Page 95 of Make it a Double

Beckett sauntered over as Charlie and Harper reset the dolls. He leaned down, bracing his hands on the chair. “I hope my performance over there is instilling confidence in my skills.”

“I will admit to being impressed. How the hell do you know how to change a diaper, and why are you so good at it?” I asked.

His gaze snagged on something behind me before giving me a quick kiss. “Some people are just born with the skill. Don’t be jealous that I have an affinity for it.”

I turned and looked for whatever had pulled his attention, but only saw Duke walking up with a beer. “You’re going to regret that talent whenever our son wakes up in the middle of the night with a poopocalypse, and you have to handle it.”

He shrugged, completely unfazed. “I don’t mind. Especially if it means you’ll get to sleep a while longer. Seems like the least I could do.”

Lukas joined us, standing next to Duke. “You are so whipped already.”

“Yeah, so?” Beckett said. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous of my skills.”

Lukas laughed. “Uh, no. I paid my dues with those two.” He gestured toward Charlie and Harper.

“But you didn’t have to get up with them in the middle of the night,” Liv pointed out. “It’s an entirely different ball game when you’re running on two hours of sleep over multiple days.”

“Y’all are making this parenting thing out to be worse than it is. I mean, how hard can it be?” Lukas said, taking a swig of his beer.

Liv and I stared at him with raised brows, as Duke shook his head and muttered, “Oh, you’ve fucked up now.”

I had zero experience when it came to child raising, but I knew the pains of being pregnant. There was absolutely no way Lukas could withstand the strain of carrying a child.

“Care to test that theory?” she asked her brother.

“Sure,” he chuckled, setting down his drink and rolling up his sleeves. “What am I doing?”

“I’m only doing this to kick his ass for putting us all in this position,” Duke grumbled, adjusting the over inflated balloon strapped to his belly.

“Yeah, what he said,” Grady joined in, staring down at his own. “I don’t know why we’re being dragged into this when he’s the one who opened his big mouth.”

I stood back, watching with an amused Cleo and Liv as the men devolved into a constant stream of bickering. Each of them had a large balloon strapped to their center. We tried to make it as even as we could for the others, but Liv definitely gave her brother the biggest one she could find.

The rules were simple. There were three stations set up around the house. The men would start in the living room, where they had to change their baby doll’s diaper and put them in a set of pajamas, then they’d race—safely—to the kitchen. From there, they would swaddle it tightly and make their way to the single car seat waiting in the dining area. Only one man would earn the distinction of being crowned Pinecrest’s Best Dad. The losers would then take turns being strapped to a TENS machine, with the ladies getting the honor of cranking up the intensity.

Oh, and if their belly popped or they popped someone else’s, they were immediately disqualified. My bet was that Lukas wouldn’t even make it past the second round. He was insanely competitive. I’d watched him and Liv get into a shouting match over a Monopoly game before, and there wasn’t even anything at stake.

“I don’t care what y’all say, I’m going to crush this,” Lukas said, stepping up to the line Cleo taped on the floor.

Grams cackled from the sofa. “Better not get too cocky, boy. I’d just hate to watch you squirm under the weight of that big head you got.”

Each of the men looked at one another before zeroing in on the station in front of them. They were locked in and ready to tear each other apart if it meant not being strapped to a machine that pushed out electric currents.

The moment Liv shouted go, they took off in a mad dash, nearly tripping over one another in the process. They made it safely, tearing off the dirty pajamas and diving into the dirty diaper.

“Oh, what the fuck,” Lukas groaned.

We all laughed as Lukas began dry heaving. He was barely able to pull the old diaper off and fold it up. “Chocolate pudding with a dash of corn,” Cleo said, putting an arm around a beaming Charlie and Harper. “It was your niece’s idea. Just to make it a little bit more real for you.”

“Traitors.” He glanced down the line, noticing none of them had thrown a fit at the surprise waiting for them. Because of that, they were very nearly done with this station. He dove back in, haphazardly reaching for the pile of diapers in front of him.

Duke was the first to finish, followed quickly by Grady, then Beckett. We followed them into the kitchen as they grabbed their blankets and laid their baby down on a flat surface. Lukas came stumbling in thirty seconds later, looking worse for wear.

I didn’t want to admit I was nervous about Beckett’s chances, but if anything was going to trip him up, I thought it’d be this one. So, I was shocked to find that he not only grabbed the lead, but his swaddling definitely looked the best as he tucked the final piece away.

“Go, baby, go!” I called as he held the doll to his chest and hurried to the living room. Duke finished his swaddle seconds later and was on his ass. They were neck and neck. It was impossible to tell who was going to win. Grady had already given up, joining us as we followed after them. Lukas shouted curses from the kitchen and took off after the two men in a mad dash.

Beckett reached the carseat first, dropping to his knees and placing the baby inside the carrier. His hands flew over the straps, buckling them at record speed. Duke hovered nearby, watching him like a proud father.