Saxon's Savior (Protect and Serve #3) - Pandora Pine Page 0,51

eat them.” Saxon had his phone out typing notes on the instructions. His mood seemed brighter than it had when they’d walked into the firehouse earlier this morning.

“I liked your pancakes,” Sophie said sweetly. She turned to Ozzy. “I ate lots and lots of pancakes.”

“Thank you.” Saxon kissed the top of her head. “I loved making them for you.”

“What else do you like to eat, Sophie?” Ozzy asked.

“I don’t know.” Sophie’s earlier sunshine was gone.

“There wasn’t a lot of food in your house, huh?” Ozzy asked. He’d bent down so he was on Sophie’s level.

The little girl shook her head no.

My heart broke again. I knew Ozzy and Saxon’s did too. I wanted to reach out to her and hug her tight, but that wouldn’t fill her belly or soothe the traumatic memories of going to bed hungry.

“You’re never going to have to worry about that again. I’m going to teach Uncle Saxon how to make the yummiest food ever.” Ozzy grinned brightly at the little girl.

Sophie didn’t look convinced. She gave her shoulders a half shrug before wrapping her arms around her sister.

Saxon looked lost, as if he had no idea how to soothe the kids. Behind him, the microwave timer started to beep.

“Pasta-pus time!” Ozzy said before dumping the pot of boiling water and food into a colander. “One pus for Lola and one for Sophie.” He brought two plates to the table.

I snorted. The food actually did look like an octopus, with the cooked spaghetti acting as the tentacles.

“Chup!” Lola demanded.

Ozzy and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. I reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of ketchup. “Uncle Ozzy used to call it that too.” I squirted a bit on Lola’s plate.

“More!” Her face bunched up in outrage.

I gave her a second dollop and added a mouth to look like a smile.

“I want a smile too!” Sophie said.

I obliged, making her one too. These girls were so easy to please. All I wanted was to see them eat their fill.

“How exactly do the kids eat those?” Saxon asked. He was eyeing the ones left in the colander.

Lola picked up her hotdog and slapped it in the ketchup, using the pasta as a paint brush before taking a bite. Two strings of spaghetti hung out of her mouth as she chewed.

“Like that.” Ozzy started to laugh. “Who likes chicken nuggets?” he asked.

Sophie’s hand shot up into the air. Lola was using her fingers to eat the rest of the ketchup on her plate.

I had a feeling she was trying to suck up all the food she could get in case there wasn’t any more. Christ, was it always going to be like this with the girls breaking my heart at every turn? How had Mandy and David survived this with so many kids?

Ozzy pulled a tray of homemade chicken nuggets and fries out of the oven and set them on top of the stove. “They look like they’re from a fast-food joint, but I made them myself.” He reached for more plates for the girls.

“Chickie nuggs!” Lola’s eyes went wide. “Me love nuggs!” Her ketchup-smeared face broke into a bright smile.

“Me too! I want ranch!” Sophie’s eyes were big and gleaming.

Shit, did we have ranch? I poked my head into the fridge.

“Bottom shelf in the door,” Ozzy said as he added ketchup to the fresh plates for the fries.

“Yummy!” Lola declared of the french fries.

I gave the girls some ranch, then sat back and watched them eat. They reminded me of this puppy we had once who managed to break open his bag of food. It spilled all over the floor. He was gobbling it up faster than we could clean it up, and he ended up gorging himself to the point of being sick. If the girls weren’t careful, the same thing was going to happen to them.

“Can I try one of the pasta-pusses?” Saxon asked. He’d been eyeing the food since the girls had gone crazy for them.

“Sure. Try everything because you’re going to learn how to make all of this food.” Ozzy’s smile was a mile wide. There was nothing my brother loved more than feeding people.

“Mine!” Lola yelled when Saxon went to try one of the hotdogs. Anger burned in her eyes

“Honey, you have all those nuggs and fries on your plate.” Ozzy tried to console Lola, but he wore a knowing look in his eyes.

“Mine too!” Lola pulled her plate closer to her chest before grabbing a