Free B00CQUPUKW EBOK by Ana E Ross Page A

be remiss in his role as a godfather if he did nothing to stop Kaya’s plan.
    “Uncle Bryce.”
    Bryce turned at the sound of his name.  His heart trembled with joy and fear as Alyssa raced across the floor toward him, Snoopy under one arm.  She wrapped her free hand around his legs.  He couldn’t bear the thought of going through life and not hearing her sweet voice calling out for her Uncle Bryce.
    “Yes, baby.  What is it?”  He stroked her hair away from her face.
    “Can we go for a sled ride on the lake?” 
    “Maybe tomorrow, sweetheart.”
    “Why can’t we go now?  It’s not dark yet.”
    “I know, baby.  It’s just that I—” He took a quick glance at Kaya who was still feeding Anastasia.  She had that enraptured smile adults got when they stared into the innocent face of a child.  She was bonding.  He knew the feeling well.  There was no way in hell he was going to leave her alone with Samantha.  She would have zero opportunities to cut him out of any decisions about the children.
     He returned his attention to Alyssa.  “I have to talk with Miss Samantha when she’s finished with your brother.”
    “But they’ve been talking for a one hundreds of minutes already.  Is Jason bad?  Does he have a timeout?”
    Bryce crouched down to her eye level and held her hands.  “No.  They’re just talking about some very important stuff.”
    “Like what?”  She shrugged her shoulder.
    Bryce studied her face.  She seemed unaffected by her parents’ absence.  She hadn’t even asked for them since he’d arrived.  Where did she think they were?
    Bryce stood to his feet as Alyssa stuck her thumb into her mouth and walked over to Kaya.  She stared at her baby sister then announced around her thumb, “That’s not the way Mommy feeds her.”
    “No?  How did your mommy feed her?”  Kaya asked as she finally pulled the empty bottle from Anastasia’s mouth.
    “With those.”  Alyssa poked a finger into Kaya’s breasts, one at a time.
    She flinched, twice, then stated with a stiff upper lip, “Well, this is how I feed her.”
    Bryce watched on, curiously amused as Kaya’s cheeks turned a bright pink.  She kept her head down, not daring to glance his way.  She had the same uncomfortable look as before when they’d discussed nipples in the nursery.  Was she that inexperienced?  That innocent?
    “Why don’t you use those?”  Alyssa jabbed her again.
    And again she flinched.  “Because I’m an aunt and not a mommy.  Only mommies feed babies that way.”
    Her voice was as unstable as the rhythm of his heart.
    “When is my mommy coming home?” Alyssa asked.
    Finally .  Bryce held his breath as he looked on silently.
    She took a moment to hoist Anastasia over her shoulder before she responded.  “Alyssa, remember we talked about your mommy and daddy being in heaven on vacation?”
    So that’s where she thought they were .
    “Uh-huh, but when are they coming back?” 
    “Not for a long while.”
    “Why?  Don’t they love me no more?”
    “They love you.  They love you a lot.  They didn’t want to go to heaven just yet, but they had to.”
    “Why?”
    Kaya finally glanced his way, her large brown eyes pleading for help as she tried to coax a burp from the baby.  He couldn’t help her.  What was the point of prolonging the inevitable?
    “Because God wants them to spend some time with Him,” Kaya told Alyssa.
    Bryce rolled his eyes.   Yeah, sure, bring God into it .
    “’Cause He loves them?” Alyssa asked?
    “Yes.  Because He loves them.”
    Lauren and Michael had never spent a day away from their children, so Bryce understood the look of confusion on Alyssa’s face at the idea that her parents would go to heaven on vacation without her.  Bryce wanted to go over and tell the child that her father and mother weren’t coming home—not because God loved them, but because her father had been too damned proud to accept his help.  There, he’d thought