“Are you nervous?” Josh asked.
Riley let out a deep breath and melted into Josh’s side.
“Nope, not at all. I’m totally ready and not at all freaking out about a baby showing up any moment and not having a crib to sleep in because his new daddy can’t figure out the damn instructions.”
Josh was used to Riley’s sarcasm. He used it so he wouldn’t have to admit how nervous he was.
Well, fuck that.
“I’m scared as hell,” Josh admitted, and Riley immediately dropped the wooden pieces and twisted until he could pull Josh into his arms.
Worked like a charm.
Riley always put Josh’s feelings ahead of his own. The best way to calm Riley was to distract him. If there was one thing Riley was good at, it was protecting Josh. Avery had explained to him once that it was something called reverse psychology, which sounded pretty cool and made Josh feel super smart. And it worked every time.
“We’re gonna get through this together,” Riley said into Josh’s shoulder. “Nobody’s a better team than us.”
“Damn right,” he said as he squeezed all the tension out of his best friend. “We’re so lucky. I can’t believe it’s finally happening.”
Riley pulled away from Josh until they were face to face.
“What kind of kid do you think he’ll be?” Riley wondered aloud. “I keep thinking about how he’s goingto be this little person who could turn out to be so many different things by the time he grows up.”
“I wonder if he’ll get any art skills from me or if he’ll be good at math like you,” Josh said.
“Well, he won’t actually have our genes, but we will be the ones to raise him, so who knows? Maybe he’ll be an incredible dancer, or a huge football player, or even an astronaut.”
“Or a musician, or a singer, or even a doctor. I just hope he loves us.”
Riley gave him a soft smile and leaned forward to kiss him.
“He’s gonna love us like we’ll love him, no matter who he turns out to be.”
Josh couldn’t help but beam at his husband. “I can’t wait to meet him.” Riley winced, and Josh narrowed his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t wait to meet him either, but I want to get this crib done before he’s here.”
Josh chuckled, remembering the scene he'd walked in on earlier.
“Don’t worry, I’ve called in reinforcements, and they’re bringing tools.”
Riley groaned and fell against the floor.
“Please tell me these reinforcements actually know how to use tools. I’m not gonna forget the hole I had to patch the last time I let Cole use a hammer.”
“Ha! Nope. Elena has barred him from using tools ever again,” Josh said. “I called someone withactualskills.”
Riley’s head popped up off the floor, and he brightened. “Kai is in town?”
“Yup. As soon as I told him the news he hopped on a flight to New Jersey. He’s excited to meet his new cousin.”
It turned out Josh did have family in Hong Kong who wanted to reconnect with him, and he was grateful to Riley for helping him do that swab test ten years before. He’d have missed out on so much if he’d never tried, especially with his cousin Kai.
“Thank fuck. Maybe he can figure out these instructions.”
“If he can't, no one can. And everyone else is coming over tonight for an impromptu baby shower. They have plenty of hand-me-downs to pass on.”
“Why couldn’t any of them have had an old crib they were done with?”
