“He’s a growing boy,” I explained.

“He’s a growing Jackson,” Ty returned. “Tate ain’t exactly small and Jonas is the spittin’ image of his Dad.”

I looked to my girls who were all observing us. Honey with a happy smile. Bessie with an assessing stare. Ella with her head tipped to the side but her expression shuttered.

I ignored all this and told them, “Wait until you meet Ty’s friends. They’re all white but they’re all seriously hot.”

“Heard word of women, they hot and taken?” Bessie asked.

“Except Deke,” I answered.

“Then what do I care they’re hot?” she shot back.

“They’re taken but they’re still fun to look at.”

“Girl, I got an eyeful right in front of me. More might make my head explode,” she returned.

She wasn’t wrong about that so I had no reply. Luckily, Honey giggling covered it.

Ty’s reaction to this compliment was to take a tug on his beer then set it on the counter beside him. I watched his hand do that then I watched it come toward me then I watched it until I couldn’t anymore because it cupped my jaw and tipped my face up to his while he curled his body slightly enough to give us a hint of privacy, not enough to be rude.

When my eyes caught his, he whispered, “You good?”

There it was. That was why he didn’t react to Bessie’s compliment. His mind was on me.

I grinned. Then I nodded.

His gaze roamed my face.

Then he nodded back, his hand dropped, he curled away and grabbed his beer.

I looked to my girls. Honey was smiling her happy smile. Bessie was looking away, blinking and I knew this was to hide it while she fought tears and Ella’s expression wasn’t shuttered anymore. Her face was soft, her eyes were lit with her sweet momma light and they were on me.

“I love you guys,” I blurted.

This caused Bessie to hop off her stool and mutter, “Bathroom.”

“Your right, door by the livin’ room,” Ty said quietly and Bessie hustled away.

Honey smiled happily.

Ella took a sip of her cocktail.

* * * * *

Ty

Laurie and Jonas were loading into Tate’s SUV, Tate was moving across the asphalt with Walker.

The truck unload descended into a party. Not surprising. The women cackled on the deck furniture while the men lugged boxes up two flights of steps, Ty and Wood putting together Lexie’s bed in one of the middle floor bedrooms so one of the sisters could have a bed tonight. Their surprise arrival meant Walker and Lexie had company. They were Lexie’s family so this wasn’t surprising either. It was good his couch was big and had two sides. After the men did the work, Lexie expended the energy of dialing the phone to order pizzas. Fortunately, but surprisingly, she didn’t have much stuff to haul up the steps. Also fortunately, since they both drank beer, she had an ample supply.

Now Wood, Maggie, their kids and Deke were gone and Tate and his family were preparing to leave. But he’d said he wanted a word. So Walker was giving him a word.

“What’s up?” he asked when Tate led him to a position not in hearing distance of his truck or Walker’s house, something Walker noted, also something Walker didn’t like.

“You got a night this week you can come by my house for a talk?”

Fuck.

“About what?” Walker asked.

“You got a night, Ty,” Jackson said quietly.

“This about Peña?” Walker asked.

“Ty, you got a night?”

Walker remained silent for a moment.

Then he replied, “Might have several, I know why.”

“You trust me?”

Fuck.

“Yeah.”

“You got a night?”

Fuck!

“Let me talk to Lex. Her family’s here for two weeks and knowin’ Lex, she’ll wanna pack everything in so it’ll be busy. I’ll let you know,” Walker told him.

“Right,” Tate murmured.

Walker changed the subject. “Thanks for droppin’ everything and comin’ over to help out.”

“Payback, you did the same for me this week and I didn’t give you pizza and beer or feed your family.”

This was true.

“Speakin’ about family –” Jackson started.

“Yeah,” Walker interrupted, mistaking Tate’s comment. “They adopted her. They’re Rodriguez’s family.”

Tate shook his head. “No, I meant when are you and Lexie gonna start yours?”

He’d breathed easy for awhile. A week and a half to be exact. But at Tate’s question, that piercing feeling again went through the left side of his chest.

Through the pain, he forced out, “Come again?”

“Know you’re new. Know you’re both gettin’ on your feet after a lotta rough years. Know you probably got a lotta shit in your head, reckon she does too. But ‘spect, what I can tell of Lexie, she’s helpin’ you work through that. What I know of you, you’re doin’ the same for her. What you probably don’t know is, got somethin’ good, makin’ it better’ll give your mind good things to think of rather than shit things to chew on. And I promise you, brother, a kid is a good thing. Your kid with Lexie, even better.” He paused while Walker stared at him through the gathering dusk then continued, “Though, not if you get yourself a daughter who looks like her. Then you’re f**ked.”

A daughter who looks like her.

Christ.

Christ.

He’d never thought of it. Not in his entire life. Never thought of making babies. Never met a woman in whom he wanted his seed to take root.

Now it was in his head and he knew it was in there in a way where it’d be near impossible to shake it out.

Christ.

“Ty?” Tate called.

“We need time to settle,” Walker told him.

“Sure, I can see that. Though, you settling only to shake things up with a kid, might as well settle knowin’ you got one on the way.”

“Man, we’ve been married less than a month,” Walker reminded him.

“So?”

Walker stared at him.

Then he muttered, “Fuck me, Tatum Jackson, family man and advocate for domestic bliss.”

“You been busy with your woman, not around, you been around me, Laurie and Jonas, you’d see I got it goin’ on,” Tate told him through a grin.

“Fuck me,” Walker muttered again.

Jackson kept grinning at him.