Two Men and a Baby - Isla Olsen Page 0,41

they all swarm around trying to get a glimpse of Chase. Aileen is the most determined, of course; she might be tiny in stature but she’s big in presence, and her children all know not to cross her.

“Oh, he’s a Kelly alright,” she says as she unfastens Chase from his stroller and hauls him into her arms. “Look at those eyes. Exactly like his da. You get those from my mam, you know, Connor. You too, Liam.”

“Yeah, mom, we know,” Connor says in the kind of tone that makes it clear he’s heard that fact at least a million times.

“Now, tell me, little one,” Aileen coos at Chase, “do you like pears? We have lots of pears in this house. And apples, too.” She wanders off toward the kitchen, presumably to find the pears.

“You realize you’re not going to see your kid again for the rest of the day,” Bridie says with an amused smile.

“As long as he doesn’t get broken,” Connor says wearily. “I need to give him back to his mom at some point.”

We manage to make it through the next half hour or so relatively unscathed, with everyone more focused on the baby than on me and Connor as a couple, but of course that was never going to last long. Not at a Kelly fuction.

“So, how did this happen exactly?” Alannah asks, gesturing back and forth between Connor and me.

“I wooed him with my roguish charm,” Connor says, taking my hand in his.

“That’s pretty much the crux of it—three months of relentless harrassment and then I finally gave in when I saw him with his shirt off.”

There’s a bubble of laughter from the gathered Kellys, but then Connor contradicts me, “Uh uh—you officially gave in when you heard me singing.”

“Ah that’s true. I forgot about that.”

“How could you forget? It was a defining moment in our relationship. And it was less than a week ago.”

I lean over so I can speak quietly in Connor’s ear. “Well, I kind of had my memory erased that night…if you recall?”

His eyes seem to glaze over and I have no doubt he’s recalling the epic blowjob and the even more epic way he fucked me against my apartment door after our first date last Sunday night.

“So, Josh,” Brendan says with a smirk, “am I to take it you have some kind of bingo card with all our names on it?”

“Well, if I did it wouldn’t have your name on it,” I fire back, earning a round of chuckles and an annoyed look from Brendan.

With his hands on his hips, he turns to glance at his boyfriend, Wade, as though appealling for his help.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Wade asks him.

Brendan throws his hands in the air in obvious frustration. “Hello! You’re my boyfriend, you’re supposed to be defending my honor!”

Wade’s brows shoot up, his lips twitching in clear amusement. “Um, okay…” Turning to me, he says, “Josh, how dare you leave Brendan off your hypothetical bingo card!”

I hold my hands up in surrender, barely able to contain my grin. “I hypothetically apologize.”

Wade nods. “I hypothetically accept.”

“Pitiful,” Brendan says with a disappointed shake of his head.

“BeeBee!” Wade’s five-year-old, Baxter, calls as he rushes up and wraps his arms around Brendan’s legs.

“Well, at least someone appreciates me,” Brendan says. Smiling affectionately down at Baxter, he asks, “What’s up, buddy?”

“I needa do a poop. Can you come wipe my bottom?”

Connor

“I told you there was nothing to worry about,” I say to Josh as we’re making our way back to the city after leaving my parents’ place. True, my siblings definitely managed to get some good jokes in, but it’s clear they’re also all really happy for us. “My family loves you.”

Josh lets out a soft chuckle. “I had plenty to be worried about. But you’re right, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”

Chase starts fussing in his stroller so I decide to get him out so he can sit in my lap. We still have a good half hour left on the subway before we get to my place and I’d prefer for him to not be crying the whole time.

“Poor little guy—must be exhausted,” Josh says, looking at Chase with the kind of affection that makes my heart swell up.

“Hopefully it means he’ll sleep well,” I say. “Laura told me sometimes when he’s really tired he doesn’t want to sleep.”

Josh nods. “Yeah, that can happen. Especially when they’ve been overstimulated.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “Great. Maybe