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“We don’t like her,” I muttered at Gideon as she left.

“She’s flirty but harmless. There’s no need to make drama where there is none.”

“I didn’t tell you this at the time, butshejust happened to be a bitch about Joey not having a mother at the fall festival. She was trying to get me kicked out for helping Joey in that passive-aggressive way that makes me want to throttle her.”

Gideon’s eyebrows rose. “Are you serious?”

I nodded. “As a shark attack. I dealt with it at the time, and Joey didn’t see or hear anything. You can blame it on the pregnancy hormones if you want, but I will throw hands if she’s mean to our Joey.” As I spoke, I glowered in the direction Jennifer had gone.

Gideon’s hand rested on my lower back as he kissed the top of my head. “Stand down, killer.” His words held no heat. In fact, they were almost affectionate and…proud.

“When do you want to tell her?” Jensen asked as we watched Joey and Gideon playing on the swings. Cullen was over at the ice cream truck, grabbing cones for all of us.

“I don’t know,” I said as I rubbed my belly. I was into my second trimester, and I was going to be showing soon.

“Maybe over the holidays would be nice, especially considering you’re going to be with us. We should probably tell her before you move in full-time…”

“Who said I’m moving in?” I asked with a frown.

Jensen chuckled. “You’ve been sleeping at our place more than your own. Joey loves having you around, as do we, and we know full well you can’t live at the dorms when you have a baby.”

“I could get my own apartment.”

Jensen pursed his lips. “I suppose you could, but that seems kind of silly when you have several helping hands at our place. Maybe you should have this conversation with Gideon.”

I snorted. “You know full well that wouldn’t be a conversation. Gideon will steamroll it.” I took a deep breath. “Maybe staying more wouldn’t be the worst.”

Now it was Jensen’s turn to snort. “I’m too snuggly to resist!”

I doubted I would be able to resist for long. After all, it made more sense to be there once I gave birth, and easing Joey into it was probably the best solution. It also helped that I simply wanted to be there around them all.

“We’ll see.”

Chapter 36

Beth

Iwasn’t the best chef of the family, by any means, but I was doing a decent job at making a homemade lasagna for dinner. Joey was getting picked up from school by the mother of one of her friends, so she would be home any minute. I wanted to make something that would be both nutritious and filling. Therefore, a lasagna with a side of salad seemed like a good bet.

It wasn’t completely homemade—I would leave making pasta from scratch to Cullen—but as far as my cooking skills went, I was rather impressed with myself. When I’d lived on my own, I was a huge fan of instant noodles…not that I would ever admit that to the guys. They would probably freak out and give me even more vitamins.

I had just placed the pasta dish in the oven and was getting to work throwing together a salad when the front door slammed. Putting down my salad tongs, I turned to the entrance, where Joey came storming in. It was immediately obvious that something was wrong. Her eyes were red and puffy, like she had been crying.

“Mrs. Lowe said you’re having a baby!” Joey sobbed, tears flowing down her cheeks.

My body stilled, eyes going wide.

How did she know?

Clearly, this wasn’t good news for Joey, and I didn’t want to lie to her. We had planned to break the news to her gently, but that had gone out the window.

“Well? Are you?” she asked, her voice breaking.

“You don’t like that idea?” I asked softly, kneeling in front of her. She turned to leave, to run away from me, but I gently grabbed her by the hips. Usually, I would let her stomp off and feel her emotions, but this needed to be addressed before she ran off. “I’m going to be honest—I am going to have a baby in a few months.”

The way her face fell at my words straight up broke my heart.

“Lillian said that with a new baby, you wouldn’t care about me anymore,” she admitted with a broken sob.