“I’m sure he’s mad at me, but I gave him the slip.” She smirks. “How are you?” She runs her hand across my small baby bump. “We get our girl this time?”
“We did.” I’ve been dying to tell her, but she and Ben have been radio silent. This time for a lot longer than normal.
“That man really will give you anything.”
“Hey, Ben would give you anything too. As long as you ask.”
Part of the silver lining with everything that had gone down hasn’t only been Logan having to come clean with me, making us closer than ever, but Nova finally admitting to Ben that she’s in love with him.
She needed something to push her, and the thought of losing him finally did it for her. Now the two of them have been this unstoppable assassin force to be reckoned with. She’d been worried Ben would want her to retire from that lifestyle, but that man lives to see Nova happy, and if being the world's best female assassin is what she wants, then he’s going to help her do it.
“About that.” She bites her bottom lip, actually letting her nervousness show for once.
“Out with it,” I push, getting a bit freaked out. Nova isn’t one to worry unless it’s something really big.
“I think I’m pregnant.”
I stare at her in shock.
She recoils. “Say something.”
“I don’t want to say the wrong thing.”
“What’s the wrong thing? You think I’m going to be a terrible mother, don't you?”
“What? No! You’re the best aunt on the planet. I’m scared to be excited in case you’re not. You know you’ll have to settle down. You’ll finally get to move into the house you had built down the road. You can retire!” I shout the last part, almost bursting with excitement. I’ve been waiting for this day.
“I’m excited, but we haven’t really talked about kids.” She lets out a sigh.
“You don’t have to. I see the way you both look at the boys. You want a family of your own.” I reach out and grab her hand, giving it a squeeze. With how they both grew up, it’s understandable for her to be nervous. “You’re going to have a normal life if that’s what you want.”
“You guys do make normal look like a dream.”
“Cause it is.” I love the life Logan and I have built together. There’s nothing about it I would do differently. And I know for a fact he wouldn’t change a thing either. He has enjoyed every second of retired life. He reminds me of that every day.
“Let's do this.” Nova breaks me from my thoughts.
I watch as she reaches into her back pocket to pull out a pregnancy test.
I follow her to the bathroom for her to take it. If Nova thinks she’s pregnant, she is, but I know she needs the test to believe it for herself. The girl knows her own body. Out of anyone I know, she is the most attuned to hers. She has to be in her line of work. She quickly pees and then sets the little stick on the sink, checking her watch.
“Will you retire?”
“Yes,” she says without a second thought.
“How did this even happen?” I ask, leaning my hip against the bathroom sink. “You don’t forget crap like taking the pill.”
“Why are you calling me out?” Her cheeks turn a cute shade of scarlet.
“All right.” I smile, letting it go.
“Quinn!” My name booms through the pool house.
“I was gone for three minutes,” I whisper.
“Mommy play hide and seek?” I hear my oldest son ask.
“Mommy is in trouble and going to have to go to bed early tonight,” Logan responds.
“Uncle Benny!” my baby boy Jason squeals next. Nova’s eyes widen.
“Really? You’re surprised? You thought he wasn’t going to pop up?” I whisper.
Nova grabs the test off the sink, glancing down at it. She sucks in a deep breath, and I know it’s positive.
The bathroom door swings open, revealing both of our husbands. “What? You act like we’re out partying at a club or something.”
“Not funny,” Logan growls. “You don’t sneak around.”
“I learned it from you,” I sass back.
“Nova.” Jason wiggles in Logan’s arms as he reaches out for his Aunt Nova. She takes him from Logan’s hands.
“Watch the kids,” Logan says, making a grab for me.
“Hey!” I protest, but it’s useless. The man is too quick. He has his hands on me before I can put up too much of a fight and is carrying me out of the pool house. I know he’s heading straight for our bedroom. “They need to talk.”
“They don’t need to talk. They need to practice taking care of kids.”
“Wait. You already know?”
“Ben gave her a head start.”
“He knows?”
“Sugar, the man knows his wife’s body, I’m sure.”
“True.” Logan has called my last two pregnancies before I even had an inkling I might be pregnant. My husband pays attention to every single detail when it comes to me. “You always know what I need.”