Chapter 11
Mac bathed three kids, read stories, tucked them in and tiptoed out of baby Mac’s room, hoping he was down for the count after being fussy earlier.
Maddie said he was teething and that if we remembered the pain of getting teeth, we’d be permanently traumatized.
She always knew what was wrong with their babies when they weren’t themselves.
He felt like a fumbling fool next to her, and soon there would be two more of them.
They were already outnumbered, and it was about to get worse.
It had taken him months to get his head around the fact that he and Maddie were expecting twin girls. She had been so freaked out by the possibility of losing them, she’d refused to tell anyone the news.
Last night, she conked out right after they got home, and today he hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to her about anything other than staying on top of the demands of three little kids. He needed some time with her, and he hoped she was still awake.
In case she wasn’t, he tiptoed into the master bedroom where she sat up in bed, her hair in a messy bun on top of her head. She wore one of the sexy nightgowns he regularly bought for her at her sister’s shop. Tiffany liked to tell him that he was one of her best customers.
“In case I forget to tell you, I’m nominating you for husband and father of the year.”
Mac unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off. “How come?”
“You got all three of them in bed and presumably asleep in forty-five minutes. That has to be a new record.”
“They were tired after playing with Ashleigh and Addie.” Tiffany, Blaine and the girls had come over for dinner.
“Still, you are my hero.”
He stopped short, slayed by her words and the love behind them. They’d been together for years now, and she still managed to stop his heart at least once a day.
She patted the bed. “Hurry up.”
“I’m hurrying.” He went into the bathroom, brushed his teeth and pulled off his jeans, returning wearing only boxers. Curling up to her in bed at the end of a long day was his favorite thing, and tonight was no exception. “Mmmm, you smell good.”
“I put on that lotion you like after my bath.”
“Are you trying to get in my pants?”
She snorted with laughter and gave him a playful shove.
“Because I’m rather easy where you’re concerned.”
“Even when I’m bigger than a beached whale?”
He scowled at her, hating when she talked down about herself. “A. You are not a beached whale. And B. I want you all the time. Twenty-four-seven-three-hundred-sixty-five.”
“That’s a whole lotta want.”
“And it’s all for you.”
To his horror, her eyes filled with tears that appeared out of nowhere when she was pregnant. Even knowing it was the hormones causing them, every one of them broke him. She quickly swept them away. “Sorry.”
“For what?”
“I know how girl tears freak you out.”
“Not just any girl tears. Your tears freak me out. I never want you to be sad or upset about anything.”
“These are happy tears.”
“There ought to be a manual that comes with all wives so we know the difference between good tears and bad tears.”
She laughed even as tears spilled down her cheeks.
Mac wiped them away. “Why the happy tears?”
“The things you say to me, the way you love me, even after all this time. It amazes me.”
“I know that deep inside, the little girl who watched her father walk away keeps thinking that’s going to happen to you.”
“I don’t think that.”
“Maybe not consciously, but you know it’s possible, so you worry.”
“You would never do that to me or our kids.”
“Never, ever, ever.”
“I know that, Mac.”
He took her hand and linked their fingers. “And I know it was a big deal for you to tell everyone about the babies.”
“I’m still waiting for disaster to strike.”
“Me, too.”
She rested her head on his chest, and he put his arm around her, holding her close where he wanted her most.
“What the hell am I going to do with three girls?” he asked with a dramatic sigh.
“You’ll be their bitch.”
“Seriously. They’ll lock me in a closet and go out with boys who drive fast cars and drink beer. And if they look anything like their mother… Dear God, I won’t survive it.”
She rocked with silent laughter. “I’m picturing them pushing you in a closet and locking you in.”
“It’s not funny.”
“Yes, it really is.”
“Will you rescue me from the closet, or will you team up with my three daughters against me?”
“I will always rescue you the same way you rescued me the day we met.”
“After I walked into your bike and turned you into a bloody disaster?”
“Not that so much as how you loved me—and Thomas—from the beginning and have never wavered in your devotion to us. No one has ever been more devoted to me than you are.”
She had a way of bringing him to his knees even when he was lying down. “It’s a good thing I married you, then.”
“A very good thing. Mac?”
“Hmm?”
“Tell me again that the babies are going to be fine.”
“Our babies are going to be perfect—healthy, beautiful like their mother, sassy like their sister and will have their daddy wrapped around their little fingers from the minute they are born.”
“Will you keep telling me?”
“Any time you need to hear it.”
“I might need to hear it a lot.”
“I’m available on a moment’s notice.” He massaged her lower back, which often ached when she was pregnant. “What’re we going to name these angels of ours?”
“Francine and Linda?”
“For middle names, maybe. One should be Madeline, since we have another Mac.”
“We only did that to keep up the tradition. One Madeline is enough for this family.”
“She is more than enough for me.”
“You’re stacking up the points tonight.”
“I’m sure I’ll need them before too long.”
“Probably. You do have a way of getting yourself into trouble without trying very hard.”
“It’s my special gift.”
“Back to names. Do we want them to have the same first initial?”
“I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”
“My grandmother’s name was Evelyn. What do you think of that?”
“I like it. Would we call her Evie?”
“We could.”
“My grandmothers were Jane—and we’ve already got one of them—and Emma.”
“Two E names! Emma Linda McCarthy and Evelyn Francine McCarthy. What do you think?”
“Works for me. I love that we’re naming them after their grandmothers and great-grandmothers.”
“It’s perfect.”
“And they will be, too. I promise.”
“I think about Connor every day—how old he’d be and what he’d be doing and how much he’d love having a baby brother and new baby sisters coming.”
“I think about him, too. How there should be four of them.”
“Except we wouldn’t have Mac if he had lived.”
“True. And it’s already impossible to imagine life without him.” Their happy, sunny baby boy was the spitting image of his daddy, and they adored him.
“Another Mac McCarthy. I hope the world is ready for him.”
“With you as his mom, he’s going to be the best Mac McCarthy yet.”
“It’s going to be hard for him to top his father and grandfather.”
“We’ll see about that. You need to close your eyes and get some rest. The natives will be restless in the morning.”
“Love you, Mac.”
“Love you more, Madeline.”
“Not possible.”
Mac fell asleep with a smile on his face. With her in his arms and their babies sleeping soundly, everything was right in his world.
Chloe was keeping something from him. Something other than the fact he planned to leave was stopping her from giving them a chance.
Finn puzzled it through from every angle as he cleaned up after their dinner, opened another beer and took it outside to the backyard that now felt lonely and bereft without her and Ranger to keep him company.
He turned on his phone, which went wild with text messages and voicemails. Seventy-eight of the former and twenty-two of the latter.
What the fuck?
Finn made the mistake of reading the first couple of messages before deleting the rest along with the voicemails.
Missy had clearly lost her mind.
He responded with one text: I’m sorry you got the wrong impression about us but behaving this way won’t change anything. Please don’t contact me again. After sending that message, he blocked her number. Then he realized his hands were shaking.
The phone rang, startling him until he realized it was Riley.
He took the call. “What’s up?”
“That’s what I called to ask you after you barely said a word to anyone at work today.”
“We were busy.”
“Cut the shit, Finn. What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing.” Everything. Tell him. “I… I told Missy we were done, and she freaked out. She said she’d booked a wedding venue for next year. Can you believe that?” When Riley had no reply, Finn said, “Ri?”
Riley’s deep sigh said it all. “Yeah, man, I believe it. That chick is crazy. Dad and I have been telling you that for years, but you never wanted to hear it.”
“Well, you were right. She blew up my phone, and I blocked her.”
“I’m surprised you actually told her it was over. What brought that on?”
“After seeing you with Nicholas and Dad with Chelsea, I realized a lot of things are missing in my relationship with Missy, things I don’t want to live the rest of my life without.”
“Hallelujah, you’ve seen the light! Dad and I have been hoping you’d figure that out before you did something foolish like marry her. She’s not a bad person. She’s just not the one for you.”
“After tonight’s performance, I feel like I’ve dodged a bullet.”
“You have for sure. I just hope you’ve seen the last of her.”
Finn’s stomach dropped at the thought of having to see her again. “I hope so, too.”
“On a lighter note, how’s Chloe?”
“She’s amazing, but I don’t think anything’s going to come of it. She’s not really interested in something serious, and I’m a short-timer anyway.”
“Are you listening to yourself right now?”
“What’re you talking about?”
“You’ve possibly met the one, and you’re still talking about leaving? What the fuck is wrong with you?”