Page 70 of Coming Up Aces

“Blow on ‘em, Papa,” Ashton demanded, then took off with her bestie. Ace did as his girl commanded, even when Rip smirked at him.

“What? I don’t want bugs messing up my girl’s hard work.”

Rayna sauntered over to the picnic table with a beer. She twisted off the cap and set the bottle down. With a wink, she returned to where she, Glory, and Charlotte were sitting with Rhi and her three-month-old son, Rowan. Ace admired his mate’s tanned legs topped by the usual cutoff shorts shepreferred. In a couple of months, she would need something less constricting since she was pregnant again. Ten years had passed, and he was still as enthralled by the female as he’d been since that day at Haven when he saw her the first time.

When Ace and Rayna had went to dinner at Spyder’s, his mate and Charlotte had become fast friends, both loving plants. Glory had recorded another album, only this time, she convinced Rhi and Rayna to sing with her. The three females harmonized beautifully. When the record was finished, Aria insisted on listening to it every night when she went to sleep.

Adopting River and Aria had been a blessing. After getting River the help he needed dealing with his parents’ deaths, the boy flourished, becoming an amazing big brother and a loving son. There were photos of Arlo and Cora around the house so the kids never forgot their biological parents. Fern stayed with them for the first six months, but then she went back to Ace’s old house, saying they needed privacy. Ace and Rayna became experts at making love quietly.

The campground was filled with Hounds, mates, and kids during their annual camping trip. Instead of visiting the campground close to Haven, they’d found a new one with more acreage and a creek where they could play in the water. The Lazlo brothers, along with several Hounds, had pooled their money and bought the place. It had cabins as well as tent and RV sites. There was a covered picnic area they had upgraded that now had several grills as well as a pizza oven. A kitchen had been built on where they could store the food and drinks they brought.

The MC rode together often, and the rest of the Hounds rode when they could. There were now more bikes with sidecars than without, and Hayden designed them all according to the child or children riding along. Ace currently had two. One for River, which was decorated with his favorite superhero, and one for thegirls, which had books on one side for Aria and bugs, plants, and reptiles on the other side for Ashton. His baby loved digging in the dirt.

Having so many kids of different ages made it difficult to synchronize their schedules, but their August gathering was one event they all made time for.

River, Mateo, and the twins – Major and Marshall, because there were now three sets of twins – were tossing a football. Nadya and Nahla, Mav’s second set, were trying to get the football from their brothers as Natalia and Kerrigan sat talking not far away. Surprisingly, Mav’s own twin only had a son, Wyatt, who was chasing after Ashton and Gracie with a frog.

The other twins, Theo and Ollie, were home with Sultan and Tegan since Tegan had given birth a few days ago to their new daughter, Rosalee. Ace loved his kids, but he wasn’t sure he could handle having two newborns at one time. Ashton had been a handful all on her own, and Rayna’s last checkup proved there was only one baby in her tummy, thank Zeus.

Aria and Patrick were stretched out on a blanket under a tall tree, reading. His oldest girl was his quietest child. She’d found a kindred spirit in Tank’s son who also preferred to read instead of running amok. Aria and River had welcomed Ashton, but it was River who wanted to hold his baby sister and feed her. Aria read books to Ashton and was the first to run to her if she was crying. They hadn’t told the kids they were going to have another sibling yet, but Ace knew they would all be excited. When Ashton met Rowan the first time, she looked at Rayna and said, “I want one.”

Daisy, who had taken after Rhi with her affinity for living things, was with Hallie, Hayden and Sadie’s daughter, and it appeared they were listening to the trees. Both girls were touching the bark with their eyes closed. It wouldn’t surprise Ace if they were, since Daisy often foretold of things yet to come after playing in the woods. She also alerted her older sister,McKenzie, that the baby in her tummy wasn’t happy. It turned out the umbilical cord had been wrapped around Everett’s neck, and they did an emergency C-section to save the boy. Ace might not understand the gifts bestowed upon Rhi and her daughter, but neither did he question them.

Ryker and Rhiannon were careful about who knew of Daisy’s abilities. Once David Spencer moved overseas, they still didn’t let down their guard. Abraham, when voiced, said he hadn’t told anyone about what Rhi could do, but that didn’t mean his wife hadn’t let it slip.

The serum Lucy and Jonas developed had been offered to any of the human mates who wanted to take it. When those humans stopped aging, it appeared to be successful. Ace was thankful Rayna was a shifter and didn’t have to worry about her lifespan. When she laughed at something Glory said, Ace glanced at her. As usual, she felt his eyes on her, and she turned his way. Love shown on her beautiful face as she blew him a kiss. Ace caught it and placed it over his heart.

After making sure his polish was no longer gummy, he turned to his best friend. “My nails are dry. Want to go hit the creek?”

“Yes, you diva.” Rip punched his shoulder. They strolled over to their mates, kissed them, and told them where they would be, grabbing towels from the stack piled on one of the tables, then made their way along the dirt path through the woods. Ace heard laughter before the water came into view. Rip’s son, Anders, was splashing in the water with Kayden, Kyllian’s son. Kyllian and War were kicked back in lounge chairs, watching while drinking beer.

“Hey, Pop! You coming in?” Anders called out.

“Yep.” Rip dropped his towel on the ground beside War and waded into the knee-deep water. Ace was right behind him. He plopped down, letting the cool water refresh his heated skin. Itwasn’t long before Kayden was sending small waves of water Ace’s way. Out of all the kids, he was the most mischievous, giving Major a run for his money. He rarely smiled, but when he did, there was this look behind it that let the recipient know the kid was up to something. Ace loved the boy, but he was thankful River was less angsty.

“Where’s Havyck?” Ace asked Kyllian.

“He and Sadie ran to town for stuff to make smores. They brought a big-ass birthday cake, but when Hallie was at Lucy’s for Harlow’s birthday party, Harlow had smores, so now Hallie thinks she should have them too.”

“Smores are dumb,” Kayden muttered.

“Yeah? Then that means there’ll be more for me,” Kyllian said, pointing his bottle at his son. Looking at War, he asked, “Was I that much of a punk when I was eight?”

“You were worse. At least that’s what Pop told me when I called to wish you a happy birthday. He was ready to ship you off to Siberia until you were twenty.”

“Huh. Then I guess I’m paying for my raising, as the saying goes.” Kyllian drained his beer and snagged another from the cooler at his side.

“He’s not that bad,” War chided just as a low growl sounded behind them.

Kyllian looked over his shoulder at the large wolf stalking toward him, its teeth bared. “Now, now, Pretty Lady. I was only joking.”

Another wolf, only slightly smaller than the first, bounded through the woods, past her parents, and jumped in the water, landing next to her brother. Kayden threw his body at Nikita, attempting to tackle his sister. When that didn’t work, he climbed on her back. Nikita gave a yip, which must have been Kayden’s cue to hang on because he wrapped his arms around her neck. When he was secure, she jumped out of the creek andtook off running through the woods. Nikita had grown from an awesome teen to a brilliant young woman, and she doted on all the kids whenever she joined them for family outings.

Quinn shifted to her skin, fully clothed. Ace still thought it was unfair that dire wolves didn’t have to strip when shifting. She sat on Kyllian’s lap, taking the beer from him, and downing it in one go. “Don’t call my son a punk.”

Anders climbed on Ripley’s lap, placing his hands on his pop’s shoulders. “I want to play.” Ripley grabbed his son around the waist and stood from the creek. He climbed out, set his son on his feet, and stripped out of his clothes after telling Quinn to close her eyes. Rip shifted to his Lion, and Anders climbed on. Rip shook his mane, which Anders grabbed hold of, then the father and son took off in the same direction as Nikita.

“How long?” Kyllian asked.

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