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“Jesus Christ, no. I’m outta here.” Isaiah dips to hug Shayla, who laughs as she presses on her lower belly. He grumbles, “Not funny,” before skirting around the bed and far away from Bailey. “No more game nights at your house,” he says under his breath when Sherman joins him at the door. My father-in-law nods, and then they bro-hug before Isaiah leaves.
As soon as he’s gone, Bailey hands Gentry to Autumn, who is laughing her ass off. She stomps to the chair in the corner of the room and sits with a huff, crossing her arms as she sulks.
Miranda rolls her eyes and shakes her head. She takes Gentry from Autumn and snuggles him while Sherman snaps a few pictures of the two of them. When Gentry fusses after being passed to Eden and then Martin, Martin hands him to Shayla.
Angelainey, previously distracted by Ivy and her uncle Brady, who is closer to Ivy’s age than hers, squeals and begs, “Daddy, up,” with her precious, angelic baby voice. The first time she called me Daddy, I about died and went to heaven crying so hard. I still feel that way every time she does it. She claps her hands when I hoist her in the air and bring her to her mother for a hug and kiss.
“Hi, sweetie. Oh, I missed you so much!” Shayla coos. I gently set Lainey on the bed next to her, and she shuffles our newborn in her arms so Lainey can see him better. “Lainey, meet your new baby brother, Gentry.”
Lainey, who was all smiles when she walked in, scrunches up her nose and points at him accusingly. “Boy!”
Shayla chuckles. “Yes, he is a boy. And you’ll love him just as much as you love your little brother, Grayson.”
My Angelainey promptly bursts into tears, which instantly makes Grayson cry too. He reaches up with his hands, fists opening and closing in a “gimme” gesture while he cries, “Mama,” until I set him down between his mother and sister.
Shayla wraps her arm behind the two of them, hugging them close to her side, taking turns to smooth her hand over both of their heads of hair—one bright blonde and the other dark brown. Gentry is such a beautiful mix of the two, and they’re all the babies we need.
Lainey squirms next to Grayson and yells, “No boys!”
That makes Grayson cry even harder. He hates it when Lainey gets upset. Grayson tries to hug her, but she’s not having it, and she pushes his hands away. I’m about to pick her up, afraid their little tussle will hurt Shayla’s tender belly, but Shayla squeezes them into her side a little closer, smooshing them together.
“It’s ok, Lainey,” Shayla says in a sweet voice with a lilt on the end. “I’m sure the next one will be a girl, and you’ll have another little sister you’ll love so, so much, just like Ivy. Isn’t that right, Daddy?” She raises a sweaty eyebrow at me.
Now, I have six adults, including the amused nurse, two teens, and four toddlers staring at me, waiting for me to agree. I swear, even our newborn turns and squints at me, though I know he can’t see much farther than a foot in front of his face, awaiting my answer.
“Sister?” Lainey asks, her eyes round as saucers and lips pouting like her mother when she wants something from me.
I can’t take the pressure and give in, just like Shayla knew I would. “Fine,” I say, blowing out a defeated breath. It’s not all bad when I remember how much fun we had creating Gentry. And he truly is as adorable and sweet as Shayla says he is. “One more,” I say as I sit on the very edge of the bed and wrap my family in my arms. “But on one condition—no more after that, even if it’s another boy. I mean it.”
“Uh-huh. Sure.” Shayla winks when I draw back to look her in the face. “Whatever you say.”
I groan. “I’m serious, angel. Only one.”
“Yup.”
“Really serious.”
“So you said.” There’s a twinkle in her eyes that I don’t like.
“Really, really, serious.”
“Sure.” She bites her bottom lip and tilts her head to the side.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sherman trying and failing to hold back a laugh, and even Miranda tucks her face into Sherman’s chest while her shoulders shake with suppressed laughter.
“This is the grossest conversation ever,” Autumn says, looking a little green in the face, before hightailing it out of the room with Bailey on her heels.
Shayla snorts, stealing my attention back, then gives me a slow, sultry smile.
“Fine,” I grumble. “You win.”
Martin barks out a laugh that makes Ivy in his arms giggle, too.
Eden claps her hands and says, “Yay! If you wait until after our wedding, then we can plan it so we’ll be pregnant again at the same time. Oh, and then when you come into town for a visit, we can have a double baby shower. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Martin goes slack-jawed, then spins Eden around and plants a kiss on her lips that makes the whole room blush.
When I look back at my angel of a wife, the smile she gives me is brilliant, even with her hair soaked in sweat and sticking to the side of her neck. We both know I’ll give her anything she wants, including however many babies she wants, so long as she keeps smiling at me just like that for the rest of our lives.
