“Chase, we should go outside with everyone else.”
“They can wait.” I kiss along her neck, my fingers playing with the hem of her dress, pulling it up her leg. “We should go back to Germany. Or to the bedroom. Or the gym. Or right here.”
“How can you possibly want to make out with me right now? I’m a fucking hot-air balloon, complete with the flamethrower thing inside.”
“You’re beautiful. Absolutely stunning, Sunshine.” She screams as I lift her onto my lap. “You better get used to it, though, because I’m gonna put so many babies in you.”
“Jesus, you really do have a breeding kink, don’t you, Mr. Cooper?”
“Not until I met you, Mrs. Cooper.” Her and her eyes widen as she catches my smirk.
“No! Chase, don’t you fucking dare! If you throw me in that damn pool, I’m going to?—”
I cut her off with a kiss deep enough to take her breath away and remind her how much I love her. “I’m not throwing my pregnant wife into a pool. That’s not what I want. Not what I need. I need you, Ren. I need you so fucking bad it hurts, baby.”
“There are people over! Lots of people!” She tries to pull the hem of her dress back down as I grab her hips, rocking her back and forth.
“Yeah, our friends. People that have known either you or I for most of their lives, or at least know us well enough.” I reply. I love every bit of her, but my favorite thing about her pregnancy has to be how horny it makes her. She’s breathing heavy, chest heaving and begging me to take her right fucking there. “No one would be surprised if we disappear for a few minutes. Come on. Just a quickie?”
“I…don’t wanna climb…the stairs,” she whines between kisses, grabbing my shoulders and rolling her hips. “Fuck, why do you do this to me?”
“I have an idea.” I shift her so I can scoop her up, carrying her toward the garage. She bitches at me, saying I’ll hurt myself doing that someday, but I don’t give a fuck. I carry my queen and I will keep carrying her, seven months pregnant or not. I turn her so she can’t see into the room and once we’re in, the lights flick on.
“SURPRISE!” everyone screams. She throws her arms around my neck and screams back at them while I laugh.
“What the fuck?! Do you want me to go into premature labor?!” I put her down, and she gasps as she takes in the room. There’s no gym anymore. We moved out the equipment and replaced it with a king-size bed. There’s fresh paint and new floors. I even have a locked cabinet for all our toys. When her eyes land on the back of the garage, she covers her mouth and grabs my hand.
“We ripped out the bathroom and redid it so it’s bigger while you were visiting your aunt.”
“But, Chase?”
“You’re having trouble with the stairs and I'm worried you’ll fall, so we’re moving down here for a bit. Look.” I run over and show her the bassinet that Jamie painted for us, and the giant mixed-media piece on the wall that Lexi did with bits and pieces of the life we’ve built together so far. “Your mom and Tommy can take the bedroom upstairs, at least while the contractor finishes their house. I still think they should just move in permanently, but whatever her and Tommy want, they get. We’ll move back upstairs when we’re done having babies.”
“You think we’re having more after this?”
“Oh, I know we are. We have way too much fun making them.”
“Ahh, there are babies present!” Steve jokes. “Gross!”
“Isn’t this party for Steve and Ethan? Did you lie to me?”
“It’s a family baby party. We just paid extra to get ours delivered a little early,” Steve teases, nuzzling the bundle in his arms. She looks so damn small and watching him has all sorts of new fears building in my stomach. It’s not that I’m not happy as hell for Steve and Ethan, but I’m terrified for Ren and I. Dr. Clay says that’s normal, and if I didn’t freak out at least once a day, he’d be worried. Ren must sense the coming panic attack, because she takes my hand, rubbing her thumb on my palm to calm me as Pongo appears at my side, dripping all over the new floor.
“So like, what happens if you have a boy, and they end up dating each other?” Steve asks.
“I will punch you in the face and we’ll deal with it, Stevie.”
“So, nothing new?” Jamie jokes before kissing his wife’s head. “We should practice harder, Angel. And…get another dog?”
“Yes, to another dog!”
Looking around the room as the group continues to laugh and joke with one another, I can’t help getting emotional. We were just three idiots who used to joke about eternal bachelorhood and planned to live together in a big house someday. Now, all three of us found our soulmates. How our little family has grown. And Fast. Warm hands reach up and wipe the tears from my cheeks. I don’t think I ever understood how to love someone as much as I love Ren, but now, looking at my friends—my family—I realize we have everything we need to make this work. All of us.
“Shit, I left the burger on!” Devin runs out the door. Xander and Dani follow behind him, offering to help. Ethan and Steve hang back as everyone leaves the room to rejoin the party, and I catch Ethan whispering something as he pushes Steve forward. Steve looks like he swallowed a gallon of sour milk as he steps over to us.
“Coop, uhm, we, uhm, we wanted to ask you something,” he stutters. “Her name?—”
“Don’t hyphenate it, you guys.” I sigh. They fought about this for weeks before they got married, now they’re going to fight about it again. “Come on. LaVonsen sounds perfect.”
