her brows at him and gave him a sexy little hip wiggle.

John settled onto the couch with the boys and turned on their favorite YouTube kid. Who could have imagined the audience there would be for farm toys breaking down in mud, and phantom hands coming in from off-camera to fix the equipment and get it moving again? The kids could watch hours of this ridiculousness.

Within just a few minutes of settling down to watch the endless videos, both boys were nodding off. John knew that this nap would be a fairly short one, though. Eventually they would wake up and be ready to go again. Trying to plan ahead, he tucked light blankets around each of them and put a toy in front of them. Wyatt got the lion toy. When they woke up they usually did so slowly, playing for a little while before they rolled off the couch and called for them.

One afternoon when he and Shannon had been stealing some time alone, they realized that one of the toys, a hard, plastic lion with four piano keys, always went through the same series of songs when a certain button was pushed. The boys loved the lion, though the songs could drive he and Shannon to the loony bin. It really wasn’t the best sounding machine, tinny and a little off-key, but the kids loved it, Wyatt especially. When they woke from sleep the boys always pressed the button to send it into the musical loop.

It ended up being a great alarm clock for John and Shannon. Or maybe, timer. The loop gave them enough time to get up and take care of their own morning business before they had to go care for the boys. Or, it gave them a warning when they were making love. When they heard the songs start, they knew they had a finite amount of time to get done. Pop Goes The Weasel was the last song on the loop.

Of course. Seemed appropriate.

John chortled as he wondered what the guys at work would think if they knew he made love to Old McDonald, The Wheels on the Bus, and Pop Goes the Weasel.

By the time he made it into the bedroom, Shannon was already stretched out on the bed, towel barely covering her. After having the kids, her breasts had settled into a fullness they hadn’t had before. She worried about the stretch marks, or the slight sag, but John loved every inch of her. Her breasts could make him harden in seconds. And she knew that. It was why she was posed like this, just for him.

“You know it’s harder than hell to get into the bed with a hard-on,” he grumbled, setting his brakes and shifting himself up onto the mattress. Shannon helped him undress, sliding the jeans down his legs and the socks off his feet. John had long ago stopped arguing with her about the help, because it actually helped them both out. If he could be making love five minutes sooner, hell yes, he would let her strip off whatever she wanted to.

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