Page 74 of Black Mark's Heart

"Want me to take her while you shower?" Darius asked.

"I have to express first and then get her dressed. Why don't you go and help Dad with Jacob and breakfast," I suggested. "No opening presents until I get down there." The tree looked small in comparison to the pile of presents around it. Darius and Marshall turned up with nearly a trailer full yesterday.

"I can do that," Darius complied and went for the door.

"Dare..." I hesitated. Darius turned back to me fully. "Would you like to stay again tonight?"

Darius's large smile grew impossibly bigger. "If you'd be happy with that, yes." His eyes were full of happiness as he walked out the door singing 'Deck the Halls.'

***

It was late Boxing Day evening. The kids were all asleep, except Willow, who was currently having her ten o'clock feed. The adults were all playing cards at the dining room table. Not the normal game of cards, this was Cards Against Humanity, a game Tabitha brought back from the States with her last month. I was sitting up while feeding, lounging in the reading chair I'd set up in the sun room that was off the dining and kitchen area.

"Well, I think us oldies will head to bed now," Marshall stood with Christine.

"What?" Alex said, confused, then suddenly jumped up. "Yeah, Tabitha and me too. Night, Mora."

"We might go to bed too." Rebecca stood.

"What? Why?" Timothy asked, confused. "Oh! Yeah, night guys."

I smirked, trying not to laugh. Willow was just about to fall asleep and if I laughed, it would startle her.

"Our family is about as subtle as a brick," Darius chuckled, coming and standing by me. He gently ran his fingers through the mop of black hair on Willow's head. "I should head off."

I looked out the window at the snow. "It's too dangerous to drive tonight. Stay."

"I grew up in the Highlands, Mora. Snow is second nature to me."

I gently removed Willow from the breast and burped her. She was half asleep. "Jacob used to fall off milk drunk and sleep for a good three to four hours at this age. Then he started crawling, and the only time he's still now is when he's asleep."

"He likes to find mischief, that's for sure." Darius squatted down. "He was trying to get into your music room today to get to your cello again. I brought him downstairs and let him play piano with me."

"I heard," I sighed. I stood up. "I need to put her to bed and pump out. Can you stay until I'm finished? I'd like to talk with you. Just us."

Darius swallowed nervously. He looked to the dining room table. "Those pikers dashed out without cleaning up. I'll neaten up down here while you do the mother thing."

I smiled and took Willow upstairs. When I came back down, Darius was standing looking out over the back yard. "It's a really nice place you've got here, Mora. It will be good for the kids to have such an open space to run around in," Darius mused as I walked up behind him.

"We can set up goals for you and Jacob to play football.” I pointed to the corner of the yard. “I want to put a big cubbyhouse over there and build a treehouse fort in that big oak, and I want to get a dog, a big one."

Darius's eyes lit up. "I like dogs."

"I think all kids should grow up with animals. It teaches them kindness and responsibility," I explained.

Darius watched me for a moment. He moved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "You wanted to talk?"

"You said Steffen has moved here with you?" I asked. Darius nodded. I exhaled. "I've already set Bill up in the guesthouse. I figured with him out there, he could be in here when I needed him to be, and not when I didn't want him around. That's his space out there and if he brings any girls home, it doesn't need to interrupt my life. I don't really want to lose the guest room, but Steffen should have a larger room and not be subjected to the noise by being upstairs near the playroom."

Darius's brows lifted with surprise. I swallowed. "Follow me."

I led Darius through the kitchen into the laundry. I opened the back door which led out to a covered and glassed-in walkway. It was cold compared to the house, but not as cold as it would have been if it had been exposed to the elements. I walked past the entrance to the garage and continued to the door at the end. I opened it and stepped inside, turning on the light.

Darius followed me in and took in the garage-sized room. It had a timber floor and a small bathroom in the corner. Just a shower, pedestal sink, and toilet.

"Do you think this would be enough for him?" I asked. "The previous owner was an artist and this was her studio. It's got underfloor heating, but we could renovate to give him a bigger space and bathroom if he needs it?"

Darius kept his back to me for several breaths. Eventually, he turned to face me. "It's bigger than the room he had at my place, Mora. I'm sure he'd be happy in here," he assured me. I smiled, relieved. "Mora..." Darius started seriously, and I panicked. Maybe he didn't want this anymore. "Just to be clear. You are asking me to move in with you, you're not trying to steal my butler, right?"

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