Mannies Incorporated by Michael, Sean (phonics books .TXT) 📗

man turned and headed back inside.

Joey came in through the back gate. "Hey."

"Hey." He found Joey and Travis a smile.

Joey came over and knelt between his legs, arms wrapping around him and holding on

"I'm sorry, guys."

Joey whimpered and pressed closer.

Travis' hand landed on his shoulder. "You haven't done anything wrong, Slayde."

"I feel like I have."

"Falling in love is not something wrong."

Joey kissed his temple. "It'll be okay, honey. It will."

He knew that wasn't true, but he took it.

"It will," Joey insisted.

Travis grinned, gave him a wink. "You know our Joey. If he says it will, then it will."

"I do. I'm going to make pancakes. Drake's in the shower." And sure as anything, Christian would hear the water running and wake up.

"Or you could go shower with him while Travis and I do the pancakes."

"No, no. The kids will be up soon." They'd never done that. They probably never would.

"Well, we can help with the kids, anyway." Joey dropped a kiss to the top of his head. "Come on. No moping. Those kids of yours can tell."

"I know. I know. Christian's first day of school is soon. Can you believe it?"

"No, I cannot. Honey, we are not old enough for that to be true!"

"No shit." He kissed Joey playfully, then got another hard hug from Travis. "How was the hotel?"

"It was fine. No hot tubs, though, which was a shame."

They went into the kitchen, Joey starting to look in every cupboard.

"What are you searching for?" He grabbed the pancake mix, the milk, and the eggs.

"I figured I could set the table."

"Absolutely."

"Good morning!" Christian came in, all smiles.

"Well, good morning!" Joey laughed and gave Christian a big hug. "You can get up all by yourself now."

"I'm big." Christian grinned. "Uncle Drake buyed me a Spiderman lunchbox for school."

"Bought," he corrected absently as Joey said, "Bought me a Spiderman lunchbox."

Christian rolled his eyes, the look so much like Drake it hurt. "Bought me a Spiderman lunchbox."

"Very nice." Travis nodded. "Are your sisters awake?"

"The baby's making a little noise. Maggie's sleeping."

"The baby's awake," said Drake, coming in with Jenny on one hip.

"Oh, good morning, doll!" Joey went to Drake, hands out. "Can I hold her?"

Drake handed her over. He looked good, fresh.

"Hey, sweet girl." Joey nuzzled in, tickling her, making her laugh.

"Hey, Uncle Drake!"

"Hey, Christian." Drake dropped into one of the kitchen chairs and tugged Christian up onto his lap. "You sleep well?"

"Uh-huh." Christian nodded. "Can we talk to Mommy?"

Slayde looked at the clock. "Sure. Let's check Skype."

Christian and Drake trooped after him into the dining room where the laptop was set up, Joey bringing Jenny as well.

Mindy was there, late for her. "Hey, lady."

"Mommy!"

They let the kids have the time, Christian chattering away, Jenny holding her arms out to the laptop and saying, "Mommy, mommy."

"She looks tired," murmured Drake.

"She does." He sighed. "I'm going to run up and see if Mags will wake up."

"I can go. You have guests." Drake headed off before he could reply.

"Guests?" Mindy asked.

"Joey and Travis."

"Ah." She grinned. "How are they?"

"Good. They came for very necessary haircuts and…"

"Uncle Drake kissed Uncle Slayde." Christian grinned, eyes twinkling.

Mindy laughed. "That only works on April Fool's Day, sweetie."

"Huh?" The little boy looked totally confused.

"When you tell people jokes like that it's usually on April Fool's day. Didn't we go over that with him this year, Slayde?"

"We did."

"I'm not telling jokes. Uncle Drake kissed Uncle Slayde."

Drake walked in with Maggie, just about then.

Mindy laughed again, but it was a bit strangled. "I don't understand…"

Drake just stood where he was, the color draining out of his face.

"Maggie's here for you, Mom." Slayde stepped away from the laptop, not sure what the hell to do.

Drake backed away without going into range of the laptop, and then turned and went into the kitchen.

The kids chatted away to Mindy and Travis caught his eye and shrugged. What was there to say?

"Kids, tell your Uncle Drake I want to say hi." God, she sounded aggravated.

Slayde just went to the kitchen, grabbed a mixing bowl. "She wants to talk to you, man."

"What the hell am I supposed to tell her?"

"Well, if she was my sister, I'd tell her the truth, but she's my boss."

"Jesus." Drake growled and stalked into the living room.

Slayde focused on the pancakes. On the food.

It was all he could do.

***

Drake sat as Joey and Travis took the kids back into the kitchen to "help" Slayde make pancakes. He plastered on his best smile. "Hey, sis."

"Hey." She arched an eyebrow. "You got something to tell me?"

"The kids are doing great. Summer's hotter than hell here in Texas…" I'm fucking your nanny was not on his list of things he wanted to share with her.

"Uh-huh. So, is my son becoming a liar or is my nanny seducing my brother?"

"Jesus, Minds!" He willed himself not to fucking blush. "You know you've got good kids."

"I do. I. Has Slayde been inappropriate with you?"

"What? Shit, I'm a cop for Christ's sake." Jesus fuck. "Do you really want to have this conversation with you halfway around the world?" He didn't particularly want to have this conversation at all, honestly.

"No. No, but… I don't want you made uncomfortable."

Drake groaned, glancing back to make sure they were still on their own. "I came on to him, Minds. I'm gay, okay?" There. He'd said it. To someone who knew him. He felt like he'd just run a marathon, too, his breath dragging hard out of him, his heart beating like it was going to jump right out of his chest. What if she told him he had to leave? That he could never see those beautiful babies again? Okay, so she had a gay nanny, so that wasn't likely to happen, but logic didn't really have a place here.

"Oh." She blinked. "Well, then, you be good to him. He's a good man."

"That's it?"

"Sure. I'm glad you told me. I can't think of anyone more wonderful for you to be involved with than Slayde. He's an amazing guy, his family is great."

He just blinked at