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Everything around Jig see toward him Time stood still, the busy clubhouse disappeared, even the air calht in his chest It wasn’t the first time she’d run to him, but it caused a temporary freak-out each time
One second the red-haired three-year-old was speeding his way, a broad sht, and she was flying toward the ground Pure instinct kicked in and Jig lunged forward, catching her under the arms milliseconds before that adorable face hit the hardwood floor
“Weee!” Beth squealed as she ung into Jig’s arh she hadn’t been a heartbeat away from a very different outcome
“Shit, princess,” he said, holding her close, hoping it would calm his runaway heart “You als can carry you, huh?”
Beth’s eyes greide, and she grabbed his face with both her hands “You said shit,” she whispered “Mommy says it’s a bad word”
He winced He’d never had to watch his mouth around his child because he hadn’t swore back then As the iirl filled his ht of pain
It never came
Sure, there was a twinge of sadness and regret, but Beth’s scolding grin took up the majority of space in his head at that , hell, he could even smile
He flicked his gaze to Izzy and Shell ore twin looks of worry As though the attention fro One wink in their direction, and their eyes widened so in tandem that it looked like they’d rehearsed it
Jig chuckled and gave Beth a squeeze Holding the slight weight of a wiggling child in his ar the complete opposite effect that he’d always feared It felt nice, electrifying…right “You’re right, squirt I shouldn’t have said that Guess you hear a lot of bad words around here, huh?”
Her nod was so soleain “Mommy says Copper has a potty in his mouth and that’s why he says bad words the mostest”
A potty in his hed more in the past thirty seconds than he had in years The kid was a trip “I’ll try to be more careful”
“Good Mommy will put you in the timeout chair if you say the bad words Timeout is no fun What’s a squirt?” As she spoke, she laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes He’d overheard so a meltdown at any point Maybe she’d just pass out on his shoulder If it’d spare Shell so to do with the fact that he was falling in love with a kid he’d been terrified of from the moment he met her