Page 1 of Bound To Be Mine

1

BRIGGS

“Where are you?” My brother Sebastian’s voice came through the Bluetooth speakers in my car. “You’re going to miss it.”

“I was in a meeting when I got the call,” I said. “I’ll be at the hospital soon.”

“Just tell me you’ve left the office?” Sebastian asked, sounding more nervous than I’d ever heard him.

“I’m literally a few blocks away. Relax. Breathe.”

I heard him take a deep breath in my speakers, amplified and in stereo. “Okay. Now what?”

“Now hold tight and I’ll be there in five minutes. If the baby is born before I get there, just tell the kid I’m in the restroom.”

I hung up the phone and focused on traffic. My oldest brother, Adrian, and his wife, Elizabeth, were having their baby. It would be the first of the next generation of Blackwells, and in a family like ours, legacy was a big deal.

The whole family was excited, and I was, too, but the timing wasn’t the most convenient. Too bad most births couldn’t be scheduled.

As promised, a few minutes later, I stepped into the cheery waiting room and spotted Sebastian right away. He was hard to miss with the giant balloon bouquet beside him on a table and an enormous pickle in his arms. Not an actual pickle. A plush fluffy thing that was at least three feet long with eyes pointing in opposite directions. His fiancée, Bernadette, sat at his other side, rubbing his arm like she was keeping him calm.

His eyes widened when he saw me.

“There you are!” He sprang to his feet and hurried to look me over, like the only possible reason for my late arrival must have involved visible bodily harm. He patted my shoulder and adjusted the pickle he was cradling like an infant. “You almost missed it.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Are you expecting me to catch the baby or something? Pretty sure you can’t miss the birth of a child that isn’t your child.” I looked down at Bernadette, who sat in one of the mint-green waiting chairs with a perfectly normal teddy bear in her lap. “Has he been like this the whole time?”

Bernadette giggled softly and shook her head. “Sebastian is very excited to be an uncle.”

I nodded down at the green plushie in his arms. “A pickle?”

Sebastian grinned. “Because of her pregnancy cravings. That’s how I figured out she was pregnant before anyone else. Her sudden pickle cravings.”

“It’s really green,” I said with a shrug.

Sebastian ran his hand over the thing. “It’s also soft.”

If there was ever an odd couple, it was Bernadette and Sebastian. They were the epitome of opposites and yet they worked. She was all buttoned-up and he was much more of a free spirit. Bernadette was more like me. We created, followed, and enforced the rules.

Sebastian broke them.

I was still getting used to the new version of Sebastian. My playboy brother was no more. The professional model that spent his days chasing supermodels was a changed man and that was all because of Bernadette.

The two made a good team. They had several very successful promotional campaigns under their belt for the family company, Blackwell Couture. Sebastian’s creative genius was reined in by Bernadette but she never killed his visions.

I got myself a cup of coffee from the machine and sat in the waiting room with my brother and Bernadette. While they chatted, I pulled out my phone and pulled up a contract I needed to review.

“Are you working right now?” Sebastian asked. “Seriously? Dude! Our nephew or niece is coming into the world!”

“Sebastian, does it look like I’m pushing a human out of my body?” I asked dryly. “Do you think Elizabeth or Adrian give two shits what you or I are doing right now at this very moment?”

“You’re very cynical,” he replied.

I rolled my eyes and looked at Bernadette. “Maybe you can explain what cynical means.”

“Don’t be a dick. Put the phone away.”

“Adrian is occupied,” I said. “He’s going to be occupied for the next couple of weeks. That means someone needs to step up and fill his shoes.”