Chapter Eleven
“Well look who’s coming up in the world,” Drew said into the speaker, as he waited for the gate to be opened.
“How did you find me, I thought I was hiding,” Derek replied. He’d been wondering who was buzzing him.
“Oh, it’s always easy to find my prey,” Drew replied.
“Hey open up this gate before I climb over it and kick your sorry butt,” Ryan’s voice spoke into the microphone.
“What the heck did you bring him for?” Derek said, as he pushed in the combo for the gate to open. He walked out the front door and waited for his cousins to exit the truck.
“Nice place, got an extra room?” Ryan said, as he came up the stairs and slapped Derek on the back.
“Sure, I do need to hire a gardener,” Derek replied, which earned him another punch.
“Heck someone is growing up to be a real boy, you got the house, the kid and soon a wife, whatever happened to our vows of being bachelor’s forever,” Drew said as he made himself comfortable and walked through the doors.
“Damn, I don’t think you have enough room,” Ryan called out, with a low whistle, as he took the place in.
“Whatever Ryan, your net worth is equal, if not more than mine,” Derek replied with a roll of his eyes.
“Well yeah it’s more than yours, because I haven’t spent it all for one house,” the man replied with an evil grin. He knew the money hadn’t even dipped into what Derek had.
They made their way out towards the back and the sound of Jacob splashing in the water. He spotted the two men and his eyes filled with curiosity. Derek considered them both more like his brothers and introduced them to Jacob as his uncles. Jacob was ecstatic to find he had uncles, since his mom was an only child and he had little family.
“I hope you have extra trunks, because I’m getting in that water one way or the other and I don’t want to make you look bad in front of your fiancé by showing her how lacking you are,” Drew said with a waggle of his eyebrows.
This time Derek punched him in the arm and then directed him to the changing area next to the pool, that was already stacked with extra suits. His two cousins changed quickly and soon the four boys were having a splashing war that had Jacob giggling uncontrollably.
“So where is Jasmine, I haven’t seen her in forever?” Ryan asked.
“She had to go pick up some groceries so we could eat. Jacob, here, is a bottomless pit. Apparently he doesn’t like grocery shopping though,” Derek said fondly. He hated to go food shopping himself. He couldn’t wait to get a staff hired to take care of it all.
They played in the pool a while longer and then finally dragged themselves out, with reluctance. They got changed and then helped Derek get things unpacked. There was a floor to ceiling library Jasmine had about cried over. He wanted to surprise her, by getting all her books loaded up onto it. The room was pretty great, with a wood fireplace and a huge window with a seat in it. They were going to spend the week shopping for furniture to fill this room, along with many others.
With his cousins there helping him, they had the library and living room unpacked in no time. They even managed to get most of the artwork hung on the walls. He looked around, feeling pretty good about their progress.
They’d just sat down, when he heard the garage door open. He stood up to help Jasmine carry in the groceries and Drew and Ryan followed him.
When they stepped out into the garage Jasmine saw them and her entire face lit up. “Drew, Ryan it’s so good to see you,” she said, as she ran towards them and threw her arms around one and then the other.
“Jasmine you’re looking more gorgeous than possible. Are you sure you want to stay with this bum, I think I can convince him the kid’s mine and we can run away together,” Drew offered her with an evil grin towards his cousin.
“Drew I have so missed your sense of humor. You have to tell me everything you’ve been up to for the last ten years. I’m sure there’s a trail of heartbroken women in your wake,” she said with a genuine smile.
“Yeah Drew is just a barrel of laughs,” Derek said, not loving that Jasmine was so open and easy with Drew and so withdrawn from him.
The guys grabbed groceries and set them on the counter so she could get it put away. They sat on the counters so they could continue talking to her while she put items where they belonged and then begin making dinner.
Soon spectacular smells were surrounding all the men and she had to push them out of the kitchen, because they wouldn’t quit picking at things. “You guys go play for a while and I will let you know when everything is ready,” she told them.