Chapter twenty-seven
Shane
One crucial mistake.
~ Three Days Later ~
“Congratulations, old man! What is it they say? Second time’s the charm?” Jessie says, skipping up the steps to my home as I wait to greet him.
All our friends are coming over today to celebrate our engagement, and later on for dinner, a few of the parents will be joining us too. We thought it would be nice to have everyone over for a big family dinner.
“Actually, it’s ‘third time’s the charm’.” Jason’s gruff voice comes up behind him. “Congrats, brother.”
“Thanks, man,” I say, slapping his back as we hug. “And let’s leave it at two, please. I intend on keeping this one.” I smile at Jessie as he walks past me and into the house.
“Yes, please let it be the last.” Julian pulls on his suit jacket sleeves as he reaches the landing. “I would like to attend social events as little as possible.”
“Even your best friend’s wedding? That’s cold, Jules.” I take him into a hug, to which he stays stiff and simply taps me twice on the back in a very uncomfortable way. But I’m used to it, I know Julian isn’t very fond of affection.
When I feel he’s had enough, I let him go and step back. He fixes his suit once more as if I had suddenly wrinkled it by touching him. “What have I said about that name?” he warns me with a glare. But all I do is smile and drag him in.
“Come on, Aubrey’s excited to see you.”
He scoffs. “I hardly doubt that.”
“You’d be surprised. For some reason unknown, my fiancée likes you.” I chuckle. “I’m not sure what you did to her that night I visited her brother, but she’s suddenly excited to have you around.”
“Yes, well, I do seem to have that effect on women. The moment I show them any sign of affection, they suddenly cannot get enough.” He lets out one of those rare smirks. This is the Julian I tell people about when they ask why we’re friends. When he lets loose, he’s a really cool guy.
“Wow, look at you! Who knew pregnancy could make a woman even sexier?” Jessie’s voice rings out from the living room.
I turn just in time to see Aubrey’s eyes widen as her face flushes red. “Umm, thank you, Jessie.”
“Watch it, Jess. I don’t share,” I tell him as we reach them.
“Hi, sugar. You look beautiful.” Jason hugs my girl and kisses her cheek.
“Hi, Jason. Thank you. It feels like forever since we last saw you,” she says as they let go.
“Yeah, work has been keeping me busy.” He smiles apologetically.
She squeezes his arm, smiling, then turns to us. “Julian, there you are! I feel like you’ve been avoiding me.” She steps up to him and hugs him, not caring that he’s uncomfortable. And to my surprise, he hugs her back.
“Now why would I do such a thing?” he asks.
“Because comforting me made you uncomfortable.” She giggles.
Jessie suddenly chokes on his own saliva. “He comforted you!?”
“I thought we agreed we would not speak of this,” Julian hisses through his teeth, still holding on to Aubrey.
She’s still blushing, but she seems comfortable now. “Actually, we never said such a thing.”
“It was an unspoken rule.” He frowns at her.
“Well, I’ll be damned. It seems my big brother is losing his robotic exterior more and more.” Jason bellows with laughter, holding a hand to his chest.
Julian pulls away from Aubrey with narrowed eyes. “Or maybe my motherboard has simply been upgraded.” He smirks again, feeling at ease enough to joke around. Suddenly, he pulls out his phone and says, “Someone is at your gate,” just before my phone notifies me of such.
I frown, but don’t question why he’s checking my cameras. It’s just typical Julian. Everywhere he goes, he accesses the cameras of the location, even if it’s illegal.
“Wait, how do you know someone’s there?” Aubrey gasps. “Are you constantly checking on us?” She then turns to me with panic in her eyes as she flushes a darker red. “Shane, please tell me there are no cameras inside the house?”
I can’t help but chuckle at her expression. “There are, but he knows better than to look at them,” I say as I turn to head for the door once I open the gates.
“What you do within the perimeter is not of my interest, but the people coming through the front gate are. I still intend to keep you safe, Aubrey. I told you it was until the birth of my niece and might extend beyond,” Julian says to her as I leave them to argue.
They should be fine. My girl can stand her own ground.
I arrive at the door just as Marianne pulls it open. “Thank you, Marianne.” I place my hand on her shoulder. “I’ve got them. Can you go see if the Storms want anything to drink? And would you make my fiancée her strawberry and mango smoothie, please?”
God, I love the way that word tastes on my tongue.
She smiles, resting her hand over mine. “Of course, I’ll make it a double.” She winks then goes to leave but stops. “It’s good to see you happy, Shane.”
I chuckle with a bit of confusion. “Was I that miserable before?”
She shakes her head. “No, not miserable. Simply not… whole. She makes you whole.”
I swallow past the lump of emotions as I whisper back, “She does.”
She leaves just as everyone starts filing through the door, all congratulating me once more.
First Morgan with Theo in his car seat, while Ronnie carries Trinity’s, then Cecilia holding Parker’s car seat, and Emma with Maddox’s.
Next is Silas holding Dante’s hand, while Gabriel skips up the steps with Gracie on his shoulders.
I walk down to the cars and over to Greyson, while Noah helps Clay carry some baby gear into the house.
We still haven’t stocked up on anything yet, but with the number of children that are around often, we should probably get a move on it.
And most likely buy in double or triple so they don’t always have to carry everything.
“Need some help?” I ask him as he reaches into the trunk of the big SUV.
“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” he says, looking over his shoulder at me.
“Not at all. Seeing all this stuff gives me an idea of what we’ll be needing soon.”
He laughs. “I could make you a list if you’d like. I do have three times the experience.”
“Actually, could you? That would really be helpful. I don’t want Aubrey stressing over what we might need or not,” I ask him as I pick up a few bags from the pavement.
“Yeah, no problem. Actually, I’ll get Em to make a list, she’ll know better than me.” He picks up what looks like two portable baby rockers and a portable highchair then closes his trunk as we head up the stairs.
Once inside, we set up everything for the kids to be more comfortable and make a little kid zone with toys for the toddlers. I watch as Jason jumps into big bear mode and entertains Dante and Gracie by throwing them over his shoulders and spinning them around.
Jason has a pretty intimidating and threatening appearance, with his huge build and height.
Add in all the tattoos, big thick beard, deep voice, and lethal piercing green eyes that seem to see everything, he’s definitely what most would consider scary.
But for some reason, kids always go to him first, I guess they simply see him as a big bear, and it only helps that he’s good with them.
Julian, however, looks perturbed by the number of children that just entered the room. Aubrey giggles at his side when she picks up on his reaction and pats him on the arm, earning her a frown for touching his suit again.
And then there’s Jessie, being his ever-loving self and flirting with every new woman in the room. “Ah, there’s the beautiful redhead that haunts my every dream.” He sidles up to Emma and places an arm around her shoulders.
“I’ve warned you before, Storm. Stay away from my wife!” Greyson barks out at him.
Jessie laughs as he removes his arm, then goes off toward Morgan next. But before he can even reach her, Clay steps in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest. “Turn around,” he says sternly.
Jessie shakes his head with a smile and wanders to Cecilia. “That’s all right, I still got my favorite brunette.” He winks at her just as Silas comes behind her and wraps an arm around her protectively, baring his teeth at Jessie as he growls.
Jessie lifts his hands up in surrender. “Sheesh, what is it with these overly possessive men?” He turns in a circle, looking for his next victim. “Cotton candy, how about you? Are you going to show me the love I deserve?” He delivers his charming grin to Ronnie next.
“Sorry, handsome.” She simply lifts her left hand, showing him her engagement ring and tattooed ring.
“Ouch, my poor heart.” He presses a hand to his chest, then walks over to my girl. “I guess it’s just you and me.” He wraps his arms around her neck from behind as she laughs and blushes.
“Aren’t you worried about that?” Ford says, still at my side.
I chuckle and shake my head. “Nah, if she were to leave me for someone, which she won’t,” I point out, “it would be Julian.”
“HA! I highly doubt that.” He laughs.
I don’t prove my point to him, nor do I tell him that Julian said the exact same thing earlier. All I do is smile and shrug, then head over to my girl, butting Jessie out of the way, just as Marianne and Josephine enter the room with trays filled with drinks for everyone.
Marianne comes over to us and hands Aubrey her smoothie. Her eyes light up as she takes it and turns in my arms with a smirk. “How did you know I was craving this?”
“Because I know you.” I kiss the tip of her nose and smile. When she faces forward once more, I move my hands from her hips down below her stomach, supporting the weight in my hands by lifting up slightly.
Aubrey melts against my chest with a satisfied moan as one of her hands reaches back and cups my nape. “Oh, that feels amazing,” she murmurs.
A few gasping sounds fill the room and when I look away from Aubrey, I find Cecilia, Morgan, and Emma with their mouths hung open.
“This… this is a thing!?” Emma’s eye practically twitches as she turns to Greyson. “This is a thing, and you didn’t do this to me while I was carrying your sons!?” She smacks him in the arm with a huff. Honestly, I’m surprised his arm isn’t blue by this point.