Changing Lines (Bellevue Bullies Book 5) Read online

  When there is a knock at the door, we part to see Jude coming in with a white bundle tucked in his arm. “I broke him out. They kept poking him and shit. It was rude.”

  Tristan laughs as I wipe my face. When she looks up at me, her brows come in. “What?”

  “Can we have a picture of the four of us?”

  A slow smile covers her pretty face. “Yes, of course.”

  She hits the call button as Jude hands Harrison to me. A nurse comes in, and Tristan asks, “Can you take a picture of us?”

  “Yes! I would love to.”

  I sit on the side of the bed, and Tristan leans into me as Jude comes to cuddle in close to us. Tristan reaches over, moving the blanket out of Harrison’s face, and then she looks up at me. “He’s gorgeous.”

  “He’s perfect,” I agree, and she grins, tears in her eyes.

  “You guys are going to be the best parents in the world.”

  “Because of you,” I whisper, and then I lean my head into hers.

  We then look at the phone Jude has handed the nurse, and once I hear the click of the camera, I know this picture is going in the living room.

  For it’s of the day our dreams came true.

  Harrison River Phillip Sinclair

  Jude

  “You’re like two weeks old. How are you shitting so much?”

  There are only half of the wipes left in the box, and I have two diapers on my shoulders. One that I’ll mess up and then the one that will work. Naked as the day he was born, Harrison looks up at me with his dark eyes, probably trying to figure out what the hell I am doing.

  Makes two of us.

  “Poo-poo!” Claire yells from the other room, and I roll my eyes as my son looks up at me like he knows I have no clue what the fuck is going on.

  I don’t.

  You’d think with all the practice I’ve had with my nieces and nephews, I’d have this. Truth is, I’ve never changed a diaper. I didn’t tell Claire that, though. I just YouTubed a few things and demanded to be a daddy. I have to get in where I fit in because when I leave for the road, this will all be on Claire, and I want the experiences. I want it all.

  I’m a fucking dad.

  So cool.

  I wipe the shit that is still coming from my son’s ass and let out a long sigh. “I thought you were done shitting.”

  “Poo-poo!” she yells more sternly, and at this point, I’m about to throw this poo-poo at her.

  “Babe, I’m a hockey player. One, I do not say poo-poo. And two, cuss words are sentence enhancers!” I holler back at her. “I’ll teach you all the good ways to use them, don’t worry,” I assure him.

  He farts. Loudly. He isn’t the least bit worried… And look, more shit.

  “On the ice only, buddy. Harry will be a prince.”

  He pisses on me. I yell out as I throw a wipe over his privates. I point to him. “That is not very royal, mister.”

  Though, I can’t help but grin. I love him. Shit, piss, spit up, everything, I love the little bugger. I lean down, cuddling his head as I press my nose to his. His deep brown eyes meet mine, and I never thought I could feel like this. I love Claire. Like, love that woman more than I love myself, but with this guy, it’s bone-deep. He’s my dude. We’ll get to do everything together. We’ll get to hit the ice, we’ll talk girls, and I’ll teach him everything I know. He’ll want my bike, and we’ll hide it from Claire because she’ll freak. He’s gonna be the coolest kid on the planet, and I can’t wait to get to know him.

  Gotta get through this shitting and pissing thing, though.

  “Why did you use half the box?”

  I look up to find Claire standing over us with her phone in her hand. “That’s for the ’gram ’cause the world needs to know how hot my husband is as a dad.”

  I grin before kissing his little nose. “He keeps pooping. Are you sure he can drink some other chick’s milk?”

  “Yes. It’s in all the books and research. Seriously. It’s gonna be so good for his body, and these amazing women pump just for people like us. It’s wonderful for him.”

  I think it’s a wee bit weird, but Claire is very gung ho on it. I didn’t even know there were milk banks like that, but I haven’t researched the hell out of being a parent like Claire has.

  That’s what makes her better than me.

  I sit up as she cleans around me. “Babe, he shit on—”

  “Ha! You said shit.” I smirk.

  She glares as she pushes her strawberry-blond hair out of her face. “Shut up,” she demands as she shakes her head. “You got it all over the blanket again. They’re gonna kick us out of this hotel.”

  “Which is why I said we should have stayed with Stacey and Ripp.”

  She looks at me with a blank expression. “A pair of newlyweds? No way. I want them to have kids one day. It’s only three more days.”

  Our house sold very quickly since one of the guys bought it. He said we could stay until after our doctor’s appointment since all our stuff is already in Florida, but Claire wants him to get married and have kids too. She’s all about people procreating. I’m all about being comfortable, but apparently that wasn’t a consideration when she decided two days after our son was born to bring him home to a Marriott. Good shit for the baby book, though. Perfect hockey-kid kind of shit. Or, I mean, poo.

  “You don’t need the whole box, baby,” she reprimands as she quickly moves around me, cleaning Harrison’s butt and diapering him like it’s her calling.

  “Half. I only used half.”

  I glare at her as she picks him up.

  “One wipe, maybe two. Promise. You’re doing so awesome. Wait, is that shit in his hair?”

  It is. “Poo,” I say, all sassy-assy.

  “Shut the hell up,” she throws back at me as she heads to the bathroom.

  “Oh, so we can say hell?”

  She ignores me as the water starts, and I finish cleaning my mess. This shit is hard, and holy fuck, I’m exhausted, but I’m deliriously happy. As I toss my mess, I hear my phone on the counter in the kitchen. I jog out to it since it’s my mom’s ringtone. When I answer it, I hear a whole lot of talking on the other side.

  “I have no damn clue. Look at the pictures Claire sent. Baylor, nobody got time for that mouth! Jamieson, baby, I love you more than life itself, but if you don’t get your little body off that white couch with those shoes… Didn’t anyone tell them you can’t have white stuff with kids? River, River, no! I said in the kitchen. Yes, thank you, Phillip. Get him under control—you know he’s old! Avery, get your kid, please! For the love of God, Jayden, Jace, can y’all act your age? Be an example for the boys! Jesus, this is a madhouse!”

  I can’t help but laugh. “Mom?”

  “Oh, sorry, honey. How are you?” she says calmly and very Autumn-like. “Lucy! We don’t have time for you to be changing things up. I want Claire to be happy when she gets here! We are making a home, people! Focus!”

  I laugh some more. “Mom? What in the world is going on?”

  “Well, you see what happened was, I decided to have everyone come and help get the house ready for y’all. It’s turned into a cluster of crazy people who all think they’re right when, really, only Reese and I are right.”

  I grin. “You’re the best, Mom.”

  Her voice breaks a bit. “How’s my baby?”

  “He’s wonderful. Claire is a pro, Mom, I don’t even get it. I’m in awe of her.”

  “She’s waited a long time for this,” she says softly, the background noise falling away. She must have gone outside. “Both of you have. I can’t wait to meet him. I love him so much already.”

  “He shits a lot, and Claire won’t let me say shit.”

  She laughs. “Well, she’s right.”

  “Whatever,” I say with a crooked grin.

  “How’s Tristan? Have y’all talked to her?”

  “Yeah, we actually went to see her yesterday. She’s a damn rock star in my eyes, and she’s doing good