Page 6 of She Autumn Be Mine

Her ex had hurt her, and I hated him for it. He’d better hope he never came our way.

Stetson ate up all the attention tonight, being happily passed throughout the meal from lap to lap. All the women got a turn, from Autumn to Willow to Ivy, and from Sage to Poppy to Daisy. Even Knox held him and made googly faces at him. But then he quickly handed him off to me.

One sniff and I understood why.

“He has a situation there,” Knox laughed, grinning under his overgrown beard and wild hair, down out of his man-bun for once. With his wedding to Daisy just a couple weeks away, he swore he wouldn’t trim anything back until the day of, despite her complaints.

“Do the honors, Knox?” I held the baby back out to him.

“No thanks. I’ll let you.” He chuckled and shifted away.

“Coward,” I shouted. “What about when you have kids? Going to still shy away from a dirty diaper?”

Daisy was also interested in the answer, arching a brow at him.

“Don’t worry, dear, when it’s our child, I’ll happily do the duty,” he offered.

“Good answer,” she said, pecking him on the cheek.

“Autumn, where’s the diaper bag?” I looked around and didn’t see it.

“At the end of the food tables. Want me to⁠—”

“Nope. I got it under control.”

One of the ladies swooned as I located the bag. “Aw, what a sweetheart Jake is.”

Sweet or not, I was a get-it-done kind of guy. I’d worked this process into an efficient system. I commandeered the nearest empty picnic table as a changing station, and gave Stetson my hat to hold and gum onto in his mouth as distraction.

“Listen up, little soldier. No spouting off like a fountain. That’s an order.” For good measure, I placed a baby washcloth across his groin. He giggled and cooed as I took care of things, using too many wipes as usual, which Autumn often complained about. But in my opinion, a man could use as many wipes as absolutely necessary to handle a dirty diaper. That’s partly why I bought her another package every week.

I inspected the fresh diaper alignment as if it were a bed in boot camp, complete with perfect hospital corners, pleased with the results. “There you go, buddy. Like new.”

He very loudly babbled, “Dada!”

I quickly glanced around to see if anyone was in earshot of that.

“He’s got your eyes,” Carter quipped, slapping my shoulder as he came up behind us.

“Funny.”

“Did I miss the announcement that you had a baby?”

“He’s taken to calling me Dada. But I always correct him. Baba,” I pointed at my chest and repeated, “Baba.”

“Dada!” Stetson insisted. Little bugger. My lips twitched.

Carter snorted. “Spending a lot of time with them, aren’t you?”

I deflected. “How are you and Sage doing? Any baby news of your own yet? I saw the way her face lit up, holding Stetson on her lap.”

They were two of my favorite people here, having been together since the fall when he’d finally admitted who he really was, a billionaire heir posing as a ranch hand. He’d collected his inheritance since then—lucky S.O.B.—and now the two of them were building a life here together.

“Who can blame her? Look at this kid? Handsome fellow. Sage and I need to get married first though before babies enter the equation.”

“Which will be when?”

“I’m working on a plan.” His eyes twinkled. “My lawyer is drafting a prenup, too.”