Page 36 of Secret Squirrel

“Wouldn’t that make you more tired?”

She giggled. “You’d think so. Maybe it’s because Cotton takes such an active role with Ash. And Fox. You should see him with the little guy. He’ll make a great dad.”

My eyes bugged out at her assessment. Clearly, we saw Fox in different ways. “Yeah, if you want the kid to be a murdering psycho that likes Funyuns.”

“Hey, he’s been great. He’s actually with him right now.”

My eyes bugged out. “You brought your kid here?”

“Is that a problem?” she asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously at me.

“Not for me, but you do realize that everyone around here throws knives at each other. It might not be the safest place for a baby.”

She waved me off. “I’m not worried about it. It’s Fox.”

“Precisely my point.”

She sighed, grabbing my hand as she pulled me over to the elevator. “I’ll prove it to you.”

Against my better judgment, I placed my hand on the scanner and let us into the elevator. She hit the button for the fourth floor and grinned as we sunk down to the lower levels. The second the doors opened, I knew we were in trouble. All I had to do was follow the song down the hall to know there was most definitely no work happening.

Zoe grabbed my hand and pulled me to the side so Fox wouldn’t see us. Her kid couldn’t be more than six months old. That wasn’t nearly old enough to spend so much time with Fox.

“What is he singing?” I hissed, not recognizing the music.

“It’s fromMoana.”

I frowned. “That’s not a musical.”

“Well, not on Broadway, but when he started singing ‘Poor Jud Is Dead’, I had to redirect him.”

I quite agreed with her there. “So, he’s singing Disney songs now?”

He danced around the room as Ash stared up at him with wide eyes. It was kind of cute, in a really creepy way. I wasn’t used to seeing this side to Fox. Maybe he was finally coming around and being normal.

“Look how cute he is with Ash,” Zoe beamed.

Fox danced around the room, swinging Ash in the air as he sang. It was kind of cute. “So, you just brought him here and Fox took over.”

“Against Red’s every wish,” she grinned. “He’s still not happy Fox is Ash’s godfather.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have pegged him for the religious, morally conscious influence.”

“Hey, he was good to my momma in her final days. I won’t ever be able to repay him for what he gave her.”

I always wondered about that. “They didn’t…”

She slowly turned and looked at me. “Don’t even go there. That’s just disgusting.”

“Hey, it was weird. You have to admit that.”

“It’s not weird to me. I think he found a surrogate mom in her. It’s just sad she was taken so soon. I would have loved for her to meet her grandbaby. But it’s sort of like she’s living on through Fox.”

I definitely wasn’t seeing that, but I wouldn’t argue the point if it made her feel better.

“So, what’s really going on with you and the sexy mechanic?”

I groaned, letting my head rest against the wall. “Don’t ask.”

---