Going Down Easy (Boys of the Big Easy #1)(55)

“I am. Completely.”

“This seems really important to you,” Addison said.

“It is.”

She looked down at Stella, who had, interestingly, stayed quiet throughout the conversation. Then Addison met his gaze again. “Okay.”

Gabe was amazed by how relieved he felt at her answer. “Great.” He grinned down at Stella. “It’s going to be an amazing time.”

Stella’s eyes got wide. “Really, Mommy? I can stay here the whole time you’re gone?”

Addison nodded. “Yep. The whole time. Gabe’s totally in charge.”

And he felt his first stirring of trepidation. He was totally in charge. Of both kids. Including one who belonged to a woman he cared about a lot. One that was a girl. He didn’t know anything about girls.

But he gave them a big smile and said, “I can’t wait.”

Addison gave him a smirk. “Me neither.”

Oh boy. That sounded ominous. Exactly as he was sure she meant it to.





Chapter Nine

By Friday night, Gabe was feeling pretty cocky.

The last two days with Stella had been great. His mother had handled breakfast and dinner each day, but Gabe had dropped off the kids at their respective preschools—they were going to have to get them into the same preschool soon—and picked them up again. He’d been in charge of evening activities and had shared bedtime tasks with his mom. Except for Thursday night when he’d covered the bar, as usual, and Logan had pitched in. Apparently, Logan did much better voices for the bedtime stories anyway—something Cooper had long maintained and that Stella had confirmed.

There hadn’t been any arguments, nightmares, or tantrums. Stella had turned down the cooked carrots on Wednesday night but had eaten everything else. She’d also spoken to Addison each night before bed, which meant Gabe also got to speak to Addison each night. And last night, he’d kept her on the phone long enough to get to his bed and have a little phone sex.

So yeah, he was feeling pretty full of himself and this father-of-two thing he was trying on for size.

Until the thunder started.

And all hell broke loose.

“Dad!”

Gabe came awake like someone had slapped him. Because someone had. Cooper was “patting” Gabe’s cheeks. Hard. Gabe caught his little hands. “Coop! What is going on?”

His son’s eyes were wide in the faint glow from the night-light Gabe kept on for just such occasions.

“Stella is really scared! She’s crying, Dad!” Cooper was clearly panicked.

Gabe swung his legs over the bed, processing the words more slowly because he’d been dead freaking asleep. He ran a hand over his face. Okay. Stella was scared. And crying.

Shit.

He grabbed for the T-shirt on the floor next to the bed and pulled it on as he started for the door. Cooper was panicking because they simply didn’t have crying females in their house. Ever. Caroline was not a crier. Which was why Gabe was also feeling panic welling up.

He hated the idea of Stella being scared. Especially in his house with him. This was a safe place. But then the panic hit him full force when he stepped into Cooper’s room. There were three night-lights burning around the room. Cooper always slept with two, but they’d added another tonight so that if Stella woke up, she would be able to tell instantly where she was. Where she was at the moment was huddled in one corner, clutching Cooper’s favorite stuffed dog, and literally shaking.

Gabe slowed down, not wanting to stomp over to the little girl. But the adrenaline pumping in his veins made it an effort to go easy and force a smile and lower his voice.

“Hey, Stell,” he said softly, moving to crouch in front of her but not too close to make her feel caged in. “What’s going on, sweetheart?”

“It’s storming,” she said in a loud whisper.

On cue, lightning flashed outside the window, illuminating her face fully. And the tears on her cheeks.

Gabe felt his heart and gut squeeze so hard, he had to consciously drag in a long breath so he didn’t reach out and grab her and crush her to his chest. It was not okay that Stella was scared and crying. But grabbing her certainly wouldn’t help anything.

“It is storming,” Gabe agreed. The wind was howling, the rain was pounding, and the thunder was growling, in fact. “You don’t like storms?” he asked.

She shook her head quickly, her eyes wide.

“Damn, sweetheart,” Gabe said, then grimaced over the damn, “I’m really sorry.”

“My mommy says that it’s just air crashing around,” Stella said.

Gabe nodded. “That’s right.”

“But I still don’t like it.”

Another loud clap of thunder boomed, and a flash of lightning lit the sky, and Stella literally shuddered.

“What is air crashing around?” Cooper asked, wiggling in between Gabe and the wall to his right. Cooper peered at Stella, another stuffed dog under one arm. He’d gone through a dog phase as well.

“The thunder,” Stella said. “The air gets hot from the lightning, and then it shakes and makes noise.”

Gabe looked down to see Cooper watching Stella with definite interest. “The air shakes and makes noise?” he asked.

“Yeah.”