AllFreeNovel
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I want to pull her away and take a moment, but there is expectancy around the room, where everyone chats but, ultimately, waits for me.
The last time we were all together like this was my mother’s wake. Now… they all want to be real withme.
I tap my beefcake of a brother on the arm, making a show of checking the floor over now that it boasts furniture and décor. I didn’t want to bust Kaya’s bubble because she had so much fun shopping, but it’s a damn stereotype. The entire floor looks like a modern spin on a 1920s saloon—it’s gangster as fuck. The walls have wooden cladding. The ceiling is feature-painted cement. The furniture is leather and rich. Masculine.
“Nice renovation, Max. Is Cassidy pregnant?” I laugh at that last part, but when the corner of his mouth ticks up, I freeze. “Wait…” I dart my eyes to my beautiful, sweet sister-in-law. “Are you pregnant again?”
A blush creeps up her neck. “We wanted to wait. We didn’t want to take away from your homecoming or Fawn’s pregnancy.”
“I didn’t want to wait,” Max makes clear, and I grin. That’s why he pulled Cassidy away from me. My big brother stomps straight over the line from possessive to pathological when she’s pregnant. It’s a surprise she’s not being carried around, fanned, and spoon-fed.
Fawn screeches from somewhere in the corner of the room and appears in front of Cassidy, her long blonde hair swaying down her back. “Are we pregnant together? Oh. My. Fuck!” She covers her smile. “Whoops,sorry. Ignore that word, Kelly. But, yay. That is so exciting. I’msohappy.”
“I didn’t want to,”—Cassidy holds Fawn’s hands in front of her— “take away the spotlight from you and your pregnancy.”
Fawn sniffles. “Don’t be silly.”
Near-black hair swirls beside me. Shoshanna emerges, her lips touching my cheek, chaste but with meaning. “Hey, Xan. Good to have you back.” She embraces Cassidy and says, “Congratulations,” before stepping away to smile at them.
For a moment, I see the rise of regret in Cassidy’s and Fawn’s gaze as they stare at Shoshanna. She has battled through IVF for years, with Stone to show for her efforts, but I know my brother. Bronson wants several children. A house full of them. Shoshanna blames herself for not being able to give him that.
Suddenly, Shoshanna lights-the-fuck-up, tears spitting from her amber eyes, andfuck me…Is she pregnant, too?
The girls squeal along with the saxophone that sails around us, and Shoshanna nods in answer to my internal question, confirming, “Yes.”
Cassidy gasps. “Oh,Shosh.”
Fawn cries, “You’re pregnant, too?Oh my God—good things come in three! That’ssospecial. All three of us are pregnant.”
Christ.Women crying everywhere.
My sisters-in-law engulf each other in a huddle of tears, emotion, and shared hormones that are sure to challenge my brothers.Right, have fun with that, lads.
“Fuck, I hope it’s not contagious,” I joke, stuffing Kaya behind my back in a mock display. Grinning, I step backwards with her shielded from them, but really, I let them have their moment together.
Bron.
He’ll be ecstatic.
My throat tightens, so I search the gathering, hunting down the blazing green-blue gaze of my brother Bronson.
“Don’t get any ideas.” I guide Kaya towards the six-foot-five tattooed beast that is my nutcase of an older brother.
“Don’t worry, Hothead.” She squeezes my hand. “I told you that I am all yours.”
As I approach him, I think about his letter. All the things he never said aloud sprawled with emotion along those white sheets. All about his insanity, his laughing demon,the monster they made.The truth.
As I reach him, I release Kaya’s hand to embrace him the way we both need. The kind of hold that connects two men who share a past, demons, monsters, and trauma.
Bronson’s arms tighten around me. “Well, you’re still a handsome son-of-a-Butcher, aren’t you?” This man spills emotion—it seeps from his pores unconditionally.
“Hey, Bron.” I hold him to me and feel his breaths shift and become uneven. Meaningful. Over his shoulder, I say, “I will talk to you, brother.” Chuckling deeply, I use his term of endearment. “I will talk to you, mybeautifulbig brother. When my monster comes, I’ll reach out.”
An emotional groan leaves him, a rumble I feel against my chest; I love this man. His voice is strained as he says, “And I’ll reach back.”
I sigh. We don’t let go, not yet. I don’t want to. “I’m going to be okay. I’m going to be okay.” My throat tightens. The words were his chant,for him, to convince himself, not me. “I’m going to be okay, beautiful brother. Congrats on the baby, mate. All that humping worked out.”
He laughs.
