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He faltered for a nanosecond. That woman had screwed with him from the words “hands up,” and she had been pregnant. That, he knew without a doubt. “Congratulations.”
Jared walked into the hallway, holding a very small infant. “Gentlemen, meet Violet.”
“Nicely done, Sugar,” Locke said.
She beamed. “Thank you.”
“Don’t forget who signs the paychecks,” Jared grumble-laughed.
Sugar rolled her eyes. “Absolutely. Far be it from me to bear and birth the fruit of your loins only to exclude your contributions to this baby-making process.” She was a handful, perfectly tailored for Boss Man.
Bishop laughed as a toddler ran through the room, followed by a kid who was a little older. “There are a lot of kids here.”
“There are a lot of kids in Titan,” Jared explained as though Bishop was a few rounds short.
Sugar caught the toddling child by his hand. “This way, Jacian. You too, Ace. Move boots. Round you go.” She raised the hand. “This one is Rocco’s; the loose one is one of Winters’s.”
Right. Was he supposed to remember that? Bishop looked at Locke as though he might have that answer. He needed Ella to handle the ebb and flow of this chaos. She would handle this, easy. But Ella was thousands of miles away in the tropics with her family, and that was a good thing. She was safe. And that was all that mattered.
He reached for a deep breath, following as Ace led their hallway contingent to a large kitchen.
Beth held a small child in her arms. Roman and Cash had a sniper rifle on a kitchen counter, examining what looked to be new hardware. A dark-haired woman with legs up to her neck called to Jacian. She sat next to Parker, who had a blond biker chick on his knee—oh, Bishop knew her.
“Hey, Lexi,” Bishop said. The biker-chick look was vastly different from the workout clothes she had donned in the Sugar-jump-rope fiasco. Definitely a complete one-eighty.
Lexi bounded off of Parker. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
After a quick hello and introduction to Locke, Lexi scanned the room. “Who don’t you know? Caterina, wave.”
The leggy dark-haired woman lifted her hand, giving an accented, “Hello.”
“Rocco belongs to her, and she knows how to torture people. No joke. Pretty much never upset her. Ever.” Lexi pivoted. “You know Beth and Roman. That’s Brady, the baby. Super cute.”
A petite woman walked in under Winters’s arm, holding another baby.So. Many. Babies.
“And that’s Mia holding Ryan—Cash and Nic’s.” Lexi turned to them. “You bachelors overwhelmed and confused yet?”
“No comment.” Wanting to belong to a team that wasfamilyin more than one way confused him.
“Not a bad answer,” Lexi said.
Locke just laughed, and Lexi peeled away as Mia slid from her husband’s arm and made a beeline for them, pushing her free hand out. “I’m glad you’re here.”
They all shook.
“Now let’s never do that again.” Mia made a face at their handshakes. “Get a beer. Eat some food. Get to know everyone.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Locke said.
She bounced the baby. “And never call me ma’am.”
“All right, then.” Bishop gave Locke a look, and they bumbled toward the beer outside on the back deck, each grabbing a bottle and twisting the top.
“Hey, man.” Locke nodded to the group as they milled, going in and out, from the kitchen to the deck.
“What’s up?” Bishop asked.
“Doing okay?”