“You kidding, lady? I’m no rat.”
“Who called you a rat, Charlie?” Ollie was going through a superhero phase and was becoming just as protective over his family as Charlie.
“No one, dummy. Come help me eat this cupcake.” Charlie rolled her eyes like she was exasperated and dragged Ollie off to a corner of the house that would probably end up with ants because I’d never find all of their crumbs.
Lee hobbled after them in her hot pink cast. She’d proven to be quite the daredevil two weeks earlier by jumping off the top of the jungle gym. She hadn’t stuck the landing and we’d all received a panicked trip to the ER for it.
“Wait for me!”
“Theo! Stop it! You’re driving me crazy, man!” Leon stomped into the living room with Theo on his tail. “You’re not putting more cameras in. And if there’s one more fucking alarm in this house, we’re all going to gang up and murder you. I’m remembering forty different codes a day, brother, and you know that’s not how my brain works.”
“Oh, and you think I should get lax with our security now? Angel is six months pregnant! I have to have eyes on her at all times.” Theo stopped in front of me and put his hands on his hips. “I need the extra security measures because someone keeps trying to hide themselves from me.”
“Theo, I covered the camera in the bathroom. I don’t want anyone watching me stumble in and out of the tub when I’m this far along. It’s like watching a seal get on and off a boat. Have you ever seen one of those videos? It’s not pretty. I mean, the seals are adorable. No offense to seals.”
“You don’t look like a goddamn seal getting on and off a boat, Sutton!” Leon growled at me with his eyes narrowed. “You’re asking to get that pretty ass spanked.”
“You put cameras in the bathroom?!” Dad clutched his head and groaned. “I try to tell myself you’re normal but then you go and put cameras in the bathroom.”
“She could slip! And why aren’t you calling Leon weird? He just threatened to spank your daughter in front of you.” Watching Theo pout was too cute but I couldn’t stand it for long before I reached out and took his hand.
“Ignore him, babe. You’re perfectly normal to me.” I stretched my legs out and laughed when Killer popped up from where he’d been sleeping and looked at me like I’d kicked him. “Relax, drama queen.”
“You think I’m going to be surprised over a little spanking? I’ve been in that club of yours. I know shit.” Dad winked at Betty and then took a long gulp of whiskey. “I know lots of shit.”
I jumped off Dominic’s lap, which had all three of my men reaching for me in concern but I slapped their hands away and glared at them.
“You let mydadinto the club?! And you didn’t think to mention that to me?”
“Angel…your dad is a grown man.” Dominic looked away. “And we were going to tell you when we could think of how to do it.”
I stomped my foot.
“Oh, you dipsticks! Did you ever consider the fact that we could run into my father in the club?! I could’ve had Leon chained up and could’ve been spanking him with a whip!”
Leon’s face was comically horrified.
“You do not whip me, woman. I whip you. Only when you break a big rule, but still.”
“We planned for that. We clear things with each other to make sure there are no…run ins.” Dominic glanced at my face and winced. “I can see that that didn’t make you any happier…”
“So now my dad knows when we’re going to the club to play?!” I paced around the room while stroking my stomach. The little boy inside was acting up big time. He was kicking parts of me that really weren’t liking it. “Do you even realize how gross that is?”
“Oh, Sutton, loosen up!” Betty was refilling her glass of wine and hiccupping every other second. “Tell me more about your early retirement from teaching. Your Dad said some of those bitches at the school snitched out you. You know, snitches get stitches.”
Theo grunted louder than ever.
“No shit. I warned them.”
I looked down at my stomach and made a face at our baby. Their fathers were going to make me go gray early.
“Yeah, a few of them went to the principal with some silent threat about going to the PTA about one of the teachers being involved in a sex club. I was already debating quitting, though. And I was going to be taking maternity leave, anyway. I hate leaving the kids in the middle of the year but I figured I was saving their lives by leaving as early as possible. I didn’t want my man getting a murder charge.”
“As if I would ever be sloppy enough to get caught.” Theo crossed his arms and turned up his nose. “That was insulting, baby.”
“I say let him kill those bitches. And that principal, too. And the PTA.” Betty slammed her fist into her palm. “Those PTA bitches and I have beef. Like the whole goddamn cow, beef.”
Killer stood up and started drooling. Dominic grabbed the designated towel and wiped his mouth.
