Page 105 of All Along

“Why not? Is being a soldier not good enough?”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Yeah, Chloe. Is being a soldier not good enough for your daughter?”

Chloe squirms. “Lucas! Your daughter is misbehaving.”

I was wrong. This party is fun after all.

Natalia rolls her eyes. “I’mhisdaughter whenever I do something you don’t approve of.”

“Duh. I only accept credit when I approve.”

“I can’t believe Chloe Summers – the wild child who devised a rappelling system to dive off the cliffs atMermaid Mystical Gardens– has a child.”

“I’m no longer wild.” She narrows her eyes. “And you’re not supposed to know about the rappelling system.”

Lucas laughs as he joins us. “Chloe no longer wild? Sure. And you no longer phone in prank calls with the police either.”

Chloe rolls her eyes. “Prank calls are childish. You need to fully commit to the prank before you alert the police.”

Lucas snorts. “Like the time you released the parrot mascot from Pirate’s Perch?”

Chloe gasps. “I would never release the mascot of another town on Smuggler’s Rest.”

“What about in high school when—”

She slaps a hand over my mouth. “Shush you. Don’t make me add your name to my list of people who need to be pranked.”

“And she’s worried about me joining the Army,” Natalia mutters.

Chloe squeezes Natalia’s shoulders and steers her away. “Let’s discuss this in private. Away from the military hero.”

Lucas sighs as he follows them.

I throw an arm around Maya. “Your friends are crazy.”

“They prefer the word unique.”

“Naturally.”

Nova arrives with a screaming Iliana in her arms. “I can’t handle it anymore. Here.” She shoves the baby toward me. “You handle her.”

I retreat a step and hold up my hands. “What? Why?”

She doesn’t give up. She pushes the baby against my chest and I don’t have a choice but to catch her. She’s tiny in my hands. I’m afraid I’m going to drop her. Then again, if I can manage not to drop a live grenade, I can handle this.

Iliana’s mouth shuts and she stops screaming. She blinks up at me with bright blue eyes. They’re gorgeous, but I would prefer a baby with whisky-colored eyes.

“He’s getting baby fever. I told you this would work,” Nova whispers to Maya.

I don’t bother to look away from the baby when I ask, “What work?”

Maya runs her finger down Iliana’s little nose. “Nova wants me to get pregnant so our children can grow up together.”

The idea of Maya pregnant with my baby has my cock perking up. It’s down with this idea. In fact, it’s ready to kickeveryone out of the house and begin working on the project immediately.

“How many children do you want?”

She stares at me with her mouth gaping open. “You’re not running away.”

---