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“I can’t. My boob is stuck.” She wiggled forward, taking me with her.

“Why are your boobs so big? You don’t breastfeed.”

“They didn’t shrink after JR was born.” She instantly stopped moving. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” I said, kissing her cheek. “It worked.” I danced backwards into the main room.

“We talked about this. Stop apologizing for things that are not your fault. I’m good.

It’ll happen one day, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.

” I shrugged, smiling. I wasn’t paying attention when I bumped into a hard chest. An arm wrapped around me, underneath my bustline.

I wouldn’t have said anything, knowing it was Grizz, but I was feeling feisty. “If you can’t fight, you’re fucked.”

“I have no problem defending your honor,” Grizz said from behind me.

“Too bad I’m married.” I threw my arm around his neck as I turned to face him.

“Good thing you’re mine.” He closed the gap between us, kissing me with abandon. I jumped, letting him catch me as I wrapped my legs around his waist. Yanking on his neck, I needed to feel every hard curve against me.

“Easy, Mer. I’m fragile.” He laughed against my lips.

Before I could say anything, there was a baby gurgle.

“Where is she?” I said, looking around. Over Grizz’s shoulder, sitting on a table, was a car seat.

I dropped Grizz like a hot potato, untangling myself quickly from his body.

It was a shame, but I had more important people to meet.

My feet touched the floor, and I stormed past him, coming to a complete stop in front of the table.

“It’s like that?” Grizz asked, not even mad.

I didn’t answer him, staring at the baby’s face.

She was wide awake, her blue eyes locked on mine like she already knew who I was.

Her tiny feet floated just above the edge of her car seat, kicking gently in the air, but I had a hard time believing she was real.

“Hi,” I whispered. “I’m Meredith.” Had I really just introduced myself to the baby?

I was supposed to tell her she was safe and loved, not my name.

Would she even call me by my name or mom? “That was dumb.”

There was laughter coming from behind me, and I didn’t have to look to know it was at me.

I’d been so confident that Grizz and I could be parents, and this was the last thing I needed.

I’d never thought I might fail in this situation, and the laughter wasn’t helping.

This baby needed us, and I’d already fucked it up.

“You’re hunching your shoulders. There’s no need to be upset.” Grace threw her arm around me. “Sabre and I both said ‘Hi’ when we met JR. You’re just keeping the tradition alive.” She kissed the side of my head.

It didn’t really make me feel better, but I forced a smile on my face. “Look at her, Grace. She’s beautiful.” I wrapped my arm around my sister’s back.

“She is.” She turned her head towards the men behind us. “You buying bigger guns, Grizz?” she asked.

“I hadn’t thought about it, but now that you mention it.”

“No, Jonathan,” I snapped. I’d promised this baby would only know love. “She’s already going to get shit over you being a biker. You don’t need to prove how insane you are.”

“We got a few years to load up the armory, so you’re good.” Sabre smiled, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Grizz while he stroked his stubble like a psycho.

“You have a boy. You don’t need big guns.” Grizz punched him in the arm.

“I do if the next one is a girl. When you giving me another one, mama?”

Grace quickly turned back around, and we shared a look. Sabre still didn’t know she was a widow, and Grace didn’t want to break the cheerful atmosphere.

“If you keep them in the house, I highly suggest you sleep with one eye open.” I winked at Grizz. He caught the jest. He wasn’t in any real danger. I didn’t want to be without him, but I needed something to break the tension. The baby could feel it in the air, and she was wiggling in the seat.

“Why don’t you pick her up?” Grace whispered in my ear, squeezing me.

“How?” I asked, scared that I’d do it wrong.

“Put your hands under her body, but as you’re bringing her to you, support her head with your arm. She can’t be more than a few weeks old.”

“I’m scared, Grace.” I scooted closer to my sister, trying to steal some of her strength.

“I know, but she doesn’t care. She just wants her mom and doesn’t understand why you’re hesitating.” Grace hugged me, and then let me go. She took a few steps back, standing with the men while watching me.

My hands shook as I reached for the baby. I didn’t want her to feel my fear the first time I touched her. “Only love,” I mumbled, wiping the sweat on my palms onto my leggings. You can do this. “Hi,” I said to her again.

She smiled, and drool poured from the corner of her mouth as she wiggled in her seat again. I took that as a sign she wanted to be held. Undoing the straps, I curled my hand underneath her. She was tiny, and I had no clue if that meant she was healthy or even how old she was. Fucking Clara.

I picked up her bottom half, sliding my other hand behind her neck for support, bringing her closer to my body. This was awkward, and I was afraid all over again. I stood still, hoping for a miracle. She stretched, and her movement caused me to tighten my hold on her.

“Do we know anything about her?” I asked, not bothering to look away.

“No, besides what I’ve already told you. Cyph’s going to look for her birth certificate, and I already called Scrub. He’ll check her when he gets off shift.”

“How much is the bribe?” I asked. Grizz and I had a running joke about the night we’d met.

He had had to ask Cyph for my phone number.

It had cost him five video games and a few premium channels for the TV.

Our one year was in a few months, and Grizz was already being bombarded with renewals.

He had told me he wasn’t renewing, but he’d probably get stuck with the bill again.

“Nah, I owe you one.” I heard Cyph from somewhere in the room. I was still bitter over the laptop for the design firm, but there wasn’t any use arguing over it. If the baby didn’t have a birth certificate, Cyph would have to sneak one into the system.

I never wanted be away from her. What was I going to do when she went to school? Nope, that was far, far down the road.

I felt Grizz at my back. “I started calling her Pumpkin,” he said, kissing the top of my head.

“Do you know what you’ve just done?” I snorted. “No matter what her name is, we’re always going to call her Pumpkin.”

The baby kicked her feet.

“You like Pumpkin?” I asked her. She kicked her feet again. “That’s good because you’re kind of stuck with it. I’ll remind you when you’re a teenager, this wasn’t my doing.”

“Big guns, Mer.”

“You got a few years, buddy. Settle down.” I tightened my hold on her and laughed.

I was so lost in my world that I didn’t notice it had gone silent in the main room.

Looking around, I caught my aunt wiping a tear from her eye as Thunder wrapped one of his beefy arms around her shoulder.

Everyone else was watching me hold the baby.

Pumpkin was going to have a family, or heads were going to roll.