Page 108 of Love Me Forever

"Okay, let's get the show started," Luke said.

We all started to open the boxes, laying out the assembling instructions in front of each. I then carried the empty boxes outside the room so we had space to move.

"This is going to need a beer," Sam said, looking around. "It looks like it's all rocket science to me."

I stared at him. "You're a doctor."

"Yeah, I fix people. I don't build things. Luke, this is your area of expertise."

"I do the drawings. I don't do the actual building."

Some architect he is.

"How about those beers?" Tate asked.

I shook my head. "Changed my mind. Beer isn't going to help the situation. Come on. First, we set this up, and then we go have drinks. See it as a reward."

"My, my, you're taking a leaf out of Declan's book."

I gave my brother a lot of shit, but I actually looked up to him, though I did think he needed to take the stick out of his ass more often. Though I wasn't exactly sure why they were comparing me to him yet. I needed to get all the facts before I got offended. "Meaning?"

"First you put us to work, and then you serve drinks," Luke explained.

I nodded. "Yeah, I remember giving Declan shit about this, but now I realize he had a point. Just don't tell him that. He'll never let me forget it."

The whole process was grueling, and as things got more difficult, the swearing really ensued. Good thing the girls weren’t around.

Thirty minutes later, Dad and I had managed to set up one bed. Luke, Sam, and Tate were almost done with the second one.

"Two down, a million more to go," Sam said in jest.

Yeah, this was brutal.

"Do those two look identical to anyone?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," I said, "but the packages are different."

"Didn't Bonnie tell you the differences between the cribs?" Tate asked.

"She did, and while she pointed it all out, it made sense. But I can’t remember any of that right now.”

I shrugged. "Let's move on to the next one."

"Happy wife, happy life,” Dad said, then added, “A piece of advice, boys: when she's in the nesting period, say yes to everything."

I chuckled. "Any more wisdom to share?"

“About what?” Dad asked.

"How not to screw up fatherhood,” I replied.

My brothers' mouths were all gaping at me.Whatever.

Then Tate put down the hammer he'd picked up. "Listen, it's a learning-by-doing thing. You're going to screw up."

"That's reassuring," I said.

"That's the truth," he went on. "You'll make mistakes. That's normal. The important thing is to learn from them and to move on. When I got divorced, I felt like I'd already failed Paisley because I couldn't even give her a stable home. But things are never as bad as they seem in the beginning. You just need patience."

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