Page 108 of Knocked Up by my Best Friend's Brothers

She’s a beautiful child, the best of the Campbells and the Hawthornes—and I’m not even being subjective. With dark brown curls and my caramel brown eyes, round cheeks and the sweetest dimples, Willow Hawthorne is set to break so many hearts when she grows up. Until then, however, she has all of us at her beck and call.

And she is making the most of it.

I set her in her highchair next to my desk so she can eat a kiddie fruit salad while I hug my husband tightly. “I’m so glad you couldmake it,” I tell him.

“I’m not the only one either,” he says with a warm smile.

A few seconds later, River and Nathan join us, each bringing flowers and chocolates to celebrate this very special day. I kiss each and pour my love into it, wholly and unequivocally, then help myself to one of the Belgian chocolates. I’ve been craving chocolate all morning.

“I’m so proud of you,” River says. “Although we were sorry to see you leave Hawthorne.”

“All I did was move next door,” I reply. “Besides, Colin is perfectly capable of leading your fintech department. I wouldn’t have made this move, otherwise.”

“So, the DoD and Matrix Corp out of Silicon Valley want to work with you already, eh?” Nathan says, setting the flowers on the coffee table in the small guest area of my office.

“You know about the DoD?” River asks him, somewhat confused.

“Of course. I made the referral. Although I was surprised when my contact in their department called me this morning to confirm they were pleased with Christa’s proposal,” he says, then gives me a bright smile. “I knew you’d nail it.”

I giggle with excitement as I prepare to share the next round of good news. “In fact, I’ve been getting some interest from the FBI as well,” I say. “Turns out, Agent Fisher was so impressed with what I managed to find against Perry-Sage and the Mancinis that he kept a close eye on me over the past couple of years. As soon as he heard I was opening my own cybersecurity company, he reached out.”

Cassius, River, and Nathan stare at me for a moment. Their eyes wide, lips slightly parted, understandably surprised. It only serves to fuel my own pride because, for a while, I wasn’t even sure I would reach this point in my career.

“I wouldn’t have made it without you, though,” I lovingly concede. “And I’m not talking about the financial support, either. You’ve been by my side despite having your own massive projects developing at the same time.”

“We grow together,” River says.

“I’m just glad you managed to get your green energy department back after the whole fiasco with Alexandra Mancini,” I comment with a sigh. “At least she pumped enough funds into the company to get the ball rolling before she went to prison for life.”

“Hey, those apps you and Colin designed saved our necks,” Nathan reminds me. “We were able to roll them out a lot sooner than we anticipated. The sales went through the roof day one, if you remember.”

“Oh, I remember. I was there when we popped the champagne open to celebrate,” I laugh.

“Those monumental sales provided us with the rest of the funds we needed to develop the rest of our green energy project,” Nathan says. “It spared us the trouble of going through banks for additional support.”

I give him a soft smile. “Like you said. We grow together, right?”

“Damn right.”

“Did someone say champagne?!” Teagan chimes in as she joins us, holding up two magnum bottles of what appears to be an extremely expensive vintage. “I overheard the magic word on myway in.”

“I won’t say no to a glass,” River quips and takes the bottles, then carries them over to the mahogany minibar, which he personally made sure to have installed before we opened for business. “Where’s our brother-in-law? I told him he could have the day off for this.”

“He’s downstairs, parking the car.”

“Executive officer in charge of the fintech division, huh?” I say and give Teagan a hug. “I guess Tony will be celebrating with us as well.”

“Oh, yes. In fact, something tells me we’re going to order a cab home,” she replies. “There’s a whole case of these bad boys in the trunk of our car,” she adds, nodding at the champagne bottles.

River is already halfway through with opening one, crystal flutes ready to be filled.

“Auntie!” Willow takes a moment from her fruit salad to notice Teagan.

“You are a ray of sunshine, I swear. Let Auntie kiss you,” she coos and proceeds to shower my daughter with kisses on Willow’s blushing cheeks.

“I’ll pour you a double, Christa. You’ve earned it,” River laughs.

“Actually, I think I’m going to skip the champagne,” I say.

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