Page 9 of Before. Then. Now.

It was not the cute kind of scared either.Not much frightened my sons, but Fallon?Yeah, those two were terrified of her.

Where Grier was the carbon copy of her mother, Fallon was a perfect blend of Jagger and Shaw.Which was dangerous as fuck, because that perfect blend wasn’t just Jags and Shaw.It was Emmie Armstrong and Dallas Cage, rolled into one small, strawberry-blond hell-raiser.Those blue eyes might look all sweet and innocent, but they had flames in them that had us all on edge, waiting for the inevitable explosion from the little bomb Shaw had birthed.

“Jags and Shaw have the kids at their house, so you can recover without Ethan and Elijah all over the place,” she gently reminded me, her voice soothing a restless part of me while simultaneously making the heartbeat I felt pulsing in my balls hurt like a son of a bitch.

“Right.I remember.Jagger is on daddy duty all week.My parents and yours both said they would help out if he and Shaw need backup, though.No, wait.Shaw shouldn’t be over there.”I frowned, trying to think through the fog that had invaded my brain.I hated those freaking narcotics.“Why isn’t Shaw here?Didn’t you tell her yet?”

“Oddly enough, no.I wasn’t having some crazy life-changing catastrophic event, so I did an at-home test on my own and then had it confirmed at my OB.Because you Thorntons always seem to double down, I was adamant about an early ultrasound.You’re the first to know anything this time around.”She frowned down at the picture in her hand.“But now I’m wondering if you are even going to remember this when the Vicodin wears off.”

I snapped my fingers and was pleased with myself when they actually made the sound.Shaking away my amazement, I knew I’d have plenty of time later to bask in the success of what a good finger-snapper I was.Vi was more important.

All three of her.

Wait.There had been two of her just a few seconds ago.

“Why are there so many of you?”

Her brows lifted like she was confused.Or maybe she was upset.But she laughed.Did that mean she was happy?Or was it that fake laugh that should have chilled me to my bones?I couldn’t tell.The damn pills were making everything fuzzy and numb.Which was a good thing for the amount of pain in my ball sac.That was next-level agony.No wonder Lyric cried when he had his vasectomy.Mila was a coldhearted bitch for saying my brother was a wuss.He couldn’t help that she was a freak who had a crazy-high pain tolerance.

“How many do you see?”Vi asked, her voice calming the flare of anger that filled me on my twin’s behalf.I should call Lyric and tell him I was sorry for doubting his pain when he had been brave enough to get snipped.It took guts to let some supposed professional get close enough with a knife to play mad scientist with his mojo.

Jagger had experienced it too.About a year after Fallon was born, Shaw had decided she was done populating the world with her mini me’s, and Jags didn’t hesitate to make the appointment himself.He told me about the pain, but again, I thought they were both overdramatizing it.Wanting extra TLC from their wives.

Ha!

Wait.

Vi had asked me something.How many who?

“Of me, Luca.How many of me do you see?”

“Three.No, two.”I blinked and then blinked again.“No, three.Definitely three.But I’m not complaining, baby.That just means there is more of you to love.”

Her lips twitched.Was she fighting not to laugh or cry?

Damn it!

I needed backup.

“I am so glad I decided to record this.I can’t wait to show you later.And then I’m going to show Shaw.”

“Shaw!”I yelled, remembering the important thing I absolutely needed to remember.“That’s what I was going to ask you.Where is Shaw?”

Violet cupped my face in her hands.“Shaw is at her house.With Jagger.And our kids.All of them, minus the two still in the oven.”

I covered her hands.So soft.I loved her hands.Don’t get distracted yet, idiot.I blinked up into those pretty purple eyes.They were all glittery with emotions I couldn’t name.A lump filled my throat, choking me.“But I need Shaw here so she can tell me if you’re upset.Because I really can’t fucking tell right now, baby.And that kills me.I need you to be okay.Okay?”

She kissed my nose.“High Luca is so adorable.”

No one had ever called me adorable before, least of all her.Adorable?Pfft.Had I turned into a puppy when they’d clipped my balls?I grunted and lightly swatted her on the ass before I grabbed my phone.I had to blink a few times before I could see the screen so I could call the right person.

“Luca?”Shaw’s voice finally filled the room.“You should be sleeping.Does Vi know you have your phone right now?”

“I know,” Vi assured her.Apparently I’d hit speaker when I’d tried to connect.“Oh my god, he is so loopy right now.It’s freaking adorable.”

“Stop saying that,” I grumbled.

“Please tell me you are recording.”Shaw’s amused voice rolled down my spine like silk.

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