“I don’t think I’ll be able to come over tonight. SKW called me this morning and asked if I could run to Cray Bay for a photo shoot at six.”
Well, that sucked. Cray Bay was over two hours away. “Oh, well. I would have told you tomorrow then.”
“You plan on telling Mary and Dale tomorrow?”
I nodded. “Yup. I know since Sam knows it’s not going to stay a secret for long. He ran into daycare today telling everyone he was going to be a big brother.”
Roman chuckled and rubbed his nose against my cheek. “That makes me happy he’s excited, baby.”
“I think Sam is more excited you’re the dad than about the fact he's getting a brother or sister.”
“Totally a brother,” he whispered.
I sighed. “Or sister. I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”
“Tell you what, baby. As long as the baby is healthy, I don’t care what it is.”
“And what if it isn’t healthy?” I asked quietly. The fear I had now was the same I had with Sam. No one was ever guaranteed a healthy baby.
“Then we’ll figure that out then if it happens.”
“I’m scared.” Tears clogged my eyes, and I buried my head in his neck.
“Jesus, Sage,” he whispered. He wrapped his arms around me and rubbed his hands up and down my back. “What’s going on, baby? What brought this on?”
I leaned back. “I’m pregnant.”
“I know.”
“I have absolutely no control over my emotions. This baby has got me all out of whack. When I’m normally sassy and mouthy, I cry and just want to eat a pint of ice cream.” Where I thought I knew exactly how my body was going to react to me being pregnant, because, hello, I’d totally done this before, I was wrong. I was a walking, talking jack in the box of emotions. I had no idea what was going to set me off and how I was going to react.
I was a mess.
“What can I do to make it better?” he asked.
“Just hold me. In about five minutes, I’ll be back to normal.” Up until now, I had been able to hide my funky mood swings from him, but it was like a switch had been flipped, and there was no way for me to turn it off.
“Oh Jesus, there’s no crying on the mats.”
I peeked over behind me and saw Kellan with his arm around Molly on the edge of the mats.
Molly slugged him in the gut, and he doubled over. “Jesus Christ, woman,” he wheezed.
“Serves you right,” Roman growled.
Kellan pointed his finger at Roman. “You’re supposed to be on my side with this.”
Tate walked out of the office with a half-eaten sandwich in his hand. “What’s this I hear? Has Roman Fucking Yeck succumbed to the almighty power of the pussy?”
Molly crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”
Tate stood next to her and looked her up and down. “Hey, you’re the original homewrecker.”
“Homewrecker?” she scoffed.
Kellan stood up and shot a glare at Tate. “I think you got the wrong word there, brother.”
“No, I think I got the right one. A homewrecker wrecks a happy home. She’s the one who busted up the four amigos. Not that I mind it since I’ve got Hadley warming my bed, but she’s the domino that started the fall of us all.”
Molly pulled her phone out and took a picture of Tate.
“What the hell did you do that for, woman?” he demanded.
“Just taking the last photo of you before you go missing after I tell Hadley what you just said. I got your good side so it’ll look really nice on those telephone poles and milk cartons.” She shoved her phone back into her pocket and flounced back to the office.
“She’s not really going to tell Hadley what I just said, is she?” he asked Kellan.
Kellan clapped him on the shoulder and shook his head. “You’re screwed. You just called my girlfriend a homewrecker. Not only do I get to punch you, but she also is going to tell your girlfriend what a dumbass you are.”
Kellan followed Molly, with Tate trailing behind him, begging for mercy.
“Well, that was a good distraction,” Roman chuckled.
I wiped my cheeks and smiled. “Yup. Totally not crying anymore. Although I’m feeling a little stabby on Molly’s behalf.”
“Now stabby, I can deal with. The crying throws me for a loop.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You seem to handle it well.”
“Well, it’s either hold you until you cry, or throw chocolate at you.”
“Holding me is much better,” I laughed.
He rested his forehead against mine and sighed. “You gonna be okay tonight? I think Sam has gotten used to me being around.”
“I’ll just throw some chocolate at him to distract him.”
Roman’s body shook as a chuckled rumbled from his lips. “That only works for crying.”
“Oh darn.”
“I’m not gonna see you until tomorrow afternoon. You nervous about telling Mary and Dale about the baby? I could come with you if you want.”
I cupped his cheek and shook my head. “I really don’t know how they are going to react. Mary still has bad days with losing Jack. I don’t know how they are going to feel about you.”
He scoffed and pressed a kiss to my lips. “People love me, baby. I’d charm their socks off.”
“Well, maybe another time you can meet them. I think tomorrow I just need to go.”
“I’ll be just a phone call away if you need me.”
“I’ll remember that, ninja.”
“Never forget it.”
It was going to be damn hard to.
*
Chapter 14
Roman
“Have you heard from her?”
I checked my phone and shook my head. “Not since this morning.” It was quarter to four, and Sage still wasn’t at Kellan’s house. I had messaged her directions this morning, and she had promised she would be here before dinner.
Molly had just called everyone up from the basement where we had been playing foosball, and we were just waiting on Sage.
“I’m sure she is on the way.”
I looked over my shoulder at Hadley and smiled. I hoped to God she was. I had tried calling her numerous times, and I never heard from her.
“She still has fifteen minutes ‘til we eat. Don’t start freaking out yet.”
Dante growled at Molly and picked up his knife and fork. He was sitting at the table, his napkin in his lap, and his hands in fists on the table with the knife and fork in each hand. “The woman terrorizes me about my cookies, and now she is holding up my turkey day.”
“Easy, grandpa,” Kennedy scolded. “I fed you before we came over, so don’t act like you’re starving.”
“That was three hours ago.”
Kennedy sighed and dropped into her chair next to him. “I swear to God, I have to start packing treat bags for you.”
Dante nodded. “Best idea I’ve heard all day.”
“She’s here!” Molly called from the window. “I’ll grab the turkey.”
“Hallelujah,” Dante grumbled.
Hadley smacked his head as she walked by. “Oh no, I’m so sorry, Dante. Although, maybe I smacked some sense into you.”
Kennedy giggled, and Dante pointed his fork at Hadley. “Easy, woman.”
It was like a three-ring circus around here. I snuck a glance out the window and saw Sage and Sam jogging up the front walk. I swung the door open, and Sam jumped into my arms.
“Ro!” he cheered.
I swung him around and ruffled his hair before I set him down. “Go wash up, and let’s eat, little dude.” Hadley held her hand out to him, and she dragged him down the hallway to the bathroom.
“Lord, I wish I could drink.” Sage shut the door behind her and leaned against it.
“You okay? I called you a few times.”
She blew her hair out of her face. “The hospital
has horrible reception.”
I took a step closer and grabbed a hand. “Hospital? Are you okay?”
She nodded her head. “I’m peachy. Hungry, but physically okay.”
“Then what in the hell were you doing at the hospital?”
She sighed and shook her head. “Mary thought she had a heart attack. I told her about the baby, and she almost passed out. Then she started fanning herself and saying her chest was tight and she couldn’t breathe.”
“Holy s-h-i-t. Is she okay?”
She waved her hand and rolled her eyes. “Mary is healthy as a horse. She just had a panic attack.”
“Say what?”
Sage closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around my waist. “Yup. It’s safe to say she did not take the news of me being pregnant very well.”
“Well, you were afraid they weren’t going to take it well. Although, I have to say, I did not expect it to put her in the hospital.”
She rested her head on my shoulder. “I honestly can’t think about it anymore. She’s going to have to deal with it. I’m having a baby, and her not liking it isn’t going to stop it.”
I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed her back. “Did you get anything to eat?”
She shook her head. “I took Sam to the hospital cafeteria where he had cereal, but I couldn’t find anything that didn’t make me want to puke.”
I looked down at her. “That’s a new one.” Sage hadn’t had any nausea since she got pregnant.
“Yeah, tell me about it. It was not pleasant at all. I’m starving, but nothing looked good.”
“Well, I think we need to get some food in you then, Mrs. Wick. You’ve got a little baby to keep cooking in your belly.”
“Baby and I are ready for turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. I daydreamed about it the whole drive over here.”
“Come eat!” Molly called.
“It sounds like you came to the right place, baby.”
I slipped her coat off and tossed it on the back of Kellan’s expensive ass couch. She grabbed my hand and laced her fingers through mine. “I missed you,” she whispered.
It had been only twenty-four hours since we had seen each other, but it had felt like twenty-four years. I pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I missed you more.” Yup, I was totally going to be that sappy guy when it came to Sage. It never felt like I was missing something, but now that I had her and Sam, I was whole.
She pressed her body to mine, and for the first time, I felt her stomach against me.
My hand cupped her belly, and I looked down at us. “I don’t see you for twenty-four hours, and this happens.”
A laugh bubbled from her lips. “Yeah, I noticed in the shower this morning. It’s still tiny, but it’s there.”
“Would you two grope each other later and get your asses in here so we can eat?” Dante shouted.
“Asses!”
Sage’s jaw dropped, and she tried not to laugh. She was right when she had told me Sam repeated what he heard.
“Get your asses in here!”
Oh, dear God, Sage was going to kill Dante.
“Hey, Sam, knock it off, brother. You’re gonna get me in trouble.”
I rubbed Sage’s shoulder and pulled her close. “Breath, baby. I’ll beat the shit out of him when I train with him tomorrow.”
“Promise?” she said through clenched teeth.
I kissed her ‘til she relaxed into my arms and hopefully forgot Dante had just taught Sam his first cuss word.
“That was a nice distraction, but I still want to stab Dante with a butter knife.”
“Hey, I heard that,” he hollered back.
“I’ll make it up to you tonight.”
“Promises, promises, Mr. Yeck,” she sang. She pulled out of my arms and laced her fingers through mine. “Now feed me so we can go home, and you can start fulfilling some of those promises.”
Now that was a plan I could get behind.
*
Chapter 15
Roman
“It’s perfect.”
I tilted my head to the side and tried to see what Sage saw. “It’s lopsided.”
She scoffed. “No, it’s not. Stop tilting your head that way. It’s crooked because your head is crooked.”
“Momma, Ro! I want this one!”
Sage and I turned around to see Sam pointing at a perfect tree. If Sage’s living room was twice the size, and she had twenty-foot ceilings.
“Um, that’s a pretty tree, honey, but I don’t think that will fit in our house unless we blow the roof off and break down the wall,” Sage laughed.
“Then we need a bigger house.” Sam’s head was tilted back, taking in the pretty tree with his hands on his hips. “Next year, we’ll get you, big guy.”
“Did he just talk to the tree?” Sage whispered.
I put my arm around her waist and pulled her to my side. “Pretty sure he did, but I have to admit, your kid has good taste in trees.”
“Roman,” she hissed. “Don’t encourage him. There is no way in this lifetime I’ll be able to afford a house big enough for that tree.”
I sized up the tree. “Next tree, we will totally get that one, little dude.” I pressed a kiss to Sage’s cheek and called Sam over to help me look for a different tree.
“Don’t get his hopes up, Roman,” she whispered.
I threw a wink at her over my shoulder and grabbed Sam’s hand. “I’d never do that, baby.”
This time next year, Sage, Sam, the baby, and I would definitely be living in a bigger house.
That was a f-u-c-k-i-n-g promise.
*
Sage
I was beyond exhausted. Not only had Sam, Roman, and I picked out, bought, hauled, and put up the Christmas tree, we had also Black Friday shopped before.
Sam and Roman were camped out on the couch with hot chocolate while watching Scooby Doo.
In usual fashion, I was obsessing over the ornaments on the tree, trying to get them just right.
“Woman, would you just leave it alone and come sit down. I can tell you’re tired.”
I glared at Roman over my shoulder and gently placed the small green ornament on the branch. “There,” I sang. “It’s perfect now.”
“Yeah, perfect until five minutes from now you start obsessing again.”
No, I was done. All the important ornaments were front and center. Hung perfectly where anyone could see them. Christmas was my favorite time of year, and then the day after Thanksgiving was always magical to me.
I put my hands on my hips and smiled at our hard work. “Tomorrow, I’ll haul out the manger and other decorations.”
“Momma says the little baby in the hay looked just like me when I was born,” Sam bragged.
“What? No. I bet you were even cuter when you were born.” Roman ruffled his hair and tossed the remote on the coffee table.
“You just told him he was cuter than Jesus.”
Roman shrugged and stood up, grabbing the empty cups of cocoa. “Like you aren’t thinking the same thing.”
I was, but I didn’t want Sam to know that. He spouted out things all the time, and I didn’t need one of them to be he was cuter than Jesus.
“Can we have pizza for dinner?”
I looked at the time, seeing it was already past six. “Sounds like a plan to me.” Anything to get me out of cooking tonight sounded like a good idea. “Good with you?” I asked Roman.
“Anchovy pizza sounds delicious.”
Sam gagged and tossed a pillow at Roman. “That’s gross.”
I had to agree, that didn’t sound appealing at all.
“Fine, fine,” Roman pouted. “We can do sausage and anchovy.”
“Or, you can get your anchovy pizza and eat it in the hallway,” I laughed.
Roman dumped the cups in the sink and held a hand to his heart. “Man, kicked out just because I love the little fishes.”
“I really hope you are joking,” I laug
hed.
“One must never joke about anchovies.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and scrolled to Luigi's number. “Well, I can tell you right now, you better keep your anchovy breath away from me, unless you want to see my sausage and pepperoni pizza come back up.”
Roman winced. “Fine, fine. I guess I’ll just have whatever you boring guys are having.”
“Sausage and pepperoni for the win!” Sam shouted.
“I knew you would see it our way.”
“Hey, Ro?”
Roman leaned against the counter and crossed his feet. “What’s up, little dude?”
“You wanna play Sensei Says while we wait for the pizza?”
“I think that sounds like a darn good idea. We can play in your room while momma orders the pizza.”
Sam pumped his fist in the air and charged down the hallway to his room.
“You’re too good to him,” I mumbled as he walked by.
He trailed his hand around my waist and pulled me to his side. “He deserves it.”
“Hmm, I don’t know if you’ll be saying that when he’s constantly bugging you to play, Sensei Says.”
He shrugged and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “He’ll grow out of it. Maybe I’ll get him an Xbox for Christmas. I could totally play that for hours with him.”
“You get him that, then you’re going to have to get me earplugs, an e-reader, and a shit ton of bubble bath so I can relax peacefully in the tub while you two play games all night.”
“That is so doable.”
“Wait, what?” Shit, I was only joking. “Roman,” I called to his retreating back. “He’s too young for an Xbox.”
He put his hands in the air. “I’m just gonna do what you told me to do. Xbox, bath shit, and an e-reader. It’s all up here.” He put a finger to his head and disappeared into Sam’s room.
I plopped down in the recliner and hung my head. What on Earth had I just done? “What if I order you an anchovy pizza? Will you forget everything I just said?”
“Not a chance in h-e-l-l, baby.”
“F-u-c-k,” I whispered.
“Heard that!” Roman hollered.
I stuck my tongue out toward Sam’s room and connected the call to Luigi's.
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