Free The Soldier's Surprise Family by Jolene Navarro

his palm over his eyes. “I can’t keep using you and your family to help me with my problems.”
    With a cute tilt to her head, she smiled. “Are we back to that? At the very least, this will give you enough time to find the perfect place to make into your permanent home, if that is still what you want.” She glanced behind them and checked the sleeping Pilar.
    Lowering her voice, Anjelica kept her focus on the baby. “Garrett, you don’t want to be moving the kids from house to house, just making do. They need stability.”
    As he eased the truck into the driveway, his jaw started to hurt from biting down. With a deep breath, he forced each muscle to relax.
    His instinct yelled not to take their help, or maybe it was pride. Sometimes the difference between the two was hard to find. Pride might come at too high a price if it cost the kids’ well-being.
    A soft touch pulled him out of his thoughts and brought his full attention back to her. The warmth of her touch went through his shirtsleeve.
    With one click of a button, she rolled down the window. The sun’s reflection exposed gold-red splashes in her hair he hadn’t noticed before now.
    He turned away from Anjelica and scanned the green valley surrounded by hills coming alive with spring growth. In her world, family always helped when needed.
    â€œI’m sorry,” she said again.
    He snorted. “For your family or my mistakes? Not your problem, but your family is here to help. You’re right. We couldn’t have gotten it all accomplished in such a short time. The faster I can have the kids settled in the apartment, the better. We need to thank them for their help.”
    â€œGarrett, it’s not your mistake the way things played out.”
    With the Tahoe in Park, he gritted his teeth. He hated crowds. They couldn’t be comfortable for the kids, either. Adrian De La Cruz waved at them as he drove his work truck full of debris off the property.
    â€œI appreciate the help, but I’m thinking this will be overwhelming for the kids, especially Rio.”
    â€œYou’re right.” She glanced at the backseat again. “I’ll have Mom clear out the house and send everyone that’s not working on the apartment home. I know they want to welcome your new little ones. We’re just used to hanging out with each other.” She leaned in and squeezed his hand. “Everything gets turned into a party with them, but they’ll understand.”
    He wished someone could explain it to him because he sure didn’t understand any of this.
    Checking on the kids again, he saw a small hand poking out from the blanket. Rio patted the dog, even though he hid. Wanting to hide from the world, he understood.
    How was he supposed to help these kids when he was on the verge of losing it himself? The cabin in the woods overlooking the river would have kept everyone away, but now the world knocked on his door in the form of two innocent babes.
    Garrett rotated his grip around the steering wheel, twisting the braided leather.
    â€œGarrett, are you ready?”
    No, but there wasn’t much choice. “Yeah, you get Rio. He seems more at ease with you. I’ll carry Pilar.”
    â€œI can go ahead while you wait in the truck and clear them out.”
    â€œNo, the kids need normal, and for you this is normal. We need to thank them for everything they’ve done for us.” Normal? He would follow her lead because he had no clue. He did know it wasn’t normal to scan for snipers or explosive traps. He had to tell himself that these were the Ortegas, and they weren’t going to harm the kids.
    Pushing his lungs to their limit, he stepped out of his SUV and onto the unsteady ground of a new world.
    â€œDo they show up unannounced often?” He moved to the passenger door behind him and opened it. In his truck, a baby who now belonged to him slept.
    From the open door on the opposite