Page 21 of The Secret

Jasper was watching her drink while Mac was guzzling down his own bottle. “She looks good.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, she really does.” He glanced up at me. “You’re doing a good job, really. I know this is life changing, but it’s going to be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”

I could feel my eyes prickling. I was too tired to have any handle on my emotions. “Thanks, Jas.”

“You, me, and Coop will have a little dads’ club. We’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”

I frowned. “What day?”

“The day you’re brought down by a woman.” He laughed hard at his own joke.

I shook my head, laughing myself. “You’re a dick.”

“Hey, gang.” Wolfie walked in and straight over to Jasper, kissing him as she smiled down at Mac. Even though I was used to their constant and nausea inducing displays of love, I didn’t have a good enough grasp on my emotions right now to handle it, so I looked away.

Fuck.

I’d now be dating as a single dad - if I ever managed to date again.

“We’re going to order in from the Italian place on Eleventh.”

My stomach rumbled along with the general agreement of everyone else in the kitchen that ordering in was a good idea. My eating patterns had gone out of the window with my sleep, but I could always fit something in from the Italian place on Eleventh.

“She’s doing so well, Murray,” Wolf said as she gently stroked the baby’s head. “And she’s going to love her new room.”

“Thank you. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”

“My pleasure.” She picked up a phone from the table. “Okay, I’m ordering. We can eat, and Kit arrives in a few hours.”

If I was less tired I’d be questioning Wolfie’s unadulterated glee which had reached the levels of a kid before bedtime on Christmas Eve.

5

Murray

“Again, again!” demanded Florence for the seventeenth time as she bounced up and down on my knee.

I groaned. “One more time, or I won’t have any knees left.”

For a two-and-a-half-year-old she’d perfected the eye roll, something she’d definitely picked up from her mother. “Uncle Murray, you will.”

“I won’t,” I argued. “Ready?”

“YES!” she squealed.

I held onto her hands and bounced her, lifting her high into the air and then dropped her, catching her at the last minute before she fell onto the floor in fits of giggles.

I placed her back down on the carpet, straightening her dress. “There you go.’

She ran over to where Samson was quietly playing with the train set which ran around the room, next to Cooper and my dad who were building a train station. I might not have had kids before five days ago, but once my sisters had started growing their families, I made sure that my place was always filled with plenty to occupy them, a place of fun and games that they wanted to visit. I had enough rooms in my apartment that I turned one into a playroom for when they visited, and we were all currently sitting on giant beanbags in the middle of the floor. Wolfie was feeding Mac, my daughter was asleep, Jasper, Penn, and Rafe were talking about the upcoming playoffs, Freddie was having a nap, and I had no idea where my mum was.

I could feel my eyes getting heavy again and blinked them hard to keep them open.

“What do you guys think about Elizabeth? Betty for short. That’s a strong name, right?”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me.

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