Blue and white icing formed the words “Congratulations!” and “It’s a boy!”
Lucky could do without Salters eyeing Charlotte.
Ty darted out of the room and returned with a laundry basket filled with wrapped packages.
What the ever-loving hell?
“Since we didn’t think you’d want this at the office, we brought the baby shower to you,” Lisa explained, rushing up and hugging Bo. She eyed Lucky up and down, muttered, “What the hell,” and hugged Lucky too.
Maybe his shock had him hugging her back, maybe Bo’s influence rubbed off on him, but once the assorted attendees thought him fair game, they tried to follow suit. A growl sent them scurrying, bypassing Lucky on the way to Bo.
Baby shower?
Charlotte snatched his arm and hauled him toward the couch. She’d never been one to let a little thing like a growling brother stop her.
Lisa escorted Bo, a bit less forcefully. Bo beamed, now wearing a white and blue sash, “Daddy” written in sparkling letters across the front. “Y’all didn’t have to do this!”
“Nonsense. You guys are adding a kid, right?” Lisa settled Bo on the couch. “Food first, or presents?”
Were they for real? “Presents,” Lucky groused. If he had to endure a houseful of people, he needed perks.
And lots of coffee.
Bo ripped into a brightly wrapped package and pulled out yellow, blue, and green pieces of fuzzy-looking cloth.
“Baby washcloths and towels,” Lisa said from her perch on the couch arm near Bo’s elbow.
“You open one.” Lucky started to argue, but the woman beaming at him and handing over a small package happened to be the boss’s wife, and someone who’d always stood by Lucky and Bo. Not to mention being one heck of a dog sitter. Wow. What a heavy package for something so small. The card said, “From Grandma and Grandpa Smith.”
Lucky opened the box to reveal a silver piggy bank, Alejandro Gualterio Schollenberger inscribed on the side. “It’s full of silver dollars,” Mrs. Smith said. “From me and Walt. To start his college fund, maybe?”
College fund? The kid wasn’t even a year old yet.
Bo took the bank from Lucky’s hand with a wide smile. “Thanks. It’s never too early to start planning for college.”
The writing on the bank was one-sided, leaving room to add more inscription. Oh. Harrison or Lucklighter would still fit. When Mrs. Smith squeezed his fingers, careful of his healing injury, Lucky squeezed back.
Package after package revealed diapers, baby clothes, toys, and other things a baby would need.
A baby. Bo and Lucky had a baby. Such a helpless little thing, who’d depend on Bo and Lucky for everything. Was Bo ready? Was Lucky?
Bo, certainly. Lucky? He pictured the small bundle of blankets in Bo’s arms, The Dimple showing on Bo’s face, the wonder in his eyes as he’d given Andro his bottle.
Lucky was a father. It happened suddenly, more quickly than he’d planned, but gradually he and Bo built their own family—together.
“Open mine next!” Bo’s aunt handed over a package wrapped in blue paper. What? No Harley Davidsons? Speaking of, how had she even gotten here? Where was her purple Road King?
Bo ripped open the package to find a black T-shirt with “Mike’s Harley Shop Little Rock, Arkansas” on the back, and “The Boss” on the front.
At Charlotte’s bidding, Ty and his girlfriend carried the unwrapped presents to the nursery and hurried back for more.
How had an asshole like Keith become the father of such a sweet young lady? A sweet young lady who took absolutely no crap off of Ty or anyone else.
Lucky liked her, though he’d never let her jerk of a father know.
At last the gift giving wound down, and Charlotte cleared the coffee table, ushering everyone into the kitchen for finger foods.
Hadn’t Lucky smelled steak? Ah, mini pizzas. They’d do.
