“Oh, crap, and so it begins,” Cady muttered. Then she pushed her chair back and stood. “Hey, Travis, Jace. It’s good to see you again.” She sent a lo
ok at Hunter.
He glared at her. “I’m not going to launch myself at them. Sit back down; the doctor wants you to rest.”
Jace frowned. “Then what’s she doing here? Why isn’t she at home relaxing?”
“She is here because she wishes to be,” Cady told him firmly.
Curt barely bit back a grin. Cady might submit to Hunter when they were playing, but that didn’t mean she let him get away with ordering her around the rest of the time. Although he certainly tried. They’d butted heads many times about his tendency to be overly protective. However, on this, Curt agreed with Hunter. They all did. Cady should be at home. They all made a concerted effort to ensure she took it easy while she was here and didn’t stress, but he still thought she was better off at home with her feet up.
“She keeps threatening to take the bus if I don’t bring her with me.”
Travis raised her eyebrows. “And you let her get away with that?”
“Travis, Jace, welcome,” Gray said smoothly, walking over to shake their hands.
Lacey got up to greet her cousins, and they hugged her tightly. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”
“It was kind of last minute,” Travis said. “We only got the info this morning and then we jumped on the first flight.”
Had to be important then.
“Do you have to go back today?” Lacey asked.
“Nope,” Travis said as he pulled out a laptop and sat down, plugging it into the projector on the table as though he’d worked here for years instead of having just walked in the door. “We’re staying with you. Possibly for a couple of nights.”
Jace gave Gray a look as he tugged Lacey in against him. “So, make sure you keep your hands to yourself while we’re here. Last thing we need is to watch you mauling our cousin.”
“I’ll try to keep the mauling to a minimum,” Gray said dryly as Lacey rolled her eyes and returned to her seat.
There was a knock on the door, and then Ella walked in with coffee. She handed out cups then went around and filled them. Hunter stood and grabbed Cady’s cup before Ella could pour her any. He moved over to the small fridge in the room and returned with a bottle of water.
“Hey!” She scowled at him. “You know it pisses me off when you steal my coffee.”
“And you know the doctor said to cut down on your caffeine intake.”
“Got to stop taking you to those doctor visits,” she muttered, scowling at the bottle of water.
“I could get some caffeine-free coffee?” Ella offered quietly, surprising Curt. She usually never spoke unless she was asked a direct question.
“No point, I don’t drink it for the taste. Thanks, Ella.”
She looked over at Curt’s coffee longingly for a moment. “Give me some,” she whispered to him.
“No way.” He drew the cup out of her reach. “I’ve already pissed the big guy off today. Besides, if the doctor said no caffeine, then you know you’re not getting any.”
“Traitor.” She sighed, then a wicked glint came over her eyes.
Uh-oh.
“Oh, I feel a little ill.” She rubbed her stomach.
Hunter stood abruptly, his chair crashing into the wall. If this kept up they were going to have dents in the walls. “What is it? Is it the baby?”
She sniffed then placed her hand over her mouth. “It’s the coffee. The smell. Oh, I think the doctor was right. I shouldn’t have caffeine. I shouldn’t even smell it.”
“Really? You expect him to fall for that?” Curt asked, taking a sip.