A/N: I is late once again, I blame all the kids I introduced into this story. I have a hard time writing kids XD Anyways enjoy <3

Chapter 3

Simon’s POV

Rowan had been futless the rest of the night. Had it not been for his ear-splitting crying, I would’ve chased after Vince. I had called out to him twice, maybe even more by the time Rowan had started mewling, but Vince’s petrified look in his eyes was more harrowing than the crying child.

It started drizzling, the clouds looming dangerously low amongst the mountaintops, as I stared in the direction Vince had taken off. Breathing in and out I turned around to stare at the fallen gift bag he had left behind. A misshapen baby blue bow had fallen off the bag and the ribbon appeared to have been poorly curled. As I bent down to pick the bag up, Sam had stepped out onto the porch.

“You alright?” He asked, bouncing the sniveling Rowan up and down on his hip. “That was Vince?”

I nodded, giving them a soft smile, reaching my other hand out to hold Rowan’s hand. His eyes were already swelling, red from the crying. “Yeah, he brought a gift.”

“Are you going to go after him? Shall we wait for him?” Sam tilted his head, grabbing the bag with his other hand. “We can wait.”

I shook my head, glancing at the spot where Vince had left before turning back to them. “It’s alright, we should head back inside.”

Rowan mewled in his arms before mumbling, “un un.”

Shaking my head I held out my arms to pick Rowan up. He whined again, kicking his feet in protest. “Hey, bub. You want uncle to pick you up?”

He pouted as his bottom lip trembled. Scooping him up in my arms, he thrashed around a bit, reaching his arms out behind me. “No, un un!”

“I’m right here, buddy,” I bounced him, grabbing his hand in mind. “Uncle right here, see?”

His pout deepened before he wailed in my ear. “No! Un un!”

Sam frowned before pointing to where Rowan was reaching his hands out. “I think he wants—”

“Vince.” Sam nodded, Rowan crying louder at his name. Saying his name again and the thought of Rowan wanting him here too made my breath hitch. “It’s okay, baby. I do too, but un un will visit soon, okay? You can see your other un un later.”

He sniffled. “Un un?”

I hummed. “Yes, un un will be here later. You wanna see mama? Mama and dada have some presents and nom noms for you. You want mama?”

He whimpered before nodding. “Mama.”

Rowan’s pout was slowly upturning finally, and we let out a sigh of relief. He sniffled a few times but seemed to calm at the mention of Sarah and Aspen. Sam ruffled his hair before opening the door for us, Aspen sparing us a worried glance. Sarah had been helping Jonah and Lilah with their slices of cake as Aspen mind-linked me. Vince?

I nodded. Rowan wanted to see him too, but he took off. He brought a gift, though. Aspen pursed his lips at that.

“Maybe we should open the gifts, distract him from it,” I suggested. Aspen scooped up Rowan in his arms, the one-year-old slumping his head into his chest as if ready for a nap. “It’s almost his bedtime anyway, right?”

“Sure,” he replied, walking over to where Sarah was sitting with Jonah and Lilah on the floor, a mini table set up for the kids. Xavier was situated behind them on the couch, a soft smile adorning his face before he glanced at us.

“Ro Ro,” he cooed. “You ready for present time?”

Shifting in Aspen’s arms, he glanced at Xavier before nodding. Xavier grinned before pulling out three presents next to the couch, wrapped rather poorly in matching wrapping paper. “Wanna open these first?”

With his little feet kicking, Aspen set Rowan down next to the older kids. He reached his hands up as Jonah and Lilah placed the gifts in front of him. Jonah slid his one closer, sheepishly adding, “this one’s mine.”

Lilah pursed her lips, shoving her gift closer to him. “No, mine first.”

With a groan, Xavier sat beside the two. “Alright, no fighting, let’s open them together. How about you two open it up a little so Ro Ro can rip the rest of it up?”

“Mmkay, daddy.” Lilah beamed before ripping one end of her gift. Sam reached over to help Jonah out with the end he was struggling to open with all the tape. I couldn’t help but laugh as Xavier seemed to struggle with his wrapping when Lilah got stuck on a taped portion. 

As we waited, Sarah turned to me, pointing at the present me and Sam brought. “Hey baby, let’s open uncle Simon and uncle Sam’s gift while we wait.”

“Here you go, bub.” I reached over and ripped a portion of the gift wrap open for Rowan to play with. “Happy birthday.”

He giggled at the sound of the paper ripping; his hand clutching the scrap pieces as Aspen pointed toward the box in front of him. “Ro, here, open the box, bud.”

Aspen lifted the lid for Rowan to see the kid’s books and the stuffed animal we got him. He hummed as I grabbed the books to show him. A Winnie the Pooh book and the Guess How Much I Love You book. Although he seemed interested, he was more distracted by the stuffed animal we got him, a green dinosaur plushie. He giggled and scooped it right up his arms, clutching it to his chest before showing it off. Aspen had told me he was enjoying the dinosaur shows and he was absolutely in love with the Brontosaurus. 

Sarah smiled at Rowan’s excitement, as her mate pointed to the dino. “Rowan, you remember what they’re called? What do we call these, buddy?”

He pouted, working it out in his head before trying his best to say it, “Ri...no”

“So close,” Aspen teased. “Yes, buddy, dino. Dino.”

“Da...no.” He clutched it to his chest with a pout as Jonah and Lilah giggled. Xavier had finally managed to pry open the terrible wrapping job he did, sliding it toward the birthday boy.

With a huff and scrap pieces of paper everywhere, Xavier handed the gifts to him. “Here ya go, kiddo. From the three of us.”

Setting the dinosaur plushie delicately next to the box, Rowan wasted no time ripping the last bits of paper from Xavier and his kids’ gifts. Xavier’s gift had been on the practical side, some clothes, and another kids book, one with different textures on the inside, while Jonah and Lilah’s was a color block toy and a blanket. 

Rowan’s hazel eyes lit up at the colors and the fuzzy blanket. He made a sound as Jonah went to help open the package the blanket was in. Xavier beamed, telling Rowan, “Jonah helped to pick this out, Ro Ro. He really likes this color. You like it?”

Rowan, too fascinated with feeling the fabric in his hands, just nodded and giggled until Xavier pulled out the kid’s book he got him. He eyed the book up that had a textured patch of faux fur on the front. He immediately went to feel it but decided the blanket was more comfortable. 

It went on like this through the rest of Rowan’s presents, entirely intrigued by everything. Even over a case of diapers, Rowan seemed fascinated by the box and the sound of ripping more paper up. 

Most of Aspen and Sarah’s gifts had been toys and clothes for Rowan, while a few pack members had gifted some wipes and diapers.

“And last one, baby,” Sarah cooed as I placed the blue paper bag from Vince in front of him. “It’s from uncle Vince.”

“Un un?”

I hummed, untying the ribbon around the handles for him. 

He looked up at me with a pout, “un un?”

“Yes, bub. Un un got you something. He’ll see you later, okay?”

Removing the tissue paper, I opened up the gift, my breath hitching at the sight of it. Immediately it caught Rowan’s eyes, a brown bear with a deep blue bow. For him, it was another stuffed animal to his collection, but it meant more than that. It looked nearly identical to the one I had grown up with; even the bow and stitching in the face looked the same. I had taken it everywhere with me as a child, even leaving it on my bed after making it in the mornings. So it couldn’t have been a coincidence that he had bought Rowan something like this, right?

“Mama! Mama!” Rowan’s smile never left, squeezing the bear to his chest before showing it off to Sarah.

“Yes, sweetie, it’s very nice.” Sarah held her hands up as Rowan tried to stand on his own, wanting to get closer to his parents to show it off. When he almost fell backward, Sam braced his back before Rowan took a couple of steps toward Sarah. 

Xavier reached over to grab some of the kid’s books, waving in front of Rowan’s face. “Shall I read your bedtime stories, buddy?”

Clutching the brown bear to his chest and the fuzzy blanket in the other, he nodded.

“He’s precious,” Sam muttered next to me, watching as Rowan scooted closer to Xavier. I hummed in agreement, resting my head on his shoulder. Xavier opened up the book, showing him all the animal textures and mimicking the sounds they make for him. 

Lilah helped Sarah and Aspen clean up the wrapping paper confetti that strewed the floor, letting Xavier read the stories to him to try and get him sleepy. Occasionally Jonah and Sam would chime in to imitate the animals, too, enjoying the sound of Rowan’s cute giggles. While I helped to clean up the kitchen, packing the leftover cake and pizza.

It wasn’t long before Rowan had let out his first yawns, Jonah and Lilah following suit too. Xavier finished up the third book just as Sarah got up to carry Rowan. “We should probably get him ready for bed. Thanks for everything, you guys.”

“Of course, it’s been fun seeing him again,” I told her, hugging the both of them before kissing Rowan’s forehead. 

“Say bye-bye to your Uncles.” She rocked side to side as he rested his head on her shoulder, the brown bear and blanket still clutched tightly in his hands. “Give them kisses.”

The birthday boy gave a lazy wave before bringing his hand to his mouth then out to me, making the cutest “muah” sound. He gave the same gesture to Sam and Xavier, then towards Jonah and Lilah before his eyelids fluttered. Before Sarah picked him up to bathe him, Rowan let out a faint “bye-bye,” on his way to the bathroom. 

Xavier seemed to melt at the interaction, turning to the three adults in the room. “Oh my goddess, how can he be so cute?”

Behind him, Lilah pouted. “Daddy, I'm cute too.”

Xavier turned and bent down to her height. “Yes, I know, sweetheart. You both are, okay? It’s just you don’t give me kisses like that anymore.”

“That’s cause I a big girl,” she insisted. 

“Yes. Yes, you are. You both are getting older.” He rubbed the back of his neck before turning to us. “I don’t know where the time is going, geez. Anyways, I probably should get these guys to bed. I’ll see you guys later?”

Sam smiled. “Yeah, we’ll see you. It was nice to see you again, young lady. And you too, Jonah. Make sure to look after your sister now.”

Behind Lilah, Jonah nodded. He was still as reserved and quiet as I first met him, but he was definitely opening up more. Lilah looked up at Xavier, holding her hands out. “Carry me.”

Xavier pursed his lips but obliged. “I thought you said you were a big girl.”

“I tired, daddy.”

As Aspen returned from helping Sarah with Rowan, he patted my shoulder. “Thanks for coming. Rowan really appreciates it. Feel free to stop by anytime. ”

I nodded as Aspen turned to Xavier. “Thanks for the gifts; I think that blanket is his new favorite thing, along with that teddy bear. He hasn’t let go of it since his bath. Make sure to thank Vince for me if I don’t see him around.”

“Yeah, of course.”

Sam glanced at Lilah and Jonah. “It’s a shame he couldn’t stay. I’m sure his favorite niece and nephew would’ve loved to see him, right?”

Lilah nodded against Xavier’s chest as Jonah leaned into Xavier’s side. I smiled down at him, ruffling his hair before doing the same to Lilah’s. “I’ll see you two later.”

They waved bye as I turned to Xavier. “Tell Vince I said hi.”

He frowned slightly before replying, “I will.”

---

“I can’t get over how adorable he is,” Sam remarked on the way back to his truck. “I think even Jonah and Lilah adore him.”

I smiled softly. “Anyone would find Rowan adorable.” 

He thrummed, but Vince’s gifts had been circling my thoughts. That, and how badly I wished Vince should’ve been there to see Rowan’s face when he opened it. 

“Rowan was adorable,” he said off-handedly before lowering his voice, nearly drowned out by my thoughts. “I found Xavier to be adorable too. Reading those books and all, very cute.”

I hummed in agreement, but Sam gripped my arm, standing in front of me. “Simon? You okay?”

“Yeah?”

“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?” He frowned.

“You said Rowan was adorable.”

He chuffed. “I just called Xavier cute, and you didn’t catch that.”

“Oh,” I stammered before opening the car door. He sighed before getting into the driver’s seat. 

As Sam turned on the engine, he turned to look at me worriedly. “You sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

He sighed before pulling my hand into his, looking at me with a knowing gleam. “You know why.”

Staring at our hands vacantly, I released a nervous breath, the tears I had wanted to share earlier threatening to escape. “I dunno. I guess I thought he’d at least say hi, or happy birthday to Rowan. Maybe even stay and chat.”

Sam hummed, squeezing my hand. “Maybe he wasn’t ready today, but one day he will. ”

“Yeah.” I leaned my head against the window. “I just hope he’s okay.”