Neither the story nor the characters belong to me.

Chapter Seventheen

SHIKA

"You going to tell me what happened?" Temari asked as she slathered antibiotic ointment on the scrape along my side. I would have been all for keeping her in bed the rest of the day, but it was almost time to pick up the boys.

"Tree fell." I shrugged. "No big deal."

Shit hurt like hell, but I'd had way worse through the years.

She paused, then reached for the gauze I'd left on the bathroom counter.

"A tree fell," she said slowly.

"A tree fell," I repeated as she wrapped the wound. No good could come from telling her what had gone down out there. It would only make her worry more.

Her lips pursed, but she only nodded as she used medical tape to secure the bandage. "All done."

"Thank you." I tucked her hair behind her ear, my stomach dipping at the unease in her eyes. "Don't worry. It will be healed up in a week or so."

"I'm always going to worry."

And that was exactly why Naruto had lost his shit on me yesterday. When I'd spotted the adolescent, burned-out pine tip in Chandler's direction, I hadn't thought... I'd simply moved, shoving the kid out of the way and getting grazed by the tree in the process. Naruto could fuck off. Chandler was alive and I was scratched up. Seemed like a pretty good deal to me considering our performance had been barely above a "clusterfuck" rating.

Temari and I finished getting dressed and headed to the preschool in my truck. Mrs. Yakushi shocked the crap out of me when she waved as we waited at the stoplight on Main Street.

"That woman hates me" I muttered, giving her a wave and an awkward smile.

"She hated you years ago" Temari qualified "She wouldn't dare hate you now, especially with how hard you're working on the crew. People grow up."

Temari waved back, and we continued on our way when the light turned green. The sun flashed on my wedding ring as I turned the corner toward the preschool. How blissfully normal it all seemed. This could be your life.

My heart tumbled and raced.

I could come home to Temari after every fire. Fall asleep with her in my arms. Wake up to her scent in my lungs and her soft curves in my hands. With her at my side, the thought of an instant family wasn't oppressive or terrifying, it was…warm and welcome. And the boys? I was wild about them. But kids…man, kids were easy to fuck up, and I was anything but a sure bet in the stability department. Temari won't let you screw them up. But was I really ready to say forever? What if I fucked it up? What if I had more of my mom's runaway genes and less of my dad's loyal and steadfast ones? What if I said yes only to break their little hearts in a few months when I did something to piss Temari off—which was inevitable—and she got sick of my inconsistent ass?

I hadn't lied this morning—she'd ruined me. Everything about sleeping with Temari transcended sex into an entirely new level that had to be… making love. Maybe I'd been inside her body, but she'd been in my soul, every emotion heightening the physical act to what I could only describe as stunning.

And terrifying.

There would never be another woman who compared to the blonde curled up next to me, the console of my truck raised so she could lay her head on my shoulder as she fumbled with her phone, scrolling through her playlists. There would only ever be her, even if I screwed this up and she walked away. Only ever her in my head, my heart, my dreams. That sweet, warm pressure expanded in my chest until it nearly burned. Oh shit. I was in love with Temari. I felt it the second my heart had cracked open when she'd told me she loved me again while I was inside her, but there was no denying it now. I'd seen the truth in her eyes, the way she'd stripped herself emotionally bare for me, never thinking to protect herself from the hurt we could cause each other.

I was in love with Temari. The thought repeated in my head like the echo in a canyon, coming back around to hit me from another angle. Temari, who I'd wanted for the better part of a decade. Temari, who had seen my worst sides. Temari, who was legally my wife because she was brave enough to put herself on the line for the boys—our boys.

She was fearless in a way that humbled me.

Oblivious to the epiphany that was currently rocking me to my core, she changed the song streaming from her phone to my speakers, pulling me from thoughts.

"I was thinking we might have Naruto over for dinner."

Naruto. Fuck my life. My stomach twisted but settled quickly. Naruto was going to have to get over his shit. I just didn't necessarily need him getting over it at my dining room table.

"We might want to wait a day or two." My grip tightened on the steering wheel.

Temari cocked her head at me and waited for me to explain.

"He's a little pissed at me right now," I admitted, watching her eyes narrow in my peripheral vision.

"Does this have anything to do with the giant gash down your side?"

"Scrape," I muttered. "And maybe."

I kissed the back of Temari's hand.

"It's just work stuff."

But it wasn't. Naruto wasn't pissed at me for stepping in and protecting Chandler. He was pissed at me because Temari would suffer the consequences if I'd misjudged, and that was entirely personal.

We pulled into the parking lot and then held hands as we walked into the school with the throng of other parents picking up their kids. I nodded to them as they greeted me by name. Everyone seemed happy the crew had made it back from our first real test.

Not that it was a real test. Working at Type 2 after years of being a hotshot was a big step backward, not in workload as much as state of mind. But we had to prove ourselves, so Type 2 it was.

"There he is," Temari said, pointing down the hall where Denki was loading his backpack carefully with art, his back to us.

"Let's surprise him."

We made our way to him as he zipped his bag, and I slipped behind him, a wide grin spreading across my face. I'd missed him in the weeks I'd been gone, and I hadn't even realized just how much until this moment.

"What do you have there?" Temari asked, crouching to his level as I waited.

"I made Shika a picture!" He hefted the little bag to his shoulder and Temari helped him get his other arm through the strap. "It has trees and fire, but not a lot of fire, just a little."

"I bet he'll love it," she told him, zipping up his windbreaker even though he could do it himself. She did that for the people around her, tiny gestures that let everyone know they were cared for.

"I can't wait to give it to him!" He bounced a little.

"You could give it to him now," she suggested, nodding toward where I stood.

He turned, his brows scrunched until he saw me. Then his eyes flew as wide as his smile.

"Shika! You're home!"

He jumped, and I caught him, my hands slipping down the slick material of his windbreaker slightly as I lifted him into a hug. He tucked in tight, his little frame bending around mine, his hair smelling like the strawberry shampoo Temari kept in the Iron Man bottle. I breathed in deep, savoring the absolute peace of the moment.

"Yeah, I'm home" I met Temari's eyes, and she gave me a watery smile.

"I missed you," he admitted, his hold tightening to almost strangulation on my neck.

"Well, I missed you more. Trust me."

And I did. My heart cracked again, flooding my senses with an even sweeter feeling, and I squeezed Denki in a bear hug in reaction. I'd fallen for him too, and Sir Pukes-A-Lot, who rested his tiny, kissable head on my shoulder when we picked him up ten minutes later from Cherry's. He hadn't made a single sound as I'd lifted him into my arms, simply looked at me, and then laid his head down, melting into my chest.

Damn it, I loved three people I had no guarantee of keeping.

As if sensing the damning thought, Hoki picked up his head, plopped both his hands on my cheeks, and began to babble, his eyes bright as he drooled through his soliloquy.

"Oh really? What else happened while I was gone?" I asked him as we walked out of Cherry's, his diaper bag slung over my shoulder and Denki's hand tucked in mine.

Temari said goodbye to her friend and came out after us, reaching the truck as I got Hoki strapped in to the soundtrack of Denki filling me in on every detail of the last couple weeks. He buckled his own seat belt across his booster and didn't pause once to criticize how I handled Hoki as I caught up on which kids were staying for the summer session and who he wouldn't see until kindergarten in the fall.

My little alpha pup had become quite the talker.

I grinned at the thought and kissed Temari quickly as she buckled in beside me. Normal…everything was domestically, exquisitely normal, and it was perfect.

"You need more carrots" Denki lectured Naruto two days later as we sat in the dining room. "They're good for your eyes." He glanced meaningfully at the bowl, and Naruto dished another spoonful of carrots onto his plate.

Tonight was going to be a disaster, but Temari had insisted on inviting Naruto over for dinner. Honestly, who the hell was I to tell a sister she couldn't catch up with her brother? If he was still pissed at me, hopefully he'd keep it confined to the clubhouse.

As for me, I was keeping my eyes on my plate and off that slight dip in Temari's neckline. And off the long line of her neck and the curve of her lips. I definitely wasn't thinking about the way I'd kissed her just before Naruto had rung the doorbell, or the soft little whimper of protest she'd made when I stopped.

Nope. Not thinking about any of that.

"Bossy, this one," Naruto muttered with a grin as he passed the bowl to Temari.

"You should see him when it's broccoli" I winked across the table at Denki "It's a whole other story."

"Broccoli tastes like hot feet," Denki explained, his eyebrows rising at me as though he was an expert on the subject.

Naruto laughed, cutting the tension in the room by half and reminding me why the guy was my best friend.

"Well, I brought pie for dessert, if you eat all those carrots and the chicken Shika tortured to death on the grill" His eyes darted to Temari "I mean, if Temari says it's okay."

"It's fine. Just eat what you can, Denki." She rolled her eyes at her brother "And Shika grills just fine."

"So protective." I smothered a laugh.

Denki's eyes narrowed.

"What kind of pie?"

"Apple," Naruto answered. "The kind with the crumble top."

Denki nodded thoughtfully, then forked in the bites of chicken Temari had cut up for him while Hoki made a mess of his heavily steamed carrots. He'd smeared the squished vegetable all over his face, and his tiny fists were the same shade of orange. Bath time was going to be fun tonight.

"So…" Naruto glanced between Temari and I, his brow furrowing for a moment. I held my breath and sent up a silent prayer that he'd choose a safe topic "How are the fostering classes going?"

My shoulders dipped in relief.

"Fine" Temari answered "They've mostly been virtual, and we're almost done, since we did everything backward with the home study and such." She glanced at the boys. "They can get kind of heavy though. The topics…" She winced.

"There's a lot of information to process" I filled in. "The classes are focused on all different age groups, not just the little guys, and some of the stuff kids go through is…" Fucking horrifying. "A lot."

Naruto's eyes drifted toward the boys, and he nodded, getting the unspoken message.

"And when do you meet with Shizune again?"

"Tomorrow" Temari answered, her gaze briefly meeting mine as color rose in her cheeks.

The two of us had an appointment tonight regarding that very meeting. It was time to figure out just what the hell we were doing.

Silence descended as we ate in an almost awkward silence that was only broken by Hoki's squeals of excitement as he pulverized another carrot.

"So how is the crew coming along?" Temari asked.

Naruto sighed.

"For the most part, I think we're getting there, but we haven't really gelled yet." He looked across the table at me. "What do you think?"

"I think we've got some rookies with sh..." I winced. "Crappy shelter deployment times, and we're not cutting line as effectively as we could be. There's still a pretty big divide between the legacies and the transplants."

Naruto nodded in agreement.

"But I have a feeling we're going to get a chance to work those issues with the way the weather is looking."

It was hot, dry, and our snowpack was low. Add in the winds forecasted over the next week and that made for a high probability I wouldn't be home next week.

"I swear, it's like the fires just kept coming this year" Temari murmured, stabbing her chicken. "There was no real off-season, even before you guys came back to Konoha. You didn't get a break."

"That's because we didn't." I forked a bite of potatoes "We went from one crew to another, one fire to the next. Hell, you were seasonal, Naruto, and you were still out there in April with your old crew."

"Remember that December fire on the front range?" Naruto asked, shaking his head. "Fire season used to be five months long and now, it seems we're fighting year-round, and I have to say, it's pretty da…"

"Naruto!" Temari snapped.

"Darn," he corrected "exhausting."

That was something we could both agree on.

"I mean, you've got to be tired too" Naruto continued, concern lowering his brows as he looked at Temari. "He was gone for weeks." He pointed his fork at me "And chances are we'll be gone in another few days if the forecasts hold true. You're basically doing this on your own."

And boom, so much for safe topics.

Temari shrugged off his comment, and that sickly sweet smile she saddled on him was anything but sincere.

"Well, I knew what I was getting into, dear brother." Her nose wrinkled.

Mayday.

I shot Naruto a look that said as much. Temari was going to eat him alive if he went down this path.

"But did you?" Naruto challenged, leaning back in his seat "I imagine it's different watching Mom send Dad off versus being the one left behind with the kids now."

I debated kicking him under the table.

"It's not like I fell apart while Shika was gone." Temari arched an eyebrow at him "As you can see, both kids are alive and healthy. My business is thriving. The house is still standing."

"I'm done!" Denki announced, showing off his plate like a trophy.

"Wish I could be done" I muttered to myself, then turned to Denki "Go ahead and take your plate to the counter, little man. We'll be here for a second."

After we navigate this mine field.

"I didn't say you couldn't handle it" Naruto said softly, but there was a bite in his tone. "I just never wanted you to have to."

I gritted my teeth and kept my mouth shut. The only problem with falling in love with Temari was navigating this very tricky dynamic. Every instinct told me to defend her, to insert myself into their narrative and tell Naruto to mind his own damn business. But experience had taught me that Temari had claws when she chose to use them and didn't need me stepping in on her relationship with her own brother.

"Even if I wasn't with Shika, I'd be doing it on my own" She leaned back in her chair, looking toward the kitchen, no doubt to make sure Denki was out of earshot "I was the one who took the boys in, remember? Shika was the one who stepped up so we could keep them together. If anyone's life has been upended, it's his, not mine."

"That's not what I meant..." Naruto started, the tips of his ears turning red "No, you meant, aren't you miserable now that you've chosen the life our mother did? Right?"

Oh, he was going down.

I set my silverware on the plate and gave up any pretense of eating. Hoki smacked his hands on the top of his high chair, delighted at the sound he made.

"Fine." His shoulders rose in an exaggerated shrug. "You caught me. I'm worried. Everyone at this table knows it's only going to get more hectic from here now that it's about to be July. And who knows when we'll actually be around. Sue me if I'm concerned that my sister is going to be stressed out."

Temari sighed and shook her head.

"Naruto, don't you think I was already stressed out? I'm always on edge when you're on a fire. I hold my breath until you tell me you've made it home. Are you considering giving up firefighting so I don't have to stress out as much?"

His mouth opened, then shut.

"I mean…" He looked at me for help, and I just shook my head. This was between the two of them. "Of course not. But I'm your brother, not your husband."

"At least you admit that he's my husband." She flashed him a genuine smile "But seriously, stop trying to save me from something I clearly want." Her eyes met mine, and my chest went warm. "Is it a little harder when Shika is out there? Sure. Do I worry about both of you? Absolutely. But I always have, even when neither of you lived here" She tore her gaze from mine "And between us, I'm stronger than our mother because I grew up knowing exactly what could go wrong. I'm not over here with blinders on, Naruto."

His jaw flexed, and my stomach sank at the apologetic look he sent my way as he started to speak.

"And you know just how reckless he is with his own safety?"

"Naruto," I warned.

Temari's eyebrows knit.

"You're all reckless. What are you talking about?"

Naruto's laugh was anything but comical.

"Have you seen the souvenir he brought home from the last fire?" He cringed. "Don't answer that. I don't want to know."

"If you're talking about his side..."

"You're an asshole," I said across the table, then gave Hoki one of my carrots since he'd murdered all the ones on his tray.

"I'm honest," he countered.

"What is he talking about?" Temari demanded.

Naruto's gaze clashed with mine, and the nonverbal warning I sent went unheeded.

"We were clearing out an area for hotspots, and one of his guys wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. A charred tree almost took him out, so your husband here threw himself in between Chandler and the thousand pounds of pine hellbent on turning him into a corpse."

I shook my head at Naruto, even as I felt Temari's attention pivot toward me.

"Is that true?" she whispered.

I closed my eyes and blew out a breath, then opened them to face my wife.

"That's about how it went down," I said softly, like my tone could change the words. "Chandler is nineteen, and we're working on his situational awareness. I acted before I thought it through, but it turned out just fine. We both cleared it."

She sucked in a breath, then gave me a shaky smile and leaned over the corner of the table, taking my face between her palms.

"You saved him."

"Anyone else would have done the same."

This was the kind of shit that happened out there. None of us were looking for accolades, but it felt damn good to have her smile at me like that—like I was someone worthy of her praise.

She kissed me, soft and quick, and when she drew away, I cupped the back of her neck, pulling her in for another one. I was done giving a fuck what Naruto thought. Temari was mine, and I was hers, and that was all that mattered.

She smiled into my kiss, then pulled away.

"I'll get Hoki washed up."

"We'll take care of the dishes."

Naruto and I were silent as we carried the dishes to the kitchen and started washing up. Hoki's high-chair tray looked like a crime scene.

"I didn't know he could eat chicken" Naruto said, scrubbing the tray as I loaded the dishwasher.

Take the olive branch.

"You just have to shred it really small," I answered, sliding another plate into place.

He sighed.

"You're good at this. The kid stuff."

"Temari makes it impossible to suck at it," I answered, looking over the counter to where Denki was building a Hot Wheels track.

Keep the peace. Keep the peace. Keep the...

Fuck it.

"You would have done the same fucking thing," I whispered, putting the glasses onto the top rack.

"I'm sorry?" His hand paused mid-scrub.

I turned and stared my best friend down.

"That fire in Oregon two summers ago? You did the same thing. If I recall correctly, Sasuke told me you got a concussion from that falling branch because you covered him."

"That was different." He looked away.

"Exactly how was that different?" I scoffed. "Because it was you? Because it was Sasuke? If any other crewmember had stepped in for Chandler, you would have been proud, and you sure as hell wouldn't have ratted out crew business to his wife."

"Any other crew member doesn't come home to Temari!" He jerked his head toward the tray and started scrubbing with a vengeance "Look, you asked me to be cool with whatever is going on with you two, and I'm trying."

"Good, because you don't get a say." I shrugged.

He blatantly ignored me.

"But from the moment you started up with my sister, you gave up being just any other crew member, Shika. You're right. If I'd been there, I would have done the same damn thing. I would have shoved Chandler out of the way and let the consequences fall where they may. But I don't have someone waiting for me to come home. You do."

"Jesus, man, she'd be devastated if something happened to you," I argued.

"It's not the same and you know it. We both know she's in love with you. I did everything in my power to keep her heart safe, but"—he gestured to the room around us—"here we are. It's always been my job to protect her, and now that means I need to protect you too."

"Naruto, if I start acting like someone else, start hesitating in a fire, I'll be way more dangerous to myself and everyone around me."

Out there, I couldn't afford to think about her when shit went wrong, couldn't afford the seconds that could be lost over indecision.

"Yeah," he whispered, his shoulders falling. "I know that too. Doesn't mean it's not frustrating as hell to watch."

We finished the dishes in relative quiet, and the tension between us seemed to wash itself away, sliding down the drain with the remains of dinner.

He was scared for his sister. I understood.

That was as close to a détente as we were going to get.

After pie, Naruto said his goodbyes and headed back to his place. Temari and I got the boys ready for bed in what had become our usual routine. I leaned on the doorframe, listening to her read to Denki and let myself fall into the moment, into the possibility this could be our forever. Shizune needed an answer tomorrow, but I was so wrapped up in the present that I couldn't imagine any other tomorrow besides the one right in front of me. I loved Temari, but that didn't mean we'd make it, which was why I'd kept that to myself. I loved the boys, but that didn't mean I was the right guy to raise them. And telling Temari either of those feelings right now would only unfairly influence what she chose tonight.

Once the lights were out, Temari and I headed downstairs to the office, ignoring the piles of discarded toys in the living room and forsaking the nightly cleanup we tried to keep on top of. She tucked her hair behind her ears and shifted her weight nervously on bare feet as I pulled out two of everything: pens, sheets of paper, and envelopes. My heart launched into my throat as I pushed one set across the desk.

"I can't believe we're even thinking about doing this" she whispered, picking up the pen and paper.

"It's a little…"

There was no right word for whatever this was.

"Sudden? Soon? Rushed? Completely insane?" She stared at me with wide eyes.

"I was going to say 'intense,' but I guess any of those work too."

My throat went tight. Was she going to back out? I couldn't blame her.

"I mean, we've only been together for what? A couple months?" She bit her lower lip, panic creeping into her eyes.

"Almost three. Depends on how you count. I mean, are we going by when I got home? Or when we got married? Or when we kissed in the truck?" I rubbed my hand across the back of my neck. "I've known you your whole life, so it's not like we're strangers."

"We're not exactly…stable."

She looked at the pen in her hand like it was going to turn into a snake at any second and bite her.

"Who is?" I countered.

She arched a brow at me.

"Anyone who got married because they love each other, for a start."

I shrugged.

"It's never bothered me to go against societal norms."

And I love you.

"If we do this, we're promising these kids that we'll stick together, no matter what."

"You're not getting an argument out of me." I shook my head "Nothing about this is normal. They should have been put with experienced foster parents. They should have been put in a home where the parents know what the hell they're doing and don't have to google every baby question. They should have been with a perfect, committed couple who are ready to take on the day-in, day-out challenges of bringing up kids, and let's face it, we're…"

"A hot mess?" she supplied.

There was no arguing that point, so I nodded.

"We're…what they ended up with because they got caught in a perfect storm." Agreeing to adopt them would be illogical and more than a little selfish. It would also be a gamble emotionally for us, planning our future around something we had no control over.

She took a deep breath and nodded.

"You're right." Her smile was shaky as she put the paper on the desk. "You ready?"

Hell no, I wasn't ready, but I knew what I was going to write.

"Let's do this."

We turned away from each other, each writing our answers on the opposite corners of the desk before folding our papers and putting them in the envelopes. I walked around to stand next to her, envelope in hand, and gently kissed her forehead. What was on these papers could change everything in a heartbeat. She leaned into me, her empty hand fisting in my shirt as we took a moment to simply breathe.

"Ready?" I asked.

She nodded, and we switched envelopes.

"We could have just folded the papers," she muttered. "The envelopes are a little dramatic."

A smile tugged at my lips, even as my chest tightened like a vise. I flipped open the top of her envelope, and she grabbed ahold of my wrist.

"Temari?"

The tears in her eyes nearly took me out at the knees.

"Whatever you wrote in here won't change the way I feel about you." She released me with a soft stroke of her thumb over the top of my hand. "No matter what."

"I know." I tried to swallow past the boulder in my throat and failed. "That's why I wrote what I did."

Eyes locked, we both fumbled with our envelopes, only breaking our stare once we had the papers unsheathed. I read her words. Then I read them again, my pulse kicking up with every word until it raced.

Slowly, I lowered the paper and found her already looking at me, her lips parted and her eyes wide.

"Really?" she whispered.

"Really."

"So, we're doing this?"

A slow smile spread across her face, and my heart stopped dead in its tracks. I'd never seen her look more beautiful or been so sure about something in my life.

"We're doing this."

She was in my arms in a heartbeat.