Page 142 of Love Without Control

Dane squeezed my hand and whispered, “It’s time.”

I nodded and took a deep breath. “And there’s one more thing we have to share with you.” All attention popped to me as I announced, “Dane and I had a baby last year.”

Chapter 48

Theroomwassuddenlyfilled with a million questions from every direction, and I laughed and held up my hands. “We have a son named Paul Augustus, though we call him Paulie. He’s nine months old.”

My dad’s hand covered his mouth. “Y-you named your son after me?”

“Kiss ass,” Auburn muttered in my ear, and I elbowed him in the stomach, hearing his teasing chuckle.

Approaching my dad, I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he met my embrace. “You’re the best man I know, and we hope our son turns out just like you.”

His eyes turned watery. “Can I meet him?”

“Of course. He’s at the hotel with my friend Charlisse.”

Dad grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. “Let’s go get him.” Then he stopped and frowned. “Wait, I don’t have my car.”

“I’ll drive you,” Auburn said, grabbing his keys from the table near the door. “We already have a car seat in the SUV.”

“I wanna come see the baby,” Gianna complained.

Kassie chimed in, pushing herself off the couch. “If Gianna gets to go, I’m going too.”

Auburn rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Everyone chill. We’ll go pick up Paulie and bring him back here. There’s no need for all of us to go.” He leaned down and said in a low voice so only I could hear, “And I get to hold him before Monty and Cruz and cement my status as the favorite uncle.”

That made me giggle. “Okay,” I announced to everyone, “I hate to bethat mom, but would everyone please wash their hands before we get back? Paulie was a preemie, and he ended up with RSV, so we don’t want him to get sick again. That’s why we had to wait so long after he was born before we could travel with him.”

Everyone agreed with no fuss, and Dane and I followed Dad and Auburn from the apartment. Once we were in the car, I sent Charlisse a text to let her know we were on our way.

Dane and I were in the back seat, and I caught Auburn’s eye in the rearview mirror. He smiled. “Gianna and I would really like it if you’d stay with us instead of at the hotel. We have plenty of room for all of you.”

“Including Charlisse, Garfield, and Snoopy?” I asked.

“All of you. The kids are staying at Gianna’s dad’s tonight. Monty and Kass’s son, Sully, is too. Tony and Tora were taking them to the zoo today, but they’ll be back tomorrow so you can meet them.”

I glanced at my husband, and he nodded. “Are you sure it’s not too much trouble, Auburn? We’re a lot to deal with.”

Auburn chuckled. “My wife will have my head if I don’t convince you guys to stay with us.”

“Can’t have that,” I said, loving the relationship between Auburn and Gianna. There was an obvious age gap, but the power balance between them didn’t reflect that. My bossy CEO brother considered his wife as his equal.

When we reached the hotel, Auburn left his car with the valet and told him we’d only be a few minutes. I snickered when the man practically bowed in the presence of my big brother. Though he wasn’t in one of his custom suits, instead wearing a white shirt stained with my makeup from earlier, he still exuded power when we strolled through the lobby and to the elevators.

“I get to hold little Paulie first,” my dad announced as we rode up to the twentieth floor. “I’m calling Grandpa privilege.”

Auburn smirked with amusement. “Fine, but he’s going to like me better.”

“Blasphemy!” our dad exclaimed, and we all laughed.

God, it’s good to be home.

Watching my father hold my baby boy, his namesake, was better than I could have imagined. Tears of joy plopped from Dad’s eyes onto Paulie’s little blue onesie as he gazed down at him with awe.

“He is beautiful, Evie. Just incredible.” He sifted his fingers through the inky silk of Paulie’s hair. “All this hair. And those eyelashes!” My son did have amazing eyelashes.

Dad and I were sitting on the couch in Charlisse’s suite while Dane was next door in ours, packing our stuff. Auburn was helping Charlisse with the animals and her bags. I probably should have been helping them, but I didn’t want to miss a second of this special moment with my dad and my son.

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