Page 113 of Maximum
I grinned. “Do you need an emotional support dog?”
“See, that’s what I’ve been tryin’ to convince Lumi about. With my job I see so much brutality, and I might be in danger of suffering long-term damage if I don’t have a furry friend to love me.”
“Oh, please.” Lumi rolled her eyes. “You already have Shane crawling around on you and with the new one, we’ll have more than enough.”
“What new one?” I asked.
Lumi’s smile widened. “Ah, so you caught that.”
“You’re pregnant again?” I gaped because their son Shane was only five and half months old.
“Boom!” Damian stood up and held up his arms. “We weren’t even tryin’.”
I released Fleur’s hand and walked over to give them both hugs. “That’s amazing.”
“Took us long enough with Shane, so we didn’t even think about using protection and Lumi thought she wasn’t getting her period because she was breastfeeding. Turns out she’s already three months pregnant.”
“Then we’ll be pregnant together.” Fleur beamed at Lumi, who already knew that we were expecting.
“Oh lord, Lumi, you’re going to have less than a year between your children.” Justine sat with her long flowery summer dress, tanned arms, and knitted purse in her lap. “That’s going to be like having twins.”
“Yes, well, it took Damian and me ten years to figure out we were meant to be together. I don’t think anything can faze us at this point.”
“At work they call my wife the Golden Goose because she’s so good at growin’ a profit,” Damian said. “As I see it, she’s applyin’ her magic at home too. She started growing her family from one to two when she invested in me, and soon she’ll have doubled our household to four. How much of a growth rate is that, honey?”
“You tell me.” Lumi angled her head at Damian with a soft smile.
“Hey, anything that involves math is your department. I’m just so damn proud that we’re havin’ another wee one.”
I’d moved back to Fleur and placed my hand on her belly with a grin. “It’s a Robertson baby boom.”
“You’ll have to send us lots of pictures when the baby comes,” Justine said with a loving glance in our direction.
“We will, Mom,” Fleur assured her and from the mist in her eyes I could see that she was emotional.
“You can also take lots of pictures yourself when you come back for the birth.” My words made Fleur look at me with surprise. She hadn’t asked if we could fly her parents back here in the spring, but I knew she wanted to share the experience of becoming a mother with them.
“Is that okay?” she whispered and in her eyes I read so many questions.
“Of course, if your parents are willing to endure the long flight then we’ll be darn lucky to have the extra help when it’s time to welcome our first child.”
“We’ll pay for the tickets, of course,” Fleur hurried to tell her parents, who exchanged a look.
“That would be wonderful, but we don’t want you to pay again. This wedding must have cost you a fortune. Mom is good at keeping an eye on sales and I’m sure we can save up enough to pay for our plane tickets. Next time we won’t need a fancy camper. A tent will do just fine.”
Damian laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Maximum is a Robertson; they breathe money. You might as well get used to it. Personally, I think it’s crazy that my wife is paid more than ten times what I make as a Gardai. How is that fair when I risk my life and all she does is boss people around in an office?”
“Damian is a police officer,” Fleur explained to her parents.
His disclosure that I was rich caused confusion with Fleur’s parents. Tom scratched his beard when he addressed me with a frown. “But I thought you said rugby players don’t make much.”
“I do fine. Don’t worry about it, Fleur and I are happy to buy your plane tickets and hopefully by then we’ll have a real guestroom you can use.”
“Max wants to expand the farm and build another section with rooms for us and the three children he wants.”
“Three? Oh my.” Justine laughed. “Dad and I only had you and that was stressful at times.”
“He already found contractors who say they can get the job done in six months, so it’ll be ready before you return.”
