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Xeno nods in agreement. “So we figured Gray would be the best person to ask. He spends a hell of a lot of time at Twisted Bullet anyway–”
“Because of Lena,” Beast fills in.
“Precisely. We all know he’s trustworthy, smart, and can handle any issue that might crop up. We couldn’t think of a better person to take over the reins,” I add.
“How long? Is this a temporary thing, or a more permanent job offer?” Grim asks as she considers our proposal.
“We were thinking of a three month trial, if he agrees of course,” Xeno replies. “After that it depends on whether you guys are happy to let him go and, of course, if he wants to stay. I know he’s integral to your team, and I appreciate what we’re asking here. Like York said, you can say no and we wouldn’t be offended.”
Grim flicks her gaze to Pen. “You need this, right?” she asks knowingly.
Pen nods. “We do. We wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
“Then I’m okay with it,” Grim replies. “You did us a huge favour looking after Iris when we needed you to. Fuck, you were willing to be her parents should anything have happened to me and Beast. This is the least we can do.”
“Hey, you know we did that without needing anything in return, right? You’re family,” Pen says, reaching forward and gently stroking Iris’s hair off her face as she sleeps peacefully. “Iris is my goddaughter, I love her as if she’s my own.”
“Welove her as though she’s our own,” I add, glancing at Xeno who’s looking at Iris with a fierce kind of protectiveness that we all feel towards her. Those few weeks we looked after her whilst Grim and Beast went to rescue Christy from the Masks–which, as it happens, turned out to be a wasted journey given she fell in love with the fuckers–showed us all how much we wanted to be dads.
“We know that,” Beast adds, clearing his throat.
“Is that a tear?” I joke, noticing how his eyes appear to glisten
“Fuck, yeah, it is,” Beast retorts, swiping at his face. “Being a dad makes you fucking soft.”
“I disagree. Becoming a dad has made you the best version of yourself,” Xeno says, meeting Beast’s gaze. “Iris couldn’t have a better dad. She’ll grow up knowing how much she’s loved. Some of us didn’t get so lucky.”
“Thanks, mate,” Beast mutters, hauling a sleeping Iris closer against his chest. “Fucking scariest thing I’ve ever done, and I’m constantly fucking questioning everything I do when it comes to this sassy girl of ours, but I wouldn’t change a thing. She owns us both, and I think she already knows it.”
“Damn straight she knows it. She’s her mother’s daughter after all,” Grim adds.
Beast chuckles. “You ain’t wrong there, love. Point is, maybe you guys should try it one day. I think you’d make great dads, and we already know Pen would be a brilliant mother. Pretty sure it was due to her that Iris survived those couple weeks in your care.”
Pen’s cheeks flush and Xeno chuckles. “If I had my way Tiny would already have a belly full of our kid.”
“Well, sign me the fuck up,” I pipe up. “More than happy to help make a baby. Frankly, I was more than happy last night, but these fuckers were all tired after spending the afternoon putting together a routine that they all fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.”
Titch winces. “Sorry about that, I was knackered.”
“There’s always tonight,” I reply, wiggling my eyebrows, before pressing a kiss against her lips.
“Now who needs a room,” Beast quips, smirking as we pull apart. “How would that work anyway?”
“How would what work?” Xeno chuckles knowing full well what Beast means.
“Don’t tell me you need a lesson in how babies are made?” I joke.
“You know what I mean, arsehole. Like, if you did want to have a baby, who gets the honour of planting the seed, so to speak?”
“Jesus, Beast, personal much? You don’t have to answer that,” Grim says, giving his shoulder a shove.
“That’s simple,” Pen says softly before meeting Beast’s inquisitive gaze. “If we ever chose to have children, it would happen as it was meant to, and we wouldn’t do a paternity test because as far as I’m concerned they’d all be her father.”
“Her?” Grim asks, cocking her head to the side.
“Or him,” Pen adds with a smile. “Either way, it wouldn’t matter to us who the biological father is, because I know they’d all take responsibility for any child we have together, and they would love them as fiercely as we love each other.”
“Damn straight,” I say, squeezing Titch’s thigh.
