“What can I do, lass? You want a cookie tree? Milkshake? I’ll call Vernon and we—”
“No!Yougo get it. I want extra whip and chocolate sauce. Get Desiree’s oatmeal pies, and I wanttwocookie trees!”
“The fuck is acookie tree?” I reached up Declan’s arm, grabbing a good chunk of skin under his armpit, and pinched, twisting it until he yowled. “Ahhh!Fuck naofa! What was that for?!”
“Can it.” I snatched the keys out of his pocket and went after Malek, grabbing his elbow while his apologies got lost in Sev’s hormonal wailing. “Let’s go,Casanova. Your pussy is showing.”
“You’re gonna leave me here?!” Dec whined.
I winked over my shoulder just in time to see Seven climb onto the counter and start digging through Lo Mein.
As gross as the notion of love used to be for me…
God, I’m so glad these idiots are mine.
I smiled the entire way downstairs.
It’s well past midnight, and Declan is wedged in the coffin, one arm hanging off the side, and drool spotting the side of his mouth while he continues to snore like he hasn’t slept in weeks. It’s been getting worse lately. Seven is sleeping like an angel on Malek’s chest with both swollen feet out of the blanket.
I laid on the other side of her, watching info-mercials on mute and adjusting myself on the air mattress that—once again—is my bed for the time being. My eyes trailed over, meltingat the way she’s clinging to my brother. The way his arm fits around her and one hand rests on the side of her fuckingadorablebelly. He doom-scrolled on his phone, smiling at something I’m positive is the dumbest thing on the internet. I smiled to myself, coiling a lock of Sev’s hair around my finger.
“You’d never know she was aMomzillaabout three hours ago. Dec said you’ve had it rough over here lately.”
Malek tossed his phone to the side and smiled down at her, smoothing hair out of her face. “Ya know…I remember when Ma was pregnant with you.” My smile fell, and I glanced up at him. “I remember thinkin’ to myself…damn, she’s really mad at him. Which was odd to me, because you know how much he adored her.”
“Buried his whole life for her,” I added.
“Yeah. Anyway, she had a really shitty day once, and I sat down with him in his office. I asked him if Ma was really gonna yank his bollocks off and sell ‘em on E-Bay. He laughed and told me‘the big secret’.”
I propped my head on my hand, smirking. “Which was?”
His free hand trailed down her arm until he’d met her hand on his chest, and he squeezed it…looking at her like she didn’t just come up with eight different ways to murder him earlier. “They’re makin’ us alegacy. And it’shard. It makes ‘em happy, and it breaks their heart all at the same time. It’s the biggest test of a man’s character when a wife carries our child. They might rip our arseholes wider, but…all they really want isthis.” He brought her hand to his mouth and gently kissed her knuckles…I think I’m gonna weep. “To know we’re here and that we’re grateful. And that we’llalwaysbe here…protecting the pack.”
He started to get blurry and I blinked away gross emotion. “You’re gonna crush girl dad life, Mal. You’ve got a beautiful family.”
Malek smirked, yanking a kernel of popcorn out of the discarded bowl on the bed, and hitting me with it. “Yeah…wedo.” The look he gave me made me shift.
I refuse to cry.
No sooner than I reached up to shove my sleeve under my nose, his eyes lit up. I paused, worried that something was wrong. Seems to be a pattern lately. “What’s up? You okay?”
“She’s movin’.Look.”
I dropped my eyes to where his hand smoothed Sev’s tank top aside…and it looked like something out of an alien flick. Seven smiled in her sleep.
“Oh, my goddd…Malek,”I whispered, flattening my palm over the spot. Something equivalent to a doorknob rolled across my hand. I felt a tear shoot down my cheek. “You’re gonna kickass, Baby Byrne.”
“She will. She’s like hermháthair.”
“BabyBadass,” I grinned.
It got quiet…until a squealing fart rang out behind my head, followed by a god-awful smell. We both looked up just as Declan rolled onto his side and turned his back to us. Malek lost it…then I did too.
“Tough, macho, mafia flatulence,” I cackled, holding my nose. “That sounded like astruggler.”
“They say babies aren’t really smiling at you when they’re newborns. That it’s just gas. You sure he’s a happy bloke?” Bless him, he tried his best to keep his laughs from waking up Sev.
“To be honest, it was years before I even knew he wascapableof smiling, dude.”
