Hudson’s warm hand landed at the small of my back and he leaned in. “I’d offer to put sunblock on for you, but I’d rather not walk around with my dick hard in front of everyone. I’m already making mental lists of power tools to think about, knowing you’ll be at arm’s reach and half naked all day.”
I smiled up at him and gazed into his eyes, shining as blue as the water only feet away. “If you and your big dick are looking for sympathy, you’ve come to the wrong place.”
His voice grew even lower, and I bit my lip as he replied, “Me and my big dick don’t need any sympathy, babe. We just need you.”
How did he do that? Make me forget everyone else was even there. Make me feel like the only person for miles.
Well, until my mom broke me out of my Hudson daze.
“Alexis, come show your dad pictures of the cat house. I’ve been telling him all about it.”
Begrudgingly, I left Hudson, took my phone over to where all the old folks were gathered, including Mark, and told them all about it while averting my eyes from the sight of Hudson stripping down to his trunks and diving into the deep end like something straight out of a wet dream.
Other than my brother making a comment about us when we arrived, shockingly no one else seemed to be fazed by us. Of course, Hudson and I were on our best behavior and kept our hands and wandering eyes mostly to ourselves. Then again, he did swat my ass again as I got out of the pool in front of him when Vanessa called everyone out when the food was ready. And as we ate, Hudson squeezed my leg nothing short of ten times under the table.
When the meal was finished, my brother and his wife shared a glance that sent up red flags all over the place. Standing, he lifted his drink into the air.
“Thank you all for coming today to help us open the pool officially, and even though I fought Hudson every step of the way, we’re really pumped to share more summer days like this with all of you. Our family. And in a few months, when our family grows, there will just be more of us to enjoy.”
My gaze landed on Vanessa and I couldn’t deny the pure joy on her face as Cal leaned over and placed a kiss on her head and a hand on her stomach.
“Does that mean…” My dad began to ask and then trailed off.
“We’re expecting!” Vanessa exclaimed.
Suddenly, almost everyone rose to hug the couple and congratulate them.
“It’s about time!” Jack shouted from his chair, obviously not understanding exactly how babies worked. “I’ll finally have a cousin to play with.”
I didn’t even let my mind wander to the place it usually did around the subjects of marriage and babies. This was Cal and Vanessa’s moment and I was happy for all of us. When the moms and dads had finally made their way back to their seats to look at the ultrasound pictures Vanessa snuck out from under her plate, I leaned over and threw an arm around Cal’s neck.
“Congratulations, big brother,” I said, giving him my biggest shit-eating grin. “If it’s a girl, I expect her to be named Alexis.”
“No,” he replied.
“I like the name Hudson for a boy,” the man at my other side suggested.
“No,” he said again, shutting us both down. “I’m not sure I like you two teaming up. You’re bad enough on your own.”
Hudson pulled me out of my chair and propped me on his lap. “Well, get used to it.” He smiled up at me and my heart melted when I saw how truly happy Hudson was.
I couldn’t resist planting a kiss on him right there.
“David, all our babies are happy. Look,” my mom said, fawning from down the table. “Lauren is getting married. We’re getting another grandbaby. And Hudson is taking Lex off our hands.”
I shot her a playful glare over Hudson’s broad shoulder, loving when she showed her facetious side. “That’ll be enough out of you, Judith.”
But she was right. We were all getting what we really wanted.
The next month or so felt like a movie. The Plush Pet website was almost finished, and James, my business partner, was churning out overhead like crazy. Maggie and Shane were so supportive and helped me pro-bono with marketing and advertising. I’d even lined