Chapter 16
Sixteen
Damien shifted the box of food in his arms and knocked on the front door of Austin and Lacey’s house. Softly. Just in case baby Samuel was sleeping.
Harmony held another box in her hands. Damien ordered enough food for the four of them plus leftovers for a few days for Lacey and Austin. At Harmony’s recommendation.
The door swung open, and Austin laughed. “Did you buy everything they sell? Let me take that.” Austin reached for the box Harmony was holding. “I’m Austin. Nice to meet you.”
“You, too,” Harmony said, following Austin into the house.
Damien followed behind them, kicking the door closed behind him. “Harmony said you guys might need some leftovers. Having a baby sounds about like getting your Ph.D.”
“No sleep, lots of tears, and feeling like you have no fucking clue what you’re doing?” Lacey asked from the hallway.
“That’s exactly how I’d describe the last few years of my life,” Harmony said, making all of them laugh. “Thank you for letting me join you guys tonight.”
Lacey walked over to Harmony and hugged her. “I’m so happy to meet you. I need another female in this house. It’s all males all the time right now.”
Harmony chuckled.
“Hey!” Austin and Damien cried.
“I love you, but I need some female time, too. And some time to not feel like I’m only useful for reproductive reasons,” Lacey said.
Damien snorted, taking in the look on Austin’s face that said just how enamored he was with his wife. “Where’s Samuel?”
“Sleeping,” Austin said. “Should be up soon, though. Lacey’s great about creating a schedule for him. I keep fucking it up.”
Damien noticed Lacey didn’t contradict him. “I know nothing about babies, so don’t expect me to support you.”
“Neither do I,” Austin said. “She’s the one who reads everything. I have a hard time putting him down and walking away.”
“It’s only going to be worse when you come back to work full time,” Damien said.
“Don’t remind me. The few times I’ve come in, I felt like I was cutting off a limb.” Austin shook his head. “All the years I tried not to love her, and this could have been my life.”
“But you have her now. And Samuel.”
Austin nodded, swallowing roughly. “I will always regret my son not knowing his grandfather.”
“I have a feeling you two will make sure that baby knows how much he is loved, and how much Samuel would have loved him,” Damien said.
The house was full of pictures of their family, including countless pictures of Samuel with both Austin and Lacey.
The loss of him brought them together, a loss the entire team was still feeling nearly a year later.
But knowing something good came out of it made it easier to take.
“So, what’s the deal with you and Harmony? You look like I did a year ago.”
Damien snorted. “Feel like it, too.”
Austin’s eyebrows shot up. “Yeah?”
Damien nodded. “I… It’s sudden, I know. But—”
“I’m not going to tell you how you feel. I tried not to love Lacey for years. I failed miserably.”
“And look at you now,” Damien said.
Austin’s lips turned up in a wide smile. “Couldn’t be happier with that failure.”
Damien chuckled.
A cry pierced the air, followed almost immediately by a knock on the door.
“That must be Claudia and Lance,” Lacey said, heading for the door. “They texted after you guys did and said they wanted to stop by.”
“I’ll get Samuel,” Austin said, heading toward the nursery.
Damien went to Harmony, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as Lacey let in the other couple. “Is this too much?”
Harmony shook her head and grinned up at him. “Lacey is wonderful.”
Damien nodded. “She is.”
“She seems happy, too.” Damien filled Harmony in on Austin and Lacey’s history and the loss of her father on the way to their house. Harmony understood what it was like to lose a parent and was even more open to meeting Lacey after learning about their shared loss.
“Claudia had her own trauma this past year. But she’s strong, too. I think you’ll like her,” Damien said.
“Do you know anyone who hasn’t had trauma lately?”
Damien snorted. “Not really. Kind of comes with the job.”
Harmony pulled back. “They both got together through work?”
Damien bobbed his head side-to-side. “Austin and Lacey knew each other before, but they were both in danger because of her dad, so they were under protection together. Lance ended up protecting Claudia after she was kidnapped last fall.”
“Whoa. That’s terrifying.”
Damien nodded. “Thankfully, she’s safe now. And they’re happy.”
“I see that,” Harmony whispered.
Lance stared at Claudia like she was his world. The months since they met were full of healing and lots of help, but the two of them were finally on the other side of things from the look of it.
Austin came back into the room with a squirming, chattering Samuel. Lacey looked at the two of them with clear affection. She went to them, smiling when Samuel reached for her.
“Hey,” Lance said, approaching Damien and Harmony. “I didn’t know you were going to be here.”
Damien nodded. “We brought dinner. Needed to get out of my place for a little while. It’s been a rough few weeks. This is Harmony Gibbs. Harmony, meet Lance and Claudia.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Harmony said.
“You, too,” they said at the same time.
“We have plenty of food if you want to stick around for dinner,” Damien said.
“Thanks. We didn’t want to invade them, but if you already are, then we’ll stick around,” Lance said with a smirk.
“Good. Should we go unpack everything?” Damien jerked his head toward the kitchen where the boxes of food were.
Lance followed Damien, leaving Claudia and Harmony to talk. “I thought you were working. Who’s Harmony?” Lance asked.
“I am working,” Damien said, letting Lance fill in the blanks.
Lance threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, boy. This is becoming a trend for us, isn’t it?”
Damien nodded. “Yep. But I can’t say I’m unhappy about it.”
“Didn’t you just meet her?”
“Not all of us are oblivious to what’s right in front of us,” Damien volleyed back.
Lance glowered at him, knowing he missed out on months with Claudia and keeping her safe because he was completely unaware of his next-door neighbor. “Yeah, well, I’m making up for lost time.”
“Good. You ask her to marry you yet?” Damien asked softly. Lance had been waiting for the right time for months, not wanting Claudia to feel rushed.
Lance’s head snapped up. His gaze slid to Claudia. He rubbed the back of his neck.
Damien grinned. “No shit.”
“That’s why we came over here. We’ve gotten to be pretty close with Austin and Lacey, and Claudia wanted them to know first.”
“Aw, damn. And we’re in the way.”
Lance shook his head. “No. You are never in the way. Besides, are you seeing this?” He nodded behind Damien.
Damien turned to see Claudia and Harmony making faces and laughing at Samuel while Lacey held the baby in her arms. The three of them looked like they’d known each other forever, laughing the same and taking turns cooing at Samuel.
“It’s like they’ve been friends forever,” Austin said, joining the other two in the kitchen. “Harmony fits right in.”
“I think all three of them have spent most of their time alone, and they feel a kind of kinship,” Damien said.
Austin and Lance tilted their heads in question.
“She lost her mom when she was young and dad in college. She’s spent the last decade working and struggling to get through school without feeling like she had anyone there for her.
No siblings or close friends. Lacey has her mom, and Claudia wasn’t alone, but neither of them had girlfriends. Just like Harmony.”
“I think you’re right,” Austin said. “Lacey has really enjoyed getting to know Claudia—”
Lacey’s scream drew the attention of all three men.
Damien tensed immediately, then noticed the smiles on their faces. Lacey held Samuel in one hand and Claudia’s left hand in her other.
“You’re engaged? I’m so happy for you!” Lacey cried.
“Thank you!” Claudia replied, hugging her.
Harmony stood awkwardly next to them, but it was only half a second before Claudia and Lacey pulled Harmony into their circle and hugged her, too.
“You finally did it, huh?” Austin asked Lance.
Lance chuckled. “He said the same thing.”
“You knew?” Austin asked Damien.
Damien shook his head. “I asked him five minutes ago if he’d proposed yet. He didn’t answer.”
“Congratulations, man. Marriage is the best. Even better is having a kid,” Austin said.
Lance chuckled. “One step at a time.”
“You know they’re all over there plotting,” Austin said.
Damien looked at the women, alternating between gushing over the ring and the baby. Damn. Harmony fit. With his friends, in his life. She fit.
He just had to convince her to give him a real shot when the danger she was in was behind them.
“He’s got that look,” Austin said.
“Yes, he does,” Lance agreed.
Damien looked at the two of them and laughed. “Let’s get the food out so we can feed our women and catch up a little more.”
“Our women,” Austin and Lance mumbled together.
Damien couldn’t help but grin.
Harmony was in love with Samuel. She hadn’t been around babies much without siblings or cousins, but she’d always liked the idea of kids. If she could guarantee she’d have a kid like Samuel, she’d get pregnant immediately.
Assuming she found a man who wanted the same.
She knew the window on having kids was closing rapidly, so she never got attached to the idea, but as soon as Damien snuggled Samuel to his chest, she knew she was in trouble.
The man was dangerous to her ovaries without a baby in his arms. With a baby?
She was fairly sure her ovaries were trying to reproduce all on their own.
“A man with a baby is like catnip,” Claudia said. She slapped her hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like I’m checking out your guy.”
Harmony smiled. “He’s not really mine. And yes, I agree.”
“What do you mean he’s not really yours?” Lacey asked.