The kids hooted and hollered, running wild in every direction. They sure had a lot of energy. Between opening all the presents and the sugar high from all the sweets that Capri so graciously brought over, the outcome had been inevitable.
Lord knows she was a master baker and I couldn’t keep my hands from grabbing something she’d made every chance I got. It was a good thing she made an abundance of goodies because we certainly were not in short supply of people.
I looked around, taking in all my friends.
Scratch that, myfamily.
When I lost my parents at six, I didn’t think I’d ever have a family again. And while I wished they were still with me, I couldn’t imagine my life without every single one of the crazy, beautiful souls that accepted me into their circle and were always there for me when I needed them.
It hadn’t always been easy for me to let my guard down and allow them to help me. Then I finally pulled my head out of my ass when things got too rough and found out how good it felt to share some of the worries, stress, and fear that I’d been experiencing.
And then there was Bodie, who pretty much demanded it was his job to take care of me at every turn. That felt damn phenomenal too.
At the thought of him, my gaze automatically sought him out. What I saw had my ovaries going into overdrive.
Brinley had handed him baby Serenity so she could help her son Zander open a toy that he’d gotten. I sighed wistfully. Seeing the big, sexy man, holding the tiny bundle of joy in his strong arms and against his massive chest was a sight that would be burned in my brain forever.
All of a sudden, I pictured a baby boy that looked like Bodie in his arms instead.Ourbaby. What the hell? While Bodie and I talked a lot, I knew the idea of him having more kids freaked him out. It had everything to do with the way he lost his wife, not about becoming a dad again.
Jurnee bumped my shoulder with hers. “You look pretty serious there. What are you thinking about?”
I turned to her. “Oh nothing.” But then my eyes strayed back to Bodie.
Jurnee’s gaze followed mine and I caught her smile out of my peripheral vision. “Nothing, huh? That dreamy look on your face looks likea lotmore than nothing.”
After pulling my gaze away from the only man who’d ever done exactly as she said, make me dream, I looked back at the woman who was like a sister to me and let out another sigh.
“You can have all of that Gemma,” she said.
All my friends were blissfully happy with their children, except for Capri. Teal only had a couple of months to go and looked radiant. Ruby was finally over her morning sickness and starting to glow. Even Patience, who was only 18, had an amazing baby boy. Although, she seemed so sad without Jett and the fact he didn’t get to come home for Christmas made it even worse.
“What if I can’t?” I sucked in a breath. “He has had all that. What if he doesn’t want it again?”
Jurnee wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pulled me in for a side hug. “If he’s the right man for you, have faith it will all happen the way you want it to.”
“What are you all staring at?” Alley asked as she, Summer, and Capri walked up to us.
“Oh,” Summer said and my head turned in her direction.
Her eyes, as well as the rest of the women, were all on Bodie now too. When I looked in Capri’s direction, I saw a tear slip down her cheek. Not wanting to put her on the spot, I turned away. I could tell the other ladies saw also.
“Well, he does look damn good with that baby and he is wonderful with the kids,” Alley said. “One day you two will just have to make babies together and they will be beautiful if I do say so myself.”
I gasped and swatted her arm as Teal walked up and joined the group.
“What the hell was that for?” she exclaimed. “Just ask him.”
“I missed something good, what was it?” Teal asked, looking back and forth from Alley to me.
Alley was a little bit of a nut job.
“Gemma wants a baby with Bodie and Alley told her they’d have to make babies together,” Summer told Teal, summing up the conversation in a single sentence.
“If you want something badly, you have to ask for it,” Alley said, matter of factly as if it was that simple.
“Wait,” Teal said, putting her hand on Alley’s arm. “So what, you think she should just walk up to him and say, ‘Hey, can I borrow your cock and sperm so I can have a baby?’ like it’s as simple as asking if she can borrow a cup of sugar?”
Teal used to be quiet when she first arrived in the group but I think Alley, and maybe me too, had rubbed off on her. She could be a bit sassy and crazy herself now.
