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“Two says he borrows the test,” she countered.
An hour later, Dawg barged in, ignoring the fact that the door was closed and drapes were drawn. He even ignored Natches’s curse as he tried to fix the quilt around Chaya’s naked body.
“I need that damned test. ”
He was definitely pale. And his hands really were shaking.
“Get up, Natches. This ain’t no time for that crap. ” He all but lifted Natches from the couch as Chaya dissolved into laughter. “Get the damned test already. ”
“You owe me, Natches,” she called out as he laughed and headed upstairs for the pharmacy bag. Then she looked at Dawg again.
He was pacing. Dressed in jeans and a dark blue shirt, the ends hanging over his jeans, barefoot and decidedly worried, he paced the living room and stared at the stairs.
“Wish he’d hurry,” he growled.
Chaya held the quilt tight around her. She knew Crista had miscarried their first child several years ago, something Dawg hadn’t known about until Crista’d returned to Somerset the year before. If Dawg’s demeanor was any indication now, he was terrified. A terrified Nauti Boy. She would have had to see it to believe it.
“She’ll be fine,” she said softly then.
He turned back to her, his light green eyes pinning her, his expression intense. “Damned right she will be,” he snarled. “I’ll make sure of it. Hurry, Natches,” he yelled. “Damn it, I don’t have all day. ”
Natches was grinning as he came back down the stairs, tossed the bag to his cousin, and watched as Dawg rushed from the houseboat.
“Do you think he’ll survive it?” He chuckled, returning to the couch and wrapping her in his arms.
“As long as it’s not a girl,” she snorted. “You guys deserve girls. A half dozen of them at least. ”
The wounded-male look he gave her had her giggling. “That’s just wrong, Chay. On so many levels. ” He sighed. “A daughter would make me old before my time. ”
“That’s okay. ” She nipped his chin and touched his cheek. He was her nauti dream; she wasn’t going to allow that. “I promise I’ll keep you young. ”
He smiled at that and caught her lips in a heated, hungry kiss. Because it was the truth. Loving Chaya would always keep him young. And maybe, just maybe, it would give him the strength to survive if God decided to start laughing at the Nauti Boys and actually gave them daughters.
Christmas Day
“Now, you can’t look,” Chaya reminded Natches firmly as he kept his back to the door of the houseboat, his forest green eyes watching her with amusement and love.
There was nothing she had ever known that had prepared her for the full extent of Natches’s love. He could drive her crazy, make her insane with his arrogance and male dominance, but there was always a smile, always a kiss, and he always held her. It was like nothing she could have imagined.
“We could be in bed, cozy and warm,” he suggested, his brows waggling. “We could try out those new presents I bought you. ”
She blushed. He’d bought her a small cedar box and more vibrators than one woman could use in a lifetime.
“Later,” she promised, ducking around him to stare out of the door to where two figures were making their way along the dock to the houseboat.
She checked Rowdy’s and Dawg’s boats. The men were coming out, their wives with them.
Dawg was still in shock that Crista was pregnant and had kept that news from him for over a week before Chaya had unintentionally dropped the bomb. He barely let Crista walk on her own now. The other woman swore it was all she could do to keep him from carrying her every step she needed to make.
Rowdy wasn’t much better. It seemed all of the women who belonged to the Nauti Boys were pregnant within weeks of one another. And each one of their men would go pale at the mention of having daughters.
“Now, remember, keep your back turned. ” Chaya opened the door, the cold wind swirling in as Dawg, Crista, Rowdy, and Kelly stepped inside.
“He looks impatient, Chaya. ” Kelly laughed, her gray eyes twinkling as she looked at Natches’s back.
“Why are they here?” Natches almost turned around, but Chaya was ready for him. She pushed his shoulder back.
“Stay,” she ordered laughingly.
