Page 19 of Family Forever
He stepped into the living room to find Luke sitting on Marissa’s lap.
She paused from reading and glanced up catching his gaze. “Morning.”
Her soft smile was like a ray of sunshine.
“Good morning.”
“Marissa’s reading to me,” Luke chimed as if that was fresh news to Dylan.
“I see that, buddy.”
“She’s going to make pancakes today,” his brother informed him.
“Nate and Braden have been chomping at the bit for breakfast but I told them we were going to wait for you and Cole, and all eat together. I thought you’d like that with Cole being here and all.”
It was so wonderful having her here to take care of these things so he didn’t have to, but he was already worrying about what he was going to do without her. When she went off to college in less than two months, he’d be back on his own again. What worried him even more was how poor Luke was going to fare without her. The boy had really taken to her and even started talking more since she’d come into their lives. He hoped that was a progression that would continue.
“I’ll hurry in the shower, I’d hate to see those poor things starve to death.”
Marissa laughed. “I’ll start them now. It will probably take me twenty minutes or so just to have enough to get you all started.”
By the time he got out of the shower he could smell the sausage and pancake aroma, and he could hear the loud banter of his brothers in the kitchen.
He entered the kitchen to find most of his brothers seated at the table waiting impatiently for their breakfast. Luke stood on a chair next to Marissa helping her flip pancakes on the long griddle spanning two burners on the stovetop. A large cast iron pan nearly overflowed with sausage links.
Dylan swung his gaze between all his brothers. “Really, out of all of you, only the five-year-old saw fit to help Marissa?”
“Hey, I offered, but she told me I’d probably just get in the way,” Cole quickly responded.
Marissa shot him a glance over her shoulder. “It’s true, I did tell him that, but only after he snuck two sausages out of the pan. I tried to keep them all away from the food to ensure there would be some left for you.”
Cole winked at her, and she smiled.
Dylan made a mental note to let his brother know Marissa wasoff limitsto him and his womanizing ways.
Marissa pulled a plate of pancakes from the oven and set them on the table along with a plate of sausages. In less than thirty seconds, the platters were empty and she refilled them. Dylan nearly chuckled out loud at the thought of how far she’d come since the first meal she prepared for him and the boys, which was hardly enough to feed half of them. She caught on quickly in the food preparation area, but she still had room for improvement in terms of being manipulated by the boys. They seemed to figure out quickly just how to use her to get what they wanted or get out of their household chores. He was ecstatic that she was good to them, but sometimes he thought she was too nice to them. She had a big heart and they knew it.
After breakfast, the boys jumped to their feet to help cleanup. Dylan supposed they were in a hurry to get to the beach and go tubing. It was already eighty degrees out, a great day to be on the water.
“I can take your truck today, right?” Cole stated, more than asked.
“Why can’t you take your car?”
“The six of us won’t fit in there.”
Dylan arched a brow. “Six?”
“Yeah, Marissa’s coming too.”
Shit.His brother was already moving in on her. “I need to see you in my office for a minute before you go.”
Cole glanced over at Marissa’s backside as she reached into the refrigerator, then looked at him and snickered. “You don’t have an office anymore.”
Why did his brother have to be such a pain at times? “Fine, my bedroom then.”
His brother followed him and took a seat on the chair next to his desk which was tucked tightly into the corner of the master bedroom.
“What’s up?” Cole asked.
