I felt guilty.
Because I’d stayed out front Alley’s all night, Griffin and Autumn were at the house instead of running around Alley’s and having breakfast with everyone. The house was packed, but everyone seemed to make their way around each other like it was nothing.
Maybe because they’d been doing it for years?
This was my first time experiencing the traditional sleepover rituals—which included breakfast the next morning. At least we were invited in for that.
A stampede of kids weaved around me in such a blur that I couldn’t even tell who was in the group. I chuckled and turned to Patience.
“Are you sure you want those extra rooms in the house?”
She caught on right away and giggled. “You bet I do.”
Shit, I wasn’t going to argue; I’d give her anything she wanted—even if it was ten babies.
A sharp whistle echoed through the room, and everyone froze, even the kids. We all turned to see Alley standing there, a smug look on her face as she controlled the whole room with ease.
“Okay. I just want to make sure nobody else is having babies before we adjourn for the morning. Anyone else but the three we know about have a bun or buns in the oven?”
Once everyone had made it into the house and grabbed breakfast, we all learned about River and Gemma’s news. Of course, I’d already known since Bodie and Huntley had dropped the bomb outside the night before.
What I hadn’t known was that River was having a girl and Gemma was having twin boys—no wonder Bodie was a bit frazzled. I was in ultra-protective mode over Patience having one baby, so my friend must be going out of his mind.
We also learned that the twins would be named Tate and Tucker, middle names to still be determined, and River’s baby girl’s name would be Meadow Anne. Anne was Huntley’s mom Valerie’s middle name, and she and River shared a special bond, so I could see why they were honoring her.
My wife stood with her hands on her belly during the announcements, and I could see the longing on her face. She wanted to know what we were having; we’d talked about it. Patience wanted to pick a name—another thing we’d been discussing, regardless of whether it was a boy or girl.
“No babies here!” Kace yelled. “But I’d be more than happy to make more.” He turned to Teal and waggled his brows.
His son Denver pulled on his hand. “Dad, if you have a baby, make it a brother.”
“No, sister,” their daughter Aspen chimed in, standing next to them.
Gyth jumped in, unable to resist riling up Kace because that was just who they were. “Boy or girl, just make sure they look like their momma, not his ugly mug.” He slapped Kace on the shoulder as he said it.
“Hey, who are you calling ugly?”
Before they could get going, Teal diffused the situation by telling everyone that two kids were enough, then she shot Alley a look to continue.
“Okay, I guess four babies are enough for the time being,” Alley said, not missing a beat. “Thanks for coming.”
Everyone chuckled at her dismissal.
“Are you kicking us out?” Braxton asked.
“You bet I am,” she replied. “You brought home my man,and Noelle is going back with you, so I get my husband all to myself for a few hours.”
“No wonder you got babies on the brain,” Summer said, teasing her.
Alley rolled her eyes, and Landon laughed.
“We’re good with our girl,” she told us, smiling at Noelle hanging on her dad’s leg. “Besides, you all are giving more than enough to play with.”
They seemed perfectly content with one, just as Summer and Gyth did.
“When I get married, I’m having?—”
“And that’s our cue to leave,” Braxton said, cutting off his daughter Embry before she could finish what she was saying.
