Page 72 of A Major Puck Up

“So you have a kid,” Beckett says slowly, like he’s really absorbing the fact.

I smile. It’s another real one. “She’s cute, right?”

“Of course she’s cute. She’s a Langfield.” He grins. “Mom is going to lose it, though.”

I sigh. “Everyone is going to lose it.”

“And Millie?”

My heart aches like it does every time I hear her name. “Why do you keep asking about her? And why did you mention her in front of Liv?”

Beckett grunts. “Because last I checked, you were in love with her, so it was easy to assume this was her kid.”

“Millie would never leave her kid on my doorstep. Even if she wasn’t ready.” I know in my bones that Millie would be an excellent mother. But she’s twenty-three. I understand her reasoning now, even if it hurt to hear it at the time. “Things worked out as they should have. Millie’s off living her life, and I’m here, with Vivi.”

TWENTY-FIVE

GAVIN

“I hear there’s a new baby.” Liv’s friend Dylan appears in the entryway, her curly red hair a mess on top of her head, a dark glob of something on her shoulder, and a bright smile on her face.

“Yes, we’re trying to figure out how old she is,” Beckett says.

As Dylan steps closer, I get a whiff of the substance on her shoulder. Chocolate. She smells like cupcakes. My mouth waters at the thought. I never did end up eating dinner.

“May I?” she asks, holding out her hands and smiling at Vivi.

I nod and hand her over.

She hums and holds Vivi close, studying her. “Oh, she’s six months old. First week of October. If I had to give a specific date, I’d say the sixth.”

I smile, strangely feeling better about this already. “Thank you, Dylan.”

Liv scowls and steps up beside her. “How the hell do you know that?”

“She’s a Libra,” Dylan says, grasping the pendant she always wears and sliding it along its chain. “It’s her energy. Very calm and balanced. Aren’t you, pretty girl? Not like those Aquarius twins of yours, Becks.”

My brother growls and squeezes his daughters a little tighter. “My girls are perfect.”

“Of course they are,” Dylan assures him, her smile serene. “But they’re going to be a handful, and Vivi won’t be.”

I grin at Beckett. “I got the better one.”

“This isn’t like crayons, Gavin.”

“Right, but if it was, you’d totally want to steal mine, because I got the best one.”

Liv laughs. “Oh, lord help us. How in God’s name did they give you a baby?”

I snort. “I really have no idea. So if she’s born in October, that makes conception…?” I trail off and look from Liv to Dylan.

Liv sighs and presses the heel of her hand to her forehead. “Nine months earlier, Gavin.”

“Why are you looking at my brother like he’s an idiot?” Beckett huffs. “You were only pregnant for like seven months.”

“Felt like a century,” Liv mutters.

They’re all talking, and I’m over here doing math. “So February of last year,” I say.

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