Chase Our Forever (Sutten Mountain #3)

44. Dean

44

DEAN

“Daddy, where do babies come from?” Clara asks, nonchalantly stabbing a piece of steak and popping it into her mouth.

My eyes go wide as I try not to spit out the drink of water I’d just taken. The rest of my family smiles at Clara’s question as we enjoy a Saturday night dinner at my parents’ house. My dad coughs as Mom hits his back to help him clear his throat.

I set my cup down, my eyes moving to Liv’s for a moment, who sits directly across from me. Her lips turn up in a radiant grin at the topic Clara’s chosen to ask at family dinner. The question isn’t totally random since Finn and Ashton just announced they’re expecting their fourth child—a baby girl.

I’d suspected Ashton was pregnant just by how often Finn had been out of the office recently. Ashton’s always been really sick with her pregnancies in the beginning, and Finn helps out more with the boys when that happens.

“You going to answer your daughter?” Mom asks, attempting to hide her smile by wiping her face with a napkin.

“Yeah, Daddy. You going to answer me?”

My lips twitch with the hint of a smile despite not knowing how to answer her. I thought I’d have another year or two before she’d ever question where babies came from.

“I’ve heard some stories on how,” Max says to his brother.

Reed snorts from Liv’s side.

Ashton’s eyes go wide as she looks from Finn to her son. “And what have you heard exactly?” she asks, her voice a little tight and unsure.

Miles leans in and asks Hattie something. So many side conversations begin and smiles get wider just because of one simple question asked by my daughter.

“Daddy…” Clara pushes, her tone very dramatic. “Do they just pop up in bellies?”

Reed lets out another snort and shakes his head. “Not quite, Clare Bear,” he mutters.

I kick him underneath the table, making him yelp like a child.

I ignore my youngest brother’s complaints of pain and focus back on Clara. “You’re exactly right, sweetie. They just pop up into bellies.”

Clara narrows her eyes on me. “Livvy tells me lying is bad, Daddy.”

My eyes shoot to Liv. She throws her hands up defensively, that smile I’ve completely fallen for on her lips. “Lying is bad, Clare Bear. But your dad isn’t lying.”

Clara folds her arms over her chest and lets her eyes roam over the entire table. Everyone continues to laugh at my expense as she tries to figure out if we’re lying to her or not.

“Look what you started.” I jokingly roll my eyes at Finn.

He shrugs, looking over at Ashton and putting his hand over her stomach. “Sorry, Dean, that our excitement about our baby girl has caused you so much duress.”

I laugh. “You know I’m very excited about the baby you put in Ashton’s belly.”

Clara gasps. “So Uncle Finn put the baby in Aunt Ashton’s belly? How?”

“Oh my god,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose and settling back in my chair. I already know Clara’s not going to let this go.

“Oh my goodness ,” my mom corrects, pointing her fork at me.

“Sorry, Mom,” I mutter. I look over at Clara and find her still staring at me. Just by the look in her eyes, I can tell her little brain is working overtime trying to figure out the answer.

“Anyway!” Reed says, popping a piece of garlic bread in his mouth and looking over at Liv. “What are your plans tomorrow after we eat? I think it’s time we decide if you’re going to board or ski and get you fitted for your preference.”

I sit forward in my chair as a low growl comes from my chest. Liv and I haven’t fully talked about what happened between us this morning or defined anything yet. I want to, but we spent the morning and afternoon just enjoying being with one another. Defining the relationship and talking about how we explain things to Clara will happen; it just hasn’t yet. She told me all I needed to know the moment she reassured me she had no intentions of leaving Sutten.

I’m about to open my mouth to tell Reed to back off when Liv speaks before I can. “Actually, I have plans tomorrow evening.”

My eyes swing to hers. “You do?” I ask, my voice coming out a little gruff.

She bites her lip in an attempt to hide her smile. “I do.”

“And what are those exactly?” I press, fully aware everyone around the table is probably staring at us.

Liv doesn’t back down from my intense line of questioning. She pushes her shoulders back and stares right back at me with a slight smile on her face. “Well, that’s a surprise. For you. For your birthday, which you just so happened to forget to tell me about.”

Clara excitedly claps her hands next to me. “Yes! Daddy told me he’s going to be thirty,” she explains to Miles, who sits on her other side.

I laugh, remembering how I may have told a little white lie about how old I’ll be turning. She doesn’t need to know my thirtieth birthday was years ago. “I don’t need you to go get me a gift,” I tell Liv, trying not to notice the way Reed stares at me with raised eyebrows.

I don’t know if he’s pestering Liv about spending alone time together because he’s trying to get me to admit that I have feelings for her or because he’s actually interested in her. Either way, I’m going to have to find a way to tell him to back off.

She’s mine.

“It’s already planned. You can’t tell me no.”

Reed lets out a low whistle. He leans over to talk to Jace, who sits on his other side. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” he whispers, but it’s a terrible excuse of a whisper.

Jace laughs before taking a drink of his water. “Yes, Reed, I sure am.”

“Honey, would you pass me the salad?” Mom interrupts, the request probably louder than it should be.

Dad gives her a puzzled look. He looks at the salad bowl, which is closer to her than it is to him. “This one?”

Mom widens her eyes while keeping the smile plastered on her face. “Yes. That one.”

He hands it over to her without any further questions. I smile, going back to eating my dinner, knowing my mom was absolutely trying to help me out by changing the subject. It works—small little conversations break out around us.

I find Liv’s foot underneath the table. I run the tip of my boot along her foot, making sure I have her attention. Her eyes find mine.

“Why don’t Clara and I go with you to pick up my gift?” I ask, keeping my voice lower as my family continues to chat around us.

“Because I want it to be a surprise.” I love that her cheeks get a little pink as I play footsie with her. Seeing her react so quickly to the little things that I do drives me wild. I’m already ready to get her alone tonight and kiss her. She put on some sort of lip gloss before coming to dinner, and it’s been driving me wild all night. I can’t wait to find out what it tastes like.

“I promise not to look,” I counter. I don’t know why I’m so persistent about going with her. We don’t have to spend every moment together, but I’d like to. Work next week will be busy, and I selfishly want to soak in every moment I can with her this weekend.

“I’ll only be gone an hour or two. The weather’s supposed to be nice, just cold,” she adds at the end. Her words send a tinge of admiration through my heart. She’s so thoughtful, thinking I’m scared of her driving alone. We’re supposed to get snow, but not until late tomorrow night. She should be perfectly safe driving to wherever she needs to for my gift. So it’s not that I’m scared of her driving—although I’d prefer to be the one doing it—it really just comes down to me wanting to be with her.

Now that I’ve accepted there’s no way I can fight falling for her any longer, I want to spend as much time with her as possible. I pull my eyes away from her long enough to see that my family aims curious looks in our direction.

I sigh, sitting back in my chair. I still want to try and convince her to just let me and Clara tag along, but I’ll try again later. Right now, my family’s being nosy, and I’ve probably already given them enough indication that something’s up between me and her.

“We can talk more about this later.”