“Who loves their grandpa?” he asked, bouncing her on his knee.
Lily laughed like a maniacal clown on uppers, delighting her fans. She wore a new onesie that read “Spoiled, because Mommy can’t spank Grandpa,” and I laughed out loud when I saw it.
“He thinks he’s funny,” Aisling offered from her spot on the couch. She looked a little rough around the edges, as if she hadn’t been sleeping. “He keeps buying those, and when I don’t put her in them, he does.”
“It’s cute.” I settled on the couch next to her. “It’s not as if it isn’t true. She is spoiled and you can’t spank your father.”
“She’s definitely spoiled,” Aisling agreed in an abnormally flat voice. She was without her normal pep, and it concerned me.
“Feeling okay?”
She fixed her full attention on me. “Why wouldn’t I be feeling okay?”
“I don’t know.” I was honestly curious. She hadn’t come right out and declared herself fit for duty. She seemed beaten down, which wasn’t her way. “You don’t seem yourself.”
From his spot in his chair, which I’d come to think of as a throne of sorts the past few months, Cormack shifted Lily to rest against his chest and studied his daughter. “Izzy is right. Why are you so pale?”
“Oh, you’re not pregnant again, are you?” Redmond, the oldest Grimlock child, pulled away from the bar cart and glared at his sister. “I’ll never be Dad’s favorite if you have another kid so soon. He’ll forget all about his kids and focus on yours. That’s not fair.”
Cormack shot his son an annoyed look. “You’re definitely not my favorite tonight.”
“I haven’t been your favorite since Lily was born,” Redmond groused. “Despite the fact that I’m the best worker you have.”
“Oh, don’t even,” Braden groused as he strolled into the room. He’d clearly only heard the tail end of the conversation and yet he was having none of it. “I had extra charges today. You didn’t take any extras.”
“That’s because I had the senior assisted living facility and already had seven. Just because I only had to go to one location doesn’t mean I wasn’t busy.”
Braden rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all know that older souls tend to be keen to move on. I had two runners today.” He lifted up his hand and flashed his index and middle fingers for emphasis. “Two ... and all because Aisling decided not to come to work.”
I wanted to warn him off, hiss at him not to speak ill of his sister now that Cormack had been tipped off that Aisling wasn’t herself.
“You’re definitely not my favorite,” Cormack groused, shaking his head. “You’re at the dead bottom of the list. You’re even after Griffin, and he’s a dirty fornicator.”
I pressed my lips together and averted my eyes. In the process, I took another look at Aisling. She wasn’t laughing. Normally she would feed off the family bickering. Before I could think better of it, I pressed my hand to her forehead, using my magic and watching her aura swirl. She was definitely rundown.
“What’s wrong with her?” Cormack demanded. “Does she need to go to the hospital?”
“Is she pregnant again?” Redmond demanded. “One baby is enough. There are a million of us and she already runs us ragged.”
“I’m not pregnant,” Aisling hissed, slapping at my hand. The second she made contact, she pulled back and offered me an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. I just ... have not been sleeping all that well.”
“Why haven’t you been sleeping?” Cormack shifted Lily to Braden, who made a gleeful sound as he accepted his niece. Apparently Braden wasn’t worried about Aisling as much as he was delighted to have Lily to dote on.
“It’s not a big deal,” Aisling replied, avoiding her father’s intense gaze. “There’s no reason to get worked up.”
“And yet I’m worked up.” Cormack growled. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Aisling blew out a sigh. “The truth is, I might’ve gotten a little spoiled staying here. I forgot what it was like to be up with Lily every night.”
“But she’s been sleeping through the nights,” Cormack protested. “She goes down for a solid six hours.”
“Here,” Aisling countered. “At home, she didn’t want to sleep at all.”
“Did you take her to the doctor?” Braden swooped Lily in his arms, back and forth, grinning when she laughed. “She doesn’t look sick.”
“I called the doctor, who thinks I’m a nut because I bother him, like, once a week. He suggested Lily was getting used to new surroundings and that’s why she wouldn’t sleep.”
“I don’t understand,” Cormack said. “What new surroundings? It’s the same crib in the same room.”
“It is, but she’s gotten used to sleeping here.” Aisling looked pained to deliver the news. “The doctor said it’s likely she thinks of this as her home. She’s been lodging complaints all week about having to move back to her real home.”
Rather than take pity on his daughter, Cormack looked triumphant. “That’s awful.” He held up his hands toward Braden. “Give my baby back.”
Braden made a face. “I just got her.”
“Be glad you got her at all. I only handed her over because I thought there was something wrong with my other baby.”
“No way.” Braden cradled Lily close to his chest. “She wants to be with her favorite uncle.”
“She has plenty of favorite uncles. She has only one grandfather, and she loves him best.”
I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to Aisling. “I’m sure that Lily’s favorite uncle and grandfather will handle night duty this evening so you can get some sleep.”
“That’s what I’m counting on.” Aisling’s smile was rueful. “I feel like a loser moving in with my father ... again.”
Cormack made a swipe for Lily and missed, scowling. “You’re not a loser. It’s fine to need help. That’s what we’re here for. Braden, if you don’t give me that baby, I’ll see to it that you have grits for dinner.”
Braden snorted at the threat. “Like we have grits in this house. Nobody likes them. Why would we have grits?”
“I have enough money to pay someone to buy them,” Cormack hissed.
Aisling shook her head as she watched the spectacle. “We can’t live here forever, Dad. I let Griffin talk me into coming back because everybody is on edge with the revenants, but ... we can’t stay here forever.”
“Of course you can’t.” Cormack’s tone was utterly reasonable. “You’re an adult. An adult has her own house. You can stay here until Lily becomes annoying.” Cormack made a face to get Lily to laugh. “That will be about when she turns six. After that, I’ll find you a house in the neighborhood.”
Aisling’s exasperation was on full display. “We’re not moving here. I love Royal Oak.”
“Your townhouse has two bedrooms,” Cormack pointed out. “You can’t fit anybody else in there. Lily has a room and you and Griffin have a room. You need more space.”