“They’rehere.”
Marcus rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up in bed. He was dizzy from lack of sleep, but the conversation was too important to flake on. Crawford deserved his respect. “You’re beingserious?”
“I’m serious. I have never been more serious in my life. The twins havebeenborn.”
“Congratulations.” Marcus stretched, working the laziness from his muscles. The low light streaming in from between the curtains stung his eyes. “They take after you already. If they took after Owen, they wouldn’t have been born so early on a Saturday morning. It was clearly planned so they couldsmiteme.”
“Clearly,” Crawford saidsarcastically.
“Is Owendoingokay?”
“As well as could be expected. We had the birth at home. Are you familiar with the Rutledgefamily?”
“Vaguely.” Marcus headed, nude, from the bedroom to the kitchen in search of water. “Old money. Three sons. The mother does charity planning, if I’m not mistaken. I think I’ve encountered her a few times during Christmasevents.”
“One of the sons is a doula. We had him work with Owen through the labor, so we were able to avoid the hospital, but now Owen’s due in forsurgery.”
“Surgery? Shit.” Marcus set a hand on the fridge, devoting his attention to the conversation. “That doesn’t sound good, Crawford. I thought you said he wasdoingfine.”
“It’s an elective surgery. He’s being sterilized.” Crawford paused. “He’s taking the idea of going back to the hospital worse than he did the birth. But otherwise, he’s in good spirits. The babies are happy and healthy, average birth weights fortwins.”
“Thank you for sparing me the fine details. You may have baby fever, but I don’t.” Marcus freed a glass from the cabinet and pressed it against the water dispenser on the front of the fridge. “… But that’s no excuse to keep me in suspense. I wantsomedetails. Boys or girls? Both? I take it they’re notidentical?”
“The genetic testing is still being done,”Crawfordsaid.
“So what I’m hearing is, they’re the same sex.” Marcus grinned. “Boys or girls, Crawford? Don’tteaseme.”
“Boys.” The joy in Crawford’s voice shone through. “They’re gorgeous. I’m over the moon in lovewiththem.”
“I hear that happens.” Marcus took the glass away from the dispenser and took a sip of water. His mouth was dry, but he didn’t realize how much until he drank. “Names?”
“Carter and Logan.” Joy turned to pride. “They’re already handsome. They’re going to grow up into exceptional young men, Iknowit.”
“With you and Owen as parents, I’m sure that’s true.” Marcus drank again, more deeply this time. The thought bothered him. It wasn’t because he didn’t think Crawford would be an excellent father—Crawford was good at everything he did, and Marcus would bet money that he’d excel at fatherhood—but because it made him think of scenarios he wasn’t ready toembrace.
There, in his mind’s eye, was Lucian, grinning a cocky grin while his hand traced over ababybump.
A bump that Marcus had putinhim.
Fuck.
“Owen and I are talking of moving the wedding up,” Crawford said. “Maybe in a few months from now, once he’s recovered enough from his surgery that he doesn’t need to worry about standing. We’re going to consider it carefully and figure it out fromthere.”
“It’s going to be small, then?” Marcus spoke the words, but he barely noticed he said them. He already knew the delight that was Lucien in heat, and he imagined the sweet notes of his fertility amplified when no longer suppressed by medication. Marcus’ cock twitched to life. “If you can pull it off on such short notice, I can’t imagine it’s going to be overthetop.”
“Small and simple,” Crawford confirmed. “There are some coworkers Owen wants to invite from Stonecrest, and then there are those I’d like to invite from my social spheres, but neither of us have strong ties to family. It will still be lovely, but it won’t be the kind of wedding my mother would have strongly urged me toconsider.”
Marcus knew Crawford’s mother only well enough to agree that she would have wanted something bigger, but Crawford was on his own now, and he called the shots. A small wedding suited himjustfine.
“Are you planning on bringing a plus one?” Crawford asked when Marcus was silent. “You’re welcome to,youknow.”
“I…” Marcus rolled the words around in his mouth, wondering if he should go through with speaking them or not. Crawford didn’t know about Lucian, but out of anyone in Marcus’ social circle, Crawford was the safest bet to confide in. With twin newborns, Crawford wasn’t about to spend his weekends at The Shepherd any time soon, and he didn’t exactly have Sterling on speed dial. “… Imightbe.”
“Oh?” Crawford’s voice grew sly. “I guess your drive came back. That didn’ttakelong.”
“He…” Marcus struggled. It wasn’t like him to be lost for words, but Lucian did things to him no other man had done before. “He’s not a member of TheShepherd.”
“Are you going tochangethat?”
