Page 59 of While We Waited

Emma clears her throat. “Can you all please calm down? I don’t want Nova to think she’s bringing a child into a clan of cave bears.”

“Don’t worry,” I say. “I’m used to the grumpy bear here.”

Sawyer barks out a laugh. “She’s got you pegged.”

Hudson growls at him. “Behave.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll tell everyone how you refused to be potty trained until second grade.”

Sawyer glares at his older brother. “You suck.”

“According to his girlfriend, he doesn’t know how to suck.” Brooks waggles his eyebrows. “If you know what I mean.”

“Don’t talk about my girlfriend.” Sawyer launches himself at Brooks and the two fall to the floor where they roll around while trying to get hits in.

I elbow Hudson. “Aren’t you going to stop them?”

He shrugs. “They’ll stop soon enough.”

I narrow my eyes on him. “Is this the kind of dad you’re going to be? You’re going to allow our Sprog to get into fights. Great. I’ll have to be the bad guy who disciplines Sprog. Thanks a lot. You know how I hate to be the bad guy.”

“Hold on. Sprog?” Emma asks. “Do you know the sex of the baby? Is it a boy? I swear the Clark men can’t create girls. But I want a little girl to spoil.”

“Um… we don’t know the sex of the baby. It’s too early. Although the doctor said we can find out at our next appointment.”

She crosses her fingers. “Please be a girl. Please be a girl.”

“You’re not annoyed I got pregnant after a one-night stand with your son?” My eyes widen when I realize what I said. Holy Neptune! I just admitted to having a one-night stand to Hudson’s mom.

Emma bursts into laughter. “Annoyed? I’m relieved Hudson’s the first son to give me a grandchild.” She thumbs herfinger at Brooks. “I was sure this one would be the first and he’s still in high school.”

Hudson squeezes my shoulder. “I told you they wouldn’t care.”

Mr. Clark throws an arm around his wife. “I’d be a hypocrite if I was mad since I got her pregnant in high school.” He glares at his four younger sons. “But I expect the lot of you to learn from my mistakes.”

Logan removes his glasses and cleans them with his t-shirt. “Can we please have one conversation in this house that doesn’t involve coitus?”

“Coitus?” Owen snorts. “No wonder you never get any.”

“Perhaps I’m waiting for someone special instead of fornicating with every girl in school.”

“I don’t know if I want your brothers babysitting our baby,” I say.

“I warned you,” Hudson mutters.

“You couldn’t have expected me to believe you. You barely speak, but your brothers are all motor mouths with smooth lines and troublemaker written all over them.”

“Hudson was our responsible child.” Mr. Clark scowls at his other sons. “Whereas the rest of our sons are hellions.”

“I am not a hellion,” Logan declares.

Mr. Clark rolls his eyes. “He thinks because he uses scientific experiments to cause trouble, he’s not a hellion. He’s wrong.”

“He reminds me of Paisley.”

“Who’s Paisley?” Logan asks.

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