While I watch on, I examine my own feelings. Am I okay with this? I wait for the rolling feelings of jealousy, but unlike how I felt when Dad told us about Harlow, there’s nothing like that. All I feel is happiness, much like when Dad offered Hope a place with our family. These announcements mean more sisters… or brothers, but I will deal with that if they are boys. Our family is going to be big and beautiful and full of love, and I can’t wait for it.
A hand on my leg jolts me out of my thoughts. “Are you okay?” Alex whispers in my ear, and when I look at him, there’s an intent frown on his face. I guess he’s got good reason to be concerned. He saw the fallout of the whole Harlow debacle firsthand. God, I was such a bitch during that shoot.
“Yeah, I’m awesome,” I tell him, leaning forward to brush a quick kiss on his lips. His eyes widen in shock before I stand up and walk down to my father and his girlfriends. I give them all a huge hug, telling them how excited I am for them.
Dad holds me at arm’s length. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” he asks carefully, and I squeeze his hands.
“Yes, Dad, I promise. I know that I haven’t had the best track record, but I’m super happy about this. I can’t wait to meet my new sisters.”
“Or brothers,” Oliver pipes up, and I drop one of Dad’s hands to flip him off.
“Let’s hope not. There are enough boys in this family. Let’s hope it’s two gorgeous, precious girls so that it evens up the numbers in this family. Then Dad would have five daughters and six sons.”
“And two grandchildren.” Kai swings his arm around Harlow’s shoulder and kisses her cheek with a resoundingsmack.
“With Chuck and Melinda’s baby, we’re going to have five babies to love,” Thomas points out, and Nana claps her hands gleefully.
“Oh my goodness! This is so exciting. We haven’t had babies before since you were all children by the time you came to us. This is going to be quite the learning curve.”
Dad has lost his red cheeks, and now he’s looking a little green. It’s all I can do to smother my laughter.
“Don’t worry, Dad. You’ve got this. You and the guys can all go to birthing classes together.” That shuts up my brothers, putting deer in the headlights expressions on their faces, but Kai, of course, is totally unfazed.
“I’ve already looked into nearby classes. Veronica is having a C-section, so I won’t need to know for her, but I want to be there when Harlow has our baby.”
It’s just like him to be enthusiastic about something new. This is a big challenge for all of them, but I guess he’s had longer to get used to the idea of the whole dad thing. I think it’s only just hitting the other guys that they will all be dads to their two babies.
I watch Emma and Molly crowd around Dad and marvel at all the love I feel right now. It’s like everything is right with the world, like I’m almost bulletproof. Nothing can touch us now that we are such a tight, united force.
I go back to my seat, but by now everyone is finishing up their meal. To be honest, I’m not all that hungry despite barely eating. I take another sip of my drink and push the food around on my plate.
“Jacinta, we were wondering if you would like to come over for dinner this week. I overheard that you’re coming into the office tomorrow for some meetings, and we thought you could come to our place for a meal afterward.” Jace sounds hopeful, and I can’t deny I’ve missed him. The couple of days he and I spent together in Prague, then Connecticut, were fun. It was nice to not have any pressure on me. I could be myself, and Jace seemed to be attracted to that side of me. It doesn’t hurt that he’s sexy and sweet too. His accent makes my toes curl inside my shoes. We got so drunk that night, we were spreading gossip to give Harlow an alias. Making out on the dance floor was so much fun, but that’s as far as we got. He put the brakes on because neither of us were really in full control of our faculties. I’m kind of glad he did because so much is still up in the air.
“Yes, we’d love to have you come… For dinner, that is. Shane is an excellent cook.” Alex winks with a cheeky grin.
A hand on mine startles me, and I slosh a little bit of my drink over the glass. “Ignore Alex. But yes, it feels like forever since we got to see you. You haven’t been around the last few times we’ve been at Couture headquarters or your other building. I’ve been picking Jace up from work because he doesn’t have a car, and I usually go right past the building on the way home from my studio.” There’s no judgment in Shane’s tone. It’s just like he’s sharing a piece of his day with me, and the lack of pressure is refreshing. It makes it easier to stay in the moment with them.
“No, I’ve been working exclusively from home. Well, actually, exclusively fromtheirhome at the moment. Willow Castle needed a complete overhaul. I set up in one of the offices there, so I can work and supervise all the people coming and going in the process. Harlow is busy with the zoo reconstruction, so she doesn’t have time for the inside. I offered to take care of it. We pour over Pinterest together, then I make it happen. It’s different from fashion, but I have to say that I like the design aspect of this too.”
“What fun!” Alex claps his hands. “I can’t wait to see what you’ve done with the place. You should make a YouTube series or blog about it. I can just see you branching Couture out into interior design.”
I hold up a hand. “Oh no, slow your roll, cowboy.”
“I’d love to show you how I can ride,” Alex whispers out of the side of his mouth, and I can’t stop the small blush that I feel wash across my cheeks because his comment brings up thoughts of these three men wrapped up in passion, and that isnotlunchtime appropriate—especially a lunch with family attending.
“Oh, um, yes, well, that would be… Um, what I mean is I would love to come to dinner.” I clear my throat, all flustered from Alex’s suggestive comment and the dirty thoughts now full frontal in my mind.
“Fabulous. I’ll pick you both up at the end of the day then,” Shane suggests. It’s kind of nice to have decisions taken out of my hand.
We chat for a little longer about what they’ve been up to. Alex tells us a hilarious story about a photo shoot he was at for a boutique gin company. The director of the advertisement drank so much gin between takes that he fell asleep behind the lens of the camera and forgot to call cut. Alex and the girl he was shooting the ad with ended up stuck in the middle of a lake in a rowboat, and neither of them knew how to get it back in.
Shane tells me about how he’s been invited to join a group of photographers in a new campaign for Hawaiian Tourism. When he says the dates, I do a double take.
“Oh, hey, that works well. Jax’s new hotel has its grand opening that weekend. Do you think we could book you to do the official press photos for that too?” Catching Hope out of the corner of my eye, I wave her over.
“The sex hotel?” Shane asks, sounding much too interested, and I roll my eyes and smile.
“Yes, the sex hotel. Poor Jax. I think he wants it to be called the Intimate Indulgent Hotel or something better than the sex hotel, but I think he’s stuck with it.”
