Page 65 of Forged

“You’re sure you’re alright with taking the kids and everything back upstairs?” he asked Bax, just in case.

Bax laughed as he lugged the other suitcase out of the car while Macy flopped her head against his shoulder, her hand in her mouth for comfort. “I am absolutely alright with it,” he said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Nick’s heart squeezed again, and he inched in to steal one more kiss before facing his mum.

“Thanks for being willing to take the kids and thank you for all you’ve done for me in the last few years, Mum,” he said. “I’m not going to stop you from seeing your grandkids or even from watching them now and then, if you want to, but they’re not going to live with you.”

“This is outrageous,” his mum said, so angry he was surprised she didn’t stomp her foot. “You cannot be serious about allowing them to continue to live here. Can’t you see how this place has infected you?”

“We’ll come back down for the rest of the boxes and things once I get the kids settled,” Nick went on, ignoring her.

“Er, we can take some of those.”

Nick twisted to see Blaine and Alfie coming out of the house, Blaine hurrying like there was a fire and Alfie striding with long, calm steps.

“We were just coming to find you anyhow,” Blaine said as he reached them. He zipped right past Nick to grab one of the boxes from the car. It was a heavy one. “Uff. Alfie, you get this one. It needs your muscles. I’ll just take the suitcases.”

“Alright,” Alfie said, nodding to Nick’s mum as he strolled past and continued unloading the car.

Nick’s mum shook with rage. “I mean it, Nicholas,” she said as if she’d been making threats throughout the whole exchange. “If you refuse to let the children come with me, then I won’t ever babysit for you again. You’ll have the full responsibility for the children on your own shoulders.”

Nick glanced across to Bax, who was trying to help his overexcited brother reach for some of the boxes that had been pushed deeper into the car. Bax straightened and looked at Nick like he was trying not to smile.

Nick turned back to his mum and said, “Something tells me I won’t have trouble finding help with the kids. I do want you to be a part of their lives, though. You’re their granny.”

“Get all of that out of my car,” his mum ignored him, circling around the back of the car to direct Blaine and Alfie as they emptied it. “I want all of it gone. Take the car seats, too. I offered you help, you turned it down, and now you’re on your own.”

Nick stood where he was, shaking his head in amazement as his mum made certain everything belonging to him and the kids was removed from her car. Once it was, before they could start taking things up to the flat, and without saying goodbye to him, his mum got in the car and sped away.

“Is she going to be alright?” Alfie asked as he stacked the cardboard boxes, then lifted the entire pile.

“Yeah,” Nick said with a sigh. “She just hates not having her own way.”

Bax huffed a laugh, but kept his comments to himself. Which was one of the reasons Nick loved him so much.

“Why were you looking for us?” Bax asked once they were all upstairs, as Blaine started unpacking the box of toys.

“Oh!” Blaine said, straightening suddenly, a soft toy elephant in his arms. “We’ve got a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” Nick asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Well, it’s more for Bax, but we are all hoping you’ll want to be a part of it, too,” Blaine explained.

Nick was worried and glanced to Bax to tell him as much.

“A surprise for me?” Bax asked.

“Yes,” Blaine said. “Come downstairs to the garden and see.”

Nick had no idea what kind of madness they were in for, especially if Blaine had planned it all. But his heart felt light after taking back his kids. He felt like he’d taken back his life and like he and Bax were finally on the right track to building a strong,lasting relationship. He could face whatever Blaine had come up with feeling the way he did.

He was surprised when they rounded the house only to find pretty much the entire Hawthorne family save Ryan, who was still in Milan, camped out on the lawn with a picnic set up around them. They were spread out over several blankets and Nick spotted a lot of the eggs and flowers and things they’d been planning to use for their Ostara celebration among them. Along with that, a small table had been set up to one side with all the ceremonial things that had been on Bax’s altar before the unicorn had fallen on it.

Nally saw them coming and jumped quickly to his feet, saying, “Oh! They’re here!”

The rest of the family dropped their conversations and finished swallowing the food and drink they’d been enjoying as they got to their feet, too.

“Surprise!” Robert called out.

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