Lucy’s father looked up and smiled. “Way prettier than she was on our wedding day. Congratulations, Autumn, River.”

“Thank you, Mark,” Autumn said tightly.

“Well, just wanted to wish you guys a merry Christmas. Ellen and I were having dinner when I heard you guys. Always the loudest, ya know,” he laughed but no one laughed with him. Benji looked around and almost no one was even looking at him. Only Lucy, Autumn, and River were.

As his laughter died down, Angie asked, “Have you met Benji, Grandpa? He’s Mommy’s boyfriend.”

“I have not,” he said and Benji handed Ashlyn over to Jace before standing up. Benji didn’t miss Mark’s eyes intently following the path of his newest granddaughter. Meeting Mark midway, he shook his hand.

“Benji Paxton, nice to meet you.”

Mark held his gaze, the same green eyes as Lucy. “You too. Mark Sinclair. Heard a lot about you.”

“Probably bad, I assume?” Benji asked and Mark laughed.

“Yeah, but Lucy redeems you. Hope what she says is true,” he said, almost like a warning, and Benji nodded.

“I think so,” he said as Angie came over to him, taking his hand.

“He’s my favorite.”

“Hey!” all three boys sang out, and she grinned back at them.

“Shh, you guys are my first favorites,” she said in a mock whisper but Benji just grinned, his feelings not hurt.

“Well, it was great to meet you, but I’ve got to get back to my wife.”

“You too,” Benji said as he made his way back around the table.

“Again, merry Christmas and congratulations.”

Autumn said thanks, but the boys said nothing while Lucy said, “Merry Christmas.”

He sent one last grin and walked away. While Benji knew the dude was bad news and had done some wrong, he kind of felt bad for him. The boys, though, they cared not one bit before looking over at Lucy.

“You’re talking to him?” Jude accused.

“He bought something for Angie?” Jayden asked.

“I have to, he’s helping me with Angie,” she snapped back and Jayden looked down, shaking his head.

“Be careful,” Jace warned and she glared.

“I am,” she shot back as Autumn snapped her fingers at them.

“He is not ruining my dinner. You four let go of that, and you enjoy our family time, you hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am,” they all agreed, but even Benji knew the mood of dinner had changed. As they cut into Audrey’s delicious cake, it livened up a little bit but not much, especially when the topic of Rick came up.

“Has you know who called yet?” Jayden asked, and Lucy shook her head while Benji’s blood boiled.

“Nope.”

“You should fight for full custody,” Jude said. “He doesn’t deserve her.”

Benji looked over at Angie. She was sitting in River’s lap, playing on his phone with him as Lucy said, “You think I don’t know that? She needs a father in her life.”

“Yeah, a good one,” Jude said. He pointed to Benji. “Marry that guy. I’ve only been around him the last two days, and I’ve seen him do better for Angie than Rick ever has.”

Lucy set him with a look. “I hear you, but don’t employ Benji to step up. It’s not his job.”

Before Benji could argue that, say that he wouldn’t mind, and it would be his life’s greatest pleasure to be a father to Angie, Jace said, “Can’t we just hire someone to get rid of him? Or can we not now that it’s been brought up? Shit, I should have just hired someone.”

“Or can we pay Benji to beat him up? He’s a big dude,” Jude added and Benji smiled.

“It won’t do anything. He’s an idiot. We just have to deal with him,” he said as the waiter came up. “Can I get the check?”

“Benjamin! No! We’re paying,” Autumn said, but Benji waved her off.

“Our gift to you,” he said, bringing Lucy into his side.

“But it’s your birthday.” Autumn frowned as Benji smiled at the stack of presents the Sinclairs had brought for him.

“But I want to do this for you,” he said, sending her a pleading look, and thankfully, she agreed, shaking her head.

“Fine, fine,” she said, waving him off. “But we are taking you to dinner one night this week.”

“Done,” he agreed, holding his card up, but the waitress shook her head.

“Actually, Mark Sinclair paid for dinner and told me to tell you guys merry Christmas and congratulations.”

The table went quiet as Benji smiled. “Well, thank you, then.”

“Absolutely. Can I get anyone anything else?”

Everyone declined as Autumn cleared her throat. “Well, that was nice of him.”

No one really agreed as Lucy leaned on her forearms. “Yeah, it was, Mom.”

“Lucy, really?” Jace said and she shrugged.

“He is honestly going above and beyond for Angie. Really. Maybe he’s trying to mend fences.”

But the boys didn’t look convinced. Jayden announced, “Well, if he gets that guy gone, then maybe I’ll consider thinking that. But until then, he’s dead to me.”

“Me too,” Jace and Jude said. Benji looked to Lucy, her face full of apprehension. He knew the upcoming court date wasn’t for another three weeks, but it was weighing heavily on her. He wished he could alleviate some of the burden, but she wasn’t like that. She only leaned when she needed to, and so far, she was good.