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“Remind me again how we got roped into this?” Tim asked, stepping behind Lucy.
She was putting on the faintest trace of makeup and Tim just marveled at her in the mirror. She was beautiful. Ethereal. And some days he still couldn’t believe that she was all his.
She turned so that she was facing him but leaned up against the bathroom counter. “Not us babe. You,” she smirked.
“My point,” he deadpanned.
“Because we have a pool,” Lucy said simply, moving past him. She grabbed her phone, stuffing it in her bag before walking out of the room. Tim stood there, confused about what that had to do with the hell that was being forced upon him today.
“Okay and?”
“And, the boys were coming over here today anyway. You know how persuasive Angela can be.”
“More like intrusive,” Tim scoffed.
“Whatever. It’s a chance for some male bonding. You and the kids. All of the kids,” Lucy added, laughing.
The fact was, when Angela had suggested a women’s only spa day and Lucy asked if she could invite Genny to go with them the idea had crossed her mind that maybe Tim should invite at the very least Wesley and the kids over. They could swim, grill, and just hang out. But she never said anything. Turns out she didn’t have to. When Angela caught wind that Tim was going to be watching his nephews while Lucy and Genny were gone, she texted Nyla and told her to tell James that there was a pool party at the Bradfords.
And that’s how Tim found himself being voluntold that he was hosting eight kids with the other men. And Lucy found it comical that he was being forced to give up his Saturday. Jack and Emmy. Lila and Leah. Tyler and Austin and James’ sons would be descending upon the house any time now.
“I don’t need to do any male bonding. I–”
Lucy cut off the rest of his sentence by reaching up and pressing a kiss to his lips. “Babe I love you but yes you do. I think this will be good for you.”
“Why do you hate me?” He whined.
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “I love you very much and that is why I think this would be good for you. You don’t socialize outside of me and occasionally Angela or your sister. I want you to be able to have,” she paused searching for the right words. “I don’t know, guy time,” she shrugged. “Talk about guy things.”
“Guy time?” He looked at her eyebrows practically on the top of his head. “Guy things?”
She let out an exasperated breath, tiring of this conversation. She loved her husband but man he could be such a child sometimes. “Sports. Cars. Tools. I don’t know Tim. It’ll be fine.”
He shakes his head. “Somehow I doubt that. And eight kids running around here is a lot.”
Lucy rolled her eyes once again and stepped into his space, looking up at him. “Just think,” she moved her hands to her stomach. “It’ll be good practice for when-”
“Christ Lucy are you,” she doesn’t even get to finish her sentence but interrupts him just as quickly.
“NO!” She shakes her head and places her hands on Tim’s shoulders before sliding them around his neck. “No Tim I’m not. Trust me, you’d know. As if I could keep that secret. No, I'm just saying, it will be good practice. And hey,” she pulls him down so she can whisper in his ear. “Maybe when I get home and we’ve kicked everybody out, we can have fun practicing trying,” she hums seductively before stepping back.
Tim stands rooted in his spot gaping at his wife. “Alright fine,”
Lucy let out an incredulous laugh at how easily Tim was on board now. “So the promise of sex was all it took? Good to know for next time.”
He narrowed his eyes and lunged forward capturing her waist and threw her over his shoulder. Her giggles quickly dissolved into a displeased groan. “Put me down!” she protested.
Giving in quite easily to her demand, Tim deposited her onto the kitchen counter and didn’t even give her a chance to scold him. He pried her legs apart, stepping between them and leaned down to kiss her. Immediately she deepened the kiss and wrapped her legs around his waist, forcing him closer. Tim sank his teeth into her bottom lip, his tongue begging for access. Which Lucy happily granted. Tim’s hands never settled, moving from her thighs to her waist. Up her sides where he lightly grazed the sides of her breasts and he felt her shiver. He tangled his fingers in her long dark strands and moved to kiss her cheek, then down to her jaw and finally her neck. He nibbled the spot just below her ear before soothing it with an open mouthed kiss.
The whimper that escaped her, only served to egg Tim on. He pulled back briefly, locking eyes with her before diving back in.
Lucy was three seconds away from saying fuck it and telling the girls the spa day was cancelled and hauling her husband to bed. However, one Angela Lopez bursting through their front door quickly shot that idea to hell.
“For fuck sake you guys. You’ve been married for almost a year. Hasn’t the honeymoon period worn off by now?” Angela chided.
Tim and Lucy swiftly broke apart. Tim scowled at his best friend for the abrasive interruption, while Lucy buried her face into his chest. Either embarrassed or trying to calm herself down.
“Ever heard of knocking?” Tim asked sarcastically, helping Lucy off the counter.
“Uh! Earth to Bradford. I did. You were apparently too busy playing tonsil hockey with your wife to hear.”
“Whatever,” he said trying to save face, but even his cheeks pinked up a little. “Where are Wesley and the kids?”
And as if they were waiting for their cue, Jack comes running through the door in spiderman swim trunks and a matching red swim shirt. Emmy was in her dads arms, adorned in a cute black one piece and a sunhat.
“Oh my gosh,” Lucy squealed. “Doesn’t she look adorable!” She reaches for the youngest Lopez-Evers offspring and Emmy is ecstatic to be transferred to aunt’s arms. Lucy blows on her tummy and tickles her, making the baby giggle and Tim can’t help but watch in quiet fondness. Thinking about how wonderful a mother she is going to be one day.
“Take a picture, it'll last longer,” Angela teases, coming to stand next to him. She places the diaper and swim bags on the counter before walking away to go get the rest of the kids’ swim stuff from the car.
“Uncle Tim!” Jack yells at an unnecessary volume but it’s enough to pull Tim from gazing at Lucy.
“Jack!” he quips back in the same tone as the toddler.
“I got a spidey suit because spiderman can swing from all da buildings which means he can swing under da water and I’m gonna swing just like him except I faster.”
Tim chuckles at his godson’s ramblings. “You’re faster than Spiderman?” He repeats in amusement.
Jack nods rapidly and then zips to the corner where Kojo is chewing on a toy and begins to pet him.
“He loves that dog,” Wesley says, stepping next to Tim. “Hey man, I know this was all my wife’s idea but I appreciate you letting us crash your afternoon.
“It’s no problem,” he sighs, looking at Lucy again, and he feels himself softening. Maybe this wouldn’t turn out to be the worst afternoon after all.
Tim regrets that statement about an hour later when five teenagers and three toddlers are occasionally traipsing pool water through the house and James is burning something on the grill. Kojo had the good sense to retreat to his bed in the bedroom, away from the chaos. Tim wishes it was socially acceptable for him to do the same.
Shortly after the Lopez-Evers family arrived, Genny walked in with the boys in tow. She informed Tim that they were not too thrilled about not being allowed electronics, but that she was done and she would let Uncle Tim handle it. And not five minutes later, Nyla and James walked in. Lila had her phone in her hand and Leah was sleeping against Nyla’s shoulder.
After the girls wished the men luck, they could not get out of the house fast enough. Except Lucy. She lingered a minute to give Tim a proper goodbye and to remind him of her promise for later. Which made whatever Tim was enduring right now worth it.
Maybe.
He grabbed the fruit from the fridge as well as a couple more lemonades for the kids. James was fanning the smoke that was coming off the burgers and six of the eight kids were yelling and splashing in the pool playing a game of Marco Polo while Leah and Emmy were snoozing on one of the outdoor loungers.
“What happened?” Tim asked, putting the items in his hands on the picnic table and rushing to turn the heat down on his grill.
“The kids said they were hungry, so I figured if I turned the temperature up a little, they’d cook faster,” James said innocently.
Tim stared at him and chose to bite his tongue.
“They’ll be fine. Cooking, grilling especially, is about precision.”
James gladly hands the spatula back to Tim and lets him take over. He and Wesley resume their conversation about social injustices.
Tim tried to tune them out but it wasn’t easy. He flipped the burgers and hotdogs and turned to make sure Tyler and Austin, the two that he was technically responsible for, were okay and not doing anything they shouldn’t.
“Tyler!” he yells and his oldest nephew’s head shoots up at the sound of his uncle’s booming voice. “Stop jumping on top of your brother and pushing him under water before I give him permission to beat you with a pool noodle.”
“Sorry Uncle Tim,” Tyler said, backing off of Austin.
“I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” Tim said matter-of-factly, leveling him with a glare before nodding toward Austin.
“Sorry, Austin.”
Austin didn’t say anything and swam over to where Lila and James’ youngest son were taking turns shooting the ball in the net. Letting Jack have a turn every once in a while. It was actually quite funny to watch the dynamic of all of them. Tyler, being the oldest by only a couple months, Tim thinks he may be trying to show off a little. That’s all fine and dandy but he’s not going to let him do it at the expense of his little brother. And then Lila and her other step brother actually get along pretty well and they’ve hit it off with Austin too. And the three of them are very sweet including Jack who is obviously a lot younger and just wants to be with the big kids.
Wesley is keeping a close eye on him from the patio but it seems he trusts at least Lila to be a good babysitter. Every once in a while she’ll pull him out with her and toss him in the air so he lands with a splash. Jack’s a good swimmer. Angela made sure to get him into lessons as soon as she could. Plus he has his floaties on. But he’s having a ball and he full on belly laughs every time he comes back up. Which gets a chuckle from the guys standing by and watching.
Tim is placing the last of the food on the giant platter when he feels a small tap on his leg. He looks down to see Emmy, standing there, still somewhat asleep but doing her best to look adorable in order to con her uncle into picking her up. Which he has no problem doing. He loves Emmy. He loves Jack too, don’t get him wrong. He’d do anything for Angela’s kids. But playing with Emmy is like getting to play with Genny as a little girl all over again. Without the fear and fierce need to protect. He can just let go and enjoy the tea parties and the dolls. It surprised Lucy when she started to notice the way he’d gravitate toward Emmy, while she took on Jack. But when he explained it to her, she got this doe-eyed look on her face and then kissed him silly and told him that he was going to be an amazing dad one day.
He reached down and picked the little girl up, settling her on his hip. “Hi sweet pea,” he kissed her little cheek. “Did you have a good nap?”
Emmy used her little fist to rub her eyes and gave a little nod before laying her head on his shoulder. And with that Tim was now a pile of mush. He couldn’t wait for this day with his and Lucy’s own kids. So for now he’d settle for his goddaughter.
“Foods ready,” he yelled.
Everyone came running. The boys all but knocking Lila over who was holding Jack’s hand and walking him to the table. An action that earns them a curt look from both Tim and James. “Ladies and littles first,” Tim announces, still balancing Emmy on his hip and ignoring the groans of protests from the boys.
“Do you want me to take her man?” Wesley offers, holding out his hands for his daughter.
Tim looks down at her and is about to hand her to her dad but she lets out a little whine and tightens her hold on him. He smiles at her and then looks at Wesley and shakes his head. “I got her.”
Wesley nods and goes over to help Jack get situated. Tim hears his little voice protest telling his dad he wants “ila’s help!” Wesley looks at Lila to make sure she’s okay with it. When she smiles and nods, Wesley backs away, content to be somewhat child-free for a minute.
“Alright sweet girl. Do you want a hamburger or a hotdog?” Tim asks Emmy, bouncing her once and making her laugh.
“Booger,” she says in her sweet little voice and Tim lets out a chuckle.
“Boogers it is,” he jokes, sitting down and putting two patties on the plate for both of them. He sets Emmy down on his lap facing the table and cuts her burger into pieces so she can nibble on them. He puts some fruit and corn on her plate as well and then lets her go to town. Tim builds his own burger and dresses his plate with various sides as well.
When everyone has their food, the table is awkwardly quiet for a while. However, the quiet is short lived when Austin decides to throw his wet, balled up hotdog bun at his brother.
“Hey!” Tyler shouts narrowly dodging the soggy bun.
“I told you to stop kicking me!”
“Uncle Tim!” They both whine at the same time.
Tim sighs and rolls his eyes. How is it that Jack and Emmy and Leah who are four and two are being more well behaved than his nephews who are fifteen and thirteen.
“Boys,” is all he manages to say before a hamburger bun is flung across the table like a frisbee and a spoon is being used as a catapult for a pile of corn. Tyler and Austin locked in for an all out food war. Tim watches as Tyler picks up his can of sprite and holds it like he’s going to splash it on his brother.
“Knock it off!” Tim’s TO voice makes everyone jump a little but Tyler and Austin immediately sit down and stare wide-eyed at their uncle. “Both of you, inside now,” he orders and both teens take the walk of shame into the house.
Tim stands up and hands Emmy over to Wesley and follows the kids inside. He finds them standing there looking at the floor but continuing to bicker about who started it and who’s fault it was they were getting in trouble.
“Stop it!” He says sternly and they prompt shut up. “Guys,” Tim continued, but a little less harsh this time. “You guys are acting like toddlers and the toddlers are more behaved than you right now,” he gestures outside. “Ty you’re the oldest one out there. You’re supposed to be setting an example.”
The boys stay silent. Tim sighs but continues. “Listen, I get it alright. Sometimes having a sibling is hard. You’re together all the time at home and then you go out and you feel like you just want space. You can’t get away from them so it becomes easier to pick on them. Believe me. Your mom and I used to argue a lot when we were kids.” Tyler and Austin finally look up at their uncle and then at each other. “But Ty, Austin is the only brother you're ever going to have and Austin, same goes for you. You should be looking out for each other.” Neither one says anything. “So here’s the deal. You’re both going to go outside and clean up the food that was thrown. And then Austin you’re going to come sit by me and I think it might be good if you guys have a break from each other for a while. Do we understand each other?”
“Yes, Uncle Tim,” they say in unison. They walk back outside, picking up the wet bun ball, the hamburger bun saucer and the spoonful of corn. It all goes in the trash and Austin grabs his plate and sits it next to Tim’s.
Tim reemerged a few minutes later, Emmy immediately squirming to get to him. He gave Wesley a look, silently asking if it was okay and the other man nodded, letting him take the squirming girl. She instantly relaxed and Tim’s heart turned to mush.
The rest of the afternoon went without incident. Tyler and Austin both come to Tim and ask if it was okay if they could play water basketball together.
“Are you going to get along? Tim asked in warning and both boys nodded their heads. “No dunking each other under water?” They shook their heads. “No violent splashing?” Another shake. “No waterballs to the face?”
Both of them shook their heads one last time and Austin spoke. “We’ll be fine Uncle Tim. Promise.”
“Alright. If not, I’m telling your mom to take your x-box and phones away for a week.” Both sets of eyes went wide and they scurried away, leaving Tim to laugh to himself. “Be careful of the little kids please!” He yelled after them.
Tim got in the pool with Jack for a little bit. His godson wanting to show off his jumps. He’d jump and Tim would catch him and then make a big deal and watch the grin on his little face grow.
Eventually Emmy wanted to be with her brother and Tim so he put her in one of the larger rafts that pulled her around in the water while Jack continued to jump.
“They may just have to spend the night here Tim,” Wesley joked from the steps where he was sitting, talking to James who much like Tim was wading around the shallow end with Leah.
“Ha! Nice try Evers,” Tim deadpans.
The women get home a little while later, and find their way to the backyard. The kids pay them no mind of course, but the men are happy to see them. Angela and Nyla walk over to their husbands and Lucy makes her way to Tim. She leans down to kiss him first and then sits on the edge of the pool so her feet dangle in the water.
“How was the spa?” He asked, moving one hand from Emmy’s raft to rest on Lucy’s bare thigh.
“It was great,” she nodded. “But I missed you.” She leaned over to kiss him again.
“I missed you too.”
“Hey there are little eyes present, if you two don’t mind,” Angela bellowed.
“She’s uninvited from our house forever,” Tim whispered to Lucy and she shoved his shoulder.
“Not in front of my kid Bradford,” Angela added, nodding to Emmy and Tim just rolled his eyes. He sees her say something to Wesley but he can’t make out what it is. He gets a bad feeling when she laughs and comes over to him and Lucy.
“My husband says this little one has been attached to you all day.”
Lucy looks at him and then down at Emmy who is relaxing so hard she’s nearly asleep, thanks to the back and forth motion of the raft. She smiles at the sight but has to clench her thighs as well. The sight of her incredibly hot, shirtless, wet husband with their goddaughter was doing things to her. She hadn’t forgotten the promise she’d made to him earlier and now all she wanted to do was throw everyone out and drag him inside.
Tim noticed the way her cheeks flushed and how she shifted ever so slightly to get some relief. He smirked at her before turning to his best friend and nodding. “She has,” he said. “But I don’t mind. I love hanging out with her.” He pulls the raft in and lifts Emmy up and dips her in the water. She giggles as Tim continues to play with her. But it’s not lost on him that Lucy is now eyeing him hungrily.
She stands up, removing herself from his presence and grabs a water bottle and goes to talk to Genny and the boys.
After about an hour, everyone starts to head out, thanking Tim and Lucy for hosting. He’s got his arm around Lucy as they see Angela, Wesley and the kids out. They were the last ones. “As if we had a choice,” Tim grumbles and Lucy playfully nudges him in the stomach. The heat never left her eyes and it was probably going to be literal seconds after they closed the door on their friends that Lucy jumped his bones.
“Don’t be such a grump,” Angela mocked, clapping him on the shoulder. “But seriously, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” he said. “Now you owe us one.” He smiled deviously.
“Let’s go Wes,” she ushered her family out the door. “Lucy’s got that look in her eye and I’m afraid she’s going to start stripping him right here.”
A noise of protest came from Lucy as she slipped out of Tim’s grip. “Get out,” Tim ribbed, shoving his friend out the door and closing it. When he turned around, he was confused when he no longer saw Lucy occupying the space.
“Luce,” he called. No answer.
He peeked in the kitchen but she wasn’t in there. He walked down the hall and stopped dead when he saw her sprawled out on their bed and a trail of her clothes lining the floor. She used one finger to motion him forward and Tim wasted no time diving onto the bed where they would spend the rest of the night and most of the next day.