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Since moving in with Copper near six months ago, Shell—and Beth, for that matter—had never been happier. The man was attentive, affectionate, protective, and sexy as all get out. Shell hadn’t known one woman could have so many orgasms and still function.
Life was great.
Perfect, really.
Well, it had been until yesterday…
“Hello? Shell? Earth to Shell, come in Shell.”
She blinked. Toni’s form morphed into view as she waved her hand in front of Shell’s face. Her face heated. Both Toni and Stephanie were staring at her with expectant gazes from across the booth. “Sorry, uh, what did you say?”
Steph laughed. “Well, we said a lot. First, we asked if you were bringing Beth to the shower. Then when you didn’t answer, we asked if you were listening. When you still didn’t answer, Toni said she saw Copper running around the parking lot naked. When that didn’t even get your attention, we gave up. You good, girl?”
“Sorry, got lost for a second thinking about Lindsey. No, Beth and Copper are going on a daddy-daughter date tomorrow afternoon. I think I heard something about Frozen II and a big tub of popcorn.”
Toni pressed a hand over her heart. “Aw, he’s the cutest. Who the hell would have thought that giant, gruff, beast of a man would be the best daddy in the world?”
Shell smiled. She’d known. Of course, she’d known. How else could she have fallen in love with the man?
“Speaking of daddies,” Stephanie began, which had Toni groaning up at the ceiling.
“Please, if this is some sex story about you calling Mav daddy, just stop now. We don’t want to hear it. There’s not enough bleach in the supply closet to scrub an image like that from my brain.”
Shell giggled as she nodded. “She’s right, Steph. We love you, we love Mav, and we love that you’re all out there with your sex life, but there’s a limit to what our ears can handle.”
Face red, Stephanie tried to scowl, but her mouth couldn’t turn down since she was laughing as well. “That’s not what this is.” She paused, tilting her head. “Though you give me ideas. Anyway, I was just gonna ask who you think will be next?”
“Next?” Shell asked as she glanced over at Beth again. Her daughter still happily played with her dolls while munching on the French fries Toni had made her.
“Yeah, next on the baby train. Next to get knocked up. Next to repopulate the earth.” Steph sipped her coffee.
“Okay, I think we get it,” Toni said as she shook her head. “Well, we all know it’s not gonna be you.” She shot a pointed look in Stephanie’s direction.
“Nope. Not me. I’m uber careful about that shit. Babies scare the tar outta me. They’re all tiny and vulnerable.” She shuddered.
Shell snorted. “They’re actually a lot harder to kill than you’d think.” She shot Steph a wink.
“Well,” Toni said as she waved her hand back and forth. “It’s a dumb question anyway because we all know it’s gonna be you, Shell.”
“What? Me?” she squeaked. “Why do you say that?”
“Uhh, because you’re an awesome mom, you love kids, and you’ve mentioned a few times that you want a sibling for Bethy.”
“Not to mention your ol’ man is an old man,” Steph said as she shoved a ripped off chunk of muffin in her mouth.
“Thanks,” Shell said in a droll tone as her stomach fluttered. This conversation hit a little too close to home.
Toni bumped Steph with her shoulder. “He’s not old, he’s just older than Shell. The man is still sexy AF and probably will be when he’s eighty.”
True. So true.
“Well, we’ll see,” Shell said, pasting a smile on her face. It felt forced, fake.
“Yeah, we’ll see all right,” Steph said with a laugh. “We’ll see you get all big when you grow a monster-sized mini-Copper inside you.”
Despite her unease, Shell managed to chuckle. “We haven’t talked about it much actually. I’m still taking the pill, so…” She shrugged, hating the lies.
But she wasn’t ready to voice the truth.
“You’re crazy. That man can’t wait to knock you up.” Steph shook her head. “I give it until March. If you’re not carrying prez junior by March, I’ll…”
“Ohh, this could be good. You’ll what?” Toni said, turning her interested gaze on Steph.
“Yeah, what are you gonna offer me, Steph?” Shell waggled her eyebrows.
“Well—”
The bell above the entrance jangled. Glancing at her phone, Toni said, “Who is that? Zach isn’t supposed to be here for another forty-five minutes.” She stuck her head out the side of the booth to get a better view of the door then stiffened. “Shit,” she whispered.
“What?” Shell asked.
Across the booth, both Toni and Steph grew rigid and tense. Who the hell could it be? Shell stood slightly and glanced over her shoulder to where three men dressed very similarly to their own men strode into the diner. MC cuts, biker boots, bandanas, chains.
