Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
He leaned over. “Let me know if anything else happens. And never let them tell you she’s not your business. She’s my business, too. Hey, since you’re not going to school today, what do you say we watch some movies?”
He could pop some corn, take the kiddos into the media room, and give Charlie a couple of hours to mourn the fact that they were about to get to homeschool three kids while dealing with a toddler and a baby, and McKay-Taggart wasn’t closing down. If anything the need for security would go through the roof, and he would probably get called in to consult. A lot.
“Tasha’s never seen a Marvel movie.” Kenzie was clapping her hands.
Oh, he’d been looking for something they could do together. Charlie had the advantage on him. She baked and shopped, and Tasha seemed to enjoy doing both.
He shot things, and she wasn’t ready for that. But she might like a bunch of sarcastic superheroes saving the world. “Oh, we’re going to have some fun.”
* * * *
Month Three
Ian slammed the door to his SUV and practically bent down and kissed the ground.
Then he realized the ground was where Bud peed and decided to just be happy he was home.
One week in New York consulting with three different government embassies, plus time with some Agency assholes dealing with Ezra Fain’s issues and the fact that Kim Solomon had disappeared off the face of the flipping earth, had led to two weeks in quarantine. In a motel outside of Dallas. With Adam, who watched some really strange TV and talked too much about pie.
Like he didn’t know what Adam meant by pie. Two weeks of listening to Adam bemoan his horniness and he’d been ready to kill the man himself.
It would take forever for him to get back in a halfway decent mood. Maybe he should decompress.
The door came open and Kenzie and Kala started running toward him yelling Daddy. Seth toddled after them, a wide grin on his face, and Bud was bounding his way, too. Charlie stood on the porch, Travis on her hip and Tasha at her side.
Nope. No decompression time. He let himself be tackled by his kiddos, and his mood changed entirely.
This was what he’d missed. This was his whole soul, and it came to life.
He found himself on his back on that grass the damn dog had probably peed on, hugging his kids and rolling around like he wasn’t old and rickety. He wasn’t when he was with them.
“We missed you,” Kenzie said.
Seth bounced on his gut like it was a trampoline.
“You were gone for so long,” Kala complained.
“I’m staying home for a while.” He’d learned how to do most of his work over the Internet. The last few months had been a lot of figuring shit out, but they were starting to find their way.
Charlie smiled her goddess smile as she stood over him. “It’s good to have you home, babe. So good. Is Adam alive?”
“Barely.” He sat up, hefting Seth high. He’d grown in the last few weeks, and so had Travis. “I’m so glad to be home.” He looked Tasha’s way. “How many movies did you watch while I was gone?”
She shook her head. “No Marvel movies. I thought I would wait for you.”
She wasn’t hugging him, but that was progress.
“Then we should plan on Guardians of the Galaxy tonight,” he promised. “You’re going to love Groot.”
She gave him a smile. “Miss Charlotte and I made lemon bars for you.”
He stood, carrying Seth up with him. “I’m looking forward to that.”
So they were still Mr. Ian and Miss Charlotte. He could wait a bit longer.
Charlie held his hand as the girls ran back into the house, shouting. “I think you’ll find I’ve got some pie for you, too.” She winked his way. “Serena and I have spent a lot of time talking about how we should greet our husbands with some pie.”
Now that was a plan he could agree to.
* * * *
Month Four
“Is it Thursday?” Charlie stared out into the backyard. “Because I thought yesterday was Thursday.”
“Nope.” He was right there with her. “It’s Thursday.”
He was pretty sure every day was Thursday now.
* * * *
Month Five
Thursday. It was always Thursday.
* * * *
Month Seven
Thursday with sourdough.
* * * *
Month Eight
Masks sucked and it was Thursday again, and now he had to go out into the fucking world for a physical. He hated doctors.
* * * *
Month Nine
“Yes, I’ll have that report finished within the week. I think your security is up to date and there shouldn’t be any issues traveling to the site. Michael and Deke will escort you, and they’ll make a boots-on-ground assessment then.” Ian stared at the screen, the same way he had every day for the last couple of months.
The Zoom call cut out, and he shot off a quick email.