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."It's a pleasure to meet you.I'm Parker Knight.""The pleasure is all mine," William said, "although I'm sure we'd have all preferred to make each other's acquaintance under different circumstances.""How has Gavin been?" Finn inquired."Better than I expected," William replied."He has Saul now, and their son.The three of them spend a lot of time together." He chuckled."I'm on babysitting duty while Gavin figures out this matter with his brothers, but I can't imagine this little tyke will be satisfied with my presence."As if on cue, the baby in the crib stirred and began to sniff slightly.Jessie quickly picked him up, rocking him in his arms.In spite of Jessie's efforts, the baby remained restless.Gavin almost seemed to feel it because he suddenly rushed into the room and took the child from Jessie.As Gavin rocked the child in his arms, Saul came in, ushering the shy boys along."Come on closer," Gavin urged them."I want you to meet my son."Both Jackie and Kyle seemed excited, now that their reunion with their brother had gone so well."What's his name?" Kyle asked."He doesn't have a name yet," Saul replied, "but we were considering Shannon.Shan, for short."The exchange made Parker all the more aware that, at this point, he was superfluous and out of place.He didn't really belong to this family and while he'd promised Alicia he'd look after her kids, it seemed obvious that Gavin would do a great job on his own.Even the checking up on the house thing felt petty to him now, because his heart told him the children would be more than happy here.It might have seemed like a rash conclusion, but Parker had a lot of experience with abusive families, some of it pretty personal, and he was a good judge of character.He could tell Gavin would love his brothers probably as much as he did his son.Parker cleared his throat to draw the attention of the family.When Gavin and Saul looked at him, he said, "Well, Mr.Price, I'm sure you can take it from here.I should be going to allow you to get accustomed to one another.""Leaving already?" Gavin asked."Won't you stay for lunch, at least?"Parker was tempted, but he shook his head."Perhaps another time.I wouldn't want to impose.""You're not imposing." Gavin smiled."It's the least we could do after all the help you've given my brothers."Parker still hesitated, and Finn stayed quiet, not being a huge help.In the end, it was Jack who tipped the scales."Come on, Parker, stay.Please."The latter word came out about three times as long than it should have been.One look at Jack's wide eyes, and Parker knew he was beaten."All right," he said, relenting."I suppose I'm not in a hurry.""Excellent," Saul said."Come on.We were planning on having a barbecue in celebration of Kyle and Jack's arrival."Just like that, Parker was swept up in the whirlwind of energy of the Simmons extended family.As it turned out, Saul wasn't that great of a cook, and once he set up the grill, William banished him and took over.Parker would have liked to help, but Gavin had decreed him the guest, so he was stuck observing the proceedings with no small degree of amusement, and maybe even a little jealousy.He sat down in the shade of a tree as he watched William and Jessie bicker over the grill, with Andreas hovering nearby.Gavin played with Kyle and Jack, while Saul held his and Gavin's son.The closeness between all of them showed, even when they weren't actively paying attention to one another.Parker had never had this, and his experience as a social worker told him it was rarer than he'd have liked.Finn came to sit by his side, taking in the scene as well."This is nice, isn't it?""It is," Parker agreed."Having Gavin will do wonders for Kyle and Jack.They've been under such strain since Alicia got hurt.""They're great kids," Finn murmured, a hint of wistfulness in his voice.Parker suspected there was more behind those words than Finn's opinion on Kyle and Jack.It almost sounded like.yearning, a yearning that echoed within Parker, as if it were his own.He shook himself and struggled to find another topic of conversation."So.I take it you and Saul are very close?"Lame.Of course they were.What kind of comment was that? God, Parker could have kicked himself for his stupidity.To his surprise, though, Finn didn't laugh off his question."Somewhat," he replied instead."To a certain extent, we were at odds growing up.Both of us have always been.headstrong, and our fights could get quite disastrous back when we lived together."Finn's voice turned strangely sedate, and Parker remembered something Finn had mentioned before, about Gavin."What happened?" he asked quietly."I messed up," Finn replied."Both of us were struggling with our father's expectations, and I forgot to be a brother while trying to uphold my duties as a son.I almost separated Gavin from Saul.We're doing better now, but sometimes, I wonder if I even deserve their forgiveness."On instinct, Parker reached for Finn's hand and squeezed it."You're a good man, Finn.I'm sure your brother knows that.Whatever happened between the two of you is in the past.I can't believe you tried to hurt either of them on purpose, and you really can't blame yourself for it forever.What you can do is keep going forward and make sure nothing like that happens again."Finn smiled."That's what I'm trying to do.But in any case, I'm being morose and ruining the mood.This is a happy occasion, a good day, and I want to hear more about you."Just like that, Parker went from comforting and concerned to aroused.He felt his face flame as Finn's gaze settled on him.The man didn't even try to disguise his interest in Parker, and having the focus of that intense look on him heated Parker's blood."Me?" He spluttered."What about me?"Finn chuckled, and the sound flowed over Parker like a caress."Haven't I said it before? I like you, Parker.I want to get to know you better [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]