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When arms wrap around my neck from behind, I know it’s Luna from scent alone, sweet vanilla perfume more telling than the strands of blonde hair tickling my cheek. “Congratulations, Daddy.”
“Do not make that a thing,” I warn both her and Ben, knowing if those two start something, it never ends.
“What?” The pair exchange wide-eyed looks, Luna the one to ask, “You prefer Father?”
Pale green eyes blink at me innocently. “Sire?”
“Papa?”
“Papai,” Nick corrects, voice an amused rasp.
“I fucking hate all of you.”
“Careful,” Kate warns, demolishing my final shot at an alliance. “Daddy’s pissed.”
Cackling loud enough to warrant a noise complaint, Luna slips onto Jackson’s lap. Amelia gets dragged onto Nick’s. Ben makes grabby hands at Kate until she obliges and flops on top of him. I’m left alone, as I so often am, but for once, I don’t feel lonely. My brain doesn’t let me; it conjures adrenaline-fueled, delusional thoughts.
Not for long,it whispers.Not anymore. You have someone now. Someone that’s just yours. A partner.
Someone to sit on your lap and steal sips from your beer and participate in gentle, loving family ribbings.
“What are you guys even doing here? It’s late.”
“Really, Cass?” Luna sighs like she’s so very disappointed in me. “You knock someone up and you think I can just go to sleep without getting the intimate details?”
Jackson mimics his wife’s expression. “You thinkIcan just go to sleep without her getting the intimate details?”
“I,” Ben announces, “was stocking your bathroom with condoms. A bit late, maybe, but it’s the thought that counts.”
Kate raises her beer. “I just wanted to say I told you so.”
My family. Oh, how I love them.
The only one not participating in my late night roast, I eye my sister cautiously. “What?”
Amelia stares at the sky. “Nothing.”
“Don’t get her started.” Tattooed fingers tap against a not-flat-for-much-longer stomach. “She only just stopped crying.”
“Too late.” Amelia sniffs and Nick sighs, reaching up to swipe away his wife’s tears. “You’re gonna have a baby, Cassie.”
“You’re gonna have four, Tiny.”
“Oh no.” Kate leans forward, sporting a look of exaggerated horror. “Has anyone considered the repercussions of you reproducing at the same time?”
Ben, theatheist, makes the sign of the cross.
“Those children are gonna be menaces.” Jackson chuckles like he isn’t already the proud owner of one certified menace.
“They’re gonna be best friends,” my sister chokes out.
“They’re gonna turn Nick’s hair gray.” Ben smirks. “Ormoregray.”
“My hair isnotgray.”
Amelia pauses her sniffling long enough to stroke a hand through thick, mostly dark hair. “Salt-and-pepper, love. It’s hot.”
“Ride him later, Mils. Let Cass talk about his pretty little girlfriend.”
