Page 51 of Roman
I held my hands out in surrender. “No, I promise. It’s one that I just really liked and thought was fitting.”
Beau nodded quickly. “Good.” He started walking again, and I fell into step beside him. “Can we give him your dad’s middle name? Doesn’t Cooper Daniel sound nice?” Beau asked. He looked up at me, his face now hopeful. “That sounds like a tiger alpha, right?”
I couldn’t love this man more. I stopped him with a gentle tug on our joined hands. When Beau looked up at me, I smiled down at him. “I love you, Beau. So much. I love that you want to honor my father. I think it’s a wonderful name.” I leaned down and kissed Beau again but once more kept it quick. There would be plenty of time for deeper kisses once we were home, but now wasn’t the time.
“Good. Then that’s settled. Now we just need to wait for baby Cooper to arrive.” Beau sighed. “I think I agree with Constantine and what he said about me not making it to my due date. At least, I don’t think I want to be pregnant that long. I’d love tostay pregnant as long as I need to, but I’m afraid that if I get much bigger, I’ll be really uncomfortable.”
I agreed completely. “We’ll make sure Dr. King checks up on you frequently.” I hadn’t told Beau, but I’d already been in contact with the doctor about Beau’s pregnancy. He’d stated that it was possible that Beau might need to be placed on bed rest if his stomach became too big because it could cause his body issues. I wasn’t sure exactly how, but it hadn’t exactly helped calm my tiger’s restlessness.
We continued our walk, the neighborhood that the enforcers lived in coming into view only minutes later. When we entered the neighborhood, the sound of children playing could be heard. Off to the left, there were some toddler-aged children swinging while their parents pushed them. Beau and I went to the right toward the house Ramsey and Phineas shared. It only took a few minutes, even with Beau’s slower pace, but I felt my own nerves increase as we walked up the walkway at their house.
“This place is lovely,” Beau said as we reached the porch. “You know, for all of the time I lived here on Treasure Ridge, I never came over here.”
“Why not?”
“Because there was no reason. I didn’t want to impose on any of the mated enforcers. I lived with Evan, but only because I was allowed to. I didn’t venture out much, actually.”
I knocked while thinking about Beau’s words. I’d seen his memories. All of them. He’d been happy to be allowed to come with his brother, and he’d not really seemed terribly unhappy spending his days watching television. It was something new to him, and even I had joined him in his love for a certain sitcom about four guys who all worked at the same university in California.
The door swung open, and I was surprised to see Phineas standing there. I had expected Ramsey, or possibly Philip orKnox if they were already here, but there was my baby brother, who had just given birth two weeks ago.
“Oh my fates. You look like you are ready to pop,” he said as his eyes zeroed in on Beau’s stomach. “Can I touch it? I know I only liked a few people to touch my belly when I was pregnant, but every time someone tried, Ramsey would growl at them.”
“Phineas?” Beau asked.
“Oh, yeah! Hi!” my brother said. “I thought you realized. I don’t know why since you’ve only met me once and then only for like a split second, and the bakery was slammed with people.”
Beau looked up at me, his eyes suddenly worried. “Will I look that amazing two weeks after giving birth?”
I bit my lower lip to keep from laughing.
“You will! It’s a blessing, actually,” Phineas said. He reached out and grabbed Beau by the arm. “Come inside. You need to meet Rynn, and really, there’s no reason for you to stand on the front porch.” Phineas pulled Beau inside, with me following my brother and mate. Phineas gave me a hug, and when he held on for a bit longer, I gave him a tighter squeeze. I met Beau’s eyes over my brother’s head and found them smiling at us. “You’ll have to pry Rynn out of Ramsey’s arms though, but he’s been pretty good about sharing. Although your best bet is when he’s also cuddling Hazel. Then he’s more likely to not complain too much about giving either of them up for even a bit.” Phineas turned and held out his arms toward Beau.
I watched as my mate gave my brother a hug, and something inside clicked. My family was finally together. Beau and Phineas hadn’t had a chance to meet because of how difficult Phineas’s pregnancy had been.
“It’s so good to finally meet you again,” Beau said.
“Same. And thank you for all of the yummy goodies you sent over,” Phineas said. “You do not know how much they were appreciated. When you have to lay around and watch yourtoddler run around and can’t chase her, life gets frustrating. Insert distracting donuts, cakes, and whatever those amazing puffy things are, and life is so much better.”
Beau smiled. “I’m glad they helped. I can’t use my magic very well right now, but I can have Lewis send some over tomorrow if you want.”
“Yes, please. Always. Any of them. They’re so good. I’ll send Phineas, and maybe then I’ll get the chance to actually feed Rynn for a change.” Phineas sighed and touched his chest. “Not that I’m complaining, because I’m not. Ramsey is such an amazing daddy. And it’s so beautiful to see him completely enamored with both of them.”
“Are we going to get to come in and at least see them, or are you going to just tell us about them and make us continue to wonder?” I asked, teasing my brother. He’d always been talkative, and him being mated and a daddy hadn’t changed that.
“Oh, yeah,” Phineas said. He leaned down close to Beau’s stomach. “You need to learn to tell me to stop talking when you’re older. Your uncle Phineas talks too much when he’s excited. Or nervous.” Phineas stood up and smiled at Beau. “I’ve been nervous about meeting you again. I know we’ve texted, and you’ve talked to me a few times on the phone, but it’s not the same.”
“No, it’s not. Philip has told me so much about you during family dinners though, so I think I probably have an advantage.” Beau rubbed his stomach and sighed. “But I’m not sure how many more I’ll be able to make. I know Roman hasn’t told me as much, but I’m aware that Dr. King has mentioned that I might have to go on bed rest if a certain someone gets too much bigger.”
Phineas’s eyes widened. “That’s certainly not fun.”
He would know since he’d basically spent his entire pregnancy on bed rest. First because he was so sick and thenbecause the pregnancy was just that difficult. I was thankful that I was mated to a tiger shifter and I didn’t have to worry about all of the extra things that happened in gargoyle pregnancies. Add in that Phineas was a fox shifter and his pregnancies were only on average ten weeks long, that meant his poor body had to work extra hard to create all three forms of their little gargoyle.
“There you are,” Philip said when we entered the back room where everyone was gathered.
“Sorry,” Beau said. “I’m slow now and can’t walk that fast,” he added as he waddled over to the couch, where he leaned heavily on the arm and then carefully sat down with my help.
“Understandable,” Philip said. “You look like I did when I was about to give birth. Only I had two in there. Are you sure you’re only having one?” Philip asked. The room suddenly went quiet, and all eyes were looking at me and Beau. Was it possible that one of the babies had somehow been missed and Beau was actually carrying twins? Wouldn’t that just be a surprise.
