I laughed at that. “Does that mean no more ice cream bars?”
“Oh, no. Aisling loves ice cream and she’s Lily’s mother. She gets tangential favorite status for giving birth to the great white hope of the Grimlock clan.”
“You know Lily is going to be an absolute tyrant by the time she’s two, right? Your father isn’t the only one who spoils her. All of you do, and she’s going to figure out pretty quickly that she can play you guys against one another to get what she wants.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Braden’s smile was impish when I gave him a slight slap on the arm. “We’re all well aware that Lily is going to be a monster. She’s going to be our monster, though, and we’re fine with it. Aisling turned out okay and she was spoiled rotten, too. Something tells me Lily will survive.”
Despite my determination to remain melancholy, a smile pushed through. “Aisling turned out okay, huh?” Of all the Grimlock siblings, Braden and Aisling had the most tempestuous relationship — mostly because they were so much alike — and it was rare for either of them to say anything nice about the other.
“If you ever tell her I said that I’ll deny it.”
“Fair enough.” I leaned into him for a moment, resting my head on his shoulder. I just needed a bit of warmth before we started the day. “I don’t even know how we’re going to wade through this one.”
“I don’t either.” He wrapped his arms around me and held tight. “The thing is, I had no idea how we were going to deal when my mother came back either and we managed to survive that. We’re a family and we work these things out. This won’t be any different.”
“I guess.” I inhaled through my nose and exhaled on a long breath. “I’m kind of hungry.”
That had him laughing. “That’s also a family trait.” He gave me a quick kiss and then pulled away. “You’d better get in the shower. I believe it’s a pancake bar this morning, with homemade whipped cream and bacon.”
“Oh, well, I don’t want to miss that.”
“Nobody does.”
THE DINING ROOM WAS FULL OF CHATTER WHEN we made our way into the room. We appeared to be the last to arrive and Braden immediately went over to the chef in the corner, who was pouring batter in front of a gleaming griddle.
“I want chocolate chips and gummy bears in mine,” he announced.
I made a face. “Who gets gummy bears in their pancakes?”
At the table, four hands shot into the air, and they all belonged to Grimlocks. Only Cormack, Griffin, and Jerry abstained.
“That’s quite the refined palate you guys have going for you,” I said dryly, stopping behind Cormack long enough to smile at Lily, who sat happily on her grandfather’s lap sucking on a pacifier that looked like a mustache. “And how are you this morning?”
“I’m fine,” Cormack replied automatically.
“I was talking to Lily, but I’m glad you’re okay, too.” I squeezed his shoulder and then moved to look over the items on hand to add into my pancakes. “I don’t suppose you have something simple like blueberries, do you?” The cook nodded, seemingly amused. “That’s what I would like.”
He started ladling more batter onto the griddle as Braden snorted.
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Braden argued. “Gummy pancakes are the best thing invented ... other than hot fudge sundaes with gummy sharks.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” I took my spot at the table and immediately reached for the juice carafe. “Any updates?”
“A few.” Cormack tilted his head and smiled at Lily before focusing on me. “Word has spread through the reaper council about what happened at the safe house last night. It’s the talk of the office.”
“Isn’t that normal?” Aisling queried. “I mean, that place is a gossip bomb from what I remember when I was a kid. Those few times you took me to work with you turned out to be educational trips because I learned all sorts of new things ... like what a botched boob job looked like and how perverted your boss was because he bent his secretary over the copy machine.
“Now, keep in mind, I was like eight when I heard this stuff. It warped my brain,” she continued. “I heard more than my fair share, though.”
“Oh, is that what happened? It was Dad’s coworkers who warped your brain, huh?” Braden challenged. “I’m glad we finally have an explanation for why you’re so messed up.”
Aisling ignored him. “I’m just saying that gossip is part of the game at that place.”
“It is,” Cormack agreed, using his finger to wipe through the whipped cream topping the pancakes he hadn’t touched and holding it for Lily. The baby’s expression was suspicious but she finally stopped sucking on the pacifier and leaned forward to taste the whipped cream. Her eyes went so wide at the jolt of sugar I thought she might start spinning like a top. “Is that good?”
“Don’t get her all worked up,” Aisling warned. “She has a doctor’s appointment today.”
Lily’s smile immediately disappeared as her eyes drifted to her mother. There was accusation there ... and disgust.
“I almost think she understands what Aisling is saying,” Aidan said on a laugh, genuinely amused. “Why is she going to the doctor?”
Aisling stiffened and glanced around, as if looking to see if there were hidden eavesdroppers lurking in the shadows, and then forced a smile toward Lily. “Because somebody needs her S-H-O-T-S.”
Redmond snorted. “Why are you spelling? She has no idea what shots are.”
As if on cue, Lily’s eyes filled with tears and she began to sniffle.
“Oh, none of that,” Cormack chided, fetching more whipped cream. “There’s no reason to be sad.”
“That’s why I spell,” Aisling hissed at her brother, her gaze dark. “She cries whenever she hears that word.”
“But ... she’s only a few months old,” Redmond argued. “She can’t possibly know what that word means. You’re seeing something that isn’t there.”
“I
