My smile widens as I take in Addy’s massive growing belly and the little girl on Jack’s hip. Though they never got a DNA test, with her reddish blonde hair and freckled face, it’s obvious Penny is a Huxley.
Apparently, it’s not just me with strong swimmers. It’s a family trait.
“Holy shit, look how big you’re getting!”
“Swear jar, Daddy!” Ash shouts, pointing a chubby finger at me. “You’re gonna be so broke.”
I huff a laugh. “No doubt it’ll only get worse if you two keep putting grays in my hair.”
“You better be talking about Penny and not my wife,” Stephen barks, kissing Addy’s cheek and then his daughters.
“What are you talkin’ ‘bout?” Archer asks, but his confusion is quickly replaced by excitement as he spots the newcomers. “Penny!”
“Hi guys,” Shiloh calls, waving. “I’m glad you could make it!”
“We wouldn’t miss a chance to hang out with our favorite boys,” Dominic says with a wink. “And my bestie.”
Addison shoves him. “I thought I was your best friend.”
He smacks a loud kiss to her cheek. “You guys are tied for first place.”
“What am I? Chopped liver?” Jackson grumbles.
“Ash-Ash and Archy!” Penny cries in her sweet little voice. She batters against Jack’s hold. “Down, Papa! Down!”
He gives me a worried look that I don’t blame him for. At almost two, she’s not much younger than our boys, but she’s so much smaller than them and sometimes I worry about how rough they are.
“Wanna play!” she hollers. “Pwease!”
The boys give us a pleading look and I help them over the fence, handing Archer to Stephen, and Asher to Dom.
“You two better behave yourselves,” I warn sternly. “And be careful with Penny. Remember all your lessons about how to treat women.”
Ash laughs. “She’s not a woman. She’s only a girl.”
“Nuh uh,” Penny cries indignantly. “I big. Tell ‘em, Daddy.” She tugs on Dom’s jeans and rolls her lip out in an adorable pout. “Tell ‘em I’m super-dooper big.”
Shiloh cackles. “Well, now we know where they got it from.”
I nod, watching as Stephen and his family corral the kids toward the goat pen. We spend a lot of time with them since they live just a mile down from our house on the massive Huxley property. The entire Huxley line lives on our shared six hundred acres. My parents are a few miles toward the lake, and Charlie is about a quarter mile past Stephen’s place.
My smile slips as worry churns through me. I miss our youngest brother. When he’s not out on construction sites, Charlie’s been spending all his free time over at the High School coaching varsity football. He’s barely made it to any Sunday night dinners in the last few months. Stephen and I will need to sit him down soon and check in on him.
“Oh my gosh,” Shiloh cries, pulling my attention back to the present. “She’s been through so much!”
“What?” I ask, noticing her tear-filled eyes. “What the hell did I miss?”
She sniffles and pulls away from me to get closer to the horse. “He was just saying the horse was used as a breeding mare for years. She was forced to get pregnant, and then her babies were taken the second they could be weaned from her. She’s never gotten to experience true motherhood.”
Well, shit.
Shiloh presses her nose to the horses and I tense, prepared to step in if anything goes wrong. Surprisingly, the horse seems to settle, her eyes drifting shut as she nuzzles into my wife.
My heart damn near splits open.
“What will happen to her babies this time?” I ask, already far more invested than I need to be.
The guy shrugs helplessly. “We’ll take care of them until she or they can be adopted, but…”
