“You’re forgetting that I’m here too.”
“You, who is still doing the underground fights and risking your life?” I stop pacing and give him a flat look. “Please. That’s not going to work. You can’t just bring a baby to a warehouse in the middle of butt fuck nowhere and hand it off to Aiden while you fight.”
Ezra shrugs. “He did a decent job raising you.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m a goddamn wreck most of the time, and you want to hand our baby over to him? Where the fuck do you think my issues came from?”
He laughs. “I was kidding. I talked to Aiden, and I’m going to be stepping back from fighting. He’s got other young fighters who don’t have a huge target on their backs.”
“Okay, well, the income I make from the family businesses should be more than enough to support us, but if we have to go underground and everything shuts down, we’re fucked. Especially when I can’t be at the restaurant all the time. And then there’s the concern of what happens if the government catches up with us. Noah might be the biggest worry right now, but he’s not the only one we have.”
Ezra puts his hands on my shoulders, stopping me when I go to pace again. “I’m going to open my own gym, and the baby can come to work with me. You don’t have to give up anything. I have a space picked out, and there’re going to be trainers everywhere, so that’s one more legitimate business for me and you to make money off of.”
“The government can still freeze everything.” I bite the inside of my cheek, a million other worst-case scenarios running through my mind.
“We’re going to make a fuck ton of money, keep a good chunk of it in cash and in offshore accounts. We’re going to have a baby, and it’s going to come to work with me while you work on building your own career. And we don’t have to worry about Noah forever, just until he’s dead.”
I laugh and shake my head, the shock fully setting in. “I can’t believe we’re going through all the ways we’re going to die or end up in jail right now. Aren’t we supposed to be celebrating?”
He arches an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes. “Do you want to be celebrating?”
I pause, considering it for a moment before nodding.
Ezra sweeps me up and spins me around. “We’re having a baby!”
Laughing, I hold onto him, some of my fear starting to fade.
He’s with me, and we’re going to get through this together.
I can’t spend a bunch of time worrying about what could happen. I just have to let things go and fall where they will.
He sets me down on the ground and brushes a quick kiss over my lips. “I love you, and this is a great day. We’re going to have a baby.”
Tears spring to my eyes as I look up at him. “We are. I love you too.”
“Let’s go have a good day and enjoy apple picking with the family.”
My jaw drops. “You invited all of them?”
He shrugs and takes my hand, pulling me out the door behind him. “I figured it’d be quicker if we put their energy to use. Might do them all some good to work together.”
I snort and shake my head. “You’d think after the last few months you’ve spent around them, you’d know more about what’s going on.”
“I know I love you, and you love your family, and that means I have to tolerate the abundance of energy and the fact that all of you spend too much time arguing and not enough being productive.”
“So, what I’m hearing is you love us?”
He opens the front door, waiting for me to leave the apartment. “I think you’re a pack of hyenas fighting over a fresh carcass, but yes. I do happen to love you, specifically. Zoe and Gia and the kids are great. So is Ellie. The rest of them are questionable.”
I laugh as we head down to the car.
I don’t know what’s going to happen with all the family getting together today, but I’m sure there’s going to be fighting of some kind. I wouldn’t trade my family for anything in the world, though.
Ezra pulls downa couple more apples and puts them in the basket. “Isn’t this nice?”
“Yes.” I smile and put the basket down, standing on my toes and reaching for more apples.
He pulls out his phone and snaps a couple of pictures of me.
