ALBA
I checked my watch for the fifth time, groaning as I poured tea into a to-go mug. I was running super fucking late. And Goddamn it, I had to pee again.
“Have I told you lately how fucking sexy you are like this?” Jericho’s arms came around me from behind, rounding my belly, sinking his teeth into my earlobe. We’d been married going on three years now, but I’d been pregnant for at least a hundred.
Okay, it had only been eight and a half months, but I was so damn uncomfortable and ready to pop that it felt like a hundred.
“Only every fucking day.” I turned in his hold, leaning over my massive baby bump to give my husband a kiss. He grinned against my mouth. “And night. And morning.”
“Sunshine, I’m fixing to keep you pregnant for the next twenty years. Are you okay with that?”
I narrowed my gaze and laughed. “Who knew you had a breeding kink?”
He pretended to be confused. “Pretty sure you made me fill out a kink checklist before we started fucking.”
“Hmm. I guess I’ll have to pull that out again.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I huffed and rolled my eyes, slinging my purse over my shoulder and taking a sip of my herbal tea, wishing it was coffee. “I have to run by the studio.”
“Oh no.” Jericho wagged a finger at me. “No work. You promised.”
“It’s not work.” I just needed to make sure things were going okay and Ru had a handle on it while I was out.
Jericho narrowed his eyes, unconvinced. “Then let me drive you.”
“I can drive myself.”
“I’m not having this argument with you.” He shook his head and kissed my temple. “You promised me. While you’re growing our baby, I care for you. That means taking you to your fucking studio so you can micromanage shit you left to your sister weeks ago.”
I took a deep breath and let it out through my nose, reminding my pregnancy hormones I needed the father of my child and that punching his adorable, smug face was frowned upon by modern society. So I relented. “Fine. Chauffeur me around. I enjoy being pampered.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
He helped me into the new pickup truck we’d gotten, having traded in my old beat-up Honda. He still had his bike, of course. But we both wanted something bigger, something that drove like a tank. After selling my mom’s place and buying our own closer to the MC, I’d bought a studio where we could expand Crimson. Ru and I had a vision of an ethical cam app, one catered to a sex-positive creator base. Some of the hang-arounds from the MC had joined in. Some of the guys, too.
We had fun. We made money. And we treated our employees like employees.
Health insurance. 401k. The whole fucking gambit.
I wanted to turn sex work into an empire, and with Ru’s ambition and my eye for detail, we were already at an advantage. But being at home all day was torture. I couldn’t stand not knowing what was going on, even if I had Jericho to entertain me.
When we got there, he helped me out of the truck and I waddled my way inside, greeting a few performers at the entry. Bodies bustled about, some sewing costumes, others messing around with camera equipment.
I heard Ru before I saw her. “Take those to bay one.”
She turned the corner, saw me, and raised an eyebrow, her jaw ticking before she looked at Jericho. “You were supposed to keep her on the couch.”
He put an arm over my shoulder and pulled me in for a kiss. “She’s fucking stubborn.”
“She’d have to be to put up with you.” Ru softened and came closer, pulling me in for a hug before rubbing my belly. “How’s my little nibling?”
“Nibling?” Jericho’s brows furrowed.
“Yeah, since you’re waiting to see if it’s a boy or a girl. Right now, it’s a nibling.” A gender-neutral niece or nephew.
Jericho laughed, but caught sight of Saint a few feet away and went to catch up with him. I looked around at the warehouse turned bustling studio. We sectioned off areas for performers to have privacy while they worked. We gave them the equipment, the space, and the tech. They maintained their own client base and took home most of the cut. By trying to make everything as accessible for the performer to meet the client, we brought in more employees. And thus more clients.
Ru and I caught up some more, just in time for my child to start kicking at my bladder again, which sent me to the bathroom. And while I walked, I glanced around at everything I’d built with what my mom left me. I couldn’t have done this without her.
Was she happy? Was she proud? Was she watching from the great beyond and guiding me in ways I’d never know about?
I’d like to think she was. And when I brought my little baby Montgomery into the world, I’d like to think she’d be proud of that, too.
I was happy, and I finally had a family where I felt at home.
And that was all she ever wanted for me in the end.
* * *
JERICHO
Sunshine squeezed my hand, her sweaty hair stuck to her head and her nails digging into my hand.
“One more push,” the doctor said, glancing up at us from between her legs. My girl had gone into labor early this morning, and now she was on the last leg of bringing our kid into the world. We’d purposely decided not to find out the sex. It didn’t matter to us what it was, and the anticipation was half the fun.
“C’mon, you can do it.” I kissed her and held her up, supporting her as she gave another good grunt.
“There we go.” The doctor and her team pulled a bloody baby from between Alba’s legs and placed it in her arms. “You’ve got a healthy, strong daughter.” My little girl started wailing and shaking her tiny red fists, but as soon as Alba pushed her up on her chest, she quieted down. I scooted onto the bed next to my girls, my heart pounding behind my ribs.
I was so happy that I could fucking burst. I’d never known true love like this. Not in my entire life. She had Alba’s big, blue eyes and my dark hair, the tiny patch on top of her head so fucking soft.
“Jesus, she’s so fucking beautiful.” Alba started crying, sobbing into my chest while she held our little girl. Our little Penny.
“Aw, why are you crying?” I ran a finger down the side of my daughter’s face and watched her stare up at her momma with wonder.
Could an infant know what adoration was?
I thought so. Because it was the same look I got when I looked at Alba.
I kissed my girl again. Then I went to tell the rest of our family the news. Our nearest and dearest had gathered in the waiting room.
Selene was first out of her seat, followed by Ru and Aris.
“We have a girl! Penelope Montgomery has come screaming into the world at last!”
Crow shouted, “Wooooo!”
Aris leapt up, throwing his arms around me in a big hug. “I’m a granddad?”
“You’re a granddad, old man.” I clapped his shoulder and his eyes turned red, tears streaming down his cheeks. Selene hugged me, kissing each of my cheeks before going to Aris and doing the same. Thor pulled me into an embrace, followed by Crow, and then each one of them wanted to know when they could meet the little hellraiser. I had to check with the doctors, but she seemed healthy enough. And they’d told us we could go home soon if all went well.
Four years ago, I’d hesitated to bring Alba into my world. But standing there in that room, so full of love and joy and family, I didn’t know what I’d been so fucking afraid of. It led me to all of this.
Things got shitty.
Things would always get shitty.
But little Penny would have these rough motherfuckers looking out for her.
And anything that came for my girls would have to go through all of us first.