I fully expected to be a nervous wreck during the ride, but that wasn’t the case. I was definitely excited to meet my baby niece and my brother’s wife, but being plastered to Jonah’s back as the wind whipped around us brought me a special kind of peace I knew I’d never find anywhere else.
When we arrived at the Croftridge Clubhouse, I was surprised when we didn’t pull into the forecourt with everyone else. “Where are you going?” I asked.
“To Phoenix’s house. I thought you’d want to see the baby and meet your brother’s wife without an audience.”
He pulled up to a massive plantation style home that was on the same property as the clubhouse. Before we made it up the stairs, the front door opened and my brother engulfed me in a bear hug. “Jailbird! You made it,” he crowed.
“Of course, I did Reed BROOK Lawson!” I shouted as loud as I could. “How are you, Brookie boy?” I asked and arched an eyebrow. I knew how much he hated his middle name and it gave me great pleasure to use it when he was being an insensitive asshole.
He held his hands up in surrender. “Too soon. Got it.”
“Shut up and show me the baby,” I said jovially.
After he shook hands and back-slapped with Jonah, we followed him to a packed living room with far more people than I expected. My steps faltered, but Jonah reached out to steady me.
“Everyone, this is my sister, River,” Reed announced. “River, you know Phoenix, Copper, Layla, and Coal.” Somehow, Copper, Layla, and Coal had gotten there before us. “This is Phoenix’s wife, Annabelle, and their babies, Flint and Blaze. This is Annabelle’s son, Nathan,” he said and moved to a beautiful blonde woman who looked just like Annabelle and Layla. She placed the baby she was holding in his arms and stood. “This is my wife, Ember, and this our Raven,” he said proudly and placed the bundle in my arms.
I gazed at her for long moments and gently ran my finger down her cheek. “She’s beautiful,” I said and tried to choke back my emotions. “Lucky girl doesn’t have your nose.”
Ember laughed so hard she doubled over and clutched her stomach. “Hey,” Reed said sounding offended. “There’s nothing wrong with my nose.”
“There’s nothing wrong with your nose now. But your nose has been that size for as long as I can remember. Most boys have to grow into their bodies. Not you. No, you had to grow into your nose,” I laughed.
“Come sit down and please tell me more,” Ember giggled.
“Fucking hell,” Reed grumbled.
“Language,” multiple women snapped.
Reed threw his hands into the air in exasperation. “They can’t even talk yet!”
Ember completely ignored his outburst. “What else can you tell me? Did he sleep with a stuffed animal? Dress up as a princess and play tea party with you?”
I smiled down at my brother’s pride and joy. “He was a good brother. He let me sleep in his bed when I had a bad dream or was scared. He made sure I had clean clothes to wear and I know there were times he went hungry so I could eat. He made sure I was taken care of even when he didn’t’ have to.”
I looked up when I heard Ember sniffle. Reed was already there wrapping her in his arms. She wiped a few tears from her face and smiled. “Damn pregnancy hormones.”
“Way to bring the house down, Raindrop.”
“Fuck off, Brook,” I retorted.
“Hey! Why doesn’t she get a ‘language’?”
“I didn’t hear anything. Did you?” Annabelle asked Layla.
“Sure didn’t,” Layla laughed.
“Are you ladies ready to move this to the clubhouse?” Phoenix asked.
With that, everyone got up and started gathering the unbelievable amount of stuff required to move three babies from one location to another.
I managed to catch Phoenix’s eye and he came over to where I was standing. “Everything okay, River?”
“Oh, yes, everything’s fine. Um, well, Jonah told me not to worry about it and Reed did, too, but I just wanted to make sure you got your money back from when you bailed me out,” I said nervously.
His lips twisted and his eyebrows narrowed for a brief second before his face relaxed and he graced me with a warm and friendly smile. “Every penny was returned to me the day after your charges were dropped.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and felt my body visibly sag. “Oh, good. I’ve been so worried about that,” I confessed.
