“You committed now.” Dean laughed and hugged her. “You’ll survive. I promise.”
“Oh, very well. She looked Mal up and down with a sigh. “You must be starving. Gramps and David are about to make an announcement. They wanted to wait until you were awake.”
Mal’s stomach rumbled. “I am so ready for food. Let’s do this.”
As he stood, Truffle launched himself to Mal’s shoulder and draped himself across the omega. Together, they all went outside, joining the growing crowd of Wilsons.
“I will get you some food.” Susan patted his arm and guided him to a chair. I remember how much my feet hurt when I was pregnant.”
Mal sighed. “I can’t see my feet anymore. Do I even have any?”
“Two very swollen feet.” Dean gave him a sweet look. “How do you like pregnancy?”
“It’s horrible.” Mal scowled. “Don’t get me wrong, I love this kid growing inside me, but if Cain wants anymore children, then we’re adopting. Teddy was much easier to deal with.”
“Yes, because Bianca was the one pregnant with him.” Lucas sat down next to him.
As if saying her name summoned her, Bianca and Paula both appeared at his side. Both carried a taxidermy squirrel.
“Grandpa Paul got to you, didn’t he?” Mal asked.
“It means we’re family.” Paula shrugged. “It’s nice.”
“It’s hideous,” Bianca corrected her friend. “But if it makes him happy, then so be it. According to Grandma Addy, part of being in the Reed family is simply enduring.”
Lucas looked thoughtful for a moment. “Yeah, that’s accurate.”
The two girls hugged Mal together. “How are you feeling?” Bianca asked.
“Like a swollen whale. How are you?”
“As light as air.” She spun around, looking especially happy. “I’m so relieved everything is out in the open. I don’t care if I have to clean roads for eternity.”
Mal nodded, happy that the whole thing was over. He swallowed hard when he saw Cain walking toward him, a plate of food in his hands. Many of his sex dreams started this way. However, they didn’t include the tiny infant balanced in one of Cain’s arms.
Cain handed Mal the plate, then sat beside him. “How are you, love?”
Before he could answer, Bianca grabbed the cake off of his plate. “No cake for you. Too much sugar isn’t good for pregnant people.” She smirked. “That’s what you told me all the time anyway. Are those potatoes and rolls? Too many carbs aren’t good for baby,” she sing-songed.
Mal frowned. “Pregnancy was much easier to deal with when it was you that I could boss around.”
Bianca snorted. “You enjoyed it far too much. Here, you can have a little bit of the cake but give me that roll.”
“It’s one of Grammy Wilson’s rolls,” he said, whining.
“Cake or roll?” Bianca asked, arching a brow in a surprisingly accurate impersonation of Cain.
“Cake,” he said with a sigh.
She nodded. “Okay. Cain, I’ll email you the pregnancy rules he gave me for the last trimester. Make him stick to it, even when he doesn’t want to. They do actually help.”
Cain gave him a nervous look. “He tried to bite me when I told him he shouldn’t have any more pastries yesterday.”
“Stay strong, my man.” Paula patted Cain’s shoulder. “Stay strong.”
Mal started eating as Grandpa David and Gramps climbed atop one of the tables. He vaguely wondered if that was a good idea considering how old they were.
“Can I have your attention, please?” Gramps called out. “I have some news to share.”
