“No. I’ll tell him tonight.” I have something very special planned but I’m keeping that part to myself.

“He’s going to be thrilled.”

“I know. I can’t wait to see his reaction.” I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a huge smile and then involve him taking me straight to bed.

Margaret claps her hand like a child. “Will you start trying right away?”

“Is tonight considered right away?”

She grins. “I have a bit of advice for you since you’re new at this.” She lifts her brows and whispers, “Put a pillow under your bum … after he does his thing. You shouldn’t get up right away; let gravity work for you.”

Omigod. Margaret is giving me pointers on how to keep Jack Henry’s sperm inside so his boys will swim upstream. This isn’t awkward at all. “Okay.” That’s all I can say.

“Stay that way about ten or fifteen minutes before you get up.” She giggles before giving me a wink. “I can’t wait to get my hands on another grandbaby.”

10

Mum meets us at the door. “Hello, birthday boy.” She squeezes me hard before hugging my wife. “Laurelyn.” She whispers something in her ear but I’m unable to make out what it is—just as she intends—and I’m reminded of another time when she did the same thing. These women get along too well. They’re going to unite and plot against me.

The old girl is wearing an unusually large grin tonight. That can only mean one thing when it comes to Margaret McLachlan. She’s up to something. “What’s going on, Mum?”

“It’s your birthday, son. I’m just thinking back on the day I gave birth to my firstborn.”

I’m calling bullshit. “But you’re smiling.” She never smiles when she talks about having me.

“Of course I’m smiling,” she says. “It was a happy day.”

She makes a nice attempt at sounding sincere but I know better. This woman has told me about the day I was born countless times—mostly when I caused her some type of trouble or worry.

It’s not really a story that will encourage Laurelyn to want to have our baby but she’s bound to tell her about that day from hell at some point. “She was in labor, without any kind of painkiller, for twenty-one and a half hours. I weighed over ten pounds and she thought she would die pushing me out. I’m pretty sure she begged someone to kill her, although she’s never admitted it.”

Laurelyn’s eyes grow large and her jaw drops. “Good lord. Over ten pounds?”

“I did not beg anyone to kill me.” She playfully whacks my arm. “Not more than five times, I don’t think. But I forgot all the pain when I saw him. He was so beautiful, Laurelyn. He had a headful of black hair … and I’m glad because he was face up when he came out and his head was shaped like a cone. But then he cried and it was music to my ears. He was worth everything I endured and yours will be too.”

Laurelyn doesn’t need my mum hounding her about a baby. I’m already afraid I’ve pressured her too much, so I lift my brows as a warning. “Mum.”

“I’m zipping it.” She makes a motion with her fingers across her mouth and we follow her into the living room. There’s a crowd, probably twice as many guests as usual. I see several of my mates and I know Laurelyn will be happy to meet them. Then there’s the usual suspects—my parents, Evan and Emma with their trio, and Chloe. And Ben-fucking-Donavon.

I’m blinded by red. “Why the hell are you here?”

“Jack Henry. Ben’s a guest in our home.” My mum’s voice has an edge of warning to it but I don’t care. She can whack me as hard as she’d like if she doesn’t like what I have to say.

“No one’s answered me yet. Who invited this dick?”

Chloe’s giving me the evil eye. “I did, and he’s not … a dick.”

I’m feeling ambushed by my own sister—and maybe by my own wife. “Did you know about this?”

“No.” Laurelyn’s voice has a high-pitched edge to it, so I take that as a sign she doesn’t like being accused. “I only knew that Chloe was bringing the new guy she was dating.”

My sister is out of her damn mind if she thinks I’m gonna let that happen. “Oh hell no. You’re not dating him.”

“I’ll go out with whomever I want and there’s nothing you can do about it, so stop being a dickhead.”

Fuck me. I can’t let this happen. He’s no good for her and I don’t want him near my wife. “Chloe, there’s things you don’t know about him.”

“Ben told me everything.” I somehow doubt that.

“Hey, man,” Ben says as he steps forward and gestures toward the patio door. “Could we step outside to talk this over instead of making a scene?”

Yeah. I’m sure he doesn’t want to have this conversation in front of a crowd. It’ll only prove how unsavory he is but I also fear what he’ll say about me. He’s aware that I didn’t know L’s last name after being with her for three months. I damn sure don’t want him bringing that up in front of the family, so he has me over a barrel.

“We’ll be back in a minute.”

Laurelyn places her hand on my arm and whispers, “He’s here for your sister—not me—so behave.”

“Like that’s supposed to make me feel better?”

L lifts her brow as a warning and it’s the same look I’ve seen my mum give me a thousand times. “We’re here to celebrate your birthday and I’d appreciate you not getting into a brawl.”

“I won’t, love. I swear.”

We go out to the patio and I stand with my arms crossed as I wait for what he has to say. I can’t think of a single thing I’d like to hear from this guy.

“I want to start by apologizing for my behavior with Laurelyn.”

He’s telling the wrong person. “Maybe you should apologize to her instead of me.”

“I plan to, but I knew it wasn’t possible if I didn’t go through you first.” He’s right. I’m not sure I’d allow him to get that close to her. “I’m sorry I didn’t give you the information you needed to find her, but it all seemed really weird to me. You were with Laurie for months and didn’t know her last name. I assumed there was a reason for that and it was her own decision. I thought I was protecting her.”