“Bless your mom and her sunny days only policy,” he replied and snuggled in closer. “She’s right about it too, especially for the external shots. Stormy days can make some houses look seriously foreboding and put people off.”
“Exactly,” I said, my stomach beginning to rumble and demand real food now that the dried strawberries, crackers, and ginger ale had helped settle it.
As if on cue, I heard Briar come down the stairs, a delicious aroma wafting our way.
“Lunch is served,” Briar announced, “courtesy of the dad brigade. Your mom told them that you guys had a rough morning, and they delivered. We’ve got lobster bisque with beautiful chunks of lobster floating in it, crab-stuffed mushrooms, times two batches since neither of you likes to share them, and Maverick’s dad brought over a freshly grilled batch of that barbeque beef you two have fallen so in love with I’m beginning to think you’re fonder of it than you are of me.”
“I mean, it isn’t responsible for knocking us up and causing mornings full of misery, so there could be some truth to that,” Leo quipped.
“Love you too, sweetheart,” Briar said as he set the tray on the coffee table beside our nest and refilled our glasses from the pitcher of lemonade tea he’d brought down with him.
“If you guys are all set, I’m going to pop into the cookie shop and bake up a few batches of those strawberry crunch cookies everyone has been going gaga over.”
“Don’t forget the grocery list, and please double the number of lemons on it. I’ve been squeezing some into my ice water at night, and with the exception of this morning, it has really been helping.”
“In this case, triple them,” Leo said. “I’ve been getting water when I get up to pee, which I know is a surefire way to ensure I’ll have to get up and pee again, but I’m going to try adding a bit of lemon juice to mine to see how it works out for me.”
“One case of lemons it is,” Briar said, leaning over to kiss us both and running his hands over our bellies. “You guys behave in there, or your daddies are never going to let me put a claw or anything else anywhere near them again.”
Leo snorted, while I just giggled and tugged Briar into another kiss. “Since we’ll be getting so many lemons, do youthink you can whip up a batch of lemon pancakes when you get home tonight?”
“Would you like strawberry-lemon syrup with that?” he asked.
“Yes, please.”
“Double yes please with sausage crumbles on top,” Leo said.
My nose immediately wrinkled at the thought of sausage crumbles, and Briar noticed too.
“Okay, one sausage crumble covered pancake stack kept as far away from Maverick’s as humanly possible,” he murmured with a bit of a chuckle.
“I’ll eat on the couch,” I offered.
So far, beef had been the only non-seafood meat that held any appeal for me, and I did not see that changing anytime soon.
“Is there anything else you’d like me to grab?” Briar asked.
“Grape juice, pineapple juice, and apple juice,” I said. “I forgot to put them on the list.”
Turned out the list was already in his pocket, so he pulled it and a pen from his pocket and started making adjustments.
“Can you add orange and cranberry to the juice list?” Leo asked, “And blackberries too, please.”
“Consider it done,” Briar said as he jotted them down. “Alright, going once, going twice. If there’s nothing else to add, I’ll be going now, but you know you can text me if anything else comes to mind.”
“While you’re down at the shop, can you make a test batch of the watermelon meltaways and bring some home for Leo and me to taste test?” I asked. “You can have Taylor dress in the macaroon costume and distribute the rest with scorecards so I can get an idea of any adjustments I still need to make?”
“Sure can,” Briar said. “Where did you leave the recipe?”
“On the door of cooler #3,” I said. “With a note that says that the recipe makes six dozen, so you’ll want to halve that for the test batch.”
“Good call,” Briar said.
The whole time we’d been talking, his hand had been splayed over my belly, his palm warm where it was pressed against my skin. The faintest flutter almost made me giggle, until I realized it wasn’t him tickling me. It was one of the little ones.
“What’s wrong?” Briar asked, a note of concern in his voice. “Your eyes just got really wide. Do you feel okay? I can stay here for the rest of the day if you really need me too.”
“No, I-I’m okay. I just, I think I felt one of the babies move.”
