Page 18 of Four Bears Construction Bonus Scenes

Sawyer and Tim return a few minutes later, the party in full swing. The goats bleat happily while the kids feed them handfuls of alfalfa hay, and Ollie and Dare argue over the best way to cook the perfect steak. It’s kind of the perfect day.

Once we all eat, Stone disappears into the house, returning with three cupcakes that have lit candles in them.

“Do we really have to sing to the goatsagain?” Sawyer stage-whispers.

“It’s tradition,” I reason with a grin.

Do I feel silly singing “Happy Birthday” to three goats? Sure. Is it fun anyway? Of course it is. When we finish, Stone blowsout the candles for them and places each cupcake in front of the goats.

MILLER

“How have we never considered a birthday party for our boys?” I ask in wonder, my mind filling with thoughts of streamers and fruit cups, our tortoises happily wearing knit birthday outfits. Mars’ would be perfect as always, Shelldon’s would be a bit lopsided and possibly only half-finished because while Demetri is an excellent teacher, I am nowhere near the knitting expert my man is. Maybe with a little more practice.

“Don’t let Auggie hear that idea. You know he’ll have our house filled with every single furry, feathered, and scaly friend he can find to celebrate our boys’ birthdays.”

I chuckle. He definitely would because Auggie is good people. I like him even better now that he’s married and no longer pining after Demetri.

“We really should do it though,” I insist, even though we both know there’s at least an even chance I’ll have forgotten the idea entirely by tomorrow, no matter how excited I am about it right now.

Demetri kisses right next to the corner of my mouth, and I smile, turning my head to get a second kiss fully on my mouth.Happy sigh, I fucking love this man.

“I promise. I’ll get out a notebook, and we’ll plan it together tomorrow.”

“You’re the best,” I say.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” he flirts. He does that a lot now: flirts with me, struts around the house naked, notices all the people who drool over him for being such a smoking-hot daddy bear. And fuck if the confidence he’s found doesn’t manage to make him even sexier.

One of the goats ends up with blue frosting all in his beard, and I can’t miss that picture, so I stop mooning over my husband just long enough to snap some photos with my phone.

Best. Day. Ever.

APOLLO

I shake my head, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth as we watch the birthday goats enjoy the hell out of their cupcakes.

“Look at that tongue action,” Ridge whispers, pointing at DJ—short for Dare Junior, or maybe that’s Fred?—who has his whole tongue wrapped around the frosting, pulling it into his mouth lick by lick.

I snort, squeezing his hand. His wedding ring digs into my finger, and this time a full smile emerges. I can’t help it, I’m just fucking happy.

“We should get a goat,” he says.

“No,” I bark automatically. There are some things you have to shut down immediately before they get out of hand, and the idea of goat ownership is one of those things.

“Fine,” Ridge sighs. “Just three more cats.”

I groan, and he laughs. I’m not sure if it’s because he knows I’m wearing down on the subject or because he’s just trying to drive me bat shit crazy and wildly succeeding.

“The goats don’t have to be the only ones eating,” Stone says, holding up another tray full of un-licked cupcakes. “Treats for everyone.”

The kids rush the tray while Ridge stays by my side, just out of the fray. There’s noise and laughter, Ellie starts to cry when Underpants knocks a cupcake out of her hand, right into the dirt, it’s complete chaos…and I’ve grown to love it.

“We have an awesome family, don’t we?” Ridge says as if he’s reading my mind. I turn my head and press a kiss to his temple.

“Yeah, we do,” I agree. We really do.