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

up and flame him away, honey? Because I will."

"I know. At least I should be able to get an evening off and come see you two. Have some wine."

"There you go! Look on the positive, right? Hot stud to ogle, some time off, it could be worse, right? Travis, we need to go visit Slayde to give him hugs and drive the mean cop leather daddy away."

Jenny started fussing upstairs, and he knew it wouldn't be five minutes before Christian was up and bothering Maggie. "I have to run, Joey. Love you both."

"You need anything we're only an hour away, give or take, honey. You call. We'll help you hide the body."

"You rock. Don't work too hard." He hung up, headed to get Jenny and shoo Christian out of Maggie's room. "Let her sleep."

Christian followed him into the baby's room. "Where's Uncle Drake?"

"Doing the groceries. He'll be back. Whoa, Jenny, chill out." She was trying to kill herself, climbed half out of her crib. "You need to potty, girl?"

Her little face crumpled with tears about the same time the smell hit him. Thank God for Pull-Ups.

"Ewww!" Christian held his nose and beelined it out of there.

"No tears. Let's clean you up, chicken." He got her changed and on one hip, then peeked in at Maggie, who was sitting in the middle of her bed, playing with her baby dolls. "Hey, girlfriend. You okay or do you want to come downstairs and play in the playroom?"

"Can I bring my dolls?"

He nodded and she gathered them up, putting one on her hip like he was carrying Jenny.

"What a good momma you are."

Jenny tugged his collar. "Baby too."

"Well, go fetch one of your own." He put Jenny down and she ran off, coming back with a naked baby, carrying it by the hair.

He could hear Christian downstairs, playing pirates, loud exclamations of "Arrrr!" filling their air.

Jenny put her arms up, baby doll and all. "Up. Up."

"Up." He grabbed her and they headed down. Christian had his pirate hat and Nerf sword. "Excuse me, Mr. Pirate, but I have two recruits for the playroom."

Christian tilted his head to one side. "Are they good sailors?"

"I'm sure they will be."

Maggie went right to the play kitchen, plopping her baby in the high chair, while Jenny tried to decide which sibling to copy.

He frowned as he heard a truck pull up into the driveway, and it deepened as the front door opened. No way Drake could be done already. He went to look. He was already tired of unexpected shit.

Drake had a bunch of bags he was setting by the door. "Hey. Found a closer place on the way." Giving him a grin, Drake turned and went out to get more bags out of the back of the truck.

"Good deal." Damn it.

"You'd better check. I was careful, but it's a lot of stuff to watch out for and I'd hate to have accidentally brought gluten in."

"Oh, I will." He started carrying bags into the kitchen, unpacking.

"Can I help, Uncle Slayde?" Christian grinned and grabbed a bag and started dragging it across the floor.

He heard the front door close and Drake came in with the last bags, putting them on the kitchen table. "Look at those muscles. Way to go, Chris."

"My name is Christ-ti-an."

Slayde fought his chuckle with all he had. Drake was going to have to learn that one.

"You don't like 'Chris'?"

"My name isn't Chris, Uncle Drake."

"Okay, buddy, not Chris. I've got it." Drake looked over at him, eyebrows up.

He shrugged. Not his issue. The kid was his mother's son.

"Well, Christian, nice muscles. You're a big help, huh?"

"I am. I'm Uncle Slayde's helper."

"Good for you. Even better for Uncle Slayde."

"You know it. I'm a lucky man." He looked at Christian. "Can you peek on your sisters real quick? They're being awfully quiet."

"Quiet is bad, huh?" Drake started taking stuff out of the bags he'd brought in.

"It can be. Loud is usually safer."

"So you want them to be quiet, except not too quiet." Drake piled everything he'd bought in the middle of the table, willy-nilly.

"I don't mind the noise." He looked over the groceries. Drake hadn't done too bad, really. There were fifteen bags of chips and three bags of old Easter candy and the chicken breast was whole, not ground, but all-in-all, he wouldn't bitch. "Thanks for running out, man." See? See him be nice?

"You're welcome. I'm here to help, yeah? I bet it's a pain in the a-- butt shopping with the rugrats."

"It can be…entertaining."

Maggie's scream rang out. "MY BABY!"

"Christian!" he snapped. "You give your sister her doll."

"That's pretty impressive, knowing what's going on in there without seeing it."

"I've been doing this a long time." And he knew Christian and that scream.

"So, you like it, huh? Being a nanny."

"I do. I love these guys." He loved kids and hell, he wasn't going to have them around any other way.

"Huh." That was all Drake said.

He put food away, dealing with the kids as they came in. Jenny coming and sitting in the middle of everything with her baby and a stuffed cow.

Drake crouched down by her. "What's this?"

"Moo cow and baby."

Slayde put out the cookies, got everyone milk.

"That's pretty cool, Jen." Drake took the baby doll, hands just huge.

"Don' hurt the baby."

"I won't, sweetie." Drake gave her a smile, face softer than Slayde had seen it.

It didn't take long before she was close, jabbering away, ninety to nothing, about everything and anything.

It helped, gave him a chance to get everything put away and to check on the other two. "You two want cookies?"

"Cookies!" Christian screamed it and Maggie copied him, the two of them swooping into the kitchen.

Jenny was in Drake's lap, at the table, having her cookies and milk. The other two stopped, stared, and then stared pouting.

"Look," said Drake, "Uncle Slayde made cookies and they're really good."

"Uh-huh."

"Everyone up at the table for snack time."

"If you don't hurry I'll eat them all." Drake reached a hand toward Christian's plate.

Christian blinked, stared, then pounced, grabbing the cookie.