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“We had a deal, baby,” I reminded her. “You promised that if I let you continue to run things while you were this pregnant that you would at least back off and get plenty of rest.”
“I took a nap this morning.”
“Eli said you only slept for half an hour,” I pointed out, silently thanking my five-year-old son for his intel.
“When did my baby boy become a tattletale?” Ember grumped with a frown.
I laughed and planted a quick kiss on her lips. “When he became big enough to help Daddy protect Mommy. You should have seen his little chest puff up when I told him it was part of his job now.”
The corners of Ember’s mouth lifted, and she shook her head. “That’s so cute. I can’t even be mad.”
“Good, so let’s get you home for a nap.”
Ember looked as though she might argue again, so I put my lips to her ear and whispered, “I promise to make it worth your while, baby.”
Her eyes suddenly blazed with desire, and I couldn’t help smiling in triumph. My wife was horny as fuck when she was knocked up—not that I had a single complaint about it.
“What did you have in mind?” she asked, letting me guide her toward the parking lot.
I stopped at the passenger door of our SUV and bent over to whisper in her ear. Then I straightened and grinned as she audibly gulped before hurrying to get into the car. “Let’s go!” she shouted.
Laughing all the way to my door, I said another silent thank you to my sister, who’d offered to take the kids for the night. Which meant the house was empty, and I could make Ember scream my name as loud as she could.
By the time I’d fulfilled my promise, we were both exhausted. As we fell asleep, I chuckled when Ember mumbled, “Worth it.”
EXTRA EPILOGUE
EMBER
Being a mom brought me so much joy, but it was also the toughest thing I’d ever done. No matter how much I wanted to ease their way in the world, there were times when all I could do was offer my kids comfort and encouragement. Like when my oldest was practically wearing a hole in the carpet as he paced back and forth in the living room.
“C’mon, Ben. Sit down.” I patted the cushion next to me. “The list is going to be posted soon. We’ll hit refresh until it pops up.”
“Not soon enough for me,” he huffed, dropping onto the couch.
Ben had been playing flag football since he was only four years old. He had made every team that he’d needed to try out for once he reached that level, but his track record hadn’t stopped him from freaking out for hours before the roster was posted each time. As a freshman, this year was even more stressful for him because it was going to be the first time he played on a high school team. And it wasn’t just any team since he’d opted to attend the private school with the best ranked team in the area. They’d defeated the number one team in the state last year, their quarterback was named the top football player in the state on several lists, and they had a long history of players being recruited by colleges with top football programs in the country.
No matter how much we told him there were no expectations and he could stop playing as long as he picked something else to do, the poor kid put so much pressure on himself. Nobody expected him to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he loved football so much that all he could talk about was being good enough to play in the NFL someday too.
“Yeah, well, you’re young.” I leaned to the side and rested my head against his broad shoulder. Ben was built like his dad and had surpassed me in height almost a year ago when he was barely thirteen. “When you’re old like me, you’ll be more patient because it will feel like time is flying by way too quickly.”
“You’re not old, baby,” Nixon disagreed as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Familiar with how their older brother could get when it came to football tryouts, our other three children headed to their rooms about half an hour ago so they could miss the teenage drama. He’d gone up to make sure they had everything they needed, while I stayed back to try to keep Ben distracted. Not that I was very successful in my attempt. When it came to something he wanted, our oldest son was just like his dad—he had a one-track mind.
Nixon dropped next to me on my other side, slid his arm around my shoulders, and brushed a kiss against my cheek. “Ugh, really, Dad? I’m right here.”
I giggled at the complaint that I heard often from our kids. Nixon leaned forward to smirk at our son. “You should be used to it by now, kiddo.”
“Just because I gave up hope on you guys acting like normal parents with each other long ago doesn’t mean I’m still not gonna gripe about it sometimes,” Ben muttered.
“Normal parents? Your aunt and uncle kiss just as much as we do,” I pointed out.
Nixon pressed his lips together to stop himself from making a gagging noise over the fact that Prentice kissed his sister often, making me giggle again.
Ben shrugged. “And Eli complains about it the same as I do.”
Eli was eight months older than Ben, and they’d grown up as close as brothers. They were also best friends, just like their moms—which was so much fun for Naomi and me.
Nixon gripped our son’s shoulder as he leaned forward to tap the refresh icon again, and Ben turned his head to glance at him. “Yeah?”
