Coming Home

Chapter 19

“I’m pretty sure I can handle that,” I said with a smile, putting Asher back on the ground so he could play with his brother.

“So does this mean I get a hug?” he asked with an impish grin.

I rolled my eyes playfully and stepped forward into his open arms. I wrapped my arms around his waist as he did the same to me. I closed my eyes and rested my head against his chest, knowing that I was in deep trouble. No matter what happened, Cayden was slowly worming his way back into my heart and I really couldn’t handle that. After a moment, I stepped back, trying to ignore the sudden sense of loss.

“Do you need to go back today or can you stay?” Cayden asked after a moment.

A small smile started to grow on my face but I suppressed it. I could tell that Cayden was hoping that we could stay but he didn’t want me to see. Knowing him, he didn’t want my natural instinct to please people influence my decision. His attempts were in vain, however, since I still knew him like the back of my hand.

“Don’t you have class tomorrow?” I asked seeing as how it was a Sunday morning.

“I only have two classes on Mondays and they’ve both been cancelled,” he said.

“Then I guess we can stay. The boys seem to like it here and I know they like being around you,” I said, watching the boys in question running around the yard.

“Daddy, chase!” Cain yelled, running over to tug on Cayden’s arm.

“Yeah Daddy. Chase,” I teased, nodding my head towards our sons.

He rolled his eyes at me before running after the boys. They once again let out a shriek of happiness as they ran away. Looking at their faces, my heart soared. They looked so happy and I knew it was because of Cayden. They loved him; that was easy to see.

“Mommy, play with us!” Asher yelled as he ran past me.

“Yeah Mommy, play with us,” Cayden yelled from across the yard.

I laughed as I shook my head, running over to join them. We spent the rest of the morning playing with the boys. After a couple hours, all four of us were tired and the boys were starting to fall asleep. We put them in their beds and walked to the living room.

“So who’s going to the birthday party on Saturday?” Cayden asked, handing me a bottle of water that he had gotten from the kitchen.

“Pretty much the whole town will be there. I don’t care who comes as long as Cannon stays away. Something tells me he’ll try to come, though,” I answered, scowling as I thought of my oldest brother.

“Would you mind if Kasper came? He’s wanted to see everyone again,” Cayden asked, taking a drink from his own water bottle.

“Of course he can come. He seems like a nice guy and the twins seem to like him. He’s met everyone before?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah. He’s gone home with me on many weekends over the past three years,” Cayden said, nodding his head.

“Oh I remember now! Tegan mentioned something about him before and when I questioned her about who he was, she wouldn’t answer me,” I said with a laugh.

“That sounds like Tegan,” Cayden commented.

“So there’s still some stuff that needs to be sorted out for the party. Decorations, stuff like that. Would you mind helping me?” I asked, putting my half empty water bottle on the coffee table.

“Of course!” Cayden said eagerly.

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“People will be here soon! Is everything ready?” Rox yelled, running around the house.