Page 96 of We Will Rise

I left the guys in the kitchen a little while ago because they were getting on my nerves. They still aren’t quite used to not having to work sixteen hours a day now that they’ve stepped down from their roles within the Syndicate, so they’re currently trying their hands at making a gingerbread house from scratch, which is going about as well as you can imagine.

Crew was barking orders at them, Bishop was following the recipe to the letter, while Kaos was throwing flour at them, and Kovu was eating the raw dough.

It was when Crew threatened to stab Kaos if he kept it up that I decided I needed a break from their antics.

I look down at my hand and smile. We got married a week after they asked me in the most perfect private ceremony with just a few people. Chloe and Leighton were a part of my bridal party, while Elias and Wyatt stood beside the guys, and it was everything I ever could have hoped for.

And now my usual nicknames are interchanged with “wife,” which I get more joy out of than I expected.

A wave of nausea rolls over me, and I grip my belly as if it will settle the feeling, but after a week of this, I’m starting to think it’s going to hang around for a while, which is really fucking with my plans.

I wanted to tell the guys on Christmas morning, but they’re already suspicious about why I’ve been so grumpy and unwell, and it’s only a matter of time before they realize my period hasn’t arrived this month.

Nibbling on my bottom lip, I make my way back downstairs, a laugh escaping my throat when I hear Bishop snapping at the others for ruining the recipe, but when I walk around the corner, all eyes are on me.

“You okay, Princess?” Kaos asks, moving around the island to close the distance between us.

I nod. “Of course.”

“If you’re not feeling well, you know you don’t have to put on a brave face for us,” Bishop says as he wipes his hands on the apron he’s wearing.

Yep, you heard that right. The big bad crime bosses are all decked out in aprons. You better believe I laughed for a solid ten minutes when I first saw them, which earned me one hell of a spanking.

Totally worth it.

“I actually have something to tell you guys,” I say, my voice shaking slightly. I don’t know why I’m nervous. They’ve spoken about getting me pregnant every single day since the wedding, and unsurprisingly, it got competitive as hell. But for some reason, the nerves are getting the better of me.

Maybe it’s because I’m scared everything is going to change. That bringing a baby into our lives will change the way they look at me, or that we won’t have the same kind of time for one another.

But then I think about how good they’re going to be as dads and how they’re going to take care of us both.

I pull the test from where I stashed it in the back pocket of my jeans and hold it in front of me.

There’s silence for long seconds, and my heart stutters in my chest as I wait for them to react, but they’re too stunned to move.

I lock eyes with Crew and smile. “I guess I won’t be the only one calling you Daddy soon.”

Kovu barks out a laugh as he snaps out of his shock and rounds the island, immediately pulling me into his arms and spinning me around the kitchen. “We’re having a baby!”

“Put her down,” Bishop snaps and snatches me from Kovu.

“I’m pregnant, not made of glass,” I tell him as he envelops me in a tight hug.

“I’d prepare for being smothered for the next nine months if I were you, Princess.” Kaos chuckles as Bishop passes me to him, and he lands a kiss on my lips.

When I look up, Crew is still behind the island, his palms resting on the smooth marble as he watches us, and my heart clenches. Before I even had the IUD removed, I asked him a hundred different times if he was sure this is what he wanted, so why does he look like he doesn’t want this?

I swallow heavily, my body trembling with anxiety as I wait for his reaction.

And then I see it.

Pure joy cracks through his usually indifferent gaze, and he’s around the counter in a few long strides. He lifts me from the ground, and I wrap my legs around his waist immediately as he engulfs me in a hug.

“A baby?” he murmurs against my ear.

“A baby,” I whisper.

“It’s definitely mine.” Kaos whoops as he wraps himself around my back. “I’ve been tracking your cycle, and I fucked you three times on your most fertile day,” he boasts.

---