“Uncle Nico,” July says as soon as she sees him walking into the room carrying a box, “Aunt Sophie said we can have a sleepover.”

“Did she?” he asks, smiling at her. I bite back my smile when his eyes come to me and narrow slightly.

“She did.”

“After the babies are born, we will talk about it,” he tells her, carrying the box somewhere into the house and getting out of Dodge.

“Where are your sisters, honey?” I ask her before trying to stand.

“Outside with the other kids.”

“All right. You go get them and bring them in here. When all of you wash your hands, we can get you guys some juice for when the pizza gets here,” I tell July, and she runs off. “I’m gonna go check on Nico,” I say, looking at Maggie, who is lying on the couch with her eyes closed.

“Sure, whatever. Leave me to my dirty fantasies about your husband.”

“Whatever you say.” I laugh, leaving the room. When I get to the office, Nico’s there with his back to me, putting something up on one of the shelves built into the walls.

“We are not having a sleepover,” he says without even turning around.

“I agree—no sleepovers.” I walk behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist, laying my head against his back.

“I set up the bed in our room. Why don’t you go lay down for a while?”

“I’m not tired.”

I look over his shoulder to see what he’s putting on the shelf and see the picture of us on our wedding day. We’re both in profile. I’m in my dress, standing in front of him in his suit. My head’s bending forward, my forehead pressed to his chest, his lips on the back of my head. Both of us have our hands on my belly. Every time I look at that picture, all I remember is how loved I felt right then. We had just walked down the aisle after saying our ‘I do’s.’ Through the whole ceremony, the babies had been going crazy, so I’d stopped Nico at the end of the aisle and pulled his hands forward, splaying them on my belly. He had said something sweet, making me lean into him, and I could feel his mouth on the back of my head where he kissed me.

With the way the picture was taken, you can’t really make out our features, but out of all of our wedding pictures, it’s my favorite. I never would have thought I’d want a big wedding, but the minute I saw my wedding dress through the shop’s window, I knew I needed to have one so I could wear that dress; it would have been a sin to waste it on a courthouse wedding. The dress was white—so white that, if you looked at it in the sun, you might go blind. The top had slim sleeves that hung off my shoulders, and the waist was taken in with a simple white ribbon tied under my breasts, showing off my baby bump. It was perfect.

After I found that dress, everything else fell into place. All the Mayson women were more than happy to help plan everything. We decided to have the wedding in November and Asher’s backyard. The boys built a bridge over the pool with a perfectly placed altar in the middle, and the colors were pale yellow and cream. Nothing was like anything we’d planned all those months before while we’d lain in bed. We had over a hundred guests, most of them I didn’t know, but all of those people there to see Nico and me get married, and that made it that much more perfect. We had a huge three-course dinner and a six-tier cake for dessert. That night, I learned that my new husband loved to dance. Every chance he got, he dragged me out onto the dance floor to hold me close through every slow song.

“Baby, you really need to rest. It’s not good for you to be on your feet for so long,” Nico says, bringing me back to the present.

“I’ve been resting all day,” I tell him as he turns around to face me.

“You’re so damn stubborn.” He shakes his head but looks at me lovingly.

“You’re not?” I smile, looking up into his eyes. “July said you ordered pizza?”

“I did. Devon went to pick it up.” His hands hold my face and he kisses me.

“I’m starving,” I say against his lips.

“You should have eaten earlier,” he scolds, running his fingers through my hair.

“I did, but I want to eat again. I always want to eat,” I tell him. He knows this because he does at least one late-night grocery run every week.

“My boys are going to be strong.”

“I’m not even going to argue with you. As you know, they could be girls. Two girls,” I taunt him.

“You’re only allowed to give me one girl.”

“Really? You’re going to allow me to give you one girl?”

“Yep. Just one,” he says, smiling.

“All right, but don’t come crying to me if these are both girls,” I say with a smirk and rub my belly.

“If you’re all healthy at the end of the day, I don’t really care what they are,” he confesses softly.

“Good answer.” I go up on my tiptoes while pulling his mouth down for a kiss.

“Ewww! Gross,” I hear from behind me. I turn my head to see Jax looking at us. “Pizza’s here,” he says before running off. I giggle, turning back to face Nico.

“He can’t wait until Cobi gets big. He hates being the only boy old enough to voice his opinion on how gross girls are,” Nico says.

“I can’t wait to remind him about how gross girls are in about fifteen years.”

“You and me both. Now, do I need to give you something to help you sleep?”

“What do you have in mind?” I question innocently, getting as close as my belly will allow.

“When is everyone leaving?” he growls, nipping my neck.

“I don’t know. How much longer until we’re all moved?” I tilt my head while grabbing a handful of his hair.

“We have one more load.” He licks up my neck, kissing below my ear. “I need everyone gone so I can be inside you.”

It still surprises me that he wants me as much as he does, even with how pregnant I am. He never makes me feel like I’m unattractive; if anything, I feel like he wants me even more.

“I need you,” I moan, shoving my face into his chest, my hands fisting his shirt.

His hands go to mine, pulling them away before leaving me standing there, watching as he walks to the door. Then he shuts and locks it before coming back to me and helping me up on the desk. When he’s done with me, I’m starving and ready for a nap.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I look at the giant dog Nico just brought home.

Daisy’s excited about him, and he seems like he’s tolerating Daisy, but I’m not so sure. He’s huge; his head comes up to my waist when he’s on all fours. I have never been afraid of dogs, but he puts some fear in me.

“Danes are good dogs. They’re loyal and very smart,” he says from where he sits on the couch.

“Where did you even get him from?” I back up when the dog starts to come towards me.

“Baby, do you honestly think I would ever bring a dog into our home if I didn’t know for certain you and our babies would be safe with him around?” Nico asks, watching me and the dog closely.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you… It’s just… He’s so big that my head can fit in his mouth. Daisy can fit in his mouth! I love Daisy. I don’t want to look for her one day then a couple hours later have him go outside to do his business and his business is a ball of fur that was once my Daisy.”

He laughs, and the dog takes another step towards me, forcing me to take another step back. “Baby, he isn’t going to eat Daisy. He doesn’t even notice her.”

“You say that now, but what happens when we’re not home and they’re alone together?” I ask, watching as Daisy runs in and out from between the big dog’s legs then jumps up and down, trying to get him to play with her. “Okay, so maybe they’ll be okay, but I just don’t know.”

“Come here, Sophie.” Nico holds out his hand in my direction. I scoot around the dog before taking his hand so he can pull me onto his lap.

“I think I’m getting too big to sit on your lap,” I tell him.

“Never.” He kisses the side of my head. “Now come here, Goose.”

“Goose?” I repeat quietly, watching the dog come towards us. “What kind of name is Goose?”

“Goose is his name because he’s as white as a goose.”

He is white—pure white, with one black ear, a pink nose, and blue eyes. Nico holds my hand out for him to smell. I have been around Asher and November’s Beast a few times. He’s a nice dog, great with all the kids, and very protective. He’s just so big. I always try to avoid him.

“Relax, babe. He’s a good dog.”

I un-ball my fist, cautiously holding my hand out to him. His cold, wet nose touches my palm, and then his tongue runs over my skin. Daisy jumps on the couch so she can get closer to Goose, and once she’s in front of him, she starts licking his face and barking, trying jump on him. He pushes her out of the way with his head, forcing her to the side so he can lay his head on my lap. His nose goes to my stomach, and I wonder if he smells the babies. Daisy’s still going crazy trying to get his attention, but he just ignores her, pressing himself even closer to me so I’ll pet him.

“The best part is he’s already house broken, and he’s full grown.”

“Where did he come from?” I ask, starting to relax and enjoy the comforting feeling of his big, warm head against me.

“A friend of mine who’s in the military is getting ready to go overseas and can’t take him with him.”

“So we’re going to have to give him back in a couple years?” I wonder out loud, not liking the idea of getting attached to him and then having him taken away in a few years when his owner comes back.

“No, babe. He’s ours permanently,” Nico assures me.

I laugh as he rubs his big head against my stomach, wanting me to pay attention to him. “Okay, so he’s kinda cute,” I finally agree.

“He’s well trained. That’s what’s important.”

“You’re not still worried, are you?” I ask. Since moving, I never even think about what happened at my old house.

“I will be worried until we find out who the person behind what happened to you is.”

“Nothing has happened in forever. Maybe what happened before was a complete coincidence.” I shrug my shoulders, the movement making Goose look up at me with big puppy-dog eyes.

“Maybe, maybe not, I’m not willing to take that chance.”

“So I guess we just got a new dog.” I sigh, finally placing my hands on each side of the giant head nuzzling my belly and stroking his short but surprisingly soft fur.

“Glad you’re seeing things my way.” He smirks.

“I love when you ask me how I feel about something, knowing you’re just going to do whatever you want anyways.” I scratch behind Goose’s ears and giggle when one of his back legs starts to shake.

“When it comes to your safety, I will do what’s necessary.” He kisses the side of my neck, and Daisy decides to jump up on the back of the couch, where she can prop her front paws on Nico’s shoulder and lick both of our faces.

My hormones take over for a moment and my heart swells. “Two fur-babies before our two real babies get here. It’s gonna be a full house.”

I sit down in the glider that was just delivered for the babies’ room and tap my pen on the paper in my lap. I need to reply to my dad’s letter. I’ve been putting it off for a long time, trying to figure out what I want to say, what I really want our relationship to be like, or if I even want a relationship with him at all. The closer my due date gets, the more I think about my babies having their grandfather—not just Nico’s dad, but my dad as well—at least in some capacity. I know it’s what my mother would have wanted. I look down at the paper again, wondering how to even start the letter off. Do I write Dear Dad, or do I write his name? Why does this have to be so difficult?

“Whatcha doing in here?” I look up when I hear Nico’s voice.

“Sorry?” I ask him, lost in the way he looks. His torso is covered in sweat, his tattoos even more pronounced from the sun shining into the room, his body looking bigger than it used to for some reason.

“What are you doing, baby?” he repeats.

“Trying to write my dad,” I mumble out, my eyes locked on the V of his hips. “Did you have a good workout?” I look up when I hear him laugh. “What’s funny?”

“Baby, the look on your face makes me think you didn’t get enough this morning.”

“Sorry.” I smile. I’m not really sorry; my hormones are insane. I want him all the time, but the part that sucks is that we are forced to only use a couple of different positions with how large I have gotten.

“Don’t be sorry. Come shower with me.” He bends over me, his body caging me in with an arm on each side of the chair.

“I really need to write him. I keep putting it off.”

“You can write when you’re ready.”

“I have been ready. I just don’t know what to say. I don’t even know how to address the letter. I mean, do I say, ‘Dear Dad,’ or something else?” I sigh, leaning my head back against the chair.

“What do you feel like addressing him as?”

“Dad… I don’t know.” I close my eyes and then open them when his lips touch my forehead. “He’s my dad, even if he didn’t act like one, but after everything that’s happened…I just don’t know.”