Page 2 of Doctor Daddy

“Twenty-four? When the hell did that happen? Didn’t she just graduate high school?”

“Blink and they grow up when you aren’t paying attention. Don’t you dare say anything about you getting old. Trust me, with every birthday she has, I find myself another year older."

“You’re not old, cause that would mean I’m old, and I’m in my prime.”

“You think you’re some bachelor with all the time in the world to start a family while Peyton is upstairs contemplating his mid-life crisis. You know I caught him looking at sports cars online. I’m not ready to give up my minivan yet, and he’s shopping for red convertibles.”

I rubbed my jaw, scratching the bristly hair that I hadn’t bothered to shave off that morning.

“Well, he is old. You and me, we’re not old. I’m barely forty-five, And you’re still, what thirty-nine?” I teased; I knew we were the same age.

She shook her head. “I’ve decided once I hit forty, I’ll stop celebrating my birthday and start ageing backward. I’m currently thirty…” she scrunched her mouth to the side and looked up. “Five. I think. Or maybe I’m thirty-four. Maybe I’ll stop once I get back to twenty-five. It will be easier than having to constantly figure it out."

“Or you could age like the rest of us?”

“Where is the fun in that?” Something started buzzing. “Go upstairs and tell them dinner is ready, will ya?”

“Should I take a walker for the old man?”

“Shut up,” she laughed and shook her head. “You’re right though, he is old. Fifty-two next year.”

“Oh, no wonder he’s looking at red cars. It’s a requirement.”

I climbed the stairs two at a time and paused as the landing opened up to the bonus room. In all the years I’d been coming over to the DeBoise house, I had seen this exact scene so many times. Peyton was on the couch with a game controller in his hand, and the two kids sitting in front of him on the floor with their own controllers. Hell, many times I had been on that couch with him. But this time those kids weren’t kids. They were adults now.

I already hadn’t recognized Brooke, she was stunning. And the man next to her, well he had to be her brother, Rhys. If Karen had not said anything, I honestly would have thought they were a young couple Karen and Peyton had invited to dinner.

I watched the game for a minute. Someone was getting their ass kicked.

“Are you the one losing?” I asked.

Peyton turned a glance to me and returned his focus to the video game. “Hey, when did you get here? Come on in.”

“I’m the one getting my ass handed to me,” Brooke did not take her focus from the game, she shifted her entire body as she played as if she controlled her avatar on screen.

Rhys sat still, his eyes laser-focused on the big screen TV, his fingers flying over the controls. “You always get your ass handed to you. I don’t get why you insist on playing.”

“Because, at some point, I will defeat you. I will!”

“Well maybe lose a little faster, Karen told me to let you know that dinner is ready.”

Peyton tossed his game controller aside with a groan. “I’m out.”

“Give me a minute to win, and we’ll be right down,” Rhys said with all the confidence of someone who knew he was about to win.

I headed back down the stairs.

“I haven’t seen the kids in forever. Rhys has a beard, that’s not weird,” I said.

Peyton clapped me on the shoulder. “It’s good to have them home. But yeah, they’re all grown up. Karen keeps making noises about turning Rhys’s room into a craft haven. But I’m not so sure. I mean Brooke is back with us for a while until she figures out what she’s doing next.”

“Wash your hands,” Karen called from the dining room.

I stopped in the guest bathroom before joining them in the dining room.

“Brooke,” I started as she sat down across from me. “Your father was saying you’re trying to figure out what’s next? What have you been doing?”

Brooke blew out a big breath, making her hair fly away from her face. “I have officially graduated, so I couldn’t stay in Scotland. No more student visas. Now it’s about finding a job, that’s hopefully not waiting tables or fast food. I’ve already done both of those.”

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