Page 41 of A Play for Love

“No sex until you get checked.” Alex kissed his cheek.

“No argument from me.” He finished his beer in one gulp, and we all laughed.

After talking for a while, I picked up Lorelei, and Simon picked up Lena. We stepped through Sam’s sliding door and saw the two of them hugging in the kitchen.

“All good in here?” Simon asked as he set Lena down.

“All good.” Sam smiled.

“Thanks for keeping an eye on the girls. I’ll take them upstairs and put them in the bathtub,” Julia said.

“I’ll be up in a few minutes, babe.”

“So, how are you feeling, bro?” Simon placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder.

“Shocked. Very shocked.” The corners of his mouth curved upward.

“We’re all happy for you and Julia,” I said. “But you better get your ass to the doctor.”

“Julia already made the appointment. I go in next week,” Sam spoke. “I honestly thought I wouldn’t have to deal with this again.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah. Stefan is freaking out.” Simon chuckled. “Did you see the look on his face?”

“Well, my cousin. It’s meant to be that you have three children.” I smiled.

“Or four.” Simon laughed, and the color drained from Sam’s face.

“It’ll be okay.” I patted his back.

“Yeah, bro. It takes a village, and we sure as hell have our own.” Simon winked.

* * *

It was Saturday morning. Quietly climbing out of bed, I slipped on my boardshorts, brushed my teeth, and softly kissed Sofia’s forehead. Grabbing my surfboard, I placed it under my arm and ran down to the beach.

“There you are,” Christian said. “We didn’t think you were coming.”

“Nicholas was up all night crying with a fever, and he kept grabbing his ear.”

“Emilia is up if you want her to go over and take a look at him,” Sebastian said.

“Sofia is going to call her as soon as Nicholas wakes up. See what you three have to look forward to.” I smirked at Conner, Sebastian, and Shaun.

“The plane is set to leave at six p.m. on Wednesday,” Shaun said.

“I thought we were leaving at eight?” We put our boards in the water.

“Change of plans. I hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah. It’s fine.”

“By the way, don’t bother booking a hotel room. I got a two-bedroom suite at The St. Regis.”

“Excellent.” I smiled. “Thanks, cousin.”

“And don’t eat dinner. We’ll eat on the plane.”

“Sounds good.”

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