Page 31 of Stone
WhenYou’re Welcomecame on with the guy the girls had described, Stone made a decision. He was making sure Naomi knew that he would always be there for her. He stood up and walked over to her, holding out his hand. When she didn’t immediately stand up, he glanced at the screen to make sure he had the words and sang them to her.
She smiled wider, if that was possible, and stood up to sing with him. Soon, all the kids were standing and singing withthem. Deborah, Beck, Taylor, and Regan were showing the kids some line dance they’d made up, but Stone swayed, holding Naomi’s hand, singingYou’re Welcomealong with the character on the screen.
Beck came over and grabbed their hands, bringing them closer to the kids line dancing in his front room. He tried to follow the steps but stumbled a couple of times, which had the triplets giggling.
As the song ended, Naomi leaned close, pulling his head close to her mouth.
“Thank you for this,” she whispered, her voice breaking a little. He tugged her close, leading her to the chair that was open. He sat down, bringing her to sit on his lap.
“Anytime,” he promised, soaking in each minute with her and these amazing kids.
Finn walked over and crouched down.
“Ben and I are going to take the machine outside and start filling up the air mattresses. Is that okay, or do you need us to stay in here?” Finn asked.
Stone wasn’t sure what had caused the turnaround in Finn, but Stone was thrilled with it. He’d been worried about how to help Finn with his behavior, but something had made a major positive impact on how his brother was acting. Stone wished he knew who it was. He owed them a huge thank you.
Stone cuddled Naomi on his lap, her head lying on his shoulder as they watched the rest of the movie. When the final credits rolled, Stone wished it would go on forever. He wanted more time with Naomi in his arms.
Naomi organized the kids to change into night clothes, taking turns using the bathroom and Stone’s bedroom. While she did that, he carried the sleeping bags outside.
“Hey Stone, we were thinking maybe the six boys should sleep at the back of the house with us. I can be on one end of the porchand Finn can be on the other. We’re happy to have one of us stay awake if you’re worried about the boys sneaking away. Then you and Naomi can take care of the eight girls. Also, have you thought of breakfast? If you want, Finn and I can run to the diner early and pick up breakfast. We’d let you know before we left so you could move to the boys’ side of the house,” Ben suggested.
“Naomi and I didn’t talk about it, but let me make sure she hasn’t made plans already,” Stone replied.
Finn and Ben grinned at him.
“What?” Stone asked.
“It’s good to see you so happy. I fuckin’ love that you thought to ask her before deciding something,” Ben smiled.
Stone stared at his brothers. He hated the years he spent apart from them. He stepped forward, pulling them both in for a hug.
“I’m proud of the men you’ve become,” Stone said.
Finn leaned back. “Even me?” he ventured.
“I don’t love you guys any less just because you might do something I don’t like or fuck up. I had to leave, and you guys had to step up. You grew into amazing men with full-time jobs, and you did it all while helping Emerson, graduating high school, and protecting Harry. I love you,” Stone declared, his voice thick with emotion.
He’d been so in his own world fighting his own demons the last year that he hadn’t taken the time to let his brothers know how much he appreciated them. They were never going to have any reason to doubt that again.
“Woohoo, it’s sleeping outside time. Let’s go!” Phoebe yelled as she walked out with Deborah and Beck.
“Let me chat with Naomi, and then we’ll get everyone situated on beds,” Stone said, walking back inside.
He went over what Finn and Ben had suggested. Naomi agreed it was a great idea, and although she’d thought about breakfast, she liked Finn and Ben’s idea better. They hustled the rest of thekids outside. Once everyone was situated on their air mattresses or his hanging bed, Deborah suggested telling stories. Stone was glad it wasn’t ghost stories because he worried it would scare the younger kids until they couldn’t sleep.
They’d drawn from a cup of girls’ names for who got to sleep on the hanging bed swing. Phoebe and Chelle were the lucky ones. He’d leaned over and whispered to Beck, Taylor, and Regan that they could schedule a time on the bed swing any time. The smiles on the girls’ faces had Stone wanting to talk to Locks about adding a couple more bed swings on that side of the house. He stared at the sky, wondering if it was long enough to add two or three more. Maybe they’d all want to sleep outside sometimes in good weather.
He lay on his air mattress at the corner of the house. He could see all the girls and Naomi on the other end while still keeping an eye on the boys Finn and Ben were in charge of. Everyone was settling down. He closed his eyes—for the first time since he’d been released from prison, he fell right to sleep.
Chapter Seventeen
Naomi held her clipboard and went through the tournament bracket again. She and Stone had changed it multiple times. Making everyone happy about when and who they were playing was a job bigger than either of them had envisioned.
Deborah, Regan, Chloe, and Beck were helping with the tournament. Naomi was thrilled that her girls had made friends with Deborah. She had liked Deborah immediately, but when she’d heard Deborah’s story, her heart had ached for what the sweet girl had gone through.
“All right. Who are Dodge and I taking down in pickleball first?” a gorgeous brown-haired woman asked as she walked up. Stone stepped closer to point at a name on Naomi’s list.
