Page 30 of Stone
“There were movies sometimes, but notMoana,” Stone explained, hoping he wouldn’t have to go into any detail about life in prison to these girls.
“Oh, we have to fix that,” Beck declared, staring at Naomi.
“We can have a movie night if Stone wants to,” Naomi said.
“Well, of course, he wants to because he doesn’t want to miss out on conversations when people make movie references. Oh, we should make a list. How often should we do movie night? School’s out, but Stone does need to work. Mom, would one an evening be too much?” Taylor chattered eagerly.
Stone wondered how taking the girls to play pickleball and cornhole had turned into movie night, but knowing these girls wanted to spend time with him made him realize he was falling for them as much as he was falling for their mom. He wasn’t the best for father material, but surely, he was fucking better than Jared the Jerk.
They played pickleball for another hour while the girls discussed all the other movies that he needed to catch up on. By the time the girls wanted to play cornhole, they had over fifty movies they said he needed to see.
Naomi leaned close as they walked to set up cornhole under the shade of a tree, her hand in his.
“If you don’t want to do this, say so now, and I’ll get you out of it,” Naomi urged.
Stone paused, turning to Naomi, waiting for her to look up at him.
“I am thrilled that they want to be around me and watch movies. I love seeing their eyes light up and the high-fives they give each other when they think of another must-see movie. Maybe we should have the outdoor sleepover the girls all wanted when we watchMoana,” he suggested.
Naomi bit her lip, her eyes filling with tears. She threw her arms around him.
“Anybody tell you that you’re too perfect to be real?” she asked softly.
Stone patted her back, leaning his chin on her head, savoring the feeling of Naomi in his arms. “No, but I like hearing it from you,” he whispered.
Chapter Sixteen
Naomi stared around Stone’s living room. There were fourteen kids hanging out for the movie and spending the night. Stone and she had asked Sprite what age to make the cutoff for movie night. She suggested that they had to have completed kindergarten because then they’d be used to rules. The younger ones were having a sleepover at Baron and Regina’s.
It seemed like most of the kids wanted to sleep out on the porch, so multiple cots and air mattresses had been dropped off so all the kids wouldn’t be sleeping on the cement.
“Hey, where do you want us?” Finn asked as he and Ben walked in.
“What do you mean?” Naomi wondered.
“War suggested you might like some extra help. Ben and I are here to help, including sleeping outside with the kids or keeping watch if you’d rather we stayed awake while everyone sleeps outside,” Finn said.
Naomi was surprised at Finn’s words. She hadn’t considered that he might actually be helpful after the way he disrupted Stone’s class.
“We’ll watch the movie first and have drinks and popcorn, so just hang out and help. Stone and I haven’t figured out how to decide where the kids will all sleep outside,” Naomi explained.
“Okay, let us know if you want us to do something special,” Ben agreed, following Finn to the family room where the kids were playing and hanging out until the movie.
She popped two more servings through the air popper, poured melted butter on it, and added some salt. She grabbed a scoop to refill everyone’s popcorn holders. Regina had delivered what she called her movie night package. It had plastic popcorn holders shaped like those from the movie theater and trays to hold them, along with places to hold drinks.
Naomi figured that with the number of kids on the compound, they’d have to come up with some way to be organized.
“Are we all ready?” Taylor called out, standing in front of the large screen that the guys had erected. Stone had said his television was too small for the number of kids coming. Within a short amount of time, they’d figured out a screen, projector, and sound system to make it like a movie theater for the kids.
“Now, we decided to do this because Stone has missed a lot of movies. SinceMoanais one of our favorites, we picked the sing-along version. Let’s all tell Stone thank you for letting us use his house and for hosting the sleepover,” Beck announced, clapping when she was finished. All the kids joined in.
Naomi adored seeing all the kids smiling and thanking Stone.
Stone hadn’t realized how much he’d enjoy having a movie night with all the kids. He’d been apprehensive, but having Naomi with him gave him confidence. War sending Ben and Finn to help had actually been a great idea. Both of them had helped get refills, and when Chelle had worried about singing along withWhere You Are, they’d both jumped up and sung, making sure to mess up some of the words.
Stone appreciated the effort they were both making. Naomi had a huge smile on her face that he could imagine being a part of his life forever. Even though he knew she could sing, she hadn’t sung aloud. Every so often, he could see her mouthing the words to the song.
She’d experienced so much negativity around her singing with Jared that Stone guessed it was one of the unconscious decisions she was making for safety. The girls were loving this evening, but having their mother sing with them would make it so much more special.
