34. Naomi
NAOMI
“Alright, Scarlett, spill, you need to tell us how Rogue reacted when he found out,” Esme ordered, pinning the woman with a hard stare. “And leave nothing out.” She shifted Jett slightly in her arms as he fed from her breast.
Naomi was curious too, but she was mildly distracted by the fact that Glitch was putting color in her hair—soft-caramel lowlights, which she assured would make her eyes pop.
Glitch had tried to persuade her to put some red in there, but she’d put her foot down on that. She wasn’t ready for anything so drastic. Considering Glitch’s hair was also slathered in cherry-red dye, she had a feeling only one of them needed to be making a statement.
Scarlett gave a soft laugh, drawing Naomi’s attention once again. Scarlett’s eyes were bright with laughter, and her lips stretched wide. “He took it about as well as I expected. He lost his shit.”
A smattering of laughter moved through the group.
“So he freaked the hell out, or he went all alpha-protector mode and started laying down the rules until you had to brain him over the head with something?” Karissa asked, with a snicker.
She was sitting beside Naomi, her hair finished and styled in loose black curls.
She’d gone much darker, but it suited her.
“He stared at me for a good three minutes then lost his shit. He started rambling about needing to finish the house, how he was going to have to start a new college fund, and then he was worried about how the girls might feel. Oh, and then he started on giving orders. How I was going to start being careful, not drive myself, and quit my job. He couldn’t protect me if I was on the other side of town at the library.
Oh, and he also started on getting me a new vehicle and researching the best one to have kids in. ”
“I really thought he’d pass out or something.” Harlow laughed. She hadn’t joined in on the hair, but she was giving Royal a manicure at another table.
“I thought he might in the first couple of minutes.” Scarlett laughed. “Thank God I convinced the girls to let me talk to him privately. They’d have made it so much worse.”
“How are they handling the news?” Saylor asked. She was on the couch, lips twitching, trying to contain her laughter as she worked away on her computer. Apparently, her work was keeping her plenty busy, but she didn’t want to be left out of the fun.
“They’re really excited. I was worried they’d feel left out or jealous or something, but the most they did was argue over who could come up with the best names. They’re both convinced we’re having a girl.”
“Rogue will really lose his shit then.” Royal snickered.
“I asked him what he wanted, and he said he didn’t care as long as they were healthy. Then I reminded him we could have a girl and she could be exactly like the twins. He might have paled a little bit before he got ahold of himself.”
“Are you going to leave your job?” Naomi asked.
Scarlett shook her head. “He seems to think I will, but I’ve already told him no.
I’m perfectly fine to work, and I can spend a good amount of time sitting down.
” Her smile turned rueful. “And I’m going to need a spot to go when he drives me out of my mind in the next few months.
He already texts me every hour with things I’m supposed to be doing and making sure I’m not overtaxing myself. ” On cue, her phone dinged.
A collective chuckle sounded around the room.
“Get used to it. All the men around here are protective as hell,” Royal warned Naomi. “Savage was a nightmare when he found out I was pregnant. And he was doubly worse when he found out it was twins.”
“Fury was alright, but only because I threatened to brain him when he tried.” Esme gave a happy sigh. “Some of the best sex of my life too as he tried to convince me.”
Naomi half listened as they all talked about their experiences with the men during pregnancy, and the nonpregnant ladies shared their views from the outside looking in.
Part of her was happy they had easy pregnancies with all the support they needed, but another part of her was insanely jealous of it too.
But something told her that if Ink had been around while she was pregnant with Asher, he’d have been just as bad as the other men around here.
No, no, she wasn’t going there. That was not something she could allow herself to think about. That was putting ideas in her head she wasn’t ready for.
She had to be careful and take it one day at a time. Things could be different a few months down the road, so she had to stay in the moment.
Dreams were not for her. Not when the cartel could show up any day. She had to remember that.
The rest of the day, she forced herself to stay on top of the conversations and not let them get to her. Especially with how good her hair looked. Glitch might be a genius with computers, but she’d missed her calling on hairdressing too.
Now, it was late and she was getting tired, but she had to wait until the garage finished operations for the day so she could go and work on the books. Asher was fast asleep in her arms as she sat on the couch in the common room and watched the twins bicker over their homework.
She bit back a laugh as they tried to work through their math problems, and Wren was not having it. Win, however, seemed to have a good grasp.
“Look, it’s numbers, it’s not that hard,” Win huffed.
“We don’t all have brains wired for numbers, Win,” Wren snapped.
Win rolled her eyes. “This is basic math, Wren. You can do it and have been doing it for years.”
“Not the way they’re teaching it. It’s stupid. Who needs to know the figure of Y when you know X? I’m not going to be doing a math degree in college, that’s for damn sure.”
“You still have core courses. And you haven’t decided on your major yet, which means you might have to take math, and I might be too busy with my stuff to help you.” Wren’s expression tightened and Win winced. “Wren—”
“No, it’s fine. You’ve made it clear that you’re planning on walking away when you’re in school and doing your own thing.” Wren got to her feet and stormed out, leaving Win, shoulders slumped and eyes full of guilt.
No one else seemed to be around or paying attention, and Naomi’s heart went out to the girl. She eased Asher onto the couch and wrapped a blanket around him. He was out cold, worn out from all the excitement today.
She took the seat Wren left, and Win’s eyes widened. “It’s hard when your identities are so wrapped up in each other, huh?” Naomi murmured.
“We’ve always been the twins. We do everything together, and I do love it, but I need my own thing, you know? Wren is far more physically inclined, and she just expected that whatever she liked, I would do too. That we’d be the unstoppable team.”
Naomi gripped her hand in a reassuring squeeze.
“You’re allowed to want to be your own person and have your own interests, Win.
And, deep down, Wren knows that. I think she’s just scared that the two of you won’t be close the way you are.
I used to think the same about my sister and I.
We’re not twins, but growing up, we were really close.
She would get so jealous and angry when I didn’t want to do the same things as her. ”
“Did you do a lot of the same stuff?”
“All the time. If I did any kind of sport or club, she’d be right behind me.
We look a lot alike, so a lot of people just assumed we would be the same and always do things together.
That we were close. But the farther ahead I got than her, the more she tried to catch up and couldn’t.
That wasn’t her fault, but it was hard for her to accept that we were on different paths.
Wren will understand. The two of you are always going to be close, and now that you’re getting older, you’re going to start seeing that you can be your own person too. ”
Win nodded, but she didn’t look wholly convinced.
“I’m sorry, Win,” Wren said, and Naomi jumped, not realizing she’d come back. Wren had tears in her eyes. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
“It’s okay,” Win said, forgiveness given easily. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Wren took the empty seat at the table. “I’m just frustrated, and I don’t know what to do. I’ve always been good at school, and now I’m starting to realize that maybe I haven’t been and I’ve just been relying on you to get me through. You’re better at this stuff than me.”
Win’s mouth dropped open, horrified.
“Maybe we just need to teach you another way to look at the problems,” Naomi suggested. “Would you mind me having a look? Maybe I can come up with another way.”
Wren perked right up, and Win lifted a brow. “Yes, please.” Wren beamed.
Over the next hour, Naomi found she enjoyed teaching them new ways of looking at the problems. She picked up on the patterns each girl needed and tailored her guidance accordingly. They listened, fascinated, and finished their homework in no time, and looked much happier.
“Damn, it’s so much better when you have a genius around to help you,” Wren said, with a teasing grin. “How are you at ancient history? I have an essay due in a week that I have no idea how I’m going to finish.”
Naomi chuckled. “History was never my thing. I can remember things, but I don’t really care to. Numbers have always been my thing.” She glanced at her watch. “Are you guys still okay to watch Asher while I head to the shop to get the accounting done?”
“Yep,” Win said. “We’ll get him something to eat when he gets up too. We’re going to head up to the apartment. Scarlett asked for a nap when she got home a bit ago, but she’ll be up by now.”
“And Rogue’s probably been up there twelve times checking on her,” Wren said, shaking her head. Then she stopped. “Actually, we should probably text before we go over. Who knows what kinky shit those two are getting up to.”
Win nodded.
Naomi blinked at that, unsure what to say.