Happily Ever All-Star: A Secret Baby Romance - Sosie Frost Page 0,391

in for another kiss. “I’d cross oceans for you.”

“Okay.”

“Change the tides.”

“Sure.”

“Marry you all over again.”

“You won’t have to,” I said. “You’re stuck with me forever.”

She snuggled close, holding me tight. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

4

Cole - Beauty and the Baby-Sitter

The children were…everywhere.

Kids. Toddlers. Babies.

Rosie and Sammy were three-year-old anarchists. Their motto: Disorder, Disarray, Disney.

Ethan learned how to walk and hadn’t stopped since his first steps. My son possessed my work dynamic—no counter too high, no stairs too steep, no bruises too blue.

Lachlan and Elle’s son was confined.

Thank-fucking-God.

He practically vibrated in his carrier. Wasn’t sure if letting him out would make him go supersonic or supercritical. Only Lachlan would create a life that combined his energy with Elle’s wiles. The baby was smart. He was fast. And he needed a diaper change.

I passed him to Piper.

“All yours, beautiful,” I said.

She searched the waiting room we had commandeered in the pediatric ward. No matter how many creepy ass clowns they plastered on the walls, fish tanks they stuck in the corner, or Fisher Price toys on the tables, it was still a damn hospital. It wouldn’t entertain these kids for long.

I could handle Rosie. She was the light of my life…even if she often tore wallpaper from the walls, left a trail of mushy Cheerios in her wake, and spent her days tangling tiaras in my hair.

And Ethan had been a little champ. Big baby. Strong. He had Piper’s snarky grin, but he was his daddy through and through.

I was used to my kids. I understood how they worked.

But suddenly many kids paraded around my legs. I’d went rigid, trying not to move. The last thing I wanted was to crush one of them. I’d never hear the end of it.

“I’ll find a changing table,” Piper said. “But you remember the deal.”

“A foot rub for every diaper change I pawn on you.”

Piper winked. “Both feet, lover boy.”

She struck a hard bargain. Always had. I was just lucky she could compromise on diapers. Since she had signed new clients for her agency, Piper became more business savvy. If she sensed I shirked any responsibilities, she’d throw down and strike in the middle of the nursery.

Never saw a woman get so stubborn over a specific brand of wipe or baby butt cream.

It was not how I imagined my life.

This was better than I’d hoped.

Piper snagged Nicky and his diaper bag. She made it to the entrance of the waiting room before another baby blocked her path.

Jude Owens gave us an awkward smile. “Hey, guys.”

His step-daughter—a grinning, wiggling, bundle of giggles—stared only at her father. She might not have been his biologically, but we were of like minds on the subject. Blood didn’t matter, not when it came to our little girls.

“I need a favor,” Jude said.

I knew what he wanted. I gestured to the four kids currently destroying the waiting room. “This stable is full.”

“I’m sorry.” Jude set Dawn’s carrier on a chair. “Rory was supposed to meet me. We planned to hand off the baby so I could do my follow-up appointment. But she’s stuck working with a patient. I have to make sure my brain isn’t mush…you know. From when I scored us the winning touchdown during the championship game. I sacrificed my body just to get our team the win…”

For Christ’s sake. “Fine. Leave the baby.”

Piper bounced a finger off Dawn’s little nose and grinned. “Of course we’ll watch her. Go do your appointment, Jude.”

He rubbed his head. “Thanks. Now if I could just remember where it was…”

Piper laughed. So did he.

Even though he wasn’t kidding, not that’d ever fucking admit it.

The baby stayed. Jude left.

And the nightmare began.

Five kids, ranging from three-years-old to six months, stared at me.

And they all screamed at once.

“Daddy, princesses!” Rose tugged my hand.

“Play ball!” Sammy pulled her hair.

Ethan babbled. “Dadadada.”

Nick made a foul smell and giggled like a fiend. “Uh-Oh!”

And Dawn squealed at the top of her lungs after Jude left.

Piper huffed. “We might be in trouble.”

“You think?”

“It’s okay. I’ll go change Nicky. You watch the kids.”

“All of them?”

“Preferably,” she said. “They’re just children, Cole. You can handle a couple kiddos, right?”

No.

Piper had an obscenely high opinion of me, and I had no idea how I’d earned it.

Sure, I could handle Rose, but she was my little princess. And Ethan, hell. He was my boy. We’d struck an accord when he was young—all seven pounds of nothing. I hadn’t accidentally smooshed him when he was born, and he hadn’t pissed on me during a single diaper change. It was