“Is Wiener okay?”

“He’s anxious. He hasn’t stopped barking for the last hour. I wondered if maybe you could take him for a couple of days—just until we get things settled here with the baby? He loves Randy, and you, so…”

“Of course! We’d love to have him. When should I come get him? Like, now?”

“Whenever is fine. Oh! Hold on! Contraction.” Sunny makes a sound like she’s uncomfortable. It’s followed by some labored breathing. “It looks like they’re getting closer together. I should probably go. I’ll have Miller call as soon as the baby’s born if you don’t stop by to pick up Wiener before it happens!”

“Okay. Good luck!”

I hang up the phone and try to disengage myself from Randy, but he wraps himself around me and keeps on head-butting me in the vag.

“I need to get dressed. Miller and Sunny are having the baby!”

He lifts his head. His hair is a mess, and his beard is just as unruly. “Huh?”

“Sunny’s finally in labor.”

He blinks at me a few times. “No shit. Good thing he decided to come before the next away series.”

“I’m sure she’s relieved.”

Randy nods, still bleary-eyed and half asleep. “Oh, man. We do have a game tonight, though. I wonder if Miller’s gonna make it.”

“I can’t believe you’re worried about the game! You are such a boy!” I try to disentangle my legs from his arms, but he grabs me behind the knees and pulls me down so he can lie on top of me. He rubs his morning wood, which is confined by nothing, on my underwear-covered vagina.

“That probably feels more man than boy, don’t you think?”

“I don’t have time for sex, and you’re being an insensitive jerk, so even if I did have time, my vagina isn’t interested.”

Randy nuzzles my neck. “I’m kidding about the game, and you don’t need to rush. It’s not like you being there is going to make it happen any faster.”

“You’re just saying that so you can get inside the Vagina Emporium.”

“I think a trip to the Vagina Emporium is necessary on a day like today.”

“Oh? And why’s that?”

“Other than it being a game day, I feel it’s important for us to take advantage of the fact that we can have sex whenever we feel like it. Miller and Sunny definitely aren’t going to be able to do that for a long while.”

“So this is sympathy sex?”

“Exactly. Sympathy sex.” He uses the head of his cock to nudge my panties out of the way.

“You’re a real—”

“Shh.” Randy puts his finger against my lips, eyes wide and darting around the room. “Do you hear that?”

“What?” I listen, but I don’t hear a thing.

“You can’t hear it?”

“Hear what?”

He lowers his mouth to my ear. “It’s the sound of my cock calling for your pussy.”

I slap his ass when he laughs. Then we both groan, and I dig my fingernails into his ass cheeks as he sinks into me.

***

Forty-five minutes later we’re showered, dressed, and on the way to Miller and Sunny’s house. Randy brought the Polaroid camera—and a present he bought for the baby a while back but hasn’t shown me, because he didn’t trust me not to blab it to Sunny. I’d be offended, but if it’s cute, he has a point.

“Should we stop for coffee? Do you think Miller will want one?” Randy asks.

“I have no idea. We could get him one in case he does?”

We stop at Starbucks and get Sunny a ginger lemon ice tea, and I get myself a mint one. Randy orders coffee for himself and Miller. By the time we get to the house, it’s after eight-thirty. Randy texts Miller, and I go to the fence to say hi to the dogs, who are super excited to see us.

Randy doesn’t hear anything back after a few minutes, so we decide it’s best to take the dogs for a walk while we wait. I let Randy take Andy, because he weighs more than I do, and I take Titan and Wiener. He was supposed to be adopted by now, but it fell through. I’m not all that sad because he’s fantastic. We spend a good hour at the dog park a few blocks away, where they can roam around and sniff each other’s butts. Wiener stays pretty close, sitting on Randy’s foot half the time. Then he jumps up and puts his paws on Randy’s knee, like he’s looking to get on the bench with us. Randy picks him up, and he settles beside him, his little chin propped on Randy’s thigh.

“You are just the cutest!” I give his head a scratch. “And so are you.” I scratch under Randy’s beard and give him a quick kiss on the lips.

“I always wanted a dog as a kid,” he says.

“Why didn’t you get one?”

“Too many away games and competitions. We would’ve had to kennel a dog a lot when games were out of town. It wouldn’t have been fair.”

“I never had a dog, but Sunny always did, so it was kind of like they were mine, too.”

We get a group text on our way back to Miller and Sunny’s place:

Welcome Logan Waters Butterson, born at 8:44 am, October 13th, 8lbs 13oz.

The message is followed by a picture of Sunny holding the tiny little bundle.

The first person to reply is Violet.

Congratulations! My beaver is crying for your beaver.

A slew of new messages make our phones go off incessantly all the way back to their house. We put the dogs back in the yard and knock on the door. A rental car is parked out front, so I’m assuming Daisy’s here, and possibly Skye as well.

Miller lets us in, and Sunny’s lying on the couch, wrapped in her favorite blankets with a green bundle cradled in her arms. She’s beaming. She looks beautiful and tired. If there’s anyone who will be good at this mom thing, it’s Sunny. She’s so calm about life, and about how things work out even when they’re unexpected.

I hug Miller, whose smile mirrors Sunny’s, and then go meet my new surrogate nephew. He’s a tiny miracle. Randy checks the little guy out and gives Sunny the small gift bag he had professionally wrapped.

“Do you want to hold him while I open it,” she asks.

“What? Uh, no!” Randy holds his hands up like he’s being robbed at gunpoint with a nuclear weapon. “I mean, Lily will probably want to hold him. He’s like, brand new. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”