Chapter Sixty-three

Bram came from the room wearing a black suit. The vest had six silver buttons over his abdomen, and a small silver chain that ran to a side pocket. His jacket was slung over his arm. With it, he wore a white shirt and a red tie with embroidered scroll work over it with a matching pocket square. His shoes were shined, white toe tip and black leather. His hair was slicked back with a little flip in the front. He twisted his watch, looking down at the time. He had a lot to do today. His briefcase in hand, he placed it beside his chair at the table, draping his jacket over the back and slide in to stand beside Izabella, who was currently staring at him like she’d never seen him before.

“You look amazing.” She swallowed hard, taking a step away.

“Thank you.” He smiled, down at her. “I haven’t gotten properly dressed in days. It feels good to be back to normal.” He took his coffee to the table and opened his laptop, reading through the news. Nothing came through about the attack last night. That meant someone did some cover work. Either Gavin went above and beyond last night after they parted, or more likely, there were more in the group that wanted to keep it quiet.

“I cancelled the party today so that you could rest.” He didn’t miss the way her eyes narrowed at him.

“I know. However, I can’t stay idle with seven children running around the house. If I wait to make reports, it will only add to the chaos later.” He was now sending emails to Tyler and Gavin. “I also need to contact my realtor; we’re going to need a suitable home for the children before I can start the process of adoption. So, I have to see what’s on the market or who can be bought out. The police will be the hardest to convince, they tried to take Devon away from me last time and put him back in the home, so I have a feeling they’re going to push harder for this now that so many are involved. Gavin’s not going to like me stealing his weekend away from him, but I don’t have much of a choice right now.”

It was Tyler who messaged him back first, swearing and bitching because Bram wouldn’t even give them a day to enjoy each other. Bram half smiled at the computer. He’d never seen Tyler so over the moon for anyone, and it made him happy. Writing a quick response, he sent it, Gavin was the next to reply. Like Bram, he had a list of things they would be working on and had forms that he was requesting to be filled out and filed. A few minutes later, Bram had the printer going. Once he sat down with the paperwork, Devon came over, looking up at him.

“Are you going to work today? I thought you needed a break?” He looked sad.

Putting his arm around him, Bram pulled him close. “I’m sorry buddy. I wasn’t expecting all this. With having new brothers and sisters, and everything that happened last night, I have a lot to work on and do. We want everyone here to be safe right?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you excited to have some brothers and sisters to play with?” Bram asked, pulling Devon into his lap.

“I would have liked to have a brother, but this is more than I thought. Are you still going to love me, dad? Do I *have* to share my room?” Devon pouted, looking up at him.

Bram chuckled, kissing his head. “I’m going to start looking for a bigger apartment or maybe a house in the village or on the island. I’ll make sure that I get one where you can have your own room. You’ll always be my first son.” He ruffled Devon’s hair, eliciting a giggle from him.

“But not the oldest anymore.” He pouted, glaring at Gabe. Putting his head against Bram’s shoulder.

“No. But now you have a big brother. He’ll help watch over you. He’ll be able to teach you things and take you places I can’t. You’ll be happy. I know you will. You’re the third oldest, but it will be good to have an older brother and sister to help you and watch out for you.” Bram smiled, “You know, I always wished I had a big family that cared about me. My wish is finally coming true. And it all started because of you.” Bram bopped his nose, getting another giggle. “You’ll help us pick out the best house. You said you wanted a yard right? This is our chance.”

“Do we really have to keep the girls?” Devon moaned, but he didn’t seem entirely upset anymore. Just whiney.

“Yes, Dev, we are keeping the girls too. Can you imagine poor Izabella being forced to live with only boys?” When he looked up her, he caught her watching him. She was smiling, and when their eyees met, she blushed at him. She really was beautiful. “You’re going to have your hands full today too. We need to make sure that there’s enough food in the house for everyone. We’ll want to get whatever the kids need, toothbrushes, clothes, shoes, and whatever else. I can leave that up to you right? Maybe Jen and Gabe can help with the kids while you’re out?”

“Yeah, should we take few taxis?” She seemed at a loss.

“Uh, no. Call Jerome.” He said, a bit perplexed.

“I thought he was your personal driver?” She pushed away from the counter, going to sit at the table with him as she sipped her coffee.

“Well, he is, but I’m taking my own car today, so he can drive you all around. Ask him to bring the van. It's what I use when I have a lot of people to bring with me. You could go in style, but a limo would still be tight with everyone. And places get a little weird about people who show up in limos."

“How many cars do you own?” She gave him a funny look.

“A lot.” He shrugged. “I emailed my realtor, he’s going to be sending us links to houses throughout the day. I CC’ed you on it so that you should get them too if you want to look or get the kids opinion. This isn’t just my decision, though my vote counts more than anyone else’s.” The kids all groaned, complaining. He chuckled lifting Rose onto his other knee when she called him daddy and asked to be picked up. The other kids all crowded around Izabella, but she didn’t let them crawl on her, sensing a fight about to break out. “Also, phones and all that. Call Rose, see if she can just bring some stuff over and get you set up here. I say that, because I’d like to avoid buying the whole store, and this many kids will break even my bank if I let them run a muck there.” He laughed, and Izabella shook her head.

“You’re spoiled.” She giggled.

He shook his head, “I worked hard to get where I’m at, and definitely haven’t lived much of a spoiled life. Part of the reason I spoil Devon so badly. I’ll do the same with all them, given time. Anyway.” He cleared his throat. “We also need to start looking at schools. Though you can opt to have the children tutored too. I don’t care either way. Gabe and Jen, I want you to figure out where you want to go. My only rule is that it can’t be a public school. If you want to get out of the country, you’re old enough to pick a good boarding school, but we’ll need to get you tutors before you can start to make sure you’re grades will be up to par if you choose to go that route.”

“We can study abroad?” Jen jumped up, staring at him. “Like, I could go to England to study?”

“Sure, you can go anywhere. But I expect decent grades. So, no matter where you go, I expect you to study hard and work hard.”

“That’s…” she looked at Izabella, who nodded, smiling.

“We’ll look at schools later today. We all need to get ready to go out. Uh, Bram, what do you want me to use as payment?”

“Oh, right. Your card is in the mail. I had one created for you. If you need the banking information or the account numbers, you’ll have to call Gavin, but you will have access to the general children’s funds so that you won’t have to worry.”

“Do I have any limits?”

“As long as you don’t spend more than a million this month, you’ll be fine.” As expected, she looked at him like she was about to faint. He pat Devon on the back, who slid off, going to his room. Then he hugged Rose, kissed the top of her head and set her on her feet. “Alright, I’m off. I’ll text you later to let you know when I’ll be back.”

When he stepped in front of her, she bit her lip, blushing up at him. He leaned down, whispering in her ear. “Have a great day. You have my number if you need it.” As he pulled away, he heard her huff a bit, when he turned back, she grabbed his face and pulled him down into a kiss. It was sweet, but urgent and playful.

“There. That’s better. Have a great day, Bram. You’d better be home for dinner. Or I might have to kill you.”

“That’s aggressive.” He looked at her, a bit shocked.

“Eight kids on my own… that’s a lot to handle.”

“Jerome’s good with kids. He has a few of his own. He’ll help if you ask.” Bram said, waiving as he went out the door.