Kara’s heart melted because Timmy looked so sad. She bent over and kissed the top of his head. He’d been raised in an environment where he’d constantly heard that word and probably many other four letter words that were much worse. It wasn’t his fault. “It’s all right, sweetheart. But it is a bad word, and we don’t want you to say them or for Ginny to pick them up.”
“I won’t say it again. I promise.”
Kara beamed at him. “I know you won’t.”
“Tim,” Ginny squealed excitedly, obviously happy to see him.
Kara watched as Timmy went to Ginny and patiently helped her eat her cheerios.
“How come she doesn’t use a spoon?” he asked curiously.
Kara smiled at him. “She isn’t quite grown up enough to coordinate a spoon yet, but she will eventually.”
“I’ll teach her someday,” Timmy offered.
Kara looked at her husband. Her heart clenched and they exchanged a melancholy glance. Would Timmy still be here to teach Ginny anything? She felt teary-eyed at the thought that he wouldn’t. He was so good with their daughter, and Kara already loved the little boy. She was pretty certain Simon was getting attached to him, too.
All four of them together in one room, they just seemed to…fit. They felt like a…family.
Simon grabbed Timmy around the waist and sat him down at the table, putting his breakfast in front of him. Kara watched as Simon mentally calculated the carbs in the food, and got the appropriate amount of insulin for Timmy’s meal. Her husband did it with such ease and such a lack of fuss that it had become part of their morning routine. Amazingly, he didn’t shy away from what the diabetic child needed, even though it would have been far easier to leave it for her since she was a nurse. Nope. Not Simon. He attacked everything with gusto, learning everything he needed to know from books and from Timmy’s team of medical consultants, which he himself had chosen. Her hubby already handled everything like a seasoned professional.
Kara went over to Ginny, her bare feet crunching down on fallen Cheerios. Her daughter was a complete mess, banana smeared all over her cherubic face. She grinned up at her mother with an innocent look in her dark brown eyes.
She looks so much like Simon.
Ginny had been born with blue eyes and dark hair, but her eyes had started turning brown months ago, and her resemblance to Simon had become even more defined. Her daughter had a generally sunny disposition, but when she got obstinate, Kara swore that Ginny had inherited every one of Simon’s ornery, stubborn expressions.
“You’re going to be a handful, baby girl, if you get as stubborn as your daddy,” Kara said adoringly as she scooped her messy child out of the high chair to clean her up.
“I heard that,” Simon called from the dining room table. “I’m not stubborn,” he refuted in an obstinate voice.
Kara sniggered as she cleaned up her daughter and then the mess she’d made of her breakfast, while Ginny toddled over to see what her daddy and Timmy were doing. Simon was pigheaded, but he was also heartbreakingly sweet, and his gruff, bossy demeanor all revolved around protecting the people he loved.
It was funny now to think back to the days when he’d intimidated the bejesus out of her.
Grabbing her bowl of cereal and her coffee, she joined her family at the table. Finished with his breakfast, Timmy had Ginny cuddled on his lap and he was listening to her babble as though he understood every word she said.
Simon had his tablet on the table, flipping through some documents and finishing off his coffee. He was dressed casually, looking damn handsome in jeans and a forest green, long-sleeved, button-down shirt. He was expecting Sam, Max, Kade, and Travis any moment now, the four of them getting together to discuss the programs and investments for their charity for abused women. All four billionaires were heavy donors to the cause, and Kade and Travis wanted to keep everyone involved and informed. The charity had been the brainchild of the Harrison brothers because Kade’s wife, Asha, had been badly abused, but Sam and Simon raised and donated money, too, and were one hundred percent supportive.
Kara was happy. The men were all bringing their wives and children, so she’d be together again with Maddie, Mia, Asha, and Ally. Their hectic lives made it pretty difficult for them to meet up as often as they liked.
She heard her cell phone ringing a few minutes later, and she jumped up and scrambled to the kitchen, thinking it might be someone who was going to be late dropping by.
It wasn’t. And the news that the unwelcome caller relayed was information Kara definitely didn’t want to hear.
Hanging up the phone, she walked back toward the kitchen, having stepped into the living room so Timmy wouldn’t overhear her conversation. Her husband was just greeting all four men and their families in the hall right inside the door. “Simon. We have a problem,” Kara told him loudly enough so he could hear her over the greeting taking place in the hallway.
His dark gaze landed on her with concern. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“That was the Department of Children and Families. They found a distant relative of Timmy’s—somebody who might want to take him in.” Kara’s voice was anxious and tremulous, her knees shaking as she filled him in on the phone call.
“Bullshit,” Simon exploded. “This apparent distant uncle never gave a shit about Tim before. I doubt they’ve ever met.”
“They haven’t,” Kara admitted. “And I don’t think they’re going to turn him over anytime soon because this person has had some problems with the law in the past. It was the only family of Timmy’s that they were able to find.”
“Fuck. Tim is not going away with a goddamn criminal he doesn’t know. The kid has been through hell. They’ll have to go through me to get to him.” Simon’s voice was protective and rough, his hands clenching at his sides.
“They’ll have to go through me, too,” Sam offered his support.
“You can add my name to that list,” Kade stepped forward.
“And mine,” was the short, sharp response from Travis.
“I’m in,” Max Hamilton said angrily.
“I’ll call right now to have the papers drawn up for the bastard to sign.” Sam handed Noah over to Asha, who was holding her arms out for her nephew since Maddie was already holding Brianna. Sam pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and stepped outside the door to talk.
Despite her anxiety, Kara’s heart melted as she saw all five powerful men ready to do whatever it took to make sure one small child wasn’t mistreated. “How will Sam know who the relative is?” Kara queried softly, laying a hand on Simon’s muscular forearm.