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“I cannot believe our little man is five already. Does that make us old? Are we old now? Because I sure as hell amnot.”

“You might be old but I’m not.” I respond to my best friend.

“We’re the same age dumbass.”

“Language Owen. Kids are sponges. Remember the d-i-c-k incident.”

Owen laughs as shakes his head. He called me a dick while we were playing cards one night and we hadn’t noticed Bambi entering the room while carrying Harper. She was barely two and listening to her say dick in her adorable, sweet baby voice was hilarious. But it took a good hour to get her to stop, and another hour to get Owen to stop laughing and begging me to let her say just one more time.

“Oh yeah, that was hilarious,” he chuckles.

“And I don’t want a repeat of it. Understand?” I glare at Owen. My glare used to scare people, still does sometimes, but Owen just laughs and smacks me on the back again before releasing me.

“Fine, fine. No more adult words around the kids.” He complies. I don’t know that I believe him and make a note to pay attention to him for the rest of the day while we have two dozen five-year-olds running around the house.

“Where’s Grace? She can always keep you in line.”

“I think she’s getting a drink with Izzy.”

Grace and Owen started dating a year ago and she’s been the first girl ever to tame his crazy. We were all shocked when he actually introduced her to us as his girlfriend and even more shocked when she lasted over six months. The fact she’s still around over a year later is downright unbelievable, but we’re all hopeful she sticks around longer. As long as Owen doesn’t fuck it up.

“I’ll make sure to tell her to keep her eye on you. It’s the only way I know you’ll keep your promise.”

“Oh, come on, I’m not that bad.”

I raise my brow at him and give him my bestyeah fucking rightlook. I’m not that great at not cursing either but I at least manage to hold it in while around the kids.

“I seem to recall a certain someone, who not that long ago, was even worse than me,” he chides.

“And yet none of my kids have heard one curse word from my lips, and I’m around them way more than you are.”

Like the mature thirty-two-year-old adult he is, Owen sticks his tongue out at me. I stick mine out back at him. I never said I was mature, just really good at replacing curse words with non-curse words, like fudge and sugar and bald mother cracker. It didn’t make sense when it came out of my mouth when I stubbed my toe, but Noah was standing right behind me and at least he didn’t learn any bad words that day.

Bambi finishes cutting the cake and carries two plates over to us, handing one to me then Owen.

“Thank you, love.” I press a kiss to her hair, still in her customary ponytail, and take the Funfetti cake Noah insisted on. “Everything going well?”

“Pretty much. Though I don’t think cake will be on my list of cravings this time around.”

Owen pauses with a mouthful of cake and another forkful halfway to his lips, staring at Bambi and me.

“You guys are gonna have another one?” he almost whines. Well, as best as he can with cake in his mouth.

“Yup. Just found out last week.” Bambi rubs at her stomach that isn’t showing yet.

“Man. I’m never gonna get to use bad words again,” Owen pouts and I can’t help but chuckle at him. Of course that’s the first thing he thinks about.

I know he doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s one of our best friends and I love that he is who he is. It’s part of his charm. He acts all pouty but on more than one occasion, when I asked him to babysit, we came home to find him on the couch with one or both of our kids asleep on his chest. He loves them just as much as we do.

“Does my sister know? She’ll kill me if I found out before her.” Owen’s eyes widen. He’s scared of exactly one person and that’s his little sister.

“Yes, she knows. So does Gigi, but we haven’t told anyone else yet.”

Owen sighs relieved and shoves more cake in his mouth, I do the same. It’s good for birthday cake.

“I heard my name. Who’s talkin’ about me? Better be good things,” Gigi chimes in as she joins us on the lawn carrying Harper, Izzy following close behind her.

Harper reaches for me as soon as they come within grasping distance. Our daughter loves her daddy, and I love holding her as much as she’ll let me. After watching Noah grow so fast, I will take every opportunity to hold and cuddle my little girl.