Page 55 of Tumbling the Cornerback

"Baby Lucas," I said sternly, bending to talk level with her bump, "you don't let your mother and aunties gang up on me. You got my back, right?"

"He's a fetus, sooooo," Marisol drawled, saluting me with her tea. "You're on your own, dude."

"And," Tori smiled, bouncing on her heels, "it's not a he. Well. They're not a he. Kind of." She squealed, clapping her hands. "We're having twins! Scans showed a boy and a girl!"

"Oh my god!" Marisol and I both rushed Tori only to pull up short. "Oh my god," I repeated. "I want to squish you so bad, but I don't want to hurt the babies!"

"It's okay," Tori laughed, tears sparkling. "I've got 'em."

Cooper found us huddled in the kitchen in a sort of bouncy group hug a few minutes later. "Y'all good?" Smiling faintly, he reached for another of the prepared platters to set out. "These are awesome by the way."

"Tori's having twins!"

“Having them do what?” He winked at me, clearly teasing.

“She’s pregnant, you dork,” I laughed.

"Oh, wow! Congrats! Hey, Billy," he shouted, heading back into the media room, "congrats on the twofer!”

Tori snorted into my shoulder. "Oh my god."

Closer to game time, little divisions appeared. Most of the cheer squad, present and former, ended up on the back patio overlooking the pool and garden. The players crowded into the media room or kitchen, partners and kids drifting between the three spots as they herded kids or just wanted to get away from the noise for a bit.

Beside me, Renata stretched her legs, closing her eyes against the surprisingly bright glare of the sun. "It was so nice earlier," she sighed. "Why's it gotta be so bright out?"

"Because Texas," I deadpanned. "Where's Bas?"

"Playing with some of the other kids." She opened one eye to check. "Yeah, over there. Taking after his uncle Lucas."

Bas tried to lead the kids in a cheer, but they succeeded only in tumbling over each other and cackling. Which, to be fair, happened a lot in regular cheer practice too. "He's been great at the studio," I murmured. "Really into the lessons."

"Because Bas wants to be just like his Tio.”

Renata's smile became sly and curly as she leaned a bit closer. "You talk to Dani yet?"

"Ugh! Why does everyone know what's going on but me?"

"Because we're smarter than you?"

"Fuck you."

She snorted. "There's my little brother. More importantly," she scooted her whole chair close now and lowered her voice to barely a whisper, even though the nearest person was a good twenty feet away. "Did you talk to Coop?"

"Not yet. I thought today would be the day, but I don't know. There's so many people here, and even after the game's over, he'll be all keyed up."

"Dude. You can't just keep pretending."

"Pretending what?"

"Dani!" I nearly fell out of my chair, whipping around to face the squad's coach.

"The one and only," she said, giving me a wink. "Hey, Renata. How's the kid?"

"Loud and adorable." Renata pulled a strand of hair up so we could see it. "I named this gray one after him."

"Sounds about right," Dani laughed. "All of my grays are either from my wife’s love of motorcycles, or the older two kids. Thankfully, the youngest one seems to have missed out on the give Mom ulcers gene."

"So apparently, you've been looking for me?" I put in, steering them away from parenting chat. "I don’t think you can technically fire me again.”

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