Almost two years later…
“Idon’t want a fucking birthday party,” I grumbled.
“Too bad; you only turn forty once.” Loralei smugly replied as she zipped the blue sleeper on our infant son. Two seconds later, I heard a crash in the bathroom and ran to see Kristin with her momma’s makeup all over the floor. Lipstick was smeared all across her face. She gave me that grin that proved I was wrapped around her tiny little finger.
“Baby girl, you made a mess,” I said as I scooped her up and tried to clean her face. Each time I tried to wipe, she turned her head the opposite direction. Then Kyle started crying from behind me, and I looked over to see Loralei holding him and trying not to laugh.
“I have got to make an appointment to get the boys snipped, babe. These two are gonna be the death of me. Fuck turning forty, I’ll be lucky to see forty-one,” I said with a groan. Because whatever sorcery their mother had that prevented me from manipulating her emotions had been passed on to them. I couldn’t soothe them or calm them for shit. Voodoo and his grandmother hypothesized it was because I had true love for them, but also that Loralei was my “fated mate.” The same had happened to Hawk with Voodoo’s mom.
“Fuck!” Kristin shouted joyously, and I cringed.
“Well, you keep teaching our daughter such colorful language, and that might be more accurate than you think,” Loralei said with a big, sassy smile. “Your grams is gonna lynch you. And speaking of, she’s already called twice to see where we are and to say Raptor is keeping her entertained.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Daddy!” my little girl said as she slapped her two hands on my cheeks. With a sigh, I closed my lids, then blinked and gave her my attention.
“Yes, sweetheart,” I patiently said as I stared at the beautiful girl we had created in a freak October snowstorm. Her blue-gray eyes exactly like mine stared up at me before she leaned forward to give me a sloppy open-mouthed kiss.
And that’s when my heart melted and I knew I’d happily walk through raging fires for her, her brother, and her mother. After finally getting her somewhat straight, I carried my daughter in her frilly-as-hell party dress out to the truck. As I buckled her into her car seat, I ignored the smear of red lipstick on the cuff of her little bitty white sweater.
Then I grabbed the infant seat from my wife, staring at the snake tattoo that wound around her arm. A goofy grin spread over my face at my incredibly mushy feelings for my woman. Her brand had been a tattooed snake bite on her wrist. In the month and a half between Kristin being born and conceiving Kyle, she had not only gotten it, she’d added to it with a snake that was crawling down her arm toward the “bite” on her wrist.
After I got Kyle’s seat clipped in place, I grabbed my wife and pulled her flush against me. I took her arm and pressed a kiss to the “bite” with “Property of Venom” around it. She’d made me wait until after Kristin was born to get married. Said she wanted to make sure we weren’t rushing and only getting married because we were having a kid.
I was pretty sure it was because I made her wait to get my brand that she made me wait to put a ring on it. Either way, those months of her pregnancy had proven that our love could only get stronger and our bond was tough as hell.
“I love you,” I whispered right before I kissed her full lips.
“Mmm,” she replied into the kiss.
When I reluctantly broke the kiss and deeply inhaled, she sighed. “Wow.”
“My thoughts exactly,” I said with a wicked grin, then helped her up into her seat.
She leaned forward before I could close the door and bit my bottom lip, tugging on my piercings. “You sure you don’t want just one more?” she whispered hopefully.
I growled. “Woman! I swear….”
“I love you too.” She batted those baby blues at me, and I chuckled as I shook my head.
When I rounded the hood and climbed into the driver seat, she was nervously tapping on the windowsill as she looked out through the glass.
“What’s up with you?” I asked as I backed out of the driveway and headed down the road to the clubhouse where our family and friends waited.
“Well, um,” she stuttered.
“Spit it out. Aww hell, did you go and get me one of those black cakes? My teeth are gonna be all jacked up for days,” I bitched. When she didn’t reply, I shot a quick glance at her, then back to the blacktop.
“You have almost nine months to make that appointment,” she said, so softly I barely heard her. I had to run what she’d said through my brain a few times before I slammed on the brakes, pulled off the road, and put the truck in park.
For a few blessed seconds, everyone in the truck was silent. Pursing my lips, I drummed on the steering wheel.
“Decker?” Loralei hesitantly asked as she watched me nervously.
“Three kids in less than three years?” I asked in a deceptively calm voice.
“Surprise!” she sang out with worry furrowing her brow.