I sighed as I took one last look at my backyard. It butted up against Lake Washington, and there was a private dock, with a few feet of shoreline that created a shallow area for Gibson to play. But the favorite part of my backyard…there was no grass to mow. The entire space was one gargantuan tennis court. I didn’t even own a mower. Neither Anna nor I could play tennis for shit, but just the fact that my “grass” was artificial was amazing. You couldn’t find crap like that in the countryside. Kellan was missing out.

When we finally got to Kellan’s ostentatious security system, I let Kellan know that my family was with me. Maybe I should have asked if they could come, but asking permission wasn’t my style.

After ringing the Let me the fuck in buzzer, I said into the intercom box, “Hey, Kell…Anna and I are here, and uh…we’ve got two cars…’cause, you know, I have family visiting and they want to see your spread.” Leaning over the steering wheel, I added, “And just so you’re aware, if my dad has a heart attack climbing up your forty thousand steps, I’m totally suing you.”

“Always a pleasure, Griffin,” Kellan’s tinny voice responded.

I smiled up at the camera while the gate squeaked open, then I made an exaggerated waving motion with my hand so Dad would know to follow me. Our caravan wound its way up Kellan’s driveway. When we pulled to a stop at the bottom of the steep slope where Kellan’s palatial home rested, Liam oohed and aahed. You’d think he hadn’t been to my house at all by the way he acted. I mean, come on, my pool was indoors!

“Damn,” he muttered. “So this is what being the biggest rock star in the world gets you,” he muttered.

Removing my seat belt, I twisted in my seat to toss him a glare. “Second biggest, or equally big to me. We’re the same size, I mean.”

Liam’s lips curled up as an indecent thought snapped into his brain. “I’m sure you are,” he told me, amusement all over his face. “But did you measure, just to be sure?”

“Ha. Ha. Go for the penis joke, how original.”

Anna let out a soft laugh, and I turned my attention her way. She shook her head as her jade eyes locked on mine. “Nowhere near the same size. Kellan wishes,” she added with a wink.

“Damn straight,” I said, leaning in for a kiss. Her lips were so soft against mine it made me a little delirious. And she was sweet like strawberries and smelled like orange Creamsicle suntan lotion. It was a heady combination, and I considered handing Gibson to Liam and staying in the car with Anna so we could spend a little quality time together. It had been too long, nearly three whole days, and with her due date right around the corner, I knew it might be three more until she was comfortable enough to get horny. This last week and a half were going to be long for me as well as for her, just for different reasons.

As our kiss deepened, I heard Liam make a disgusted noise and open the car door. Gibson whined about wanting to see Ryder, so I sadly disengaged from my wife to take care of my daughter. Anna was breathing a little heavier when we separated, and I reconsidered my earlier assessment of her libido. I knew the gleam in her eye fairly well, and I was certain we’d be busting out the toys tonight. Maybe something pink, with a lovely hint of vibration to give my girl that oh-so-special release that she deserved. She was about to deliver my second child, after all.

“Ready?” she asked. My hands flew to my jeans and I started unfastening them. Shit, if she wanted to do it now, I was all in for that. Surely someone would remove Gibson for us. Laughing, Anna stopped my fumbling fingers. “No.” She nodded outside, to where my family was gathering and staring. “Ready to see the guys again?”

I sighed, remembering the last words I’d spoken to Kellan when we’d parted ways. Thanks for being a complete and total tool and yanking me around for the past few weeks. That was awesome. We should do it again sometime. Or never. We could try that.

Kellan had given me a Try to understand face. It wasn’t intentional. We just didn’t have time to properly plan anything. Next tour, okay?

I’d walked away without even dignifying that comment with a response. Next tour sounded an awfully lot like Tomorrow, Griffin, tomorrow. But the problem with tomorrow was that it never actually came to pass. There was always another one, waiting.

Shaking off my malaise, I gave Anna a bright smile. “I’m always ready. For anything.” Stepping out of the car, I walked to the back to unleash my child. Once she was wrapped around me tight, like a python crushing the life out of its prey, we headed up the numerous steps to Kellan’s front door.

Mom was huffing and puffing long before we reached the top. Maybe this would convince her to ease back on the cigs. “Wow…he needs an elevator,” she murmured. Having had the same thought more than once, I agreed with her.

When we got to the top, we were all grateful that the trek was over with. At least the trip back to the car wasn’t so bad. I set Gibson down while Mom rang the doorbell. I told Mom to just go inside, but she ignored me. Guess she figured she couldn’t be as informal as me, since she hadn’t met Kellan yet.

With a charming smile, Kellan opened the door and welcomed us all inside. I could tell right off the bat that Mom and Chelsey were a bit taken with Kellan’s looks. Their gazes flicked over his jaw, his hair, his “smoldering” eyes, and their smiles grew with each feature they studied. Whatever. He couldn’t rock a pair of shorts like I could. Dude had chicken legs. No one ever mentioned that about him, but it was true. His feet were tiny too, but that was to be expected since, well…everyone knew the answer to that.