Chapter 14
Holly
Wandering into the kitchen, I immediately spot my favorite little person and scoop her out of Sydney’s arms. We walk into the living room where I lay her down under her playmat’s mobile and crawl in next to her.
We watch as it goes around and around, and I revel in her chunky little fingers reaching up for the danglies.
A masculine throat clearing above me snags my attention, so I look up, catching jade eyes full of mirth.
“Now, there’s two of the prettiest girls I’ve ever seen. Smile.” Jaxon snaps a photo of us, winks, and walks to the back sliding door where he snags the cooler handle and rolls it out.
“Charlie, he’s trouble, and I kind of like him. A lot. Sshh, don’t tell anyone.” Charlie goos and smiles at me with all her gummy cuteness.
“What’s she not supposed to tell us?” Jane plops over the arm of the couch, grinning down at us like a fool.
“Ummm…”
“So, why didn’t you answer my call this morning?” Sydney asks, waddling over to the oversized stuffed chair.
“Or mine?” Brynleigh asks with a similar smile to Jane’s.
“You’re not getting out of this. They went through a lot of trouble to fix up your situation yesterday afternoon, and dang, I’m thinking they might’ve pulled it off. Jaxon was just eyeing you like you were his next dinner,” Ava adds.
“He was eyeing the adorable baby playing with the dangly thingymabobs. Plus, when doesn’t the man look at me like I’m his next dinner?”
“Fair point, but I distinctly heard him say ‘two’ of the prettiest girls he’s ever seen,” Brynleigh says, holding up two fingers to make that point.
Jane sniffs the air, and I look over at Charlie. Her chubby little cheeks rise as her gummy smile stretches for me as if saying, ‘Are you going to help me out here? There’s poop. Do something.’
The girls laugh when Charlie giggles at my silly faces. I pick the cute, little booger up and raise her above me, soaking in the baby giggles. It’s the best sound ever, and we’re about to be blessed with two more. Jane grabs her to go over to the playard changing station.
“Give me that baby when you’re done,” Ava commands, and I sit up, looking over at our friend. “You guys, I want one,” she whines.
“I mean, you can steal her anytime you wish,” Jane declares as she coos at the wiggly little bundle.
“Oh, I plan on it, but yeah, I think I’m ready. I don’t think Mark is yet, though.” A look of uncertainty settles across her face.
“Have you guys talked about it?” Sydney asks, sipping on her water.
“A while back. He wasn’t ready then. I don’t think he’ll flat out say no, but I don’t want to push him either, ya know?”
“I get it,” Jane says with a sigh, plopping Charlie in Ava’s waiting arms. “Garrett and I were like that in reverse. He knew he was ready before I did. I didn’t think we’d get pregnant as fast as we did either.
Once it happened though, I was excited. I mean, I definitely had freak out moments, but Gare really balanced me out. ”
Ava nods while Brynleigh looks pensive.
“What are you thinking, Bryn. You look like you have an awful lot of things bouncing around up there,” I ask.
“At Christmas, you totally said you guys would think about it soon,” Jane interjects, and the rest of us gasp. This is news to us. Brynleigh flushes.
“Yeah, we’re definitely talking about it.” We all squeal at her admission. “I’m really nervous. I know there’s not really any way to get out of it, but what if it happens again? What if I can’t carry to term?”
The four of us look at Brynleigh with a mixture of emotions. Sydney rubs her belly, tears filling her eyes at the mere idea of something so precious being torn away from her. Jane nods in understanding, and Ava reaches out for her hand as I shake my head.
“No matter what happens, we’re all here. We’ll never let you go through anything alone again. And Trystan? That man would walk through fire in order to make you feel safe. He’d do anything to give you the life you want.”
“I know that–I mean, he’s proved that much already, but he can’t stop something bad from happening.”
“We won’t even speak it into existence, and if it comes down to it, I’ll carry for you, no questions asked.”
The other girls gasp.
“You’d do that for me?” Brynleigh asks, tears filling her eyes.
“I’d do that for you, Bryn. In a heartbeat. You’re going to get that family you want. One way or another.”
Tears fall down Brynleigh’s face, and I hear sniffles in the room.
“Damn it, Holly, you made the pregnant one cry,” Jane mutters.
“Sorry, not sorry. You all realize I’d do the same for each of you, right?”
They all nod, soft smiles pulling at their lips.
“Now, what’s going on with Jaxon?” Ava begs before blowing raspberries at Charlotte.
“I don’t want to jinx anything. I need to wrap my head around it before I talk much about it. Can you guys give me that? Maybe by Tuesday night I’ll have a better idea.”
They squeal with delight.
“You really, really like him!” Sydney exclaims.
“I only need one deet, so I know our matchmaking wasn’t in vain. Did something happen last night?”
I blush hard. When they all squeal again, Charlotte jumps with the spazzy arms only babies can do. We laugh heartily, cooing to soothe the little one so she will go down for her midmorning nap.
???
Jaxon
“Beer me!” Mark hollers over after tossing his line back out.
I reach into the cooler, asking if any of the others need a new one.
The sound of the top popping is relaxing in its own way.
Sitting out here with these guys, it makes me feel like I truly have a place for the first time in a really long time.
“I needed this,” Colin mutters before sighing with a noticeable sense of relief.
“You’re going to do great, Colin,” Garrett adds.
“Thanks. I’m just–”
“Scared?” Garrett asks with a huff.
“Yeah…” Colin says quietly.
“What exactly scares you the most?” Trystan chimes in. Leave it to him. He wants to find the source of fear and fix it. Natural protector. He’s a good one.
“I’m afraid to even voice it.”
“It’s just us. Nothing to be scared of.”
“What if something happens? What if one of them…” he chokes up. “What if something happens to…her?”
We’re all quiet for a minute, contemplating what to say. Shit, that’s not what I was expecting. Most dads are, ‘What if I’m a shitty dad?’ or something along those lines. Colin’s already lost so much. Yeah, I guess it makes sense that that’s where his head would go.
“Sydney and the babies are going to do just fine. There’ve been zero worries from her doctor so far,” Mark says.
“You can’t promise or guarantee that. Nobody can.
” Colin sets his pole down and rests his elbows on his knees as he lays his head in his hands, taking a deep breath.
We all feel for him, and there’s no right words in this moment.
All we can do is breathe with him while he rides out the waves of anxiety.
Garrett reaches out and pats him on the back, knowing he’s one of the only ones who truly has an inkling of what Colin’s feeling. Trystan’s right behind him with his and Brynleigh’s loss.
“We’re here. Between you and Dr. Sexy over there, yeah, that’s what my wife says the chicks call you…” Garrett peeks up at me with a smartass grimace. “Nothing big is going to get past your guards.”
“She’s what, thirty-two weeks?” Trystan asks.
“Almost thirty-three,” Colin says under his breath.
“At least we know they’re not coming too early,” I add.
“There’s that.”
“You guys really didn’t find out the sexes? You’re not just keeping it from us?” Mark asks, tentatively pulling us toward a lighter area of pregnancy thoughts.
“We decided to live dangerously. We’ve got plenty of neutral clothes to start, and I’m sure her mother will gladly come in blazing with all the pink things or blue.”
“Need help with the cribs and stuff?” Mark offers.
“All done.”
“See, you’ve got this,” Trystan encourages.
My line tugs hard.
“Oh, buddy–and I’ve got this!” Setting my hook good and hard, I wrangle in a nice-sized bass just as Garrett sets his hook and fights for a crappie.
Typically, Trystan’s the one reeling in the majority of the good catches.
Looks like luck seems to be on my side with more than one thing this weekend.
“So, since nobody else is bringing it up, are things starting to turn around with our Holly?” Trystan pipes up when the reeling slows back down.
“Our Holly?” I scoff.
“Yes, we’re all very protective of our ladies,” Trystan adds, no nonsense. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that by now. She’s practically little sister territory.”
“Then we’re good, because I don’t share.”
Garrett chuffs under his breath.
“You mean, we’re good, so we don’t have to whoop your ass?” Mark retorts.
“Everything is looking up gentlemen. Your little sister is in good hands.”
They go quiet, and I feel all their heads turn slowly my way before I actually see it. Yeah, totally a bunch of big brothers. Wrong choice of wording.
“I just mean that she’s safe with me.”
The snickers that ensue as Colin casts back out are contagious.
“Now I need a beer,” I mutter.
“Yeah, while you’re in there, beer bitch…” Garrett draws out, soaking up the fact it’s not him this time. I toss him one with a little extra oomph and a smirk as Trystan and Mark titter beside him.