Ryder considered it. Given the choice, he’d probably say boy. He loved Tabby more than anything, and he could imagine her as the only girl bossing her brothers around. He shook his head. “Nope! I’d be fine with whatever.”
“Good answer.” Jax elbowed him playfully, and he laughed as he kissed Ryder, then turned back to the little ones. It was crazy how quickly they were growing.
The others started to come back into the living room, and that gave Jax and Ryder the chance to get some pizza themselves. They walked into the kitchen, grabbed a plate, then put some pizza on it, and poured themselves a drink when they heard someone behind him.
“Hey, you two.”
Ryder turned around. He’d just taken a sip of his drink and swallowed it. “Hey, Rome, what’s up?”
“Devon and I thought we’d give you two a night out sometime soon. You name the night, and we’ll babysit.”
Ryder laughed. “Thanks, but I think Jax and I are in agreement on this … We’re not letting Tabby out of our sights anytime soon.”
“What? Why? We’re family.” Roman frowned.
“I know that, and I don’t blame Ronin or Ollie for Tabby being taken while at their place. It wasn’t their fault. I know that. Jax does, too, right?” He turned to Jax, who nodded quickly. “Hell, I was here and they got my mate.” Ryder’s hand clenched around the glass.
“Yeah, I don’t blame you for that, babe, and you shouldn’t blame yourself,” Jax reminded him. They’d already had this conversation, and he was working on it.
“Right.” Ryder nodded. “No one knew there was any risk of Tabby being taken.”
“Exactly, there’s nothing they could have done differently,” Jax chimed in. “But even with that, we’ve only just gotten her back. I mean, of course, we want her to spend time with her cousins, but even I’ll still be cautious for a while, myself. It’ll take some time before I’ll feel comfortable allowing anyone besides Ryder or me to watch her. I can barely come down here at night myself. I hope you understand.”
Roman nodded. “Devon and I were just discussing it. I do understand where you’re coming from. Still, if you change your mind, feel free. My only thought was that it’d be nice to have a night out before you have a newborn. So, just think about it. We don’t mind watching her here if that makes you two more comfortable,” Roman offered. “But no pressure,” he added before shooting them a smile and leaving them to it.
Jax turned to Ryder. “What do you think? Should we let them? I mean, they are family.”
Ryder sighed. “I know they’re family, and it’s not that I don’t trust them, but it about killed me when you and Tabby were taken from me, and maybe at some point soon, but for now, sticking together isn’t half bad.”
“Awwwww, you’re so sweet, and yeah, I’ll never complain about being stuck with you,” Jax said before giving him a kiss.
Ryder was glad they agreed on this. He wasn’t ready, maybe someday they’d feel otherwise, but for now, he would feel better if they just remained close to him.
Chapter Seventeen
Jax
Jax felt like he could burst any day. His due date was inching closer and closer. Unlike his first pregnancy, though, there was no anxiety or trepidation. Jax had Ryder and his mate was amazing. He truly found new reasons to fall for Ryder daily.
But while he was loving the home time they’d had the last few months, with his due date getting closer, for some reason, he felt like time was running out. Time was running out, and the days were getting numbered to when they’d have two young children in their home.
He saw how hectic things were for Ollie and Ronin, and even though they loved their kids, alone time was something that had to be scheduled. Not that they didn’t have to wait now till Tabby was asleep or napping. She was only a month away from being a year old, and then they would add a newborn to the mix. So, if they were going to have some alone time, then they’d need to get to it now. Jax had thought about it for the last few days and decided to broach the subject with Ryder because his mate took overprotective to a whole new level.
Jax got up from the couch and made his way up the stairs to the new nursery. His mate had spent most of his free time trying to make it perfect, but that didn’t mean he spent any less time with Tabby.
He watched his mate frown at the instruction, hold up a piece of the crib, and then frown back down at the instruction. “Babe.” At the sound of his voice, Ryder’s head shot up and he smiled.
“Is it time?” Ryder moved to stand.
“No. No.” He waved Ryder off. “I’ve been thinking, actually.”
“Okay?” Ryder put everything down and gave him his full attention. “So, remember when Roman asked if we wanted them to babysit Tabby for a night so we could enjoy some adult alone time?”
“Yeah.” He nodded slowly. “But then we both agreed that Tabby had just gotten back to us—you’d just gotten back to me—so it was best we stayed together as a family. I remember.”
Jax smiled and rolled his eyes at his mate’s answer. Apparently, he was going to have to do some convincing.
“Well, we’ve had some family time, haven’t we? Some awesome family time.” They really had. Movie nights, building a mini playground out back for Tabby … so many amazing new memories. “You even took a couple of weeks off work.” He’d actually had to shove Ryder out the door; his mate had hovered so much. “But I also think that over the past few months, we’ve grown as a couple and worked on our issues. We’re not so scared anymore, right? Bo’s out of our lives for good. We know this. He can’t hurt us, and I don’t think either of us has a mortal enemy out there.”
