Page 130 of Rent Free

And speaking of babies… “How do you feel about another baby?”

She snorted, patting her flat belly. “I’ll have to give you a rain check. I’m gonna enjoy wearing a crop top for the summer.”

I moved up closer to her, pulling her suggestively into my arms before saying, “I could probably convince you.”

All I had to do was look at her and she was pregnant.

I would love to put another one of my babies inside of her.

She laughed. “Not here, though. Maven’s set to head up here to make a conference call in less than an hour.”

“Perfect,” I said, then took her home.

We’d just cleaned up and gotten dressed when the doorbell to our house went off.

Usually, Garrett would walk right in, but I’d informed him that I needed him to knock because when you had three kids, you had to get it where you could, when you could.

He only took that to heart when he’d walked in on me banging my very pregnant wife on the coffee table right inside the door.

From that point on, he knocked.

But only barely.

Pepper headed for the door while I headed for the kitchen.

The sound of pattering feet had me glancing up to see Forest running in, looking windblown.

“Hey,” I said to him. “I thought you were spending the day with Papa?”

“I was,” he answered. “But Papa got called into work for an emergency meeting. So I came home with Aunt Shayne.”

“Gotcha,” I said. “Go wash your hands. They’re filthy.”

Forest rolled his eyes.

He may not be of Pepper’s loins, but he acted like her.

Six months after Pepper asked, we received permission to get Forest legally adopted.

It was a pivotal moment in our lives, and the feeling of rightness settled over us ever since.

“Did you know that Garrett is on Quinn’s shit list?” my wife asked as she came into the kitchen with Garrett and my son.

His girl was nowhere to be seen.

“No,” my eyebrows pinched tighter. “Why?”

“Because Catherine asked him why the Little Mermaid wore seashells, and instead of saying something normal, like that was the fashion where she came from, Garrett says…”

She left it hanging for Garrett to fill in.

“Because she probably grew out of her B shells,” he finished for her.

There was an abrupt laugh that came from the front door where someone apparently waited. “You did not!”

“Ohhh,” Pepper’s eyes lit. “You brought her with you? What is that, three times this week, Garrett Parrot?”

“Garrett Parrot.” I wheezed.

---