“Play nice, Daddy.” I laugh and slap him on the ass before walking around him and out of the bedroom.
I slide my feet into some flip-flops and walk down to meet Dee in the foyer. She looks stunning in a long orange maxi dress that fits tight to her body.
“You suck, you skinny bitch,” I say and smile up at her. Of course she towers over me in her four-inch heels. I’m the midget around the giants. These days, the only thing that feels good is flip-flops.
“Whatever, Iz! You look beautiful! Doesn’t she, Axel?”
He snorts but keeps walking down the stairs.
“Where’s G?” I ask them. It’s debatable who was more excited about the baby when we told everyone, Dee or Greg.
We told everyone together when we had a small ‘family only’ party at the house to welcome Greg home. He had stayed in the hospital for almost two weeks after the shooting but was one hundred perfect healed now. When we told them, Dee broke down in tears, Maddox gave me a rare smile, Coop praised Axel on his super swimmers, and Beck offered a polite congratulations. Greg, however, had hollered his excitement and pulled me into a big hug, which earned a growl from Axel. Greg just laughed and hugged me tighter.
From that day on, he’s called daily and checked on my progress. He has bought baby books and is constantly filling us in on baby info. I knew he would be happy for us, but he is over-the-moon excited to become an uncle.
“He said he was running late. Something about an appointment and would meet us at the office,” Axel calls from the kitchen.
I look over at Dee and she just shrugs her shoulders.
I follow Axel’s voice and find him in the kitchen checking his emails on his phone. He looks up and I stop when I see the hunger in his eyes.
“Look good enough to eat, Princess. Can’t wait to get back here so I can drag you back to the bedroom. Need to be buried deep, baby.”
“Oh my god, Iz! That was seriously hot!” Dee says from behind me. I close my eyes and hear Axel let out a string of curses.
“How’s the house hunting going, Dee?” he asks, and I laugh at her puzzled expression.
“We love having you here, Dee, but have you thought about finding a place yet?”
She looks down and goes silent.
“Dee?” I prompt.
“I don’t know if I can do it yet,” she says after a few seconds of silence.
I give Axel a pointed stare, and he gets it. Dee’s been struggling since the Brandon scene. She has trouble feeling safe and usually sticks close to one of us. She has been working more and more at Axel’s desk in the home office than he is.
“Okay, Dee, we get it. Promise.”
She looks over at me with a frown, and I can see the fear in her eyes.
“Stay as long as you want.” Axel offers.
She nods her head and then leaves the room to grab her purse.
“You okay with that, Ax?” I know he is ready to have his house back, but he just gives me a nod with nothing but understanding swimming in his green eyes.
We leave the house a few minutes later and make the short drive into town to the ultrasound clinic. Axel holds my hand the whole way and a content smile plays at his lips. I smile over at him and thank my lucky stars that he is back in my life.
When we pull up in front of the office, I see Greg standing outside the doors with his phone to his ear. He looks up when he hears the rumble of Axel’s truck and quickly says his goodbyes. I look over at Axel, wondering if he caught the abrupt end to Greg’s call.
“Stay out of it, Izzy. He wants you to know, he will tell you, yeah?”
I grumble but stay quiet while he walks around the truck and opens my door before taking me gently around the hips and bringing me to my feet. I hear his moan when I brush against his cock.
“Do not get my dick hard right before I go see my baby,” he laughs but can’t disguise the strain in his voice.
“Later,” I promise and walk around him to give Greg a big hug. Dee hangs back but comes up to give Greg a hug, too.
“You ready, baby girl?” he asks with a smile.
“God, yes. Last-minute guess on your niece or nephew?”
He smiles and looks over my shoulder at Axel. “Boy, baby girl. That is definitely going to be a boy.”
“Why do all of you seem so sure it’s going to be a boy?”
They both laugh loudly, and Dee and I just look at each other with confused faces.
“Baby girl, look at him. There is no fucking way he made a girl. No way.” He is still laughing when we walk into the reception area and I sign in. I shoot him a few dirty looks before sitting down next to Axel and thumbing through a baby magazine.
We wait for about fifteen minutes before they call me back.
“Is it okay if my family comes back, too?” I ask the technician.