Chapter Thirty-seven
***Autumn***
Thebeachhousewas already buzzing with energy when we pulled into the driveway. There were people setting up games in the sand, a rental company rolling out a big grill, and other deliveries happening all over the place. I took Mom and Granny Lane’s hands and pulled them to the front door.
It felt awkward to ring the bell, but I did it anyway. Standing there, I glanced over at Mom and forced a smile. “Here goes nothing, right?”
Before she could answer, the door opened, and Zeke stood there, looking as handsome as ever while looking down at a sheet of paper. “Just put whatever you’re dropping off wherever it goes.”
Granny Lane whistled and fanned herself. “Holy shit. The pictures do not do him justice. Honestly, I’m only surprised you didn’t jump his bones faster.”
Zeke’s face jerked up and his eyes went wide when he spotted me. Dropping his paperwork, he reached out and yanked me into his chest. The familiar scent of him washed over me, and I fought to hold back tears. Zeke stroked my hair and only pulled back to look at my face. “You don’t get to leave again. I’ve been miserable. I missed you more than I thought it was possible to miss another person. Everyone here sucks without you. I—”
“You were worried, baby-cakes?” Granny Lane laughed. “He’s head over heels in love with you, you shit. All this build-up for the first guy to just fall all over you. I at least expected a little bit of drama.”
Zeke actually blushed as he stepped back and looked over the women with me. “Autumn?”
I smiled up at him, just so happy to be near him again. “This is my Granny Lane. She’s…bold. And this is my mom, Ruth.”
He straightened and ran a hand through his messy hair. “Oh, hi! It’s nice to meet you. I’m Zeke. Ezekiel. Um, very nice to meet you.”
Mom pulled him into a hug and lightly shook him back and forth. “Oh, you sweet thing! It’s so nice to meet you, too. You’re clearly the handsome one, too. Look at you!”
A high-pitched squeal rang out, and Zeke grunted as Caroline shoved her way to me. “Autumn! I missed you so much! I have so much to tell you. Sir Fluffy Butt won’t wear his clothes when you’re not the one dressing him. And Jones is hiding in his room all the time. It’s boring without you. Daddy tries, but he’s sad.”
“Wow, she’s a lot.” Granny Lane took Zeke’s arm and walked him into the house. “So. Let me tell you about this bet I made with my granddaughter.”
I scooped Caroline into my arms and rushed after them. “Granny Lane, if you tell that story before I’m ready for you to, you can kiss Sandals and every other beach with white sand goodbye. I’ll put you in a home in Jersey, overlooking a fish processing plant.”
She scoffed at me. “You’re awful to me.”
“Autumn’s here! Daddy, Autumn’s here!” Grace’s sweet little voice called out, and then she was in my arms, too, telling me all about what she’d been up to.
Con was right behind her, his face pinched with worry as he looked at me. “Autumn.”
I put both girls down and went to him. I closed my eyes and sighed as he held me and pressed his lips to the side of my head.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Auti. I’ve missed you so much. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Later. We have time to talk later. Right now, I want you to meet my Mom, Ruth, and my Granny Lane.” I moved to introduce him to them, but two big arms wrapped around me from behind and picked me up. Griff.
He held me against his chest and let out a low growl that radiated happiness through my entire being. “Sorry to interrupt, but Autumn is needed in my office.”
Mom stepped forward and all but swooned. “I’ll watch the kids while you four talk.”
Griff stopped short and seemed to realize that there were more people around than he’d realized. “I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
Hanging in the air, I giggled. “Griff, meet my mom, Ruth. And the crazy old bat is my Granny Lane.”
“You all owe me twenty million.”
Mom gently smacked her mom’s arm and waved Griff away. “We’ll meet officially after you all get things settled.”
I looked at the girls and grinned. “You two. Get Jones and tell him that I’ll be out to hang out with all of you soon. Introduce him to my mom and grandma, okay?”
Caroline took my mom’s hand. “I like your hair.”
Mom beamed. “You and I are going to be best friends.”
I lost sight of them as Griff carted me into his office. When we were all inside and the door was shut behind us, I was taken into their arms, one by one, and shown how much I’d been missed. Griff kissed me desperately, his hands roaming over my entire body like he wasn’t sure I was really there. Zeke did the same, his hands pausing at my breasts and staying there. Con just held me in his arms and sighed with his face in my hair.
I finally had to pull away and hold up my hand to get them to stop trying to close the distance between us. “Okay, I can see that you missed me.”
“Did you miss us, sweetheart?” Griff looked me over, his eyes pausing on my breasts, too.
Crossing my arms under the most focused on things in the room, I grunted. “Guys. I’m wearing a T-shirt. Why are you staring at my tits like you’ve never seen them before? I’m not exactly wearing anything seductive.”
Zeke scoffed. “One. You’re wrong. This is seductive as hell. I had a Daisy Duke thing when I was young and these shorts are my version of heaven.”
“And two?” I smiled even as I rolled my eyes.
Griff took me by the hips and flexed his fingers. “I’ve made it my job to know every part of you, Autumn. That includes every single detail about your tits. They’re bigger.”
My cheeks heated as I looked down at them. They looked normal to me. “It’s barely been over a week since I left. They didn’t grow.”
“Oh, they’ve grown.” Zeke moved behind me and kissed the back of my neck.
I melted into them, my heart growing even bigger with the warm feelings of love washing over me. “Can we focus on something other than my boobs? Like the fact that I don’t want to leave. I want to spend the rest of the summer with the kids here. Sorry if you don’t like it, but I signed a contract.”
Con took my face in his hands and kissed me. “You’re staying past the summer.”
“Oh, you’re stuck with us. We saw your statement. That was sexy. I like it when you take charge like that.” Zeke let my hair out of the bun and ran his fingers through it. “You love who you love, huh?”
“I also love the part where you told everyone off for bothering you about something so trivial.” Griff looked down at my boobs again, his eyebrows furrowed.
I pushed away from them and groaned. “Okay. Before the three of you get carried away, I need to tell you something.”
They watched me and waited for me to talk, but I was nervous. It was clear they cared about me, but what if it wasn’t enough?
“Well?”
I glared at Griff. “Excuse me, Mr. Pushy, but I’m trying to get my thoughts together.”
“You’ve had long enough to do that, sweetheart. I’m tired of waiting.”
“I’m pregnant.” I covered my eyes with my hands as I said it, afraid of seeing their reactions. “I didn’t think it was possible. It shouldn’t have been possible. I’ve been to a doctor and I’ve taken so many tests. I’m pregnant.”
“That explains the boobs.”
“I’ll need to change my will to include you and the baby. That way, after you murder me in a mood swing, you’ll still be taken care of.” Griff’s voice was full of humor.
“What the hell do you think Zeke and I will be doing? We have money, too, asshole.”
I slowly brought my hands down and found them all watching me with stupidly huge grins on their faces. “What’s happening?”
“I guess we’re having a baby.” Zeke punched Griff in the arm and then rushed me. Scooping me into his arms, he spun me around and held me against his chest with one strong arm under my ass. “You’re even more trapped with us now.”
I kissed him and grinned back at them. “You aren’t freaked out?”
Con sank onto the couch and wiped his eyes. “Seems it was always meant to be this way. You’re a Phoenix, Auti.”
I went to him and crawled into his lap, smashing myself against him. “I loved you when I was a teenager, and I thought that was the most I could ever love anyone. Turns out that was just the beginning.”
Griff sat next to us, Zeke on the other side, and they all seemed to deflate into the cushions. They all looked like they hadn’t been sleeping, but Con had two black eyes that I’d noticed when I first looked at him.
Looking them over, I sighed. “You three are a mess without me.”
“I don’t want to do it again.” Griff shuddered. “We had to talk to each other so much, and it sucked.”
“You think that’s over now that you’re, what? Dating the same woman?” I shook my head. “If this really is going to work, you three are going to have to talk about your emotions and figure your shit out. All. The. Time.”
Griff pulled me onto his lap and buried his face in my chest. “Nope. I’m just talking to you from now on.”
I held his head in my hands and finally started to relax. “So. We’re doing this?”
Lifting his eyes to mine, Griff nodded. “In case you missed it, I love you. I’m in love with you. They are too. We’re not giving you up. We’re going to make this work, no matter what. No more running away. No more hiding from us. Just the four of us, being a team.”
“You’re always so fucking bossy.”
“And you’re always so fucking mouthy. Did you hear what I said?”
“Yeah, yeah, you love me. Tell me something I don’t know.”
“How about you tell us something we don’t know?” His tone was serious as he looked at me. Then, glancing over at his brothers, he rested his hand on my belly. “Do you really love us?”
I nodded instantly. “I love all three of you. God only knows why. You have too much money, you don’t understand normal human interactions, you’re all bossy in your own ways, but I fucking love you all. Each of you.”
Zeke reached over and took my face in his hand. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Auti. We’re all crazy about you.”
Zeke leaned back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. “I’m going to be a dad.”
I crawled over to him and straddled him. “It’ll be fine. Don’t panic.”
“Panic? I’m barely keeping in an excited squeal. If you weren’t here to see me, I’d be running through this room like a happy little pig.”
I laughed and kissed him, slow and deep. When I felt hands sliding down my shorts, I sat up and shook my head at them. “Keep it in your pants. I wasn’t kidding about today. I have a million things to do for the kids.”
They all groaned. Con actually pouted. “Why? They don’t care about specificity. We can tell them tomorrow is actually the Fourth. Let’s send them to Jenny and have really fucking fantastic makeup sex.”
I booped them each on the nose before standing and adjusting my clothes. “I haven’t seen Jones yet. I’ve missed him. So, as much as I love the idea of hot makeup sex that will be happening later tonight, I also really want to check on my kiddos.”
With perfect timing, Jones pushed into the office and stopped when he spotted me. “Are you staying?”
I smiled and nodded. “You can’t get rid of me.”
He ran to my side and threw his arms around me. “You can’t ever leave again. Everyone was awful. I had to hide away from everyone and I was running out of books to read. Please, promise that you’re staying.”
I wrapped him in a tight hug and met Griff’s eyes over his head. Seeing Griff smile the sweetest smile at me, it was an easy promise to make. “I’m staying.”