Page 122 of Three to Fall

“You okay?” I asked Grayson, standing to meet him in the doorway as Hayley Jade babbled to Chaos about whatever it was she’d been watching on her iPad.

He dragged his gaze away from her, a smile still on his lips. “Yeah, of course. Why?”

I shrugged but then answered honestly, “It would fucking kill me to hear her call another man Dad or Daddy and not me.”

Grayson shook his head. “You and Chaos have a different sort of connection with her. You’re her parents.” He grinned. “Wait ’til she’s a teenager and hates your guts. While I’m still the fun one she loves.” He smiled at the little girl fondly. “I love her. Don’t get me wrong. I’d lie down on train tracks for her, and for Kara. But I can meet her where she’s at. I don’t need her to call me Dad to love her like she’s my own. Dads come with all sorts of titles. Maybe mine is Freddie Spaghetti.”

“I’m still rooting for G-Dog, personally.”

A voice spoke up from behind us. “Beep-beep. Is there room for one more at this party?”

I glanced over my shoulder at Kara, freshly showered, wearing clean clothes we’d brought up for her, a white bandage on one leg the only evidence of the fire that had tried to claim her life the day before.

Grayson slipped straight into doctor mode. “What did the burn unit say?”

“To come back to have it redressed and that I’ll probably have some scarring, but it shouldn’t be too bad.”

He nodded. “Good.”

“And the baby?” I asked.

She smiled up at me. “Baby is clearly made of tough stuff. He’s doing well.”

All three of us stared at her, but it was Hayley Jade who got words out first. “I’m having a baby brother?”

Kara nodded. “They said it was still a bit early to tell for sure, but that’s what they think!”

Hayley Jade cheered and did a happy dance on her bed that had it squeaking and rocking on its wheels.

Kara glanced around at the three of us. “Do any of you want to have some sort of reaction?”

Grayson got his hands on her first, sweeping her up and spinning her around until she laughed. “Shit, a boy? Seriously? Okay, so hockey. Obviously. But also ballet, because flexibility is important, and I don’t want him thinking that dance is only for girls.”

Chaos pulled her from his arms and down on his lap. But his laughter was for Grayson. “The kid probably hasn’t even grown feet. You can’t put him in skates yet.”

Hayley Jade’s eyes went big. “The baby has no feet?” Her face twisted into a mixture of awe and horror.

Grayson sank down on the bed with her and started explaining all the different stages of fetal development and assuring her her baby brother would indeed have feet and the little buds he currently had would grow.

Chaos snaked his hand into the back of Kara’s hair and tilted her head so he could capture her lips. “A boy is going to be very fucking cool.”

She clutched his arms, nodding as she smiled against his mouth. “I can’t wait.”

I dropped down on my knees in front of her, not caring about the hard linoleum floor, just needing to get my hands on the swell of her belly. It was only a tiny bit different than normal, but it was enough to be noticeable to me. “He’s seriously in there.”

She put her hands over the top of mine. “He is.”

It was so fucking weird to think about. That she had this whole other little person inside her who might very well look like me. “How does everyone feel about the name Eagle?”

I kissed Kara’s belly as the sounds of their protests filled the room.

Maybe Falcon then.

33

KARA

For the third time that day, Rebel dragged me into an underwear store. Bliss wasted no time, bypassing the racks of everyday T-shirt and sports bras and headed straight for the back of the store where they kept the sexy stuff.

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