Page 42 of Under the Waves
I frowned. “Lucas, what did we say about lying?”
“That it is bad.” Logan chipped, but the words came out muffled with a rim of chocolate coating his mouth. He looked so fricken cute.
I smiled at Logan and nodded. “Exactly.”
“But no one tells dad off for lying. Or mom. He hits when we tell the truth, and he hits when we lie so what’s the point?”
Logan’s eyes immediately turned to mine coated in worry.
“He isn’t here now, okay? Inside Uncle Jak’s castle is safe, remember? No monsters can get within these walls. You helped us on that first day to follow the gate around the house and make sure that there were no broken parts. We checked under every bed together to make sure there was no way they could hide their asses under there. And we had that pillow fight too, and you two superheroes completely wrecked me and Uncle Jak. So, when you’re here, you don’t have to worry. And anyway, who are the strongest soldiers?”
“WE ARE!” Logan cheered, standing up at lightning speed. His drink fell from his hands and splattered all down his clothes and began soaking into the carpet. Lucas instantly put himself between me and Logan, his eyes sharp and narrowed at me. It made my fucking heart break that he thought I would hurt them.
“Oops,” Logan whispered, staring down at the mess on his clothes.
“Hey, that’s okay, soldier. We’re going to have to put Captain America to bed now in the washing machine. He and his friends have a mission in an underwater base that has been taken over by the bad guys!”
Lucas’s frame relaxed slightly at my words but when I asked if I could have the costume, he nodded and stepped besides his brother. I smiled at him, thanking him with a nod. I undid the velcro at the back of the suit and tugged it off Logan, replacing it with his clothes from before.
“Do you want to help Captain America with the mission soldiers?”
Logan nodded and padded off into the kitchen. I turned my gaze to Lucas. “Are you okay, Lucs?”
He hesitated a minute before nodding.
“Thank you,” he whispered so quietly I almost missed it before following his brother into the kitchen. I followed behind them and lifted them both up onto the counter. Lia and Hudson were sat on the couch. I couldn’t see what they were watching from here but from the intro alone, I knew it was One Tree Hill.
“Right soldiers, who wants to do the honors?”
Logan shot his hand up into the air and I lifted him down so he could open the washing machine. He threw the costume into it and slammed the door. I gave him a high-five after.
“Well done, buddy,” I cheered as I lifted him back up next to his brother. I threw in all the other washing and detergents before pressing which cycle I wanted, letting it start.
Before I could say anything more, music from the beauty and the beast prologue started. I looked over to the stairs, the twins copying my movement, to see Belle walk down them in her yellow sparkly dress from the movie. I think it was Xander who got it for her for Christmas last year. He, like all of us, was wrapped around her tiny little finger.
I whistled and Lia beamed at her sister. The twins giggled and clapped, and I think I heard Hudson coo too.
What happened next had me in tears. No one other than Jakson Calloway himself walked out the door and held his hand for her to take. He guided Belle into the living room, and I picked up the twins to go and sit on the couch with Lia. Jaksongave me his phone, which was open on the soundtrack playlist downloaded on his Spotify account. I nodded, accepting my job as the music guy and thankfully got all my cues right thanks to Sonny shooting me a death glare.
For the next two hours, we all watched beauty and the beast (Belle and Jakson’s version). Belle was such a little actress, singing all the songs word for word. I caught Lia humming along too. The twins loved laughing at Jakson, who made the beast role more comedic than scary, doing the classic ‘he’s behind you’ line. After they took their final bows, we all clapped and serenaded them in cheers. I stood up and handed Sonny back his phone.
“You are never living that down,” I laughed.
“You bring this up to anyone and I’ll tell them about the Hercules play you did.”
I shut my lips immediately. “Touche, dude.”
He flashed me a grin before collapsing down on the couch next to Lia. He attempted to pull her into his lap, but she pushed her hands against his chest, muttering about how all the hair from the costume would get over her clothes.
Belle watched her sister carefully. That was probably the most normal she’d ever seen a relationship be, and to see her own sister being the one in it? There was an unreadable expression on her face as she sat down next to me, throwing her legs over my lap.
“Hey! I don’t want your stinky feet,” I huffed, pretending to push them off me.
She wiggled her toes over my face, so I grabbed them and tickled them.
“Stop!” she giggled, squirming in her seat. “Uncle Jak tell him to stop tickling my feet!”
Jakson looked over at her and burst into laughter. “You got a foot fetish now, Cap?”