Page 14 of Just One Touch (The Carter Brothers 2)

19

Quinn

“Hey girl,” Summer comes to me with open arms, engulfing me in a hug. Rome is standing with Sawyer, as if he doesn’t want to let him go, but he knows that Summer and he need the time Mason and I are offering to give them.

“Hey, you sure you don’t mind watching him? He’s not been sleeping through the night this week,” Rome mutters.

“Not at all, come on in,” I tell Rome. He comes in with a diaper bag on his shoulder, Sawyer in one arm, and his pack n’ play in his other hand.

“Where’s my knucklehead brother, he didn’t leave you to fend for yourself, did he?”

“He’s right here, I was closing the curtains in our room for whenever Sawyer is ready for bed.” Mason is going to make an incredible father. Earlier this week he went on Amazon and ordered every safety device he could. Plug things for electrical outlets, cabinet locks, and even a first aid kit that included a thermometer. It was so endearing and thoughtful.

“Good luck, dude. He’s been up and down all hours of the night. I know I shouldn’t be thankful for a night off, but fuck. We need it,” he grumbles.

“Rome, watch your mouth!” Summer admonishes, but she’s smiling as she says it.

“We’ll be fine and if we’re not, you’re only a few doors down,” I say to Summer and Rome.

“Let me help you get this thing set up, it can be a pain to set up.” Mason goes back upstairs, and Rome follows after passing Sawyer off to Summer.

“He’s not usually this grumpy, but I think the lack of sleep is getting to him. I think a quiet night out and then a goodnight’s sleep will do us both wonders.”

“Is that what they call it now?” I’m trying to hold my laughter back, but I know there won’t be any sleeping for her and Rome tonight.

“Quinn!” The men come back downstairs, finding us on the couch in stitches laughing.

“Hey,” Mason crouches down beside me on the couch, kissing the underside of my jaw.

“Hi,” I reply breathlessly. He recovers faster than me and tells Summer and Rome, “Take your time coming over tomorrow. I think the weather is supposed to cool off tonight and Quinn talked about making a pot of chili. I’ll invite Heath and you guys can come over whenever you want, no rush.”

“Sounds good, you tell Mom?” Rome questions.

“Yeah, she said if she gets back in time she’ll be here,” Summer hands me Sawyer. I tickle him under the chin, he gives me a toothless grin, and my smile broadens.

“Okay, we’re off. Mr. Carter, you and I have a date,” Summer wiggles her eyebrows at Rome, and he chuckles before bringing his arm around her waist.

I walk over so they can say their goodbyes to Sawyer, they kiss and cuddle him, and then they’re off. Mason and I are left with Sawyer as we wave them off.

“I think we may be in for a wild night,” Mason says with a laugh.

“Looks like we won’t be getting sleep for all the wrong reasons,” I wink and walk back into the living room and sit on the couch.

“I think we’ll be okay,” Mason says as he turns on the monstrosity of a television that is now placed above the fireplace. He called me earlier this week and told me a delivery would be coming and that they’d be installing something. I laughed when I saw how big it was, it literally is massive in size.

“I think we will too,” I move so I’m closer to Mason, and we all sit on the couch watching what’s happening in the world of football.

20

Mason

Rome was right, Sawyer was up and down all night, only sleeping for two or three hours at a time. Quinn took it like a champ and even left the bedroom a couple of times to feed him on the couch. Once I realized what she was doing though, I got my ass in gear with either fixing a bottle or changing little man’s diaper. No way was I going to let her do everything. If she wasn’t going to get any sleep, neither was I.

“I’m not sure how Rome is functioning these days,” I say with a yawn. The sun is slowly creeping up in the skyline and this is when Sawyer is finally out, we ended up moving the pack n’ play downstairs after his last feeding, knowing we’d be starting our day.

“It can’t be easy, I know Summer is napping during the day when I go over there, she desperately needs it. Even with Sawyer slowly weaning off of her, she’s still exhausted. Hopefully this is just a short phase,” Quinn says going to the coffee maker, both of us were trying to be quiet, but after I dropped a spoon on the tile floor and Sawyer slept through it, all bets were off and we moved about as we usually would.

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