Page 39 of Protecting Addison
“What in the world, El?” Addison asked.
She shrugged. “I just thought that since Yana likes to go into Artem and Borysko’s room and sleep in one of their beds, maybe I’d try pushing our beds together. I know I’m not like her brothers, but maybe it would make her feel better to have me closer.”
Addison’s heart melted. Her daughter was awesome.
“I’ll help. Your mom needs to finish up that brownie cake,” Ricky said.
“Thanks.” Ellory spun around and headed back toward her room. But she turned at the last minute and said over her shoulder, “Don’t start smooching again or you’ll never get that cake finished!” Then she giggled and walked out of view.
Addison thought she should be embarrassed, but she couldn’t muster the feeling.
“Soon,” Ricky said in a serious tone. “I’m gonna make you mine in more than name only.” Then he kissed her hard and fast before following behind Ellory.
Addison stood in the kitchen and tried to get her libido under control. The man was lethal…and he was all hers.
Sighing, she turned back to her brownie cake creation. She had to hurry now if she wanted to be finished by the time the woman who’d ordered it arrived for pickup. And as worried as she was about Artem, Borysko, and Yana, she was going to need that night of snuggling on the couch with Ellory and Ricky.
* * *
Later that evening, while the classic moviePretty in Pinkplayed, MacGyver sat between his girls and let his mind wander. Ellory was sound asleep against one side of him, and Addison wasn’t too far behind her daughter. Holding the two of them seemed like a dream. How he’d gotten so lucky to be the one to look after them was a mystery.
There he’d been, minding his own business, living the life of a single Navy SEAL, and the next thing he knew, he was a father of four with a wife he could barely keep his hands off of. He was a lucky son-of-a-bitch, and he knew it.
And as much as he loved this—all the bonding with his girls tonight, and another serious talk they’d had about bullies—he desperately missed Artem, Borysko, and Yana. MacGyver wondered if they were all right. If they were scared…
Of course they were. They’d been taken from the only home they knew here in the US, didn’t know if they’d see the people they’d come to rely on ever again.
He had no idea what happened. If someone had made a complaint against them, or if someone in some office somewhere had taken offense to the kids coming into the country illegally on the military transport plane. Their foster parent application had been rushed through the system, thanks to Tex, and it was possible a mistake had been made somewhere. But he doubted it. Tex didn’t normally make mistakes.
“They’ll be okay. We’ll make sure of it,” Addison whispered from next to him. His arm was around her shoulders, and she was snuggled into his side.
“Yeah,” he agreed. She was right. Together, they’d do whatever was necessary in order for the kids to feel safe once more. He leaned in and kissed the top of Addison’s head. The feelings he had for her were almost overwhelming. He wasn’t sure how Kevlar and the others did it. How did they go on missions, knowing they were leaving behind the most important people in their lives? The thought of leaving her to wrangle four kids by herself felt incredibly selfish and cruel.
“I only have two cakes to make tomorrow. I’m going to get up early to start, well before Ellory leaves for school. I want to be done by mid-morning, so I can be ready whenever the kids come home. They’ll probably be hungry, so I’ll make a large lunch, just in case they’re home early. If they don’t get returned until the afternoon, we’ll have an early dinner, then they can eat junk during the welcome-home thing. I need to go to the store and get some finger foods, and we need more milk. Ellory’s running low on chicken too. Oh, and I want to do a load of laundry, so they can sleep on clean, fresh-smelling sheets tomorrow night.”
MacGyver smiled as he stared blankly at the TV. There he was, worried about Addison being able to handle four kids, but it seemed she more than had things under control. “Okay. Let me know what you want me to do.”
“Your job will be to reassure the kids that it wasn’tuswho sent them away. That if someone takes them again, we’ll do whatever we have to do in order to get them back. Wait, don’t say that, it might make them worry about it happening again. Just love them, Ricky. They’re going to need that most of all.”
“You don’t have to tell me to do that, hon. That’s the easy part.”
“Yeah,” she agreed.
It wasn’t long before Addison fell asleep against him as well. MacGyver hated this damn movie, but he didn’t move to grab the remote because that might’ve woken up one of the girls. Instead, he sat very still, the arm that was around Addison going numb, but he didn’t care. He loved being a pillow. Loved the trust they showed in completely lowering their guard with him. This was what he fought for. What men died for. To keep their families safe and happy.
Closing his eyes, he rested his head against the back of the couch and eventually fell asleep himself.
CHAPTEREIGHT
Tex was as good as his word, and at two o’clock the next day, a white CPS van pulled up in front of the house and Artem, Borysko, and Yana leaped out and ran toward MacGyver. He’d gotten a heads-up on when they would arrive and received permission to leave work early to be there. Of course, his entire team had wanted to come too, along with their women.
So it was a full house that met the kids and welcomed them home. It seemed as if they’d been gone for weeks instead of a single day.
Yana cried when MacGyver picked her up and held her, and Artem and Borysko didn’t look very steady themselves. To his relief, his friends all backed off after welcoming the trio, giving them some space to greet the kids privately.
MacGyver went to his knees in the grass and put Yana on her feet, including the two boys in his huge hug.
“They tooked us,” Borysko said, tears in his eyes.
