Page 130 of Who's Your Daddy?

“So, how does it feel?” Peter asks, using a wipe to get the stickiness off my cheek. “To go from being in front of the camera to behind it? It must be weird.”

It takes a minute for me to realize what he’s talking about. “Uh...” I begin sheepishly. “I was never a model.” I lay my hand on his forearm when he stiffens beside me. “Last one. Last one, I swear.”

He chuckles. “I’m gonna let you off the hook because you told me the truth with that one.Iwas the one who insisted otherwise.”

I lean forward. “Let’s just wipe the slate clean with the customary kiss of resolution.”

Saying that takes me right back to the day we met, the day my life changed forever. And when he cups my face and plucks a quick kiss on my lips, I’m reminded of just how far we’ve come since our first kiss.

“Is there any alcohol?” Tommy asks, his eyes scouring the table covered with snacks and treats.

“It’s a kid’s party,” Dylan replies.

“Why are parties getting more PG-rated the older we get?”

Isabella shrugs. “It’s the great circle of life, Thomas.”

“We anxiously await turning twenty-one so we can start drinking only to give up alcohol before we’re thirty?” Tommy is exasperated by this. “That’s not even a full circle. That’s barely a...a...”

“Slice of the pi?” Scott fills in. “Get it? Because the circumference of a circle to the diameter is—”

Cat’s giggle cuts him off. She sits down on his lap and slaps a kiss on his cheek. “God, you get nerdier by the day. No one understands math jokes except you, Soldier.”

“Does it at least count as a dad joke?” Scott asks.

“No,” Dylan replies. “You’re not a dad yet. And even if you were, you still wouldn’t be part of our club, so we’d disregard all your dad jokes.”

“What club?” I ask.

Dylan’s eyes widen slightly, and he exchanges playful looks with Scott and Peter. “Nothin’. It’s just bro talk.”

The guys excuse themselves and go into the house for beers. Isabella props Neymar on her lap to clean cake and cream off his face.

“So, how are you feeling about leaving Ambrose with us for the night?” she asks.

Peter wanted us to have a date night on the yacht and Isa and Dylan were kind enough to offer their babysitting services.

“I think...I’ll be okay. Peter might ask them to dock before midnight and come get him.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” she says with a giggle. “But tell him not to stress. Li’l Bro is in good hands, and you guys deserve to have a night off.”

“She’s only saying that because she’s going to call in the favor when she wants a night away with Dylan,” Cat says.

Isa doesn’t even deny it. “What can I say? I’m strategic like that.”

Cat asks us about all the pros and cons of being a mom, and Isa and I give her the full run-down for almost forty-five minutes before the boys join us again. Peter already has our bags, and the ladies read the cue and stand up. They say their goodbyes, hugging both Peter and I. The hardest part is saying goodbye to Ambrose. I talked a big game earlier, but now I’m actually considering canceling our plans for tonight. Isabella finally manages to pry him from my arms.

We walk them to the driveway, but they leave in a weird way. Tommy, Scott, and Dylan leave in one car while Cat and Isabella strap in the two boys into the backseat and leave in a separate car.

“What’s up with that?” I ask.

“They’re having a boys’ night. Tommy wanted to go somewhere that actually serves alcohol.”

“And you don’t want to go out with them?”

He curls his arm around me, and we start walking toward the beach. “I’d much rather spend the night with you.”

The sun is low in the sky when we climb on board theSea Serenity. We’re not that far out tonight. I can still see the shoreline, and there’s a big, clear square floating randomly on the water.

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