Diamonds Are Forever - Brooke St. James Page 0,58

cartoon deal going south was actually a good distraction from the awkwardness I felt with Drew's parents during those early months.

I still worked with Jim even after everything that had gone down with the production deal out west (some of which was his fault). We moved forward and made a book deal with a publisher, after which my characters went through another redesign.

This one finally took. We released a ten-book series the following year, and by God's grace, it caught on with early readers. Drew had been more active in the contract process with this one, and I was so thankful to have his legal advice. I didn't comprehend the business or legal side of publishing like Drew did.

We had settled into a routine where he helped me with certain parts of my job in addition to doing his. All this while trying to make parenting our top priority. Drew legally adopted Mac and we changed his surname to Klein to match the rest of us. We gave Mac a say in changing his name, and he wholeheartedly wanted to do it. It was sweet how much he wanted to.

And then, the year after Drew and I got married, we had a baby girl, Katherine (or Katie) Grace. She wasn't even two when her brother, Andrew James IV was born.

I wondered how Mac would take it, having his little brother named after Drew. I had grown up with my brothers' dynamic, and I witnessed Phillip always feeling like he had to compete with Evan.

It seemed to be different in my own little family though, thank goodness. Andrew was still just a baby, but I could sense Mac's tenderness toward him from the start. Mac felt like he had nothing to prove. He loved Andrew and Katie with his whole passionate little heart. He was extremely protective of both of them. In fact, he was being protective at this very moment.

"Mama did you get Andrew and KK a blanket?" He asked the question while I was getting the babies out of the backseat of my car. It was a cool fall evening, and Mac was playing his second season of peewee football. He had his helmet on already, and he was excited to get out on the field, but he came back to ask me that once he realized how cool it was out there.

"Yes, baby, I have plenty of blankets."

"Okay!" he said, turning back around.

Drew's parents met us at the field. They loved watching Mac play football. They had softened to me significantly over the years, and we had a good relationship now. Drew's mom came to me when she saw us pull up, and she took baby Andrew from me so I could hold Katie and my bag.

I greeted her and thanked her for the help, and we took off toward the field. Drew's dad came our way, and once we met up, he took Katie from me. He leaned in and kissed my forehead. "Hey sweetheart."

"Hey," I said.

"I'll take Katie up there with Cindy and the baby." He settled Katie on his arm.

"Okay, I'm coming with y'all, though," I said.

"Well, Drew's here," he said. He nudged his chin toward the parking lot, and I looked over my shoulder to see Drew's truck as he was parking.

I smiled. "Okay, we'll meet you in the stands in a second. And Dad will be with me, too," I added staring at Katie.

She nodded and held onto her grandpa, and I waved at them before I took off, going back toward the parking lot.

Drew was still in his truck when I got back to the parking lot. I couldn't see him until I made it down the line, but I soon realized that he was staying in the driver's seat and not getting out.

Cars were parked so close that he didn't see me until I was basically at his door. I opened it and peered through the passenger's side, looking at Drew.

"Aren't you coming?"

My husband smiled at me. He was growing a little facial hair, and I loved the way it looked on him.

"Come here," he said, patting the seat next to him. "Come sit in here and sit with me for a minute."

"What's going on? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just come here for a minute."

I climbed into the truck. I left my stuff in the passenger's seat and went to sit close to Drew. He pulled me onto his lap. I was more at home there than anywhere else in the world.