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“I’m happy for you, man.” I grow serious and look at him sincerely. “You and Maren are going to have a great life together.”

“She definitely keeps it interesting.”

He doesn’t have to explain because I know exactly what he means. Maren and Emi may have settled into domestic bliss, but it hasn’t slowed them down.

“You’ve got it easy. Wait until you have to move a bed to get your pregnant wife out from under it.”

I’m referring to Emi’s bright idea to hide under a bed during one of their Trixsters cases. She crawled under it to avoid being caught snooping through a man’s hotel room. Maren had to lure him out of the room and distract him long enough for me to get Emi out safely. She was six months pregnant, and I snapped, putting my foot down.

For the remainder of her pregnancy, she was restricted to surveillance and administrative TA work only. Since she couldn’t go sit at bars and drink in disguise, Marcus often was forced to go with Maren to investigate.

Emi became very grouchy, which meant I had to become creative.

“In all seriousness, did it scare you when you found out Emi was pregnant?”

“Nope.”

“Didn’t you think it was a little soon?”

“Knowing I knocked her up at her bachelorette party was a bit of a shock, considering she was on birth control. But when we confirmed it, we had already decided to try.”

“Maren wants to start pretty soon. Gavin has heightened her maternal instincts.”

“I’ll give you a piece of advice. You know what I went through with Emi. Go ahead and talk to your doctor now and start taking blood pressure medication. Being married to a Trixster is one thing, but being married to a Trixster having your baby is a whole new level of stress.”

“Shit,” he mutters.

Emi lifts her face, looking around the room and smiling when her eyes land on me. She holds Gavin up higher and waves his little hand in our direction.

“That’s my cue. Emi’s ready to send Gavin home with the parents. You can rest easy now. The attention will be fully back on you.”

“Finally.” He follows me over to the crowd of women.

“Let me take him for a few minutes.” I set down my drink and lift my son out of her arms. She curls into my side and lays her head on my chest.

“I’m taking my wife to the dance floor,” Marcus announces, taking Maren’s hand and leading her away.

The group breaks up, leaving us alone.

“Leslie and Travis went to get his things out of our room. We need to feed him a small bottle so maybe he’ll fall asleep on the way to their house.”

“Let Mom feed him. Tonight’s a special occasion, and we deserve a little adult time.”

She runs a finger down his cheek and kisses him gently. “You hear that? Mommy gets adult time tonight, which means this party is about to get started.”

When she bends over, my line of sight goes directly to her chest, and my cock starts to stir.

“Whatever you’re thinking, hold off for a while. I want to enjoy this reception,” she says without even looking at me.

“How do you know I’m thinking anything?”

“Because my hormones are on high alert and my nipples started tingling, which means you’re sending off vibes.”

“Can you blame me? I’ve been dying to get you out of that dress since you put it on.”

Her eyes meet mine and start to glow. “Maybe we should send the baby home now and take advantage—”

“We’re all ready.” My mom interrupts her, coming up and taking Gavin out of my arms. “Y’all enjoy the rest of the night and don’t worry about us. Take your time tomorrow, too. We’ll be fine. Dawn and Thomas are coming to the house in the afternoon, and we’re grilling for the game.”