Eight
Early Saturday evening, Curt watched as Reese and Erin, Leah’s stepdaughter, helped the four boys playing with the plastic blocks. The day before, Taylor, Priscilla, his sister, and several of his female relatives, including his mom, had driven up to Ravenwood Ski Resort for Taylor’s bachelorette party—a party his sister had planned. With the women gone, the men had descended on his house for the day and brought plenty of toys to keep the boys occupied. Reese added to the collection by bringing over a farmhouse complete with plastic animals she’d played with at their age and Taylor had never thrown out.
Tomorrow the women would take over childcare duty while the men headed into Salem for his bachelor party at the Ultimate Escape. He’d visited a similar establishment over the summer with Taylor, Reese, and Reese’s friend Hazel. Even though they’d failed to solve the puzzles and escape, they’d had a great time. He expected tomorrow to be just as enjoyable.
“Maybe I should hire them as babysitters,” Dylan Talbot, a longtime family friend and his cousin’s husband, said. “James doesn’t want to nap anymore and constantly wants Callie’s attention.”
“It’s hit or miss getting Garrett to nap these days too,” Jake commented.
Across the room, Reese handed James, who’d turned three in the fall and was the oldest of the group, a bright yellow block. From the moment the boys had arrived, Reese and Erin had stuck close to them and helped keep them all occupied as well as out of trouble. If and when he and Taylor had children, he had no doubt Reese would be a wonderful older sister. Judging by what he’d seen today, he’d say the same thing about Leah’s stepdaughter.
“Sounds like he needs a sibling or two.” His cousin, Scott, picked up his almost seven-month-old daughter, who’d crawled over to him.
Belinda had been wearing a purple top and black bottoms when they'd arrived, while her identical twin, Theresa, wore a striped top and blue bottoms. Sometime after lunch, both girls had needed new outfits, and now Curt didn’t know if Scott was holding Belinda, who they’d named after Paige’s aunt Bebe, or Theresa, who they’d named after Scott’s maternal grandmother. Even though his cousin had admitted he occasionally got them confused, Curt didn’t want to ask Scott which daughter was now on his lap.
“Or two? We’re not all overachievers like you, Scott. Most of us go the one baby at a time route.” Jake picked up Scott’s other daughter, who’d made her way over to them, and settled her on his lap.
At the moment, Scott had the most children, but Curt suspected it wouldn’t be long before his other cousins started adding to their families. Of the men gathered around him, he expected Trent to announce his wife was expecting first. Both Trent and Addie came from large families, and his cousin had told him that was what they both wanted. But he didn’t think Jake would be far behind.
Scott shrugged and readjusted his daughter on his lap. “Don’t knock it until you try it. The pure chaos in my house these days is like nothing you’ve ever experienced.”
With three children under the age of three, Curt could only imagine what Scott’s day-to-day life was like these days.
“He’s not lying. I’ve seen it firsthand,” Dylan added. Although Dylan and his wife spent most of their time at their estate in Connecticut, both he and Scott worked at Sherbrooke Enterprises Headquarters in New York City and often visited each other.
“Did you and Nicole finalize the new custody agreement?” Curt asked while he looked for any differences between Scott’s two daughters that would help him determine who was who in the future.
Until recently, Scott and his ex-girlfriend had shared custody of their son, although it had seemed like Cooper spent far more time with Scott than his mother—a situation he knew his cousin preferred. Still, Curt had been speechless when Scott shared that Nicole had decided it would be better for her marriage, career, and Cooper, in that order, if Scott had sole custody of their son.
“Two weeks ago. Our lawyers worked it out so that Nicole has Cooper one weekend a month. If she wants and I agree, she can take him for more than one. She is also allowed to take him on vacation for up to ten days three times a year. But if Nicole said she wanted to take him for thirteen days, I wouldn’t say no.”
He couldn’t fathom putting his career before his child, but then Scott’s ex didn’t strike him as the maternal sort either. Although he’d only met Nicole Sutton once, he had seen stories about the actress. The woman enjoyed the limelight, and at least prior to her marriage, she had been willing to sleep with anyone if it would somehow benefit her career. In fact, she’d been sleeping with Alastair Corey, a well-known movie director, for that reason while still dating Scott. And if that weren’t bad enough, she’d also been seeing her current husband at the same time, which was why when Cooper was born, she’d been unsure of who his father was.
“Any word on your, uh, situation?” Scott glanced toward Reese and Erin, who appeared far more focused on the little boys in the room than the adults.
“What kind of situation did Curt get himself into this time?” Trent asked as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket.
Other than his parents, only Scott and Brett knew about Jordan and the pending paternity test.
“Has he been pretending to be someone else again?” Trent continued, alluding to Curt’s actions when he’d first moved to Pelham and hadn’t been completely honest with his neighbors about who he was. At the time, both Trent and Gray had warned him his lack of honesty might blow up in his face. Thankfully, Taylor had been understanding and willing to forgive him when the truth came out.
Reese approached the group holding Garrett’s and Kendrick’s hands before he could answer. “Curt, the boys want a snack. Erin and I do too. Can we get something in the kitchen?”
Since he did not know what types of foods were suitable for two- and three-year-old children, he’d asked Taylor for suggestions when he found out he’d be having visitors this weekend. Now, his kitchen had everything from graham crackers and Cheerios to goldfish and yogurt pouches.
“As long as it’s okay with them, get whatever you want and bring it in here.” He nodded in the general direction of the dads. He didn’t care about the children having a snack, but his cousins might feel differently.
Once they received the okay, Reese and the boys headed toward the doorway. Erin soon followed her with James and Cooper.
Scott stood up as his son and Erin passed by him. “If you’ll watch Bebe, I’ll go help them. They might need it.”
“Yeah, of course.” Curt accepted Scott’s daughter and made a mental note to remember Belinda was wearing the brown onesie with the large pink poodle on the front.
Trent waited until the children and Scott left before circling back to the conversation they’d been having. “What kind of situation have you gotten yourself into this time?”
Curt gave them the condensed version of events over the past week.
“When will you and Taylor find out?” Jake asked when he finished.
“Soon. Both Jordan and Reese had the cheek swabs done at the beginning of the week,” he answered, reaching for his beeping cell phone on the end table.