because of growing up poor. But damn, she’d accomplished so much, too.
“It won’t be the last time you hold one,” Wyatt said.
“Are you already planning on having more?” Mom asked slyly.
“Jeez, Mom! He just finished birthing one, and we haven’t even had a chance to get to know him. Give us a few months, yeah?”
Mom shrugged. “He just said it wouldn’t be the last time two seconds ago. I didn’t know if you all had been talking about more.”
“He meant it wouldn’t be the last time she held William. Right, Wyatt?”
Wyatt wiggled his eyebrows and my jaw dropped.
“No. Slow your roll, fluffy. I don’t know what kind of drugs they’ve got you on now, but I for one am not ready to put you through that yet. And it takes two to tango, so.”
After a few minutes, Shelby’s shakes intensified, and I passed William back to Mom.
Mom settled into the chair after I helped Shelby back to her wheelchair. “Shelby has some good news to share.”
“Mom.” Shelby rolled her head. “This is Wyatt and Jordan’s day. We should focus on them.”
“Oh no, you don’t get to tease us like that and leave us waiting. Spill it, Shelbs. Let’s just pile all the celebration in today.”
Shelby hemmed and hawed for a few moments before admitting, “I accepted a staff writer position for the OmegaLife magazine.”
“Damn, girl!”
Mom glared at me. “Jordan, you’re going to have to clean up your language now that you have a child.”
“I’ve got a few years to practice before he starts copying me.”
“What does a staff writer do?” Wyatt asked.
“I’ll be on salary, rather than freelance. It’s not millions, and it will be challenging to keep up, but it will be steady, and it’ll put us in a really good financial position.” She pinned me with a steady look and I heard what she didn’t want to say in front of Mom.
She’d done it. She’d found a way to not only pay off their bills, but to grow their stability.
I’d have to pull the details from her later.
“I have no doubt you deserve it.” Wyatt yawned halfway through his sentence. “Sorry. I’m just so tired.”
“I can’t imagine why,” I said dryly.
“Don’t try and stay awake for us, sweetheart. We understand.”
Wyatt nodded sleepily. “I may pass out whether I want to or not. But I want to say one thing... Thank you for being my family. It means a lot to know William will grow up with generations of love around him.”
Mom started sniffling immediately.
“I might have to draft you into writing with me, Wyatt. The hardest part of being a writer is saying as much as you can in few words, and you punched us all in the hearts right now.”
Wyatt gaped. “I didn’t mean to—”
I kissed his lips to quiet him. “That’s a good thing, fluffy. Heart punch away.”
“Is it okay if I heart lock instead? You can escape those if you want to, and they cause less damage.”
I snorted. He was already half asleep. “You’ve already locked my heart up, Wyatt. And I threw away the key a while ago.”
23
Wyatt
As always when we ended a session, Chance smiled at each and every one of us. “I just want to say again that we’re so excited to have you back, Wyatt. And now I can’t wait to meet your cute little baby! Anyone who wants to stay for baby William’s meet and greet is welcome to join us for cake and coffee.”
The others stood, but no one headed for the door. I turned to Shane, sitting next to me. “That’s super exciting you get to see your kids this week, man.”
Shane had a generally happy and bubbly personality, but he had practically glowed all morning. “I almost can’t believe it’s actually happening. I don’t even know if Rita, she’s four now, will remember me.”
Geordie grabbed Shane’s shoulder reassuringly. “She’ll remember you, man. You give that baby girl a hug, and she’ll feel it. You carried her in your body. You’ve got a connection.”
Shane’s grin was shaky. “I sure hope so.”
“Dada!”
I turned to see a small redhead carry Bast into the room. The little boy leaned out of the young man’s arms, straining to reach Hunter.
“We’re here for the party, aren’t we, Sebastian?”
At the sight of his son, a rare smile brightened Hunter’s face. “How’s my boy doing today?”
The redhead handed Bast over and pulled a pack of wipes out of his pocket to clean a dab of food from the baby’s face. “Oh, he’s being his normal