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Ethan knew he was probably being a little crazy.
Maybe even a little, protective, was that the word that Jesse had used to describe it?
Either way, he knew that Leanne wasn’t going to be happy about it.
“You did what?” In fact, judging by the decibel level that her voice had reached, she was infuriated.
“I uh… I had a security system installed.” In all reality, he thought it was kind of ridiculous that there wasn’t one already in place.
“Ethan…” She was scowling at him from her place in the kitchen and he could practically feel the anger radiating off of her.
“Look, Lea, it’s not safe.” He would have much rather handled this differently, but he knew that all his other options weren’t going to fly with her at all.
This, at least, was a little more subtle.
“Ariel is going to college, Ethan, not war.” Like he didn’t already know that.
“It’s still not safe.” He crossed his arms over his chest as he stared her down, he wasn’t backing down on this one. “If she’s going to refuse to live on campus, that’s fine, but I’m the one paying for that fancy townhouse and therefore, I am allowed to install a security system if I see fit.”
“You’re ridiculous.” Letting out a sigh she ran a hand through her hair before she began pacing. “Are you going to do this with all of our children?”
“Yes.” He much rather would have had Ariel stay in LA and live at home while going to college, but she had had her heart set on Berkeley and he hadn’t been willing to crush that dream. “That’s what dads do.”
Well, maybe not his dad, but he wasn’t going to let Martin Willis’ horrible parenting rub off on him.
“She’s afraid that her friends will think she’s weird.” So that’s what this was about, a popularity contest.
“Weird? How? Because her dad wants her to be safe?” It’s not like he had hired her a bodyguard, yet.
“She said it’s confusing.” The girl could operate an iPhone better than Steve Jobs but she found a security system confusing, that was a bit of a stretch.
“Good, all the more reason for me to drive up there and show her how it works.” Leanne rolled her eyes before stepping toward him, causing him to step backward until he was against the wall. “Don’t hurt me. I was just trying to help.”
“I know.” The soft smile on her face betrayed the slight frustration in her eyes though and he was becoming increasingly confused. “But you’ve gotta let her go a little Ethan.”
“Never.” She shook her head as she continued toward him, stopping only when her hands were on his cheeks.
“Ethan…” He sighed as he uncrossed his arms, wrapping them around her tightly. “I know that you wanna protect her, that you wanna protect all of us, but sometimes, a little too much, is a little too much.”
“It’s just a security system.” He huffed out, his foot scuffing against the floorboard like an angry toddler. “I almost hired her a bodyguard.”
“What stopped you?” She raised an eyebrow at him and he smirked.
“Ed said that was a little bit too much.” In fact, Ed had been the one to suggest the security system, but he would never rat the man out to Leanne, not if he valued his best-friends life.
“Well for once, Ed Harbert was right.” It was a rarity, he knew this, but sometimes the man spoke words of wisdom.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about it beforehand.” He let his arms relax as his hands moved to her hips. “I knew you would try to talk me out of it.”
“I never said that.” She whispered with a sly smile. “But I would have at least told Ariel first.”
“Oh, yeah.” He probably should have done that shouldn’t he. “Was she mad?”
“No.” Well thank God for that. “But she was very confused as to why she came home and the house started yelling at her.”
“My bad.” He cringed a little as Leanne chuckled, her arms moving to wrap around his shoulders as she stood up on her toes. “I’ll warn the next child.”
“You’ve got five more years before that happens sweetheart.” Good, more time to plan then. “But let’s not worry about that right now okay?”
“Me, not worry?” He smirked and she rolled her eyes before pressing a kiss to his lips. “A little more of that and I’ll stop the worrying for a bit.”
“The kids are all at school…” He knew exactly what that meant and he couldn’t help but chuckle at the squeal she let out as he hoisted her up, carrying her upstairs without a care in the world.
If it allowed him to spend the day in bed with his wife, he’d buy everyone he knew a damn security system.