I smiled reassuringly up at him. “I’m great, Daddy. Stop worrying, okay?”
He opened his mouth, but before he could bombard me with more questions about how I was feeling, two little feet gave a powerful kick. It effortlessly shut him up about my health and had him and Devlin both gushing about how strong of a kicker their grandchild was.
“He’s going to be a soccer player,” Devlin predicted. “Harris was into that when he was a boy.”
“Maybe he’s going to be into martial arts. Hey, let’s check out that beginner MMA class down at the gym. See how old the kid has to be before he can start.” I was already forgotten as Dad walked off with the other drummer, their heads together as they discussed getting a personal coach if the gym wouldn’t let their grandson in at birth.
Rolling my eyes, I picked up a discarded paper plate and a few plastic cups and weaved my way through the small crowd to the kitchen.
“Baby, you shouldn’t be moving around so much,” Mom chided. “You look like you’re going to pop any minute, and your poor feet are as big as watermelons.”
I glanced down at my feet, but of course, I couldn’t see them. My feet and I hadn’t seen each other in over two months now, so I had no idea what they even looked like these days. “I’m fine, Mom,” I assured her as I tossed the trash. “Honestly, you’re more of a pain than Daddy is lately.”
“You’ve been so tired recently.” Nat tried to soothe me. “The last few weeks have taken a lot out of you, sweetie.”
I grimaced, knowing she was right. Sleep had been basically nonexistent, so of course, I’d been half dead on my feet most days. But today, I was feeling like I could conquer the world, and I didn’t want anyone to bring me down.
“Take this and go out and sit on the porch for a little while,” Mom urged. “Nat and I will clean up in here.” She kissed my cheek as she pressed a glass of lemonade into my hands then pushed me toward the door that opened up onto the huge, covered back porch. “And put your feet up!”
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled as I walked over to the swing and slowly eased down onto it. I stuffed one of the weatherized pillows behind my back and carefully propped up my feet on the little footrest Dad had brought over when I was just six months pregnant.
It wasn’t until I was off my feet that I realized how badly they were aching. Groaning, because my toes had started to throb and I hadn’t even realized it, I took a refreshing sip of the lemonade and closed my eyes.
Out on the beach, the kids were playing. Some were helping to build a sand castle or chasing each other. They were all laughing and having a good time, and I tried to pick out who was where without looking.
I heard Violet squeal and knew one of the twins had dropped her into the ocean where they had been playing for the past hour. Bliss screamed in frustration, and I could picture her three-year-old brother smashing the little castle she had been painstakingly working on with her three older sisters for the tenth time that day. Damien was always into something and chasing after his sisters with the kind of mischief only a spoiled little brother could experience.
“Damien, that’s mean!”
“Don’t yell at him, Bliss,” Arella scolded the younger girl. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing is wrong.”
“But I just explained to him it was mean ten minutes ago,” Bliss whined. “He destroyed the stables I was making for our horses.”
“It’s okay, Blissy,” Nevaeh soothed. “I’ll help you remake them. Okay?”
“But they were almost perfect!”
“We can make them even better,” her eldest sister promised. “See?”
“You are the meanest boy I ever met!” Piper screamed, and I didn’t have to look to know Liam and Gabriella’s daughter was getting in Cannon Cage’s face. “If I were bigger, I’d punch you in the face.”
“So do it!” He sneered then howled in pain. “Ow! You hit like a boy!”
“No, I hit like a girl. And the next time, I’m gonna break your nose!”
“Piper?” Lyric called from the ocean. “Piper, where are you going?”
“Home!” She yelled at my baby brother who was just as tall as our dad was now. “I don’t want to play anymore.”
“Okay. Hold up. I’ll walk with you.”
I bit my lip as I opened my eyes and watched Lyric take Piper Bryant’s hand to walk her down the beach to her own house. No one was home, but Lyric was a regular down there these days. Whenever he and Luca drove over to visit us, nine out of ten times, he ended up at Piper’s house instead. Liam was a hell of a lot more understanding of Lyric being around his house than Shane was Luca at his own. Or maybe it was because there was a more brotherly vibe that Lyric gave off with Piper, who was considerably younger than him, whereas Luca’s screamed, “Violet is mine.”
As I watched, I saw Cannon glare after the two and nearly groaned out loud. I didn’t need a crystal ball to predict the trouble that was stirring up. We all knew Cannon was so mean to Piper because he liked her. The kid was just too stubborn to admit it. And while Piper had stars in her eyes for Lyric, I wasn’t blind to the fact that she enjoyed arguing with Cannon just as much as she loved having my brother take care of her.
Jagger put his hand on Cannon’s shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. “Let’s go find my sister. I bet she needs cheering up right now. That knee brace she’s got is about to drive her crazy. Doc said she can’t dance for at least six more weeks.”
“Yeah, sure,” Cannon gritted out. “Let’s go.”
I watched as they walked around the side of the house in search of Mia, shaking my head at how much they both looked like their fathers. They were heartbreakers already, and I pitied their poor mothers and any girl who fell in love with them.
“Mommy, Mommy.”
I had less than a second to set my glass on the little table beside the porch swing before I had a handful of flowers thrust at me. Grinning, I carefully took the flowers and lifted them to my nose. “Oh, wow. These smell so good. Are they for me?”
Dark curls bounced up and down, little dimples flashing as Hayat smiled sweetly at me. “Daddy helped me pick them for you.” She produced another handful from behind her back. “And these are for Nana and Gammy.”
“How pretty!” I exclaimed as she had expected. “They’re going to love those, baby.”
“I’m gonna give them to them now,” she said with so much excitement, her aquamarine eyes outshone the ocean.
“Good idea,” I encouraged her.
She turned to run off into the house but stopped and swung back around. She pressed her face into my huge stomach and kissed it loudly. “Bye-bye, baby brother.”
I laughed as she disappeared into the house.
“They’re all convinced it’s a boy,” Harris said with a sigh as he dropped down onto the swing beside me. Lifting my feet from the stool, he put them in his lap and took off my black slippers before squeezing with just enough force to make me moan in pleasure. “I don’t have the heart to tell them it’s another girl.”
I laughed again, happiness flooding out of me in forty-foot waves as I closed my eyes. “We don’t know that yet. It could still be a boy.”
And honestly, I didn’t care either way if it was a boy or a girl. I was just ready to meet the little demon who had been using my insides as a punching bag for the last few months. Whoever was in there had made it impossible to rest the last few months, but especially this past week. There wasn’t a comfortable position that offered any relief, and I was about to cry defeat and beg to be induced since this brat was already a week past due.
But I was happy that he or she had held off long enough to let us get Hayat’s third birthday party over with. I would have been so sad if I hadn’t been able to make the day special for her. Not that she would remember the perfect princess party she’d had that day. This was like any other day to her, because she was just that spoiled.
“How about you let Poppy and Pop-Pop take you for ice cream?” I heard Dad say
ing, and I lifted my eyes to find him walking out onto the porch with Hayat in his arms. “Then we can have a sleepover with Gammy. And tomorrow Gammy and Nana will take my pretty girl shopping. That way, Mommy can sleep all night, and Daddy can take care of her.”
“Can I have chocolate chip, Poppy?” the three-year-old asked hopefully, as if she honestly didn’t think her grandfather would give her whatever she wanted. “With whipped cream, please?” Dad pretended to think about it, making her bat her long lashes at him. “Pretty, pretty please, Poppy?”
“I guess so, if Mommy says you can have it.”
“Mommy?” she pouted down at me, her eyes like the most beautiful jewels I’d ever seen. “Can I, please?”
“Fine,” I said with a smirk at Dad.
“What?” He grinned. “I asked you first, didn’t I?”
“So asking me if you can spoil her makes it all right?”
He sighed in mock exasperation. “I can’t win with you. You yell if I don’t ask, you yell if I do. I can’t take the yelling anymore, Lu.”
“Mommy didn’t yell, Poppy,” Hayat told him with a frown. “She doesn’t yell.”
“Sure she does, cupcake. She might not yell with her voice, but her eyes are screaming at me right now. Will you protect Poppy?”
Her arms tightened around his neck. “Don’t worry, Poppy. I won’t let her hurt you.”
Harris snorted, but Dad ignored him. “Dev and I are taking her for ice cream. Your mom wants to help clean up a little more, so I’ll be back for her later.”
“Not too much ice cream, Daddy,” I implored. “She’s already had cake and all that pizza from earlier. If you give her as much as you usually get her, she’s going to puke.”
“I know what I’m doing,” he said with a shrug, but I knew he would take what I said into consideration. His eyes landed on my stomach, concern darkening his eyes. “You want anything?”
I bit my lip, contemplating it.
“Lu.”
“Can you get me a pint of the dill pickle mixed with the s’mores?” My mouth watered at the thought of my latest favorite combination. Thankfully, the ice cream shop a few miles up the road catered to pregnant women’s cravings.
Dad made a disgusted face but nodded. “Whatever you want, Lu. Say bye-bye to Mommy and Daddy, cupcake.”
“Bye!” She blew us a kiss, but she didn’t seem to care she was leaving us behind. It was sad for us both, but we loved that she was so comfortable with her grandparents she didn’t mind being away from us even overnight. On the weekends, Hayat was always at a sleepover with one or the other pair of them. And throughout the week, Dad and Devlin frequently stopped by to take her out for a little while. They all doted on her, and she loved them all fiercely, but the bond she had with my dad was just a little bit stronger than what she had with Devlin.
Not that Dev knew that. He was so twisted around his granddaughter’s finger, he couldn’t even tell. When they were all together, she didn’t treat him any differently than she did Dad. But when it was just Dad around, I could see the difference. It was one secret I would always keep from my father-in-law, though.
Harris continued to massage my feet, and all the energy I’d had throughout the entire day seemed to evaporate. My eyes grew too heavy for me to keep open. “This is nice,” he murmured, kissing the top of my head. “But why do I get the feeling this is just the calm before the storm?”
“Because it is,” I muttered sleepily. “We’re about to have two kids under the age of four destroying our peace, instead of just one.”
“I’m okay with that. Wouldn’t mind a few more, actually.”
It was my turn to snort. “Yeah, okay. Next time, you can incubate the brat for nine months. We’ll see how many more you want after that.”
“If I could take this on for you, I would without hesitation,” he breathed at my ear. “But I can’t. So I’m going to keep rubbing your feet and thanking you for making me the happiest man in the world.”
“I hate you when you’re so sweet,” I complained. “It makes it hard for me to yell at you with my eyes for making me so uncomfortable with this kid of yours jumping on my bladder.”
“Sorry, sweetness.”
“Speaking of which, I have to pee.” Harris stood and helped me to my feet. As I stood, I felt a burst of painful pressure shoot from my back around to my stomach, and I gasped just as a puddle poured out of me at his feet.
“Fuck,” I moaned.
“Did your water just break?” His voice was weak, and I bit back a smile despite feeling embarrassed as hell for getting his shoes wet. For some reason, he seemed more nervous right then than he had when I’d gone into labor with Hayat.
“Well, I’m pretty sure I didn’t just pee all over you, so yeah.”
“Oh God,” he groaned loudly. “Ah, fucking hell.”
“What’s wrong?” Mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “Something happen?” She stopped in her tracks when she saw the puddle that was only getting bigger at our feet. “Oh…well, okay then.” She smiled calmly. “Let’s get you to the hospital, baby. Actually, I’m kind of glad your dad already left with Hayat. We don’t need his chaos right now, do we?”
“No, I think this one is chaotic enough for me,” I said with a grin, only to practically double over in pain as a contraction hit me. “Ah, gods,” I moaned. “I forgot how much this hurts.”
“If you remembered the pain, then you wouldn’t ever have another baby,” Mom said with a laugh. “Hey, Nat?” Nat stuck her head out the door. “Did they take your car to get ice cream or mine?”
“I’m not sure. Why…?” She broke off when she saw Harris’s face. “Is it time?” she half squealed, half whispered.
“Looks like it,” Mom assured her, still completely calm. “With all the cars out front, I doubt we’ll be able to get Lucy’s out of the garage.”
“Gotcha.”
“What’s going on?” Aunt Emmie asked as she came out of the house with Lana. “Oh, hell. Really? You decided that one birthday was easier to remember than two?”
“Yep,” I giggled. “Seemed like the perfect idea at the time.”
“Can we not joke around and get to the hospital?” Harris snapped.
I patted his arm. “It’s okay, babe. We’ve got plenty of time before the baby actually comes. Remember, Hayat took forever to get here after I first started having contractions.”
“Actually, the second baby always comes quicker than the first,” Lana offered, and Harris’s face lost what little color it still had. “Your body remembers what to do and wants to get the baby out faster, I think.”
“Not helping, Lana,” I bit out.
My sister laughed. “Oh, sorry.”
Another contraction hit me, this time even harder, stealing my breath with it. “That’s two in two minutes.” Harris’s voice shook with panic. “We have to go now.”
“Relax, honey,” Nat urged, trying to calm him, while Mom rubbed my back. “We’ll get her to the hospital in time.”
“Where’s Dallas?” He started to step away from me to go search for her in the house, but I clung to him.
“Don’t leave me,” I whispered, my own anxiety taking hold. “You can’t leave me.”
“I won’t,” he swore. “Dallas can help, though.”
“She just left, actually,” Aunt Emmie said with a grimace. “Asher kind of blindsided Cannon with a punch to the back of the head, and when Gabriella started raging, he said he was just defending his sister’s honor. Which, of course, got Dallas raging when she made Cannon confess what he’d done to Piper this time.”
“We have to go. Now!” Harris lifted me into his arms like I didn’t weigh any more than our daughter and carried me out to the last car in the driveway. “Who’s is this?”
“Mine,” Lana called as she jogged after us. “Put her in the back. I’ll drive.”
“We’re coming too.” Mom jumped in beside me from the other side, and Nat took
the front passenger seat.
“I’ll take care of everything here,” Aunt Emmie promised. “We’ll meet you at the hospital in an hour or two.”
“Wait until Jess gets back from ice cream with Hayat,” Mom practically begged. “If he’s there, he’s going to freak out until the baby is born. Just let him have a little more peace before he finds out.”
“You got it. Be careful. Good luck, Lucy!”
Two hours later, our son was put into my arms, screaming angrily at the world for being pulled out into reality. My entire body ached, not a single muscle wasn’t protesting, but I’d never felt so good in my life. Tears poured from my eyes as I kissed the top of his head, my fingers trembling as I played with the dark curls that matched those his sister had been born with.
“Looks like we’re going to have a little MMA superstar if Dev and Jesse get their way,” Nat teased in a soft voice as she and Mom stood on one side of me. “Or another generation of drummers.”
Harris stroked his hand down our son’s back. “I don’t care what he does. I’m just glad he’s here and healthy.”
The door to my room flew open, and Dad stormed in. “Why didn’t someone fucking call me?” he raged, only to stop in his tracks when he spotted his grandson lying across my chest. “Holy fuck. He’s here.” He crossed to the bed, and Mom and Nat quickly got out of his way. His hand shook as he pushed a few of my curls back from my sweaty face. “Are you okay, Lu?”
“I’m okay, Daddy,” I assured him with a tired smile.
He glared over at Mom and Nat. “Someone should have called me when you went into labor.”
“But you were taking care of Hayat,” I reasoned. “We figured you had the hardest job and didn’t want to bother you.”
“You still should have called,” he complained.
“I will next time, Daddy. I promise.”
“Next time?” He blanched. “How many more times are you going to do this to me, Lu?”
I gazed down at the perfection that was my son. The dark curls, those lady-killer dimples that were already breaking my heart as he snuffled around my chest hungrily. He looked just like Hayat, who was the perfect combination of Harris and me. Seeing this miracle we had created together, I completely forgot how uncomfortable I’d been in the last few weeks, how painful it had been to push him into the world.