Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 27107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
“Don’t let anyone else hear you call me that,” I grumbled.
“Marshmallow.” Courtney giggled before nodding at the nurse.
“Who would you like to start with?” she asked.
“My brother, please.” My wife glanced up at me. “As long as that’s okay with you. I’m not sure how long he can stay, and I want him to get as much time with his nephew as he can.”
“Whatever you want, baby.”
She beamed a bright smile at the nurse. “Definitely my brother.”
The woman disappeared from the doorway, quickly replaced by my brother-in-law. He strode over to the other side of the bed, dropping onto the chair next to it before leaning in to give his sister a kiss on the cheek.
“Congratulations, Courtney.” He glanced at me with a smile. “You too, Blaze.”
At first, he hadn’t been thrilled with the idea of his baby sister getting together with a biker, but once he’d returned stateside after a deployment and seen how I was with Courtney, he’d come around. After punching me in the jaw for marrying her while he was gone—the only hit I’d ever willingly let a man get in on me since I understood where he was coming from and appreciated how protective he was of her.
“Hey, big bro.” Courtney shifted her arms so that her brother could get a better look at our son. “Meet Arlen Pierce Driscoll, named after two of the men most important to Pax and me. You both stepped in when each of us needed someone, and we really appreciate it.”
When we found out we were having a boy, I immediately agreed to how she wanted to name him. I hadn’t gotten the chance to get to know my brother-in-law very well, but I respected the fuck out of him. More because he’d done a hell of a good job looking after my girl before I came into her life than the fact that he was a Navy SEAL.
Arlen looked stunned as he asked, “You named your son after me?”
Courtney patted his hand. “He’s got big shoes to fill, but I’m sure he’ll live up to them with his dad, uncle, and all of the guys around to show him what’s what.”
“Fucking hell,” he muttered, stroking a finger down the baby’s cheek. “You don’t know what that means to me, sis.”
“Not as much as everything you’ve done for me since Mom and Dad passed away and growing up,” she replied, sniffling.
She managed to hold back her tears during that talk, but she lost the battle when we repeated it later that day and had the same conversation with Pierce. For some reason, it was easier for her to handle the gratitude she felt for her brother than the appreciation she had for the man who changed my life.
EPILOGUE
COURTNEY
Iwas living a life I never would have thought possible before I met Pax. My sexy biker was as good to me now, years later, as he had been back then. And he was such a good dad that I sometimes found myself wanting to pop out babies to give him more children to spoil. But then one of our kids would do something to drive me up the wall and make me rethink that plan.
Like right now, with our eight-year-old-son, Arlen, who I heard all the way from the front of the clubhouse, screaming his little head off.
The rest of the old ladies’ eyes bugged out as I bolted around the building, only to find my eldest child and husband on the clubhouse roof, both of them with some sort of harness tied around their waists.
“What the heck is going on?” I yelled, hands on my hips as I looked up at them.
“Hey, baby.” He beamed a smile at me, but it did nothing to soften my anger. Recognizing the look on my face, he decided to see if Arlen had better luck. “Son, why don’t you tell her what we’re doing?”
“Hi, Mom! We’re rappelling,” he whistled through his missing front teeth.
“Rappelling?” I echoed, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, let’s show her, Arlen,” Pax replied, squeezing our son’s shoulder.
Arlen fist-bumped him before my heart leaped in my chest as they basically jumped backward off the roof, their feet landing almost in unison against the side of the building. I didn’t breathe again until they were both on the ground.
“We need to do that again,” Arlen cheered.
“Why don’t you go play with the other kids while I talk to your dad?” I grumbled, keeping my glare on Pax.
“Aw, man,” Arlen groaned before unhooking all the equipment from himself. Then he ran toward the area where one of the guys had built a playset, where some of the other kids were already playing.
Pax took a step forward, the grin still on his face. “I was right there with him, baby. You didn’t need to worry.”
“Then why did I hear him screaming his head off all the way from the front of the clubhouse?” I demanded.