#Fam: A Ten Years Later Novella (Hashtag #9)

Chapter 2

2

Romeo

The scent of bacon saturated the kitchen, mingling with the slightly nutty brown butter aroma from the pile of pancakes Rimmel was making at the stove.

“That should be enough to feed all of you,” she said, sliding the last perfectly round, golden, and fluffy concoction onto a massive white platter. Over the years, she’d become an expert at making them, and I’d argue to the grave that no one made a pancake better than my wife.

“Will you take that to the table for me?” she asked, turning toward me, an oversized spatula in her hand, flour in her hair, and batter smeared on her glasses.

Yeah, my girl was hella good at making up a pancake, but she was still a hot mess. Chuckling, I palmed her waist, rubbing where it dipped in at the side. Her bare toes bumped my feet when I moved closer, and she tipped her chin up to look at me.

Tugging the glasses off her face, I mused, “How do you even see out of these smudged things?”

“Mostly, I squint.” She informed me, demonstrating exactly how she did so by scrunching up her nose and narrowing her brown eyes. “Plus, I could probably make pancakes in my sleep at this point.”

“Oh hells no!” Braeden erupted, coming into the kitchen behind us. “Don’t even think about it, tutor girl. You’ll burn the place down.”

Rim snorted, and I suppressed a smile. “Not even I’m that clumsy, Braeden James.”

Braeden stopped halfway to the coffee maker. “Tell her, Rome.”

“You’re on your own, man,” I said, using the hem of my shirt to clean sticky pancake batter off her lenses.

A dark brow arched halfway up his forehead. “Need I remind you of just last month when you sat down on the bench in the hallway to put on your shoes and the entire thing flipped on its side, leaving you covered in bruises for a week?”

I grimaced, recalling that particular phone call. I’d been out of town for training, and Blue called to tell me his mother was holding ice on her hip.

“Or that time you got lost on a mountain at Bearpaw and broke your ankle.” Braeden went on. “Or last year when you tripped over the dog and?—”

Rimmel groaned. “You made your point.”

“I love ya, sis, but you’re a walking disaster,” Braeden said, coming over to ruffle her wild mane of hair.

A cloud of flour puffed out around his hand, and he coughed. “I’m gonna suffocate!”

Rimmel smacked him in the stomach with the spatula, and bits of pancake batter smeared his T-shirt. He grabbed the utensil and tossed it into the sink. “You better get your girl, Rome.”

“Carry those into the dining room,” Rimmel ordered, and he grabbed the large platter obediently.

A dark-headed streak shot into the room between us, a hand reaching up to steal a pancake off the plate. “Thanks, Dad!” Jax hollered as he darted for the door.

“Go sit at the table,” Rimmel called after him.

“He’s a growing boy. He’s hungry.” Braeden defended.

“Take that too,” Rimmel commanded, pointing at the platter of bacon.

“Am I your brother or your servant?” he muttered.

“BBFL,” Rimmel countered.

Yep. They still said that.

“You’re lucky I love ya.”

Braeden carried the food into the adjoining dining room, and I slid the clean glasses onto Rimmel’s face.

“I love you most,” I told her, leaning down to kiss her nose.

Stretching up on her toes, she draped her arms over my shoulders and pecked my lips.

The back door burst open, and the sound of feet slapping the floor stole our attention. “Uncle Romeo!”

I turned just in time to catch Andi who’d launched herself at me without any warning. A few steps behind, Drew made a pained sound, but I caught her midair and lifted her over my head. She squealed just like my daughter had earlier that morning.

Her pin-straight black hair waved around her face as she laughed. “How’d you get in here?” I asked, then announced over my shoulder, “Rim, we have an intruder!”

Andi laughed. “I live here!”

I shook my head. “Nope. The girl who lives here is nothing but a little peanut. You’re too big to be her.”

“It’s me, Uncle Romeo! I got big while you were gone.”

I didn’t bother telling her I’d only been gone two weeks. To her, it probably felt like longer. Hell, sometimes it felt like years to me. Holding her out, I squinted at her. “Andi, is that you?”

She laughed and nodded.

I pulled her in and kissed her cheek. “What have your daddies been feeding you?”

“French fries!”

I laughed.

“Andi!” London called, racing in from the other room, three dogs on her trail. “Come sit by me.”

Andi wiggled, and I put her down. The girls raced off.

“Be careful,” Trent called after them as they raced by. Beside him, Drew shook his head.

“I’ll watch her,” Travis said, appearing from behind Trent, his dark eyes already tracking where the girls had gone.

“Hey, Trav,” I said, holding out my fist.

Travis smashed his against it. “Hi, Uncle Romeo.”

“You ready for the game later?”

One thing that sucked most about football season was being gone for the boys’ games. Blue, Jax, Travis, and Asher all played football. We went to as many games and practices as we could, but me and B missed more than we wanted. It was one of the reasons we were home this weekend. It was a short trip, but we weren’t playing because we’d just had a Thursday game. The boys’ games got rained out yesterday, so they were happening today, which meant we could watch them.

Travis nodded.

“Come on. Let’s go eat before it gets cold,” Rimmel said, shooing us all toward the dining room.

“Did you get into a fight with a bag of flour, sis?” Trent mused.

“You try cooking for seven children,” Rimmel retorted.

“Eleven, if you ask me,” Ivy mused, strolling past the island to grab a pitcher of orange juice from the fridge.

Her blond hair hung past her shoulders in loose waves, and even though it was early, she was fashionably dressed in loose green-and-pink striped pants and a matching striped sweater. Overtop, she layered several golden necklaces, and her nails were bright pink. Beneath the wide hem of the pants, a pair of brown slippers stuck out.

Rimmel laughed. “That’s the truth.” She agreed and grabbed a basket of muffins, tucking them into her chest.

The girls went ahead, leaving me, Trent, and Drew staring at each other.

“Did they just call us children?” Drew mused.

“They’re the ones that need a babysitter,” Trent quipped as we moved into the full dining room.

All seven kids were already around the large wooden table. There were dogs beneath the large wooden surface and a couple squished between the chairs as they waited patiently for whatever food the kids might drop.

London leaned across the table and snatched a piece of bacon, but instead of eating it, she handed it off to Ralph who was right there waiting.

“I saw that,” I told her.

“But, Daddy, he’s hungry,” she said, batting those baby blues at me.

Rimmel told me all the time that my eyes had an effect, but I never understood until my daughter used them against me.

I leaned over her, bracing my arm on the back of her chair. “I’m hungry too.”

She laughed, crawling over the table again to grab another piece and push it into my open mouth.

“Mmm,” I said, chewing loudly. “Thanks, strawberry,” I said, smacking a greasy kiss to her cheek.

“Eww, Daddy!”

“Sit by me, Dad!” Ash called, patting an empty chair beside him. I slid into it as everyone descended on the massive spread of food the girls put out.

I mostly stuck to eggs with bacon and some fruit but did indulge in one of my wife’s pancakes with some maple syrup.

“You boys ready for the game later?” I asked.

Asher nodded enthusiastically. “Blue is gonna start today.”

Surprised, I glanced at my oldest son. “You’re starting today?”

He nodded.

A grin cracked my face, and I abandoned my food to lean around Ash and hug my son. “That’s awesome, Blue-Jay. You worked hard. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

He didn’t seem nearly as excited as I expected, and I pulled back a little to look at him. “Are you nervous?”

He shrugged.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked gently.

“I was going to.”

I glanced at Rim, and she gave me a curious look, frowning slightly. I turned back to our son. “We can go outside after breakfast and throw the ball around for a while if you want. Warm up your arm.”

“Can I come too?” Asher asked.

“Of course,” I answered.

“Me too,” Jax put in.

“Me too!” Andi yelled.

“You’re too little to play football with these guys,” Travis told her.

“Am not!”

“You’ll get squished.”

“Daddy,” Andi wailed.

“I’m sure Trav can throw the ball with you for a little while,” Trent reasoned, glancing at Travis.

Travis sighed. “Fine.”

“How about it, son? Want to toss the ball?” I asked Blue.

“Sure,” he replied and stuffed a big bite of pancakes between his lips.

I let him eat while everyone chattered around us, but I couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t quite right.