AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Fourteen
Maceo
After Piero and his men leave, my men clear out of the conference room leaving Chase and Gauge. I sink back into my chair, rubbing my eyes with the heels on my palms.
Chase punches me in the shoulder. “You asshole. Why wasn’t I informed I’m going to be an uncle?”
Gauge wiggles two fingers. “Twice over.”
“No, fucking way?” Chase snorts, shaking his head. “Simone never mentioned shit to me.”
“Because she doesn’t know. Josephine wanted to wait ‘till we were through the first trimester, but people keep inadvertently finding out.” I give him the rundown of who knows and how they found out. Chase and Gauge both laugh their asses off when I describe our first ultrasound appointment.
Chase wipes away a tear from the corner of his eye, but he can’t stop chuckling. “Punk always finds a way to get himself in the worst situations.”
“You would be correct,” I say, standing and stretching. “I need to make my wife a sandwich.”
I’m in the middle of preparing Josephine’s snack when Flay comes into the kitchen. He walks into the pantry and returns to the counter with an armful of different foods.
He raises the saltines in front of my face. “Keep a sleeve of these on Jo’s nightstand. Have her eat two or three with water before she gets up from bed every morning. It should help with her morning sickness. Make sure she absorbs some sort of grain before taking her prenatal vitamin. There’s a lot of iron in those pills, which can make you queasy. Avoid the decaffeinated coffees because it still has a low level of caffeine which can cause reflux when pregnant, leading to vomiting. If she wants a hot drink, give her herbal teas, which also helps with nausea. Anything ginger will help to settle her stomach, as well as carbonated drinks without the artificial sweeteners. Pretzels, potato chips, even peppermint can help with nausea.”
I stare stupidly at my brother. “How did you figure it out?”
Flay removes his earpiece to show me before stealing the knife I used for the peanut butter, licking it clean. “All the guys heard the conversation that took place in the conference room, but I’m the only fucker out of the group who put Piero’s ‘glowing’ statement and sandwich reference together. I spent six years helping pregnant women around the world while being an active SEAL—I kind of know what works and what doesn’t. But I heard Gauge mention twins. Congratulations, bro.”
Holy fuck!All of my men heard that my wife and I are expecting. “When did ear comms get turned off?”
“Not sure if they ever did. I would assume most of the guys took them out after Bianchi and his men left the property.”
“Or they didn’t, meaning everyone knows. Fuck! Josephine is going to kill me.”
“Oh. My. God!” I hear Simone shout from above. Theclick,clickof her heels coming down the stairs echoes on the wood planks. Heavy boots run after her.
“Numbers, please. I’m begging you,” Chase pleads.
I groan. I should have known the love-sick puppy would go run his mouth to Josephine’s sister.
Simone sees me and charges forward. “Did you knock up my sister? Or is this idiot running his mouth to make me give him a shot?”
I glare at Chase, whose face is beet-red. “She said she wanted kids someday. I thought if I told her about you and Jo expecting, she’d be more willing to move forward.” He quickly turns to Simone, taking her hands. “I’ll give you babies. Hell, I’ll give you twins like Atlas and your sister.”
“Twins?!” She squawks.
I beat my head against the upper kitchen cabinets.Fuck. My. Life.This situation couldn’t possibly get any worse.
A bunch of the guys come clapping into the kitchen before breaking out in song at the top of their lungs. “OOOHHH! For he’s a jolly good fellow…”
Oh, sweet baby Jesus, please make it stop!
Stage is handing out shot glasses of whiskey while Triple passes around Cuban cigars. “To Prez and his growing family,” Eagle hollers to the whole house.
I try to shush them all, but nobody is listening to me. They keep coming up to me, slapping me on the back, and cheering their congratulatory.
Please, God, please let our bedroom suite door be locked tight.Josephine can’t find out everyone is aware of our little Tabares’ duo. She would be crushed.
Gauge and Opal come into the main room, hand-in-hand, wearing bewildered expressions. “I thought you were waiting?” He hollers to me over the noise.
“We were,” I say, panicking.
