Page 69 of Rowdy & Kat

“You’ll use a sperm donor like your sister,” Bebe said. “Sabrina texted earlier to say she had agreed to baby talks with Moe and Xandy in six months.”

“Why then?”

“She figures by then the twins will be less adorable, and the baby fever will have faded.”

“Do babies get less adorable?”

“Sure. Even ugly people were cute babies.”

Vanessa frowned at Cavan. “What if he gets ugly? That would make me cry.”

“Why would he be ugly when his parents aren’t?”

“I knew a beautiful girl in school with troll parents. If it can work that way, why can’t it work the other way?”

“What girl was this?”

“Penelope.”

“She was beautiful in the way evil little girls are beautiful in horror movies.”

Vanessa studied me. “What did your parents look like?”

“Our mom was beautiful. Our dad was average.”

Vanessa perked up. “Okay, I’m happy again.”

As Rowdy’s sister did her quirky banter, I looked at my own sister. Maria smiled softly, and I could tell she had enjoyed her shopping trip.

“If I hadn’t been at the store today,” Ivy whispered when Maria and I stared at each other for too long, “I think Farley would have kissed you.”

“Cock blocker, huh?” Vanessa said. “I’ve been there. Right, Mom?”

“There were so many nights I went without sex because you wanted to sleep in our bed.”

“I thought a monster was in the corner of my room.”

“That’s because you painted a monster in the corner of your room.”

“She wasn’t a monster. I painted a butterfly fairy that just happened to look frightening in the dark room.”

While Bebe and Vanessa disagreed on what the painting looked like, I settled into this new feeling with Maria. She had explored Little Memphis, bonded with Ivy, and flirted with Farley. All without me present.

Rather than panic, I forced myself to embrace my life’s new direction. My sister deserved to be happy. Our codependent twin vibe would require a little fine-tuning if we wanted to build something special in Little Memphis.

ROWDY

Farley followed me to Clint’s condo, where I used my cousin’s code to get inside. Rather than find the place empty like earlier, I interrupted a conversation between Clint and Rock. They stopped midsentence and frowned at me. I frowned right back.

“Your tiny lady plans to stick around my place to make lasagna. I brought your crap over.”

Clint walked to the kitchen and emptied the bag. I eyed Rock, who avoided my gaze. Farley focused his attention on Hanzee.

“Did I interrupt something?” I asked when Clint finished putting away his groceries.

“We were talking about taking out Bob.”

Bob was the ringleader behind the brawl last year between three LM Jokers and a handful of foxes, including Goldie, Nova, and a very pregnant Elle. The fight at the quarry had given the impression that the problem was solved. Those assholes would stay away from us, and we’d stay away from them.