"Are you going to miss Daddy?" Chris asked as he cupped Izzy's stomach through her vintage Goonies tee shirt.
The man was pathetic, he thought as he pretended to nibble on Jessica's little hands, growling softly as he did to amuse the little girl in his arms. He'd never been big on children until he'd met this little girl. It also didn't hurt that he didn't have to be there for all the little things like diapers, baths and all that crap that he didn't want to deal with. He could come and go, in and out of this child's life as he pleased, which of course was the way it should be.
He didn't want children and he sure as hell didn't want a mate, which was why he avoided female shifters like the plague. There was no way that he was about to allow fate to f**k him over and stick him with a mate, not now, not ever.
Not that he would actually care if it happened. Well, that wasn't true. He'd really care about his c**k no longer working since he'd only be able to get hard for the woman that would share the mating mark he would get once he came into contact with her. It didn't matter that the last time he had sex, Reagan had been in office, or was it Kennedy? It didn't really matter because sex wasn't important and he didn't need it, not like junk food. Speaking of junk food, maybe he should hit the cafeteria for something sweet. He'd need it if he was going to be stuck with these two surly bastards.
"Alright," Chris said as he came to his feet and looked down at his mate expectantly, "you may now shower me with kisses and profess your undying love for me."
"No, I'm mad at you," Izzy mumbled, trying to come off as stern, but failing miserably. The woman was madly in love with her mate, one of her few faults as far as Kale was concerned, but he was willing to overlook that since she was his closest friend.
"I'll cry," the man said as he playfully pouted for his mate and made him resist a well deserved eye roll.
"Good," Izzy said with a sniff.
"Does it not bother you that I could possibly be going off to meet my death and that you might never see me again?" he demanded in mock outrage and this time Kale did roll his damn eyes.
This was just pathetic.
Like he'd allow the bastard to make his little Izzy a widow or hurt her in any way. Nothing was going to harm the Sentinel male while he was stuck with him. Having the male along was a complication, one he apparently couldn't shake or Izzy wouldn't use Tattletale for him ever again. That was a reminder that he needed to figure out what the woman was up to and he knew that she was up to something.
Once she found out that Chris and Ephraim wanted to tag along she couldn't blackmail his ass fast enough to push her mate and father-in-law on him. If it hadn't been for her program he would have simply snuck out of the compound with her bowl of chocolates and sent her a text message telling her hell no, but he needed Tattletale. Having that program at his disposal would cut time off his jobs and bring him closer to his goal that much faster. He'd do anything to reach his goal, even put up with the bastard who'd better damn well make sure that he didn't hurt Izzy in any way.
"Just make sure that you pick me up a yummy surprise when you come home," she said, clearly dismissing the possibility that she might lose her mate and showing so much faith in her man that for a minute there he was actually envious and wanted a little of that for himself.
"Are you going to worry about me?" Kale asked in an offhand tone as he pressed a kiss to Jessica's cute little button nose.
"Of course I am!" Izzy snapped, taking him by surprise.
What. The. Hell?
He was a goddamn mercenary and she was worried about him? That was f**king insulting. He was over nine hundred years old and she actually thought that-
"If you touch the yummy treat he gets me I will kick your-"
With a groan, Chris ducked his head and cut Izzy's little cute tirade off with a kiss. Kale knew the man wasn't doing it because he cared in any way, shape, or form for him, but for the little girl in his arms. Chris had a strict no swearing rule around his daughter, one that he actually didn't mind following since he decided that his precious goddaughter was going to grow up perfect and ladylike.
A small moan and a loud groan to his right caught his attention and he looked over in time to see Ephraim give Madison a proper kiss goodbye. Honestly, he didn't know what the big deal was. They were only going to be gone for a few days. God, these people were pathetic, he thought as he gave Jessica extra baby kisses to last him until he could hold her again.
********
"Oh my god, you're crazy," Madison said as she rubbed her belly soothingly, trying to get her baby boys to calm down while she leaned back against the elevator wall and tried not to think about Jill.
She overreacted when she found out what happened between Jill and Logan and instead of asking Jill what happened she went off the deep end. She wasn't happy about it, but she normally wouldn't have reacted like that. These damn hormones had her crying one minute and ready to kill someone the next and unfortunately for Jill the hormones had hit her hard when she found out.
If she didn't truly think that Jill was better off away from the compound then she would never had agreed with Ephraim, but she really was better off away from here. They all would be soon, but Jill especially. Over the last couple of months Jill had receded into herself, losing her luster for life and becoming increasingly quiet. She also spent a lot of time downstairs in the lockup unit at night and now she knew why. The only thing that she didn't know was how that bastard manipulated Jill into doing something so stupid, but she planned on finding out shortly.
"This plan is perfect," Izzy said, shifting Jessica in her arms as she continued to rummage through the large backpack that Marc was struggling to hold. "Yes!" Izzy said triumphantly as she pulled out two king size Milky Ways and promptly handed one over to Madison, saving her the trouble of snatching it out of Izzy's hand.
With a sigh, Madison opened her candy bar and enjoyed a large bite. She was really going to miss being able to eat food. As soon as her babies were born her body would no longer be able to process food, which of course was why she was planning to eat everything in sight until the moment they decided that it was time to leave her. It's what she did when she was pregnant with Marc. When he decided that he'd had enough, she was sitting in the finished basement back at the old house, eating a bag of caramel popcorn dipped in fudge while Chris struggled with his physical therapy to regain control of his legs. Since Ephraim had warned her that she would no longer be able to eat once the baby was delivered she made damn sure to enjoy every last kernel.
"Dad and Chris are going to be mad," Marc said, shifting nervously as he struggled to zip the oversized bag back up and throw it over his shoulder.
"No, they're not," she said, lying since she knew they'd be furious and they'd be forced to barricade themselves in a room for a few weeks and hope that by the time they found the courage to leave the safety of the room that Ephraim and Chris had mellowed out and didn't spank the hell out of their asses.
"They'll be happy with our surprise," Izzy said, lying her ass off.
Even if they managed to pull this off, the guys were still going to be pissed that they took this chance, but they had to do something. Madison couldn't take this any longer. Before they came to the compound she'd never spent all day cooped up inside. She was used to taking walks, enjoying the fresh air and the sun. As nice as the compound was, she couldn't stay here any longer, especially since she knew they could very well be stuck here for another year.