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Magnolia
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ONE YEAR LATER
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I CLIMB UP THE STAIRS as carefully as humanly possible because I’m carrying in my arms the most precious cargo I could possibly think of. My baby girl Poppy.
And I could never be too careful because it turns out that pregnancy really made me more focused and less accident prone. Because the minute I gave birth to my little bundle of joy, my clumsiness returned in spades.
What’s funnier is that the guys had seemed to take over from me during the nine months I carried Poppy and had their fair shares of “snafus” and it was funny if a bit unnerving to get them out of all sorts of “sticky situations”, especially when they decided to build a pool in the backyard and that they’d do the work themselves with the help of their father-in-law.
Thankfully, my clumsiness didn’t multiply by three so things were more or less under control. Which, trust me, is a godsend when you’re digging deep holes and you’re handling quick drying cement.
We might’ve lost a pair of shoes to that but no one ended up in the ER.
It’s a hot summer day and the pool is exactly what the doctor ordered. No really, it was Porter’s idea to all go swimming and this is why I’m heading to the nursery.
“I know you’re just a little baby and you could swim in your birthday suit but Mommy can’t resist putting you in the gorgeous mini bikini your Auntie Jennie got you just yesterday. Are we going to be all pretty for your daddies?”
Poppy giggles in agreement as we enter her room. She’s the happiest baby I’ve ever seen and hardly ever cries.
I set her down on the changing table while I get her bathing suit. “Your daddies have bought some baby floaties you can try. Isn’t that going to be fun?”
I look at my daughter’s blue eyes and we smile at each other. Truth be told, I have no idea which one of the guys is her biological father and they’re right that it doesn’t matter. However, I find it uncanny how she has features from each of her daddies. I know that most babies are born with blue-ish eyes and that her permanent eye color won’t appear for at least six more months but I swear to God, she has Max’s exact shade of dark blue and his nose. Her eye shape is definitely Porter’s and she has Blake’s lips and his mischievous smile. My cheekbones and ears complete the prettiest face I’ve ever looked at.
Ppffftttt, Riiipppp!
“Aww, Poppy! Are we a little gassy, baby girl?” I laugh as I take her little sundress off. “I guess no more coleslaw with Mommy’s lunch, huh? Cabbage makes you gassy too when it finally gets to you.” Yup, no cabbage, no broccoli or cauliflower, it obviously passes into the breast milk making Poppy fart up a storm.
“Ok, I guess your diaper is still clean—”
Ppffftttt, Riiipppp!
“Hmm, we better give you a check, huh?”
I open one side of the diaper to check if she needs changing and she seems a little wet. “I know you’re going into the pool, but just in case you did a pee pee, I guess we should change?”
Poppy agrees with a cute little “Ahhh” so I open the other side of the diaper.
That’s when a spurt of liquid poop explodes all over me. “Shiit-ake mushrooms!” I blurt out, closing my eyes as a second spurt makes sure to get the very few spots on me that the first one missed. I promise that this is real poop. As real is it gets, not a speckle of glitter in sight.
I hear rushed footsteps climb the stairs and all three of my men arrive to my rescue.
Or that must’ve been their original intention because they stop at the door jamb with matching shocked expressions.
“What the—?” Porter.
“Holy shit!” Blake.
“Need some extra baby wipes?” Max.
No shit, Sherlock! “Hmm, I think we’re a little beyond wipes here. Maybe some trash bags and good thing Poppy loves her bath time because I think we both need cleaning up before we get into the pool.”
Porter, always prepared, dons some gloves and takes a giggling Poppy from me. “Right, let me take care of my daughter and you can use the shower in my room. I’ll see you downstairs and Poppy will be ready for her first swim in the pool.”
I put my dirty clothes into the trash bag Max offers and make my way into the shower that Blake has turned on for me.
As I wash my daughter’s poop off of me, he takes his clothes off and joins me to wash my back.
I relax into his gentle touch but reopen my eyes when I feel his chest rumble with laughter.
“What?” I ask.
“Please don’t tell your mom what just happened.”
“Why?”
Blake’s chuckle grows darker. “Well, I honestly don’t know what the hell your parents are up to most of the time but yesterday she asked if she could use my tablet for some “research”. She left the browser open and—”
I groan. Do I really want to know? But my innate curiosity has the best of me. Mom and Dad decided to move to Silver Springs when they learned that they’d become grandparents and let’s just say that we had to talk about them knocking before entering a room after Mom caught me and Max— yeah, you get the gist.
“What kind of research? Please tell me they aren’t looking for swingers clubs in Silver Springs.” Not that I judge them, to each their own kinks but I seriously don’t need to know what rocks their boat.
And I guess I should’ve said it out loud because I can’t un-hear what Blake says next. “It was open on a search engine. Your mom was looking for “Two Girls, One Cup” videos.”
I hide my face in Blake’s chest. “Slap my butt and call me Sally!”
Slap!
“Your every desire is my command, Sally.”
The End
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MY REVERSE HAREM STEPBROTHERS trilogy:
http://mybook.to/ForbiddenstepRH
http://mybook.to/IllicitstepRH
Forbidden is now also an Audiobook:
https://geni.us/Forbidden-audible
My new co-write with USA Today bestselling author Angel Lawson, the RH enemies to lovers summer romance Babe:
https://geni.us/TidewaterBeach1
Follow me everywhere on social media and on amazon to meet me and get the latest news about my writing.
Find my other titles here:
Beverly Hills Prep Academy
(A Contemporary, New Adult Light Bully Romance)
The Initiation
http://mybook.to/Bhpatheinitiation
The Reputation
http://mybook.to/thereputation
The Retribution
http://mybook.to/bhpatheRetribution
BDPA Boxset
Lake Emerald Chronicles
(My Debut Contemporary Series Trilogy)
The First Summer
http://mybook.to/LakeEmeraldChronicles1
A Winter Tale
http://mybook.to/LakeEmeraldChronicles2
Fall In Love
http://mybook.to/LakeEmeraldChronicles3
Dreams
(an RH Paranormal Mystery Romance Series)
Dreams: Dreaming of You
http://mybook.to/Dreamsdreamingofyou
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JEWELS CAFE - SHARED Universe Series
(Stand-alone Reverse Harem Christmas Novella)
Onyx
http://mybook.to/JewelscafeOnyx10
And its sequel Onyx 1.5 A V- Day Snowman For Onyx:
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MY RH ROMCOM MAGNOLIA, part of the Spell Library series (Jewels Cafe’s same universe) here:
http://mybook.to/Magnolia11SpellLibrary
And it’s sequel Don’t Trip The Bride:
http://mybook.to/Magnolia15SpellLibrary
My high octane reverse harem heist duet I co-wrote with M. Sinclair:
Rebel Hearts Heists:
Steal Me:
https://books2read.com/StealMe
Keep Me:
https://books2read.com/Keep-Me
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
I would like to thank all my readers first of all: your messages of encouragement and appreciation, and your useful feedback, your support is what keeps me writing.
A super special thank you goes to my Alpha readers: Nora and Melissa.
A special mention to Sarah who always keeps me grounded.
You all know how special you are to me and you get to hear all my crazy ideas and discuss them with me, and don't judge me when we talk about our characters as if they were real.
Jutta, of Square Peg Editing, thank you so much for proofreading and for always encouraging me to write, you are a superstar.
Another special thank you to: Mae, Jennifer, Sarah, Rebecca for beta reading and their important feedback.
Lastly, but most definitely not least, Natasha Williams of Dazed Designs Graphic Arts: you are a fantastic and talented artist, thank you so much for making the gorgeous covers for my books.
You will go very far.