Page 76 of The MC's Little Brother

With Xander’s help,I set up candles in the dining room. Butch had already made the kids dinner while Skylar was getting ready, so we moved the group to the dining room and Gracie volunteered to be a waitress, bringing each of our plates out herself. Xander helped her by bringing the drinks and garlic bread. Malcolm was not to be trusted with transporting anything that could stain the carpet, so he entertained Ellie in her high chair until the food came out. Thankfully, Ryder was asleep already, so we weren’t juggling all five kids at once.

Mel came out last, a smile on her face when she saw the setup we made. “Oh, this is fancy. Is this a special occasion?”

“My birthday is in five months,” Gracie offered.

Mel shook her head. “That has candles, sure, but we’d need cake. Who has another idea?”

“It’s almost Christmas!” Malcolm shouted. Gracie hushed him with a stern frown.

“It’s too fancy to be loud!”

They started to bicker and neither of them heard Xander’s quiet suggestion. “Wacky Wednesday.”

I snorted, pointing at him. “I like his idea.”

Both kids swung around to look at him curiously. “What’d he say?”

“Wacky Wednesday,” Xander explained again. “Where you do weird stuff like this to break up a boring week.”

Malcolm studied him for a minute before straightening and nodding sharply. “I vote for that too.”

Mel snickered. “All in favor of Wacky Wednesdays?”

Hands shot into the air, including mine and Mel’s. Even Ellie joined in, though I doubted she understood what was happening. She was just happy to join in.

Xander looked shocked and pleased to have his idea supported so readily, and he smiled when I squeezed his shoulder. Unfortunately for him, speaking up made him the center of attention and both kids started peppering him with questions ranging from how old he was to what his favorite Disney movie was. When he admitted he’d never seen one, they were quick to shout out suggestions and after the meal was done, we moved to the living room to watch one.

“Dinner and a movie. Are you trying to spoil me?” Mel murmured, bumping her shoulder against mine.

Tucking her under my arm, I kissed her temple. “Yeah. Problem?”

“Only if you think I won’t spoil you back,” she countered with a grin.

Gracie popped up in front of us, her head tipped curiously. “Are you datin’ Aunty Mel-Mel?”

Mel groaned at the use of that nickname, and I had to fight off a grin when I nodded at Gracie. She wasn’t easily shocked, so she just shoved her glasses up her nose and studied us for a second before nodding.

“Okay. Can we have ice cream while we watch the movie?”

“That’s not healthy,” Malcolm said mockingly.

Those two butted heads a lot, like any other sibling pair, but they were a team when playing games with the crew. Malcolm took his job as protector seriously, watching over Gracie and Zoey together whenever they played games with the crew.

Mel clapped her hands to draw everyone’s attention and stop the fighting. “Uncle Matty has some rules before we hand out ice cream.”

I scowled at her as a slow grin crossed over Xander’s face. “Matty?”

I rolled my eyes. “Zoey can’t say Wraith. It sounds like waif. Mattias wasn’t much better.”

Xander grinned at me. “I’m so using that.”

He didn’t see it coming when I lunged for him and rubbed my knuckles over his head. I wasn’t rough enough to hurt him, and helaughed and squirmed until Malcolm came to his rescue and jumped off the couch onto my back. Xander helped him drag me to the ground, and he was grinning like a regular kid when the three of us eventually separated.

“Boys,” Gracie grouched. She was sitting on the couch next to Mel, who gave her a commiserating nod.

“Right?”

If she didn’t have Ellie cradled in her arms getting settled in for the night, I would’ve snatched her ankle and dragged her down to join us. The way her eyes danced told me she knew and enjoyed that I couldn’t do anything about it.

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