I smiled, because God, I loved her. If there was anyone I could do this with, it was her. “Sweetheart, we’ll survive. Probably barely, but wewillsurvive. I’m thrilled. Honestly, but?—”
Her tearful eyes jerked up to mine. “But?”
“We’re going to need a farm.”
Another weak, shocked, watery laugh came out of her. “A farm? I’m pretty sure this estate is bigger than a farm.”
“Yeah, but we’ll probably have to do a little bit of building during the pregnancy. Actually, we’re probably going to have to do alotof building. Double the size of the house. And, uh, you might need to cool it not only on the fertility, but also on bringing home stray animals for a while. Our collection of stray cats seems to be multiplying faster than our offspring.”
“I can’t help it,” she protested. “They findme.”
“That’s exactly my point,” I said, setting Hailey down in the cot in the living room so I could juggle Briar into the other arm. “You’re on probation from rescuing things for the foreseeable future.”
Sadie sniffed, but the panic had receded from her eyes. As she watched me settle Briar next to her sister, she seemed to be breathing normally again too. “That seems unnecessary.”
“That’s self-preservation,” I countered, turning to slide my hands around her hips and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “One more thing.”
She looked up at me warily. “What’s that?”
“I’m hiring help,” I said firmly. “A nanny. Maybe two. Possibly a team. We can’t do this by ourselves anymore, baby.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You hate having people in the house.”
“I also hate having mental breakdowns,” I said, entirely matter of fact. “Unless I want to spend the next decade losing my hairandmy sanity, I’m going to have to delegate. Obviously, my hair is more important to me than having strangers in my space.”
Sadie giggled, the sound soft and genuine. Her arms looped around my neck and she nestled into me. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I replied. “I also love our tiny army. Even if we are single-handedly trying to populate a small village.”
She smiled up at me. “You’re not mad?”
“Mad?” I chuckled. “No, I’m not mad. How could I be? I definitely played a part in this. I’m the happiest, most overwhelmed man in America. What we’ve got going on is divine chaos.”
Maybe the old me would’ve seen this as a loss of control. Maybe I would’ve been pissed. I probably would’ve lashed out, but now, surrounded by the wild, beautiful life we were building, I couldn’t be mad. I’d long since surrendered.
Once upon a time, I’d built my life around control. Now, it seemed, I was building it around chaos, and I’d never been happier to have absolutely everything completely out of place.
CHAPTER 50
CALLUM
Fall
The roar of the crowd was deafening. Sticks clashed, skates sliced across the ice, and Brody’s team was up by one with twenty-three minutes to go. My pulse hammered, but I did my best to be the very picture of calm on the outside.
I folded my hands over my chest, my jaw set as I watched. On the inside, however, I was vibrating. The kid was flying out there. Fast, smart, relentless. Just like his old man used to be.
Brody and I were up in Oregon for a hockey tournament. Today was the championship game and our team was killing it out there. My chest swelled with pride, part of me still unable to believe that the kid I was watching was my son.
I’d never known it could feel like this, but Maisie had assured me time and again that all parents felt this way sometimes. Like they just couldn’t believe that wastheirkid.
Dragging in a deep breath, I was so lost in the game that I flinched when my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I pulled itout, still keeping an eye on the team, and saw CC’s name on my screen out of the corner of my eye.
Odd. She never calls me during games.
“Hey, what’s up?” I said, distracted by Brody taking control of the puck again. “Can I call you back in?—”
Her voice came through ragged and a little breathless. “Callum, I need you to stay calm, okay?”
