Watch Over Me (Danvers #7)(14)
He was stunned when Megan turned to the nearby pizza box and resumed eating as if nothing had happened. “My uncle Mason has a boyfriend. Did you know that boys could have boyfriends?”
He was trying to process Megan’s statement when Maddy added another level of alarm as she started dancing in place. “I’ve got to poop.”
“Gwen!” he shouted in desperation. She came skipping into the room with a smirk on her face that disappeared as soon as she looked around.
“Wh-what happened?” she croaked out, wrinkling her nose at the foul smell.
“Maddy had an accident,” he answered, indicating the nearby puddle, “Megan ate too fast and triggered her reflux”—he pointed to vomit and then pointed back to Maddy—“and she’s got to poop, stat!” Gwen took Maddy’s hand and rushed her down the hallway. He looked over at Megan, who was munching away and shook his head in resignation. He went to the kitchen for a roll of paper towels and a bottle of cleaner. He grabbed the trash can on his way back to the living room and then dropped to his knees and got to work. He’d seen some nasty shit in the military, but this was right there at the top of the list.
When Gwen returned from the other room with a freshly changed and hopefully bathed Maddy, Dominic had just finished mopping the floor and wiping down Megan as best he could. She smelled so bad that he’d even considered spraying her with the 409 cleaner and hoping that it helped. In the end, he did his best with damage control until Gwen could change her clothes. “You cleaned up,” she said, looking at the once again tidy room.
“Yeah, I think I got it all. Now, if you’ve got this, I’m going to run the bag of trash to the Dumpster and then go shower and change myself.”
“Sure,” she agreed as she motioned Megan toward the bathroom. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she threw over her shoulder as she turned to follow the little girl.
“I’ll be back as soon as I shower,” Dominic assured her as he held the foul-smelling garbage bag in front of him. She just waved as if she didn’t believe him, which made him feel a bit guilty. Truthfully, he’d love nothing better than to go to his place, take an extra-long shower, and pop the top on a cold one, but Gwen needed him. Look at how out of control things had gotten in just a few minutes tonight. There was no way he was going to leave her there alone. Those two little girls could probably take down an entire team of Army Rangers without breaking a sweat. No, they were in this together, and regardless of how much he wanted to run, he wouldn’t do that to her. She needed to know that she could depend on him and that meant even when he had puke squishing in his shoes. Holy shit, Linda Blair had nothing on that kid.
* * *
Gwen couldn’t believe that he’d come back. Earlier she’d sat in the kitchen, dying of laughter as Maddy and Megan had tortured him with their favorite topic of discussion, body parts. Actually, that one was pretty mild. Apparently, their grandfather was quite a character and they picked up a lot of not-so-great tidbits of wisdom from him. Poor Shannon, she had her hands full.
“What are you doing back?” she blurted out in surprise. He looked puzzled as he walked through the doorway, shutting the door behind him. Oh, sweet mother, he looks and smells so good. She was pretty sure he had just caught her sniffing him as he threw an arm over her shoulders.
“I told you I’d be back, babe. I would have stayed, but I figured you’d appreciate me washing the stink off. Where are the girls?”
“I . . . I was just tucking them in,” Gwen murmured, still in shock that he was here. The man was certainly a glutton for punishment. He had not only cleaned up a mess that would have had most parents gagging, but he had returned for more. She had to admit that Dominic Brady now officially had more staying power than any man in her past. Then he further impressed her by following her down the hall instead of dropping into a chair and leaving her to it.
He walked to the center of the girls’ room and put his hands on his hips. “All right, you little monkeys, which one of you threw all of the super slime on Uncle Dominic earlier?” The sound of giggling filled the room as both girls broke into fits of laughter. Then Maddy and Megan started pointing at each other. So much for having your sister’s back under fire. Dominic teased them for a few more minutes before walking to the bookshelf and thumbing through the books there. “I don’t know about you ladies, but I’d love to hear a story. Anyone else?” Gwen raised her hand along with a very enthusiastic Megan and Maddy. Dominic settled onto the floor with his back against the nightstand and began reading Cinderella. Looking at the two small girls, Gwen could tell that she wasn’t the only female in the room completely riveted by Dominic.
When he shut the book, both girls were asleep, and she was yawning. He held out a hand, pulling her to her feet before putting the book back on the shelf. “Thank you,” she whispered, after shutting the door quietly behind her. “You’ve gone above and beyond tonight.”
He pulled her against his chest, dropping a kiss on her head. “I’d say it was my pleasure, Red, but you might not buy that.”
She giggled against him, remembering the scene she had walked into earlier. “I can’t believe Megan threw up on you. I never expected that.”
Dominic pulled back slightly, looking down at her with raised brows. “So, you expected the other stuff?”