Taggart Family Values - Lexi Blake Page 0,54

and as far from his body as he could. “I’m pretty sure the toilet is overflowing because the girls were waterboarding their Ken doll. Boomer is alive but really hungry. The dog vomited on the rug. Five times. It’s okay though because four times he totally ate it again. Only the last one stuck. And this one…god, he smells so bad. So bad. What do I do? How do you live like this?”

“Seth? That last frantic text was about Seth?” Charlie stared at him, her hands on her hips. “You were calm when the girls tried to set fire to the house and nearly killed one of your best friends, but you flip out over a baby’s poop? He pooped, Malone. It can be taken care of with a box of wipes and a clean diaper.”

“I’m used to terrible things happening. I can handle fires and Boomer getting shot. Been there, done that,” Malone admitted. “But not that smell. God, not that smell.”

Ian fell to the ground and didn’t even whine when Bud started licking him.

Charlie took her baby boy and cuddled him close.

“Situation normal, baby,” Ian managed to say.

Yep. All fucked up.

* * * *

Two hours later, Charlie closed the door and the house was blissfully silent.

Date night had gone to hell, but the damage seemed fairly minimal. The house was still standing. Everyone seemed to be alive, though Malone had complained that his sense of smell had been forever damaged.

Boomer had survived. Theo had come over and stitched the big guy up as he’d enjoyed not one but two large pepperoni pizzas. Theo had some medic training and his wife, Erin, had helped out because… Well, she really liked blood.

The night was over and everything was quiet.

What a fucking day.

She locked the door and moved back into the house. What the hell had happened? Her girls. That’s what had happened.

So tired and yet she felt the need to check in on her babies.

She made sure the alarm was on and then headed to the room Kenzie and Kala shared.

No one there. Her heart skipped a beat. Why? Why did she do this? She should have taken the money from all the info brokering and lived a happy, designer clothes-filled life where her children never tried to burn down the house or murder people with arrows or…

She stopped in front of her own bedroom door. Ian was in the middle of their bed, his left arm taped up but still holding on to a baby girl. His eyes were closed, his head on the pillow, his arms filled with babies. Kenzie was on one side, Kala the other, and Seth was happily asleep on his father’s bare chest, his diapered rump in the air.

Yeah, that was why she did it. This ridiculous, overwhelming feeling of love was why she went home every night, looking for these amazing people who made up her family.

One eye opened, looking her way. “You coming to bed, baby? Sorry I left you with Theo. The girls were tired.”

She flicked the light off. “World domination is tiring.”

Even in the low light she could see the way he smiled. “Yeah, it is. It’s a Taggart world. My baby girls are princesses, but there’s only one queen, Charlie.”

Her. This was her house and she was the queen. She settled onto the mattress and cuddled close, one of their twins in between them. All of the warmth of her family encompassed her. They were here. Maybe they were whole or maybe there were even more Taggart demons to come.

Bring ’em on.

She was ready.

Charlie Taggart felt her husband’s fingers tangle with hers.

“It was a pretty good night,” he said.

She bit back a laugh. “Yes, it was, baby. Yes, it was.”

6

Stuck at the Office

Stuck at the Office takes place between Long Lost and Charmed.

Ian Taggart put the code into the security system and heard the locks click. He kept the phone to his ear as he opened the door and let his little monsters into a place they knew all too well.

The office.

“We’re here, and I managed to not lose a single one,” he said to his wife on the other end of the line. “No matter how hard I tried. Those girls can keep up. I’m so sorry, baby. I’ll try harder on our way back.”

A throaty chuckle came over the line. “I’m sure you will, but those two are true Taggarts. You need to make sure they don’t destroy the office. How is our baby boy doing?”

“He’s the