The Redo (Winslow Brothers #4) (94)

I breathe in extraordinarily deeply, step inside the door and close it, and let my head sink back to the wall just inside. The truth is, I haven’t stopped to think about much of anything since we left here last night. I’ve been going on instinct and feeling and gut.

I spent time with someone I enjoy. I took that enjoyment to the next level. And I comforted a woman I care about as she freaked out this morning.

I know that, eventually, all of that will have to come into much more vivid detail, but for now, I’m okay with miring myself in the haziness and enjoying it.

So much of my life is exact. Numbers, timing, consequences. I want just a moment to enjoy myself before reality comes crashing down.

My phone buzzes again in my pocket as I’m waiting for Winnie to return with Iz, and as much as I don’t want to deal with yet another person giving me shit, I pull it out anyway. I’m shocked to find a message from my most taciturn brother.

Flynn: Winnie says you’ve got Izzy today. Daisy is busy with work, and I’ve got the boys. Baby playdate at the library downtown?

A baby fucking playdate? Add those to the list of words I never thought would come from Flynn.

And there’s only one person besides Maria who knows what I’m up to today.

Winnie walks back down the hall with my girl in her arms, and it’s all I can do not to yank Izzy from her hold and contact the authorities to come pick up the traitor. “What the hell, Win? Are you superhuman? How have you spread the news of me being with Izzy today so quickly?” I ask, holding the phone and message up as evidence.

She waves me off with her hand. “I sent one little group text. It’s no big deal.”

“Group text? As in, the whole group?” I question. Without delay, my phone starts having a technology seizure in my hand, text message notifications nearly blowing it up.

Jude: Just heard you’re opening a day care, dude. Mind if I put Sophie’s and my future child on the list now so I know we’ll have a spot?

Ty: You should take Izzy to the Carlyle today. I hear they do a nice lunch spread.

Mom: I heard you’re spending today with Izzy! Think I can get a few pictures to print out at Walgreens? I want to put her on the fridge!

I look up from my phone and into Winnie’s unrepentant eyes without answering any of them. “If you weren’t the mother of my favorite niece, I would kill you.”

She cocks her head shamelessly. “Tell me, Rem. How’s that cleaning going that I set up for you?”

“Hand over the baby, Winnie.”

She pretends to pout, but she hands Izzy to me and places the diaper bag on my shoulder.

And when she sees I’m already on the move, she calls toward me, “Rem! Why are you leaving so soon? You don’t want to hang out here with your favorite sister? Have a cup of tea? Chat about the weather?”

I hold up my middle finger over my shoulder as I jog down the stairs, spinning around to face her and strap Iz into the carrier when I get to the bottom.

“Thanks to you, we’re a little busy today. Got a library playdate with Flynn and the boys to get to now.”

Winnie grins and waves and then blows a kiss to Izzy. “Have fun.”

I don’t even bother waving before turning to head down the block and placing a kiss to the top of Izzy’s sweet head. “I’m sorry I left you overnight with a crazy lady, baby.”

Izzy kicks and squirms, and after I’m assured she’s secure and comfortable in her spot in front of me, I pull out my phone one last time and commit to something that has to be out of another dimension.

A playdate. With Flynn. And three infants.

Me: We’ll meet you at the library in 30. But I’m going to be really disappointed if they don’t have snacks.





Remy

Izzy and I turn up the block where the library is located, and she snorts a snot bubble right into my chest. I laugh, grabbing a tissue from my pocket and wiping at her teeny nose. “That’s better, girlfriend. Can’t be meeting up with Flynn and the boys with boogers on our face, can we?” I shake my head down at her. “No way.”

She stares at me as I chat, and I smooth a hand over her fuzzy-haired head. When I look up to focus on the library, movement catches me off guard out of the corner of my eye.

After a double take, I realize it’s Flynn, Ryder, and Roman, walking out of the Naked Turtle…a bar I haven’t been inside in at least ten years.

“Did you really just come walking out of a bar with two babies in your arms?”

Flynn shrugs. “What’s the big deal? They weren’t drinking.”

“Were you?”

“Sure.”

My eyes widen slightly, but he qualifies his answer with a grin before they can pop out of my head.

“Green tea.”

Bastard. I smirk. “Fatherhood has changed you, bro.”

“I’ve always been the same. The babies just make it more obvious.”

“How? What are they? Baby highlighters?”

He rolls his eyes. “They bring out basic emotions. Their primal needs and the unabashed way they ask for them enlighten your psyche to your own. It makes you hypersensitive to things you’re normally not.”

“I’m not even going to pretend I understand what you’re talking about, which makes me think Lexi is the one who shared this information with you.”