Matt twisted his lips at me. “I’m not scared of a baby. I’m more scared of the fact that you’ve replicated yourself. There are two Griffins in the world now. I’m not sure the world is ready.” He slowly shook his head, like he was already seeing the upcoming apocalypse. Or should I say, Griffinocalypse.
Tossing on a smile, I told him, “Are you kidding me? The world has been waiting for my mini me for a long ass time. And Link is only the first of many. I plan on putting several mini cocks on this planet.” As many as my wife would let me.
Matt shook his head again. “And so it begins…”
Frowning, I turned to Evan and Jenny. “He just lost his turn. Which one of you wants him?”
I extended Linken in their general direction, and Jenny immediately scooped him up. “Oh my God! He’s so cute! Evan, look how sweet he is.”
She cooed in Linken’s face while Evan smiled at her. “Yeah, for being part Hancock, he is pretty adorable.”
Liam, Matt, and I reacted at the exact same time with “Hey!” Shaking my head, I added, “Not cool, dude. Hancocks are awesome.” Liam, Matt, and I bumped fists together in a show of family unity. While the band’s Hancock to non-Hancock ratio had been fifty-fifty before, it wasn’t anymore; the band was cock-heavy now, as it should be.
“Damn straight,” Liam said.
I indicated Jenny cuddling with my son. “Evan just forfeited his turn. Give him to Liam when you’re done, Jenny.” I patted Liam on the back. “You’re next, bro.”
Liam’s eyes widened, like I’d just told him his nonexistent girlfriend was expecting. Matt laughed while I shook my head. I was surrounded by a bunch of newborn-fearing pansies. Wusses.
When Linken was ready to come home, we took him to our new place. We’d recently moved from Anna’s tiny apartment. Now that the cash was flowing again, and we’d paid off the money we’d borrowed from Kellan, we could have bought just about any house we wanted, but we’d decided on a modest four-bedroom rambler in a quiet neighborhood that was close to some good schools. Anna and I wanted to live a simpler life, less opulence, less extravagance. We just wanted to concentrate on us, and on the kids, and we wanted to be smarter with our money. Plan better, just in case it ever did dry up again. And we wanted to give back.
One thing I’d learned throughout this whole mess was that I’d been given a gift that first go-round, and most people weren’t so lucky. Listening to the other contestants on that show, watching them struggle to make something of themselves…it had moved me, and I wanted to help them. I wanted to keep the dream alive, give people a reason to keep going, even when the obstacles seemed too high, the odds too big. I wanted to give people hope for their future.
At first, I’d had no idea how to do that. The task seemed too big, the different ways to go about it too vast, the overall idea too vague. But then Anna suggested I focus in on one aspect of my vision, and then, when I had it, that I start out small. Made sense to me, so I decided to start with the youngest dreamers and my favorite occupation. Anna and I were in the beginning stages of creating our charity—Strength Through Sound. Our goal was to enrich, encourage, and empower children through music. Our hope was to expand band and choir in schools, and offer activity centers where kids could go to express themselves in healthy ways. Even I could admit our plan was an ambitious one, but it meant something to me, so I felt like it was worth it. No, I felt like I was meant to do it.
Once Kellan heard our plan, he was 100 percent on board. Music had shaped his childhood, same as it had mine. The other guys quickly asked to be a part of it once they heard us talking, and pretty soon, Strength Through Sound was officially being sponsored by the D-Bags. Our first center was opening next year.
I could have happily stayed at home, planning my new charity while holding my new baby and playing with my girls, but the D-Bags had a job to do, and before I knew it, our summer tour was starting. When I asked Anna what she wanted to do, I fully expected her to say she wanted to stay home with Linken. I was shocked when she said she wanted to come with. “Are you sure? I mean, I know we’ve done it with a newborn before, but we only had one kid at the time.”
Anna gave me an unworried smile. “It will be fine. Linken’s a dream baby. He’s already sleeping through the night. And I’m already on maternity leave with work, so now is really the perfect time for me to go.”
Grinning, I gave her a quick kiss. “I’m glad you said that, because I really wasn’t looking forward to not seeing you guys for three months.” With a sigh, I placed a kiss on Linken’s forehead. “I don’t want to miss that much time with them. I don’t want to miss any time with them.”
Anna cupped my cheek. “You don’t have to. We’ll find a way to make this work, just like we do with everything else. And we’ll do it together.”
I nodded. “’Cause we’re a team.”
“Exactly.” She gave me a deep, lingering kiss then, and we put Linken down for a nap in his room, so we could benefit from one of the many perks of being partners.
Kiera and her kids ended up coming on the tour too, and so did Jenny and Rachel, so there were no shortages of people to help with the kids. And maybe it was my changed attitude, or my new position with the band, or quite possibly my brother’s overabundance of excitement, but that tour was by far the best one we’d ever done. We adjusted some of the classic D-Bags songs for me, adding a second line for my guitar, or just having Matt and I play together. There were ramps on the stage set up in an X pattern that let us run up and down, back and forth, burning off adrenaline and engaging the crowd. We even had pyrotechnics for one of our songs. It was fucking amazing, and when the tour finally wrapped up at the end of the summer, I was sad that it was over with.
And then, once the tour was done and the album was a monstrous smash and all the expected babies had been born, the D-Bags had wedding after wedding after wedding after fucking wedding. Okay, it wasn’t that many, but it felt like it.
Matt and Rachel started it off by renewing their vows. It seemed unnecessary to me, since they hadn’t been married all that long, but after talking to each of them, I got the feeling they were doing it just so Anna and I could see the ceremony. That moved me, and I didn’t even give him crap about the fact that his tuxedo had tails. Who the hell wears tails anymore? Jackass. I made a mental note to get him a cane and a monocle for Christmas. I might not tease him on his “special day,” but the other 364 were fair game.
Matt and Rachel had the ceremony at the restaurant inside the Space Needle, which was pretty awesome. They bought out the entire place for the night, and after their brief vows—both whispered to each other with bright red, embarrassed cheeks—we spent the night eating, drinking, and watching the city below us slowly revolve into view.
It was a great night, and as I slow danced with Anna, I asked her if she’d like to do something similar. “Do you think we should renew our vows and shit? We never really had a party.” No, we’d pretty much taken the leap, then continued on with life: had a baby and finished up the D-Bags tour.
Anna bit her lip while she thought. “I don’t really need the ceremony part, but we could have a barbeque to celebrate? Cook some burgers, drink some beer. That would be great!”
I wrapped both arms around her, giving her a tight squeeze. “I fucking love you.”
She laughed as she squeezed me back. “I fucking love you too.”
While we made plans for our shindig, Evan and Jenny finally took the plunge. They got married at their house—the old auto body shop with the loft on top. They did it a week before Christmas…and they let Abby decorate. Her outlandish design put every Santa’s Village to shame; it gave new meaning to the words “Winter Wonderland.” Shimmering snowflakes were hanging from the ceiling, fake snow lined every flat space in sight, and bright red roses were mixed with holly and mistletoe to create one-of-a-kind flower arrangements that had everybody kissing. Once the dorkiness of it wore off…I kind of dug it.
Kellan was Evan’s best m
an, while Matt, Liam, and I were his groomsmen. Jenny had Kiera as her maid of honor, with Anna, Rachel, and Kate as her bridesmaids. Matt was spacey the morning of the event, like he was hungover or something. I had to snap my fingers in front of his face three times to get his attention. “Dude, what’s up with you? You look like you’re gonna hurl.”
Matt ran a hand down his face. “I think I might.” Face grim, he looked between Evan, Kellan, Liam, and me. “Rachel’s pregnant…she just told me before we came out here. I’m gonna have a kid. I’m completely freaking out.” His skin paled so much, I was sure he was about to pass out.
Reaching inside my jacket, I handed him a flask of whiskey. He took a long draw off it, not even questioning the fact that I was carrying it. Kellan slapped him on his back once he swallowed. “That’s awesome, man! Congratulations!”
“Awesome…?” Matt whispered, taking another swig.
“Yeah,” Liam said. “Kids are…cool.” His expression was as awkward as his words. Aside from visiting numerous nieces and nephews, he had zero experience with kids. I smacked him across the chest.
“Kids are awesome, and you’ll do great, cuz, just don’t overthink it.” Matt raised his eyebrows and I understood. He overthought everything. I smiled and shrugged. Kids were a just-go-with-it kind of deal, and I excelled at that. Matt…not so much.
Evan laughed when Matt took another drink. “Don’t worry about it, Matt. We’ll figure parenting out together.”
All of us swung our heads Evan’s way. “Jenny’s…pregnant?” Kellan asked.
Evan shrugged, like Kellan had asked him if she’d gotten a pedicure. “Yeah, we just found out last night.” He didn’t look worried at all, but that didn’t surprise me. It took a lot to ruffle Evan.
Matt offered him the flask. “Want a swig?”
Grinning, Evan shook his head. “Keep it. I think you need it more than I do.”
Matt raised the flask in a toast, then took another drink.
He seemed calmer during the ceremony, but that was probably because he was half-lit. By the reception, he was full-on blitzed and feeling no pain. And he finally seemed to be excited about his upcoming child. From the middle of the dance floor, he shouted above the music, “I’m gonna be a dad!”
Naturally, everyone started cheering. I booed, just to be an ass to Matt. He didn’t hear me though, he was too busy sucking Rachel’s face. Anna thwacked my chest, then asked me if I knew about Evan and Jenny’s good news. “Yeah, he spilled the beans right before the ceremony.”
Anna nodded, not surprised. She had her hair pinned up, away from her neck, and all I wanted to do was suck on her exposed skin. And because I could, I did. Anna purred when my tongue brushed against the vein in her neck. Her voice a little throaty, she murmured, “Did Evan happen to mention that twins run in Jenny’s family?”
I pulled back to stare at her; her green eyes were lusty and amused. Grinning, I turned to look at Evan and Jenny slow dancing near the center of the room. “Well, that might finally ruffle him.” I started laughing, and just because I was having such a damn good day, I couldn’t stop.
By the time Anna and I threw our reproclamation celebration the next May, the results were in—Jenny was preggers with twins. Matt had been damn near constipated while he’d waited to see if he was sharing Evan’s fate, but, unfortunately, no, he wasn’t. Rachel was only having one. Damn shame if you asked me. I would have given anything to see Matt fumbling with two screaming babies. God…that would have been awesome.
Evan was a little pale at the party, but he always looked that way now. The closer it got to Jenny’s birth, the more of a jittery, nervous wreck he became. One of my favorite things to do now was silently sneak up behind him and scare the shit out of him. He always jumped and screamed like a little girl. It never got old.
I gave him a beer to unwind, then I gave him another one. I had a feeling it was best if he two-fisted it all night. Having someone more nervous than him put Matt in a really good mood all night. When we weren’t picking on Liam, who’d had his first successful groupie mating on St. Patrick’s Day, we were planning our next tour. “We’re gonna wrap this one up a little early, you know, because of the babies and stuff.” Matt looked over at Evan. “End of August, man. You ready? Got your duplicate car seats, cribs, bassinets, swings, bouncers? All that shit?” Evan cringed, then took a drink from both beer bottles at the same time. Matt chuckled. “At least there’s one thing he can handle two of.”
With a snort, I mimicked a pair of breasts. “I’m sure there’s one more thing he can handle in duplicate.” While the guys laughed at my comment, I reached down to grab my junk. “All this talk of boobs and babies is turning me on. I need to go find my wife and spread my seed again.”
Kellan grimaced. “I will give you my entire cut from the band next year if you never say ‘spread my seed’ again.”
I flashed him a smile. “Aw, Kell, I don’t need your money. And not only am I going to say it again, but I’m including it as a lyric in the next album. No, actually, I’m making it the title of the next album.” I raised my eyebrows and Kellan tossed a beer cap at me.
Laughing, I dodged his halfhearted throw and left the guys to go find Anna. She was having an in-depth conversation with Jenny when I approached her. Unlike Evan, Jenny was excited to be having twins. I think she underestimated how much work came with newborns. Or so I’d heard. My kids were nothing but awesome.
Walking up to Anna, I grabbed her elbow. When she looked over at me and smiled, I told her, “Kumquat.”
She looked at me blankly for a second, then turned to Jenny. “We need to…we’ll be back in a minute.”
Jenny rolled her eyes. “If you guys are going to pick a code word for sex, you should really pick something a little less obvious.”
Giving Jenny a mischievous smile, I said, “Where’s the fun in that?”
Anna and I were laughing as we darted away into the night. “Where do you want to go?” she asked me.
I looked up. There was a section of our roof that was secluded from view by a big tree in the front yard. We’d have an awesome view of the stars from up there, and if we were close enough to the peak, we’d also have a view of our guests. That was kind of hot to me. “This way,” I told her, pulling her toward the garage.
It took some preparation time as we wrestled the ladder into place, but we eventually had a blanket spread down on the roof shingles. Lying down on it, we began the process of stripping off our clothes. “Thank God all the kids are asleep,” she whispered as she stripped her shirt off.
Her breasts were calling me, so I only answered with a grunt. Unsnapping her bra, I took a nipple into my mouth. Fuck. Heaven. She let out a shuddering moan that was loud to me, but no one below us seemed to notice.
Getting all of our clothes off without rolling off the roof was challenging, and I thanked myself for going easy on the beer; I was sure I couldn’t do this if I were drunk. Once we were bare, the slight wind giving us both goose bumps, I braced my feet against the shingles. Anna clung to my body as I pressed against her. From my vantage point near the top of the roof, I could see the partygoers chatting and drinking in the backyard. Knowing none of my guests could see me but I could see them made me even harder.
Anna squirmed beneath me as her hands ran up and down my body. “I want you,” she breathed.
Looking down at her, my breath caught. She was gorgeous in the moonlight, like a freaking mythical goddess. And she was somehow mine. All mine. “You’re amazing,” I told her. My fingers came up to run down her cheek. “So amazing…”
As I leaned down to kiss her, I adjusted our bodies so I slipped inside her. We both gasped when we were finally one. No matter how many times I did this with her, how good we felt together shocked me. And it was even better when we started to move. “Oh God, Griffin,” she murmured. “Yes…”
I absolutely agreed, and a low groan escaped me as I rested my head against her neck. Nothing on earth felt this
good. As our bodies rocked together the euphoria increased. Anna became a constrained wild animal beneath me, gasping, groaning, squirming, and moaning. Every move she made electrified me, drove me even closer to my own release. “You’re so fucking hot,” I groaned in her ear.
She ran her nails down my back, then she grabbed my hips and begged, “More.”
I knew she needed that final drive to push her over the edge. Fuck, I needed it too. I grabbed the very top of the roof and used it as leverage as I shifted the angle, so I was rubbing against her in just the right spot. Anna’s eyes rolled back in her head as she gasped. Then she started panting and murmuring, “Yes, right there…don’t stop…yes…”
I wasn’t about to stop, because I was getting fucking close too. Anna exploded first, and she let out a cry that I was sure somebody would hear. I lifted my gaze to the party, and just as I did, I hit my peak. As the glory of releasing all that built-up tension sent shockwaves of pleasure through me, my eyes drifted over the oblivious crowd. Awe…some.
When my gaze drifted back down to my wife, she was tenderly smiling at me. Cupping my cheek, she told me, “It’s always so amazing with you. Every time blows my mind.”
Moving to her side, I thanked the slight chill in the air; it cooled off my heated skin. “Every fucking time,” I agreed, closing my eyes. It was right about then that I heard an odd sound, like shoes dragging across the dirt.
I opened my eyes just in time to see my pants slip from the peak of the roof. Sitting up, I leaned over the edge and tried to catch them, but I missed. Weighted down by my belt and the massive amount of crap in my pockets, my pants continued tumbling down the side of the roof, landing on the patio, right behind Kellan.
“Hey, Kell,” I whispered.
Looking around, Kellan seemed confused about where my voice was going from. “Griff? Where are you?”
“Behind you, dude. Up here.”
Turning, he glanced up at me, peeking over the edge of the roof peak. “What the hell are you doing…? Oh…never mind. Hey, Anna.”