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CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

CLAW DAGGERS TIMES THREE

PENN

I didn’t even want a pet. That’s what I tell myself every time Gizmo launches himself at my face like he’s an alien torpedo.

I mean, I’m an NFL player. I don’t have time for pets. Between practice, travel, the actual games, and wanting nothing more than to spend all my time with Addy and the kids, I barely have time to breathe, let alone take care of three mischievous balls of wrinkly skin and attitude.

And yet…

Jezebel purrs on my lap, her leathery little body curled up like a question mark. She’s the one who got me into this mess. This mother with giant ears and two-toned eyes who looks like she’s been dropped from the mothership, gazing up at me way too trusting.

Labor changed us.

And now, on a rare afternoon off, while Addy’s still at work and the kids are at school, Jezebel and I sit and watch as her three kittens terrorize the living room like little furless demons.

Gizmo and Shadow are doing parkour off the back of the couch, while Elsa is hanging from the curtains like a tiny, naked Tarzan.

I lift Jezebel up and we walk over, carefully lifting Elsa’s claw daggers from the curtain.

“That’s a no, little miss,” I tell her. “No curtain climbing for you.”

I toss a toy at her as I sit back on the couch, and Jezebel starts purring again when I scratch behind her ear.

“You’re killing me, Jezzy,” I murmur. “They’re old enough to adopt. That’s the smart thing to do. What any reasonable person would do.”

She blinks those weird eyes up at me and purrs louder.

“I know. I’m not sure I can do it. Break up a family. Separate siblings from each other…just give them to random strangers?”

She closes her eyes and stretches luxuriously like she couldn’t care less. But she’ll be hating on me if I go through with it, wondering where her children are.

Gizmo launches himself off the couch and slams into my chest.

“Oof, seriously?”

He meows and starts pawing at the neckline of my shirt, climbing his way up my shoulder on a mountain expedition. Shadow and Elsa skitter across the floor, chasing each other and rolling into a heap.

“They’d be so sad without each other,” I tell Jezebel.

Her tail flicks.

“Addy and I have our hands full. Between the football season going strong and Addy trying to finish her time with the Mustangs in the best possible way…we don’t need three more living beings depending on us for survival, Jez.”

She opens one eye and flicks her tail again, as if to say, Well, that’s a you problem, isn’t it…

“I know. I know. It is a me problem. I’m just not ready.” I rub my hands over my face, groaning. “I’m just too soft, huh.”

“Way too soft,” a voice says behind me.

I turn to see Addy standing there, wearing one of my old sweatshirts and a teasing smile. Her hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and she looks so effortlessly beautiful that my heart does that jolting flip it does whenever I see her.

“Not always,” I say, eyes heating as I look her over. “In fact, not feeling soft at all now that I see you.”

She giggles and sits down next to me, pulling her legs up onto the couch.

Jezebel stands, stretches, and slinks over to curl into Addy’s side.

Shadow and Elsa follow like magnets, jumping up and then settling next to her.

Gizmo, still perched on my shoulder, lets out a loud meow and rubs his snout against my ear.

“They’re kind of hard to give up, aren’t they?” Addy says softly, running her hand down Jezebel’s back.

“Impossible.”

Her gaze flickers to me, and for a second, there’s something guarded there…like she’s trying to figure out how to say something.

I sit up straighter. “What is it?”

“I have some news,” she says finally, her voice quiet. She breathes out a laugh and shakes her head. “I don’t know why I’m nervous. It’s good news.”

“Okay,” I say, reaching for her hand. “Now I’m nervous.”

She shifts closer, until we’re about an inch apart. Her eyes are shining.

“We’re pregnant.”

My brain short-circuits. Pretty sure my heart stops for a second and then slams back into gear at double time.

“We—what?”

She’s smiling now, but her eyes are wide and still nervous. “Pregnant. You’re going to be a dad again...to a baby this time.” She grins at Gizmo nuzzling my ear. “A human baby.”

A sound leaves my throat that I don’t think I’ve ever made before. I place Gizmo on the couch and surge up, hauling Addy into my arms. She lets out a startled laugh as I lift her off the ground and spin her in a circle.

“OH MY GOD!” I yell.

I’m laughing. She’s laughing. Jezebel stands on the couch, bowing her back. The kittens scatter, meowing indignantly.

I press my mouth to Addy’s neck and then to her cheek, feeling the happiest kind of terror flood through me.

“We’re pregnant?”

“Yes!”

I spin her again. “Holy—Addy, this is—fuck, what is this life?” I cackle.

And then it hits me that I’m swinging my wife around like a sack of potatoes.

“Wait, am I hurting you?” I come to an abrupt stop, lowering her carefully to the floor. “Oh, God—are you okay?”

She laughs, still breathless. “I’m fine.”

“No, but seriously. Are you?”

She puts her hand on my chest. “Penn. I’m okay. We’re okay.”

My hands are shaking when I cup her face, my thumbs brushing her cheeks.

“A baby,” I whisper. “We’re gonna have a baby.”

She nods, her eyes shining.

“I thought we were going to keep trying and trying, and here you go, getting pregnant right away. No fair!”

Her face falls into my neck as she laughs.

“I love you,” I say hoarsely.

Her smile softens. “I love you too.”

I tug her to the couch and Jezebel climbs on Addy’s lap, looking extremely unimpressed. The kittens are already chasing each other again.

“You know…” Addy rests her head against my chest. “If we can handle this chaos, we can probably handle a baby.”

“You think so?”

She nods. “I do.”

“Yeah, but…” I swallow hard and look at her out of the corner of my eye. “Maybe we should keep the kittens still…you know, for practice.”

She laughs. “I’m not surprised you want to keep all of them.”

“You’re not? But I was so anti-teenage mom.”

“Until you met these babies,” she says.

Gizmo scales my arm and flops back onto my shoulder. I swear this guy thinks I’m his personal pillow. And scratching post.

“You know what this means, right?” Addy says.

“What?”

“We’re about to be very outnumbered.”

I kiss her forehead, feeling her smile against my chest.

“Switching to a zone defense,” I say.

She laughs.

“We’ll figure it out,” I say.

“Yeah,” she agrees, her voice soft. “We will.”

Shadow pounces onto Elsa’s tail and she lets out an indignant squeak, chasing after him and knocking over one of Winnie’s toys in the process.

“We’re so screwed,” I say.

Addy laughs. “Yep.”

I wrap my arm around her, feeling her warmth, the steady beat of her heart against mine. The mayhem around us. The overwhelming magnitude of everything we’ve just signed up for.

“The kids will be so happy to have a baby brother or sister. We’re gonna be just fine,” I say.

“I know,” she whispers.