Hold On

Frankie was one of those bitches who had the ultimate power—she could look all class showing skin, and for her, the tighter the dress, the higher the heel, the better.

She obviously didn’t change when she was pregnant. Great figure, big, beautiful belly, all encased in a long-sleeved, skintight dress that showed cleavage and had a skirt that hit her three inches up from her knees. And on her feet, six-inch platform stilettos.

She looked amazing.

We hugged.

“Cher hugging. Already, gettin’ laid regular is makin’ her a girl,” Colt remarked.

I let Frankie go and turned on Colt.

“I hug bitches I haven’t seen in months. Get over it.” I gave both Benny and Frankie a look. “And you guys have shit timing. Ethan’s birthday party isn’t until next weekend.”

“We know,” Frankie said. “We brought him a present. But I’ve still got that work thing I told you about happening next weekend, so we had to come down and celebrate Vi and Cal’s news this weekend. And anyway, we had to come to cut the crazy since Vinnie and Theresa are here too. The good news with that is that they’re lookin’ after the kids. A night out with my man, reconnecting with our posse in the ’burg, there is no bad news.”

Vinnie and Theresa were Benny’s parents. The whole family was Italian (or, in Frankie’s case, her being a mutt, only the dominant parts of her were Italian), so they could find a reason to celebrate the sun rising.

Even so, Vi was my girl and I had no idea what news they were celebrating.

But I could guess.

I looked her way and guessed.

“Are you knocked up again?”

Vi smiled and shrugged.

I did not give her shit for not telling me. I understood she was giving me time with Merry.

And anyway, this wasn’t big news. The bitch was always pregnant.

I looked to Cal. “Jesus. How many do you need?”

“One more after this,” he stated.

“No more after this,” Vi snapped.

Cal looked to his woman and grinned.

Vi looked to the ceiling.

Merry had told me his sister was also pregnant.

It was like it was contagious.

I turned my attention to Dusty. “You knocked up?”

“Not yet,” she said.

They were trying.

I figured Mike had the mojo the rest of them had, which meant he only had to look at his woman, think dirty thoughts, and she’d be carrying his kid. Thus, I figured that joyous news would be celebrated next week.

I looked to Feb.

“I love my little Jack, but I got a four-year-old, a dog, a cat, a bar, and an alpha male on my hands. I think I’m good,” she decreed.

My eyes went to Dee.

“I got two and Morrie, which makes it like I actually have five. I’m definitely good,” she shared.

“When are you and Merry gonna start?” Colt asked.

“Kiss my ass,” I said as answer.

I got girl smiles and man chuckles to that.

Whatever.

“A brother can be in a nursing home and make babies. Not you, sister, so you best be gettin’ the lead out.”

This advice came from Ryker.

I turned my attention to him.

Everyone went silent.

That meant everyone knew about Ryker’s matchmaking too.

I said nothing.

Ryker said nothing.

I won our staring contest when he prompted, “You just gonna stand there and stare at me?”

“I’m not standing here staring at you. I’m waiting for you to grow wings and hover over us with your golden bow and arrow,” I returned.

Ryker grinned his scary grin. “As you’ve experienced, I kick fuckin’ ass with my golden bow and arrow.”

“Just to say, the ’burg can do without your version of Cupid,” I remarked.

“I can wait for the gratitude,” Ryker declared magnanimously. “You and Merrick can name your first kid after me.”

“Dude, Merry and me got our shit together. Your bullshit coulda fucked us up,” I shared.

“Tell yourself that,” Ryker replied.

My eyes narrowed. “How thick is your skin?”

“I’m half reptilian,” he returned. “The alligator kind.”

“Okay, how thick is your skull?” I kept at him.

“Not as thick as yours, you wasted years before you fell on your man’s dick,” he retorted.