“Hold her hand and hope she doesn’t rip your head off,” Lucas said with a laugh. “If Shea Adler can do it, we can do it.”

“Shea is a beast, Lucas, you know that. He is the Chuck Norris of baby-making and life; you don’t mess with Shea,” Tate said with an awed look on his face.

“He is not! You know if you weren’t marrying my sister-in-law, I would think you had a bromance with our captain.”

Tate scoffed. “Don’t hate me because he likes me more. I actually respect him.”

“No, you suck up, that’s why he likes you,” Lucas said with a laugh.

Erik chuckled as he shook his head. “This is going to be great.”

Lucas laughed as he nodded. “It sure is. Did you get a look at our instructor? She decided to climb down her tree and come help us out today.”

Erik held in his laughter as he looked across the room, where the midwife stood with Fallon, Audrey, and Piper. She was as tall as him, superskinny and hairy. It was kind of scary but apparently she was the best in the state. Since Erik and the rest of the guys wanted the best for their wives and babies, Mrs. Tree-Hugger would be their instructor.

“You are an ass, Lucas,” Tate said with a shake of his head. “I got a hundred bucks that says you don’t make it through the class.”

“You’re on, my friend.”

The two shook on it. Looking up, Erik noticed that everyone was sitting in a circle and that Piper was calling him over.

“Showtime boys, let’s go,” he said as he threw his cup of soda in the trash before heading over to Piper. He sat down beside her and looked around.

“This is going to be fun,” he whispered and she laughed.

“Oh, I know. Hopefully we learn something.”

He nodded. “I hope so, too.”

“Welcome, everyone!” their instructor said loudly.

* * *

A half hour later, Erik stood out by his car with Piper, Audrey, Tate, and Fallon. Lucas was inside throwing up and Fallon was pissed. She wouldn’t even speak as Audrey and Piper retold what happened for Tate, since he apparently missed the whole thing. It was hilarious and fun to reenact but Erik was sure that Fallon was not happy.

“So, BFF, have you decided what you want to do for your birthday?”

Erik glanced up and looked over at Piper. Her birthday was coming up?

“I don’t know. It isn’t like I can go to a club or drink, so I’ll probably just hang at the house.”

“We could go to dinner, maybe shop?” Audrey suggested. “Or do you have something planned, Erik?”

Erik froze. He didn’t have anything planned because he didn’t know it was her freaking birthday! Shaking his head, he said, “Um, not really, still working out details.”

“Oh, cool, well keep me in the loop; I want to do something because we are all about to get stupid busy with these kids, so we need to enjoy our free time together.”

Piper nodded as they hugged tightly. “I’ll let you know,” she said. “We are going home. I’m starving.”

Erik was stewing; he hated being out of the loop, especially when it was something important, like her birthday. Saying goodbye to Audrey and Tate, Erik helped Piper into the car before climbing in the driver’s seat. They were almost to the highway when he asked, “When is your birthday?”

She glanced over at him as she shyly said, “Thursday.”

It was Saturday. Fuck.

“Thanks for letting me know.”

“It’s no big deal. I probably won’t do anything. We have dinner tomorrow with my parents and sisters. We’ll celebrate tomorrow, and then maybe go out to dinner with Audrey and Tate on the actual day.”

“I didn’t even know that was why we were going to your mom’s house; I thought it was just for dinner. I would have looked really stupid, Piper, thanks.”

She bit into her lip and nodded. “I know, I’m sorry, we’ve been so busy and all. It really isn’t a big deal.”

“It’s your birthday.”

“I know, but don’t worry about it. We will just do what I said, no big deal.”

It was a big deal and Erik found himself irritated the whole way back to Sweetbriar. When they got to the house, they made their way inside and settled in for the night. When Piper was cuddled up in her blanket, Kindle in hand, Erik snuck out to the back of the house and called Shea. He answered a few seconds later.

“What’s up?”

“Hey, how fast can your sister plan a birthday?”

Erik might be too scared to fully commit, but he was ready to let her know how much she meant to him.

Chapter 21

Someone was shaking her.

Opening one eye, she peeked out of the covers to see Erik grinning at her. Making a disgruntled noise, Piper covered her face and muttered, “Go away.”

His chuckles filled the room as he wiggled his way under the blanket. His hands were warm against her exposed skin as he pulled her close to run his nose along hers. “Good morning.”

“I’m sleeping,” she muttered again as he kissed her nose.

“Well, excuse me for being rude but I want to kiss the birthday girl.”

She opened one eye again and set him with a look. “I have morning breath.”

“I don’t care, now kiss me,” he said against her lips. She didn’t even have time to smile or say no; he smothered her mouth with his own. She had to admit it was a great way to wake up. As he pulled back, Piper opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at him.