Page 44 of Revived Noble
“Speaking of,” she sighs, nuzzling Rory, finding and pointing to the cause of the smell.
Yep, definitelymyson.
“Seems like Aiden is the only one who isn’t exhausted,” Rory remarks, following me over to what I assume is a makeshift playpen. Only in this case, it’s a handful of plush couch cushions in a semicircle from the wall.
Her grin is about as demur as my grimace. This one is out of humor and not stench.
“I mean, at least they tried.” Rory says, attempting to go to bat for them.
They did something alright.
Lifting, I raise him up, freeing him from his pillowed prison. “You’ve outdone yourself,” I coo, reaching back down to pick up the toy rabbit Aiden dropped.
“Wow…he sure has…” Abram says, stepping into the room.
From the way his voice stilts higher and he peers around the area with the same fascination I had when we first showed, I assume he didn’t know about this either.
“Knuckles,” Rory says.
Excitedly, Aiden agrees, fist-bumping her back, immune to all the chaos he’s created.
The boys are still unaware that we’re back. They are more exhausted than the time when I was a kid and got caught petting a lampshade.
To be fair, I’d just come back from a week of surf camp. I thought it was my cat and the thingwascovered in fluffed feathers.
Too much coastal sun and my mother’s avant-garde taste were not a good combination…for anyone…
“I came in after you left and asked Finn if he needed help and he said he had it,” Abram starts with a bemused expression. “Guess I shouldn’t have gone back to the office,” he muses, not upset, just caught off guard like the rest of us.
“I mean, it’s not that bad,” Rory says, choosing to defend them when she shouldn’t. Anyone with eyes can see the place is a disaster.
“Should I alert the staff or let the guys clean up after their own mess?” Abram ponders aloud.
My eyes tilt toward Rory and she meets mine with vigor at Abram’s comment. I know both of us have similar ideas as soon as her mouth warps into a mischievous grin.
“Uh-oh,” Abram groans, somehow sensing what we’ve already planned. Silently and almost hesitantly, he nods, asking to take Aiden from my grasp.
Reaching, Aiden’s hands stretch, all too eager to go with his grandfather. He nearly dives from my hold. He’s so enthusiastic that I must plant my feet to keep from falling forward.
Abram smiles, approving of his reaction. “Come to grandpa, we have some catching up to do.”
Something about the way Finn’s father says this stalls some of the throbbing in my chest. He doesn’t sound at all offended that I kept his grandson from getting to know him. Not outraged or hurt like his son.
It’s…refreshing. For once, it’s nice not to have the pressure of feeling hated by everyone in the room.
“You girls have fun,” he notes, dismissing us and waving Aiden’s hand in goodbye.
The sight between those two was so pure it could’ve thawed even the coldest of hearts, right from the core. Instantly, they’ve become best buds.
“So, what are we thinking?” Rory says, rubbing her hands together after they’ve left.
I mull it over a bit. “I’m thinking…it’s mealtime.”
“Mealtime?” The excitement in Rory’s eyes dies some, but she recovers quickly, catching on.
“You know where the frying pans are?”
She nods, her smile as cutthroat as it is sly.