Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Rand Hawthorne and Slater Murphy were constantly pushing the envelope when it came to their architectural endeavors.
All in all, tonight they had nine kids they were watching, though it was getting late and the babies and toddlers were all in bed. Wrangling the older kids was always a fun time.
She wondered what Nate was thinking about. She also wondered if he wanted kids. It was pretty early in the relationship to even consider a family with him, but this was a part of being all in.
Was her sex drive starting to annoy him? He looked tired this afternoon, and she’d caught him yawning. Was she asking too much of him?
Devi frowned. “Maybe I should go check on them.”
Daisy shrugged. “If it’s dangerous, Rani will come and get us. Or she’ll fix it herself and pretend like the boys are doing a good job.”
“See, I tried to explain to her that’s she’s propping up the patriarchy when she lets the boys think they’re smarter than they are but then she smiles and starts talking about math and my brain goes fuzzy. Then I wonder if I’m the one propping up the patriarchy,” Brianna admitted. “Weird kid.”
Rani was on the weird side but she was also pretty much a genius. Rani was part of the Murphy clan, which consisted of two chaotic boys and Rani, who was seven going on forty-year-old college professor.
Of course the actual college professor’s kid was currently sleeping beside his cousin. Tate Hawthorne was four, and he wasn’t hard to get down at all. He was a sweet kid who wanted a bedtime story. Luckily stories worked on Diana Hawthorne, too.
Diana’s brother, however, was one of what Daisy liked to call the wild boys, two of whom were approaching.
“Hey, Daisy, could you tell Slater our parents are at a game night?” Rand was eight, the same age as his best friend. He was an adorable moppet of a kid, with his mom’s eyes and dad’s jawline.
“Uh, we’re allowed at game night.” Slater Murphy looked like a carbon copy of his dad.
Devi grimaced, and her voice went low. “This is what I always fear when we work here. How did the others handle it when we asked?”
The talk. The moment when they stopped simply being thrilled they’re at a fun night with their friends and wondered what the hell their parents were doing.
And then they figure it out and the world becomes kind of gross but also wonderful because hey, your parents are regular old people who love you and make you grilled cheeses and also, one might like to tie the other one up and spank her until she can’t see straight. It was actually beautiful when she thought about it.
“Uh, it’s kind of a special game night,” Brianna began.
Daisy didn’t think it would work with these two. They needed a more interesting explanation to glom on to.
Rand’s eyes narrowed as his young brain started working through the problem. “Slater’s right. I would be allowed at a special game night,” Rand insisted. “My parents let me play all the games. Even the hard ones.”
“I told you what they’re doing,” Slater said in a whisper that wasn’t all that quiet. But the kid was trying.
Unlike her besties, she knew this conversation was an inevitability and one they could run with. She’d be more worried they’d figured it out if she was dealing with the girls. What she’d learned was boys had spectacular imaginations at this age. There were days when she thanked the universe the twins hadn’t procreated yet. She’d learned the truth far too early because Kala Taggart couldn’t let it all be a mystery. No. She had to figure out how to get into the air ducts. There had been pictures Daisy couldn’t unsee. She was pretty sure Slater hadn’t done anything close. “Oooo, what are they doing, Slate?”
Slater looked around and then leaned in. “I think our parents are in a secret society.”
Actually, he was pretty close. Daisy nodded. It was time for a misdirect. She wished someone had misdirected her. “I think you’re right. Now the question is are they good or evil.”
Rand gasped. “They would be good, of course.”
Daisy shrugged. “I don’t know. It could be fun to have supervillains for parents.”
Supervillains at this age would be way easier for them to deal with than normal, actual sexually active parents.
Rand seemed to think through the problem. “My mom does a lot of stuff with a computer my dad says is ambiguous morally. I don’t know what that means, but it could be supervillain stuff. Also, my dad’s watched The Joker like fifty times.”
It meant Kyle Hawthorne needed to watch more movies, and MaeBe Hawthorne was a badass hacker, though her talents were used for good. However, the goal this evening was to stave off the inevitable moment when these kids figured out their parents were total pervs. “See. There you go. Tonight is secret society business. One day you’ll be a part of it, too. You should probably get some rest. After all, there will be missions involved.”