have had penises? I know what to do with
a boy. Shove ’ em out in the backyard and let them
free range for a few years. They’ll build their own cabins and become
self-sufficient. I don’t think I can do that with girls. Speaking of
complaints. Why two? One I could maybe handle, but now it’s a freaking girl
gang at my house. Do you think they’re pulling a fast one on dear old dad?
Maybe they’re hiding their penises and laughing their asses off in utero.”
Alex
laughed, the sound lightening the mood. “This has been a fun nine months for
me, brother. I can’t wait for the rest because there are no penises and that
gang of girls is going to be so much fun for me to watch when they get to be
teens.”
Ian
shuddered. He didn’t want to think about teens.
Alex
leaned forward, that sensitive
I’m-about-to-give-you-words-of-wisdom-because-I-watched-a-lot-of-Oprah-in-my-time
look on his face. “You’re going to be fine, Ian. I know you think because your
dad walked out that you won’t know what to do, but Sean would disagree. Sean
would tell you you’ve already been a great dad. There’s only one rule.”
“Don’t
kill the children. Charlie already made me promise.” He didn’t like the fact
that Alex was right. Or that the idea of Sean thinking he was going to be good
at the father thing made him a little soft on the inside.
Alex
rolled his eyes. “God, you’re a pain in the ass.”
“What?”
He wanted to know. “What’s the one rule?”
“Be
there. And let me tell you, Ian Taggart’s got that one down. So relax. You’re
going to be a pro at this in no time. And I think you’re going to look good in
the pink sling Eve bought you.”
“Oh,
that was so not Eve, asshole.” The baby shower had been a revelation. So much
fucking pink.
Alex
gave him a shit-eating grin. “I laughed the whole time I was buying it. I tried
to find a place that would bedazzle the fucker, but Eve wouldn’t let me.”
Ian
stood. “You know what, I’m going to make that shit manly. You think I won’t
wear a pink sling? I will rock that motherfucker.”
“If
anyone can, it’s you,” Alex conceded. He grabbed his laptop. Alex would deal
with setting up the project files and all the administrative stuff that came
with a new case. He’d backed off of active duty since he and Eve had adopted a
baby boy named Cooper.
Who
would one day likely turn that innocent gaze of his on Ian’s daughters.
“You
tell your boy to keep his hands to himself.”
“Oh
god. I hadn’t even thought about that. You’re going to be that dad. You know
the one who thinks his girls are perfect angels and all the boys around them
are the devil? Can we wait until they’re born before you accuse Coop of trying
something with them?”
Ian
kind of thought Cooper eyed Charlie’s baby bump as though he knew something
good was going to come out of there. “You’re wrong. I know my girls won’t be
angels, and that’s why I intend to keep an eye on them at all times. And
they’re going to look like Charlie so they’ll be gorgeous. No doubt about it.
Those girls are going to be trouble.”
He
followed Alex out into the hallway. It was so weird to walk this hallway now.
At one point the floor had been damn near empty. They’d really only needed
reception, the main conference room, and seven offices, though when they’d
first begun, Ian had claimed they only really needed six because Adam was so
far up Jake’s butt they should share one.
He
still loved giving Adam shit. It was one of the constants in his life.
Back
in the beginning they’d closed off half the floor and now he was thinking about
buying the floor below him if he could convince those damn lawyers to move out.
The back conference room had been turned into a
daycare center. Charlie now occupied a corner office where she helped Alex with
the administrative stuff and was the chief liaison with clients and the outside
world. They’d lost Sean to the culinary arts and
a boy. Shove ’ em out in the backyard and let them
free range for a few years. They’ll build their own cabins and become
self-sufficient. I don’t think I can do that with girls. Speaking of
complaints. Why two? One I could maybe handle, but now it’s a freaking girl
gang at my house. Do you think they’re pulling a fast one on dear old dad?
Maybe they’re hiding their penises and laughing their asses off in utero.”
Alex
laughed, the sound lightening the mood. “This has been a fun nine months for
me, brother. I can’t wait for the rest because there are no penises and that
gang of girls is going to be so much fun for me to watch when they get to be
teens.”
Ian
shuddered. He didn’t want to think about teens.
Alex
leaned forward, that sensitive
I’m-about-to-give-you-words-of-wisdom-because-I-watched-a-lot-of-Oprah-in-my-time
look on his face. “You’re going to be fine, Ian. I know you think because your
dad walked out that you won’t know what to do, but Sean would disagree. Sean
would tell you you’ve already been a great dad. There’s only one rule.”
“Don’t
kill the children. Charlie already made me promise.” He didn’t like the fact
that Alex was right. Or that the idea of Sean thinking he was going to be good
at the father thing made him a little soft on the inside.
Alex
rolled his eyes. “God, you’re a pain in the ass.”
“What?”
He wanted to know. “What’s the one rule?”
“Be
there. And let me tell you, Ian Taggart’s got that one down. So relax. You’re
going to be a pro at this in no time. And I think you’re going to look good in
the pink sling Eve bought you.”
“Oh,
that was so not Eve, asshole.” The baby shower had been a revelation. So much
fucking pink.
Alex
gave him a shit-eating grin. “I laughed the whole time I was buying it. I tried
to find a place that would bedazzle the fucker, but Eve wouldn’t let me.”
Ian
stood. “You know what, I’m going to make that shit manly. You think I won’t
wear a pink sling? I will rock that motherfucker.”
“If
anyone can, it’s you,” Alex conceded. He grabbed his laptop. Alex would deal
with setting up the project files and all the administrative stuff that came
with a new case. He’d backed off of active duty since he and Eve had adopted a
baby boy named Cooper.
Who
would one day likely turn that innocent gaze of his on Ian’s daughters.
“You
tell your boy to keep his hands to himself.”
“Oh
god. I hadn’t even thought about that. You’re going to be that dad. You know
the one who thinks his girls are perfect angels and all the boys around them
are the devil? Can we wait until they’re born before you accuse Coop of trying
something with them?”
Ian
kind of thought Cooper eyed Charlie’s baby bump as though he knew something
good was going to come out of there. “You’re wrong. I know my girls won’t be
angels, and that’s why I intend to keep an eye on them at all times. And
they’re going to look like Charlie so they’ll be gorgeous. No doubt about it.
Those girls are going to be trouble.”
He
followed Alex out into the hallway. It was so weird to walk this hallway now.
At one point the floor had been damn near empty. They’d really only needed
reception, the main conference room, and seven offices, though when they’d
first begun, Ian had claimed they only really needed six because Adam was so
far up Jake’s butt they should share one.
He
still loved giving Adam shit. It was one of the constants in his life.
Back
in the beginning they’d closed off half the floor and now he was thinking about
buying the floor below him if he could convince those damn lawyers to move out.
The back conference room had been turned into a
daycare center. Charlie now occupied a corner office where she helped Alex with
the administrative stuff and was the chief liaison with clients and the outside
world. They’d lost Sean to the culinary arts and
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