He reached into the pen and hefted up his daughter who immediately reached up, grabbed hold of his lower lip and tugged. Hard.

He knew what that meant so he dropped his head, she let his lip go, he buried his face in her neck and blew.

She giggled.

Layne pulled his face out of her neck, kissed her forehead then lifted a hand and gently tugged his daughter’s f**king ponytail, and the goddamned bow, out of her hair.

He tossed it on the island, rounded it, nabbed his keys and walked his daughter out to the truck as she babbled at the same time she slapped his jaw repeatedly.

He strapped her into the seat and was just slamming the door when Rocky came out. She was carrying a pie plate in one hand, a huge, but stylish bag over her shoulder and she was wearing a short skirt, a sweet top that hugged her frame and her skin was tan. This was because Layne had a below ground pool put in because Rocky told him the winter before she’d always wanted one. The second the spring thaw came, the diggers were there.

“Told you I was coming,” she informed him as she strutted to the truck.

“Get in the car, Roc,” Layne replied, swinging in himself.

She rolled her eyes. He grinned.

She settled in, put the pie plate on her lap and buckled up as Layne pulled out. They were accelerating forward when Rocky turned and smiled at Cecilia.

Then he felt her eyes on him.

“Layne, where’s her bow?”

“In the garbage disposal,” Layne lied.

“Layne!” Rocky snapped. “It took me twenty minutes to get that looking right.”

“So?”

She turned and faced forward. “I can’t believe you.”

Layne hit the button to roll down his window.

“What are you doing? Turn on the air con, that’s too much wind for CeeCee,” she ordered.

“You’re cute when you’re bossy, sweetcheeks,” Layne replied, stopped at a stop sign, turned to his woman, his hand shot out, fingers fastening on the band in her hair, he pulled it out, tossed it out the window, checked the way was clear and turned left.

“Did you just do that?” she whispered irately as he rolled the window back up.

“Yep,” Layne replied.

“I… I don’t know what to say.” She was still whispering irately.

“So don’t say anything.”

He felt her eyes on him and heard her twisting in her seat. “Last week, you pulled out my ponytail holder and took a knife to it while I was making dinner and your mother and Devin were there.”

“Yeah, Roc, I remember, I was there too,” Layne returned. “Like I keep tellin’ you, you quit wearin’ ‘em, I’ll quit doin’ shit like that.”

She twisted back to face forward and crossed her arms on her chest.

Layne reached out a hand and slid it up her bare leg until she clamped her legs together and his fingers got stuck between her thighs.

“You’re going to make me drop the pie,” she snapped.

“So move the pie,” Layne replied.

“You can’t feel me up when I’m mad at you.”

“Why not?”

She made a noise in her throat that made Layne chuckle. Then she moved the pie, wrapped her hand around his wrist and yanked it from between her legs. He twisted his wrist, caught her hand, curled his fingers around it and pulled it to his mouth.

He’d done as he’d intended. He’d given her a huge rock. A few months later, with his sons at his side and Josie Judd at hers, he’d slid a wide gold band at the base of it.

Right then, he kissed both.

Her fingers curled around his when he did and behind him he heard his daughter giggle. For some reason, Cecilia thought it was hilarious when Layne showed her mother affection.

His daughter laughed a lot.

“You know what’s annoying?” she asked when he rested her hand on his thigh.

“Nope,” he answered.

“When you’re sweet when I’m angry at you.”

“Right,” he muttered.

“Stop doing that,” she demanded.

“I’ll get right on that.”

He knew she’d turned her head to the side window when she murmured, “Big liar.”

Layne burst out laughing.

* * * * *

Layne parked on the street outside Cal and Vi’s house, a street that was lined with cars. One of those cars was Jasper’s red Charger. Another one was Tripp’s silver Camaro.

Layne released his grateful daughter from the confines of her car seat, Rocky grabbed her big bag and the pie and he slid an arm around her shoulders as they walked up the side of the house between the garage and Cal and Vi’s home and hit the backyard.

Violet had a way with flowers and her backyard was a showstopper. Now it was also filled with people but, even so, Layne clocked his sons immediately.

He stopped, Roc stopped with him, turned into him, got up on her toes and brushed her lips to his. Then she bent and brushed her lips to her daughter’s head. Then she turned toward the deck to take her pie to a table groaning with food.

Layne watched as Rocky climbed the steps and touched her cheek to the cheek of a smiling Violet who had a chubby infant attached to her hip. Eight months ago, Vi and Cal had added son Sam to their brood. Then Vi had then declared she was done. Cal was of another mind. An epic battle had begun considering Cal kept dumping her birth control pills in the toilet and Vi kept bitching about this to her girlfriends, including Roc, at every available opportunity of which there where many. She also shared her strategies of waging war against Cal’s determination to have another child. Apparently, from what Rocky told him, Cal was extremely determined and put a fair amount of effort into victory. Also, according to Roc, Vi enjoyed bitching about it but wasn’t exactly fighting to win.

Layne turned from his woman and he and Cecilia made their way to his boys. To get to their destination, Layne had to dodge Jack chasing Angela through the thick, green grass. When the path was clear, his eyes focused on his sons.

Both were on their backs, side by side, legs straight out, ankles crossed but up on their elbows. Giselle was sitting cross-legged close to Tripp, her knee resting on his hip. Keira was draped full down Jasper, her torso pressed to his side, one of her legs tangled with his, her arm resting on his abs, her cheek to his shoulder but she was gabbing with Giselle.

Jasper and Keira had never stopped being inseparable. Like his Dad, Jas knew exactly what he wanted when he found it but, unlike his Dad, he was never going to let it go. Keira followed Jas to Purdue and on more than one occasion at a variety of times of during the day and night she answered Jas’s cell or the phone in Jas’s apartment. Layne knew what that meant as well as what their current intimate position stated and neither of them hid it. He had no problem with this and Cal, standing at the barbeque and not a stupid man by a long shot, didn’t either. Both men knew the future would see Jas and Keira’s children running through this grass. Layne had no problem with that either. Keira had learned the hard way to take care of the people she loved while she had them and there was no denying Keira Winters loved his son, she loved him deeply and she loved him in a way that Layne recognized would last a lifetime. Jasper was Jasper, he’d proven early he’d do anything for his girl and nothing had changed.