a dull hue from too much love. Gavin rubbed his hand up and down her tiny back, the warmth of her skin seeping through her pajama top.
“Daddy,” she whispered, eyes flying back open.
Oh, shit. Please don’t puke in my face. “What, honey?”
“I have to have a kiss good-night before I fall asleep.” Then she lifted her head from the pillow and puckered her lips.
Something warm and devastating spread through Gavin’s chest. He kissed her, rolled onto his side, and tucked her under his arm. She was asleep in seconds. Gavin turned his face into her wet hair and breathed in the scent that was uniquely Ava. He’d always heard people say they’d do anything for their kids. That they’d walk to the ends of the Earth to protect them, do whatever it took to make them happy. It’s not anything a man can understand until he feels it himself, though. He wondered if his parents ever felt like this—completely slayed with love for him and his brother. Maybe that’s what his dad meant one day after the girls were born and he found Gavin staring at the girls in their NICU cribs. His father clapped him on the back and said, “Oh, son. You have no idea what you’re in for.”
Gavin had laughed along, but his father was right. Gavin had had no idea how his life would change because of them. No clue how they would literally expand the size of his heart inside his chest, sometimes to the point of pain. No clue that the fear of something happening to them could render him useless, speechless. No clue that loving them would make him love his wife even more, something he didn’t even think was possible.
And he’d almost thrown it all away. He was still throwing it away. If his father could have seen the way Gavin had been behaving, he’d shake his head in disappointment.
Behind him, Thea’s quiet voice broke the silence as she told Amelia to close her eyes and dream good dreams. A thick wall of emotion clogged his throat. A few minutes later, Amelia’s bed creaked as Thea stood. Then her petite silhouette cast a shadow over Ava’s bed. Gavin rolled his head to peer up at her. She stubbornly refused to meet his gaze as she leaned over to peer at Ava.
“She fell asleep fast,” he whispered.
Thea pressed the back of her hand to Ava’s forehead for a moment and then did the same thing to her cheeks. “Neither of them has a fever.”
Gavin had long ago stopped asking how Thea knew for sure. The best thermometer is a mother’s hand. He knew that Gran Gran–ism by heart now. And it was always proven right. Thea probably knew the girls’ normal temperatures better than her own.
With a weary sigh, she straightened. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Gavin eased onto his back, careful not to wake Ava as he removed his arm from her waist. “I’ll clean up the bathroom.”
Thea grimaced. “I forgot about that. I’ll do it since you handled the other one.”
“I got it, honey. Go take a shower.”
She blinked and stiffened at honey. “I said I’d do it,” she said, obstinately refusing to accept even the smallest olive branch.
“Christ, Thea. Can’t I even offer to help without it becoming a fight?”
Ava stirred at his sharp voice. Thea shot him a dirty look. “Fine. Clean the bathroom.”
She stomped out of the room. Gavin swallowed another blasphemy. By the time he was done with the bathroom, the shower had stopped running, but he needed a time-out before he attempted to talk to her again. He stalked to the guest room to change into running clothes. The only thing that was going to ease the tension in his muscles was the pound of the pavement and a dripping sweat.
Gavin carried the trash downstairs and threw it into the bin in the garage. Butter followed forlornly and flopped onto the kitchen floor.
“She shut you out too, huh?” Gavin crouched and scratched the dog’s ears. Butter thumped his tail and sighed. Yep. Just a couple of dudes licking their wounds after the alpha in the house let loose a vicious bark.
Gavin whistled for Butter to follow him to the front door. At the sight of Gavin reaching for his leash, Butter started bouncing on his front paws and yipping. Gavin tugged a wool skull cap over his hair, grabbed a pair of gloves, and headed out. He thought briefly about going back in to tell Thea