Insistent

by Kaylee Ryan

  “Let’s get you changed.” I make quick work of changing her diaper and dressing her for the day. Cass already packed her diaper bag and said she would leave it downstairs. I told her I would get it, but she insisted. She smarted off something about her “insistence” shouldn’t bother me. My wife, she’s got jokes.

  Once I have a happy fed baby, I load her up in my truck, pink diaper bag and all, and head toward Soul Records. We each hired our own nannies, so to speak, but they only work when we’re all at the office. Our wives work with us, all except Lauren, but we changed that, splitting Cass’s duties with her. It works for us. We’re family owned and operated. On the first level, you would never know that the upstairs is baby/toddler heaven. With it being a studio, the walls are soundproof so the kids can play as loud as they want as they grow older and we never have to worry about disrupting business.

  “There’s Mommy,” I whisper, stopping just in the doorway of Cass’s office.

  “Hey, you two.” She stands and reaches for Cora, who goes willingly into her mom’s arms. “You feeling better, sweetie?” she asks her.

  “She drank her entire bottle with no complaints. She seems to be better today.” I snag an arm around Cass’s waist and press a kiss to her lips. Cora leans in and slobbers on my cheek. “Love you,” I tell my wife, then turn and kiss Cora’s cheek, telling her the same.

  I’m not sure what I’ve done in life to get me to where I am today. I can tell you that my heart is full. I’ve had a great career, and we’re lucky to not have to worry about money. I have my beautiful wife and daughter, and the best friends and family a guy could ask for. I’m looking forward to what the next sixty or so years has in store for us.

  “Mommy picked up something for daddy on the way to work today. You want to give it to him?” Cass asks our daughter.

  I chuckle when Cora squeals, sensing her mom’s excitement but has no idea why. Cass reaches beside her desk and grabs a small white gift bag. It must be light because she places Cora’s hand around it and together they hand me the bag. “Thank you.” I kiss Cora on the cheek and snag my arm around my wife, kissing her lips with our daughter bouncing in her arms, surely wanting to get in on the action. “It’s not my birthday,” I say, pulling away from the kiss.

  “Oh, this is a ‘just because I love you’ gift.” She smiles brightly.

  The day she decided to stop fighting and that we could be together, I thought I couldn’t love her more. I was wrong. Every fucking day she buries herself a little deeper into my heart, winding her arms around my soul. To this day, I still crave her touch, her kisses, the feel of her in my arms. She is, and forever will be, my heart.

  “Open it already,” she says impatiently, laughter in her voice.

  Carefully, I remove the tissue paper, and nestled inside is a little pink piece of fabric. Confused, I find her eyes and they’re shining as she nods at me to keep going. Grabbing the fabric from the bag, I unfold it to see a little pink T-shirt. My eyes find my wife’s again and she’s laughing, her eyes welling with tears.

  “Read it,” she urges.

  Flipping the shirt over, I read the words that are written in white letters. “I’m the big sister” it says. I read it again, and then again just to make sure I’m not seeing things. Then I look at her. My beautiful wife loses the battle with her tears as one slides down her cheek.

  “We’re pregnant?” I ask her.

  She nods, giving me a watery smile. “It’s soon.” She looks over at Cora in her arms and kisses the top of her head. “But you said you wanted lots of babies.”

  “I think I said, I wanted lots of babies with you. There is a difference.” I grip the shirt tightly in my fist as I step into her yet again. The hand gripping the shirt goes around her waist while the other lands on her flat belly. Cora reaches down to mimic me. “Only babies with you,” I whisper, kissing the corner of her mouth. I can feel the lump in the back of my throat from the news.

  “I’m sorry. The pill must have failed. There is that chance, although you never think it will be with you.” She’s rambling, taking my silence as fear. She knows me better than that.

  “Baby.” I cup her face in the palm of my hand. “I’m glad it failed. Nothing is a greater gift in life than making babies with you. Nothing.” I drop a kiss to her forehead, then take Cora, who is reaching for me. I pull Cass into our embrace. “We’ll add onto the house if we have to,” I tell her, causing her to laugh.

  “Let’s fill up the rooms we have before we start talking additions to the house.” She snuggles into my chest.

  “Cole and Stacy still have us beat. We’ll have to try sooner next time,” I say, only half joking.

  “We’re going to have two less than a year and a half apart. I think we’re good.”

  “It’s the trying that we’re good at.” My pants grow a little tighter just thinking about it.

  “Yeah,” she readily agrees. “We are good at that.” With one arm around my waist, the other reaches up and rests on Cora’s back.

  “Thank you for this life,” I whisper. “There is no one else in this entire world I’d want this with. It’s you and only you. It will only ever be you,” I say, holding her close. Cora rests her head on my shoulder, mimicking her mother. “You, too, sweet girl, and your little brother or sister,” I tell her. She just sticks her fist in her mouth and chews. She’s teething and is a slobber box; my shirt is testament to that. I wouldn’t change it for anything. The money, the fame, the success, none of it means anything without my family by my side.

  Three Years Later

  I’m sitting in the backyard with my six-week old son, Garrett, sleeping peacefully against my bare chest. Today is just another day, but my wife decided to have a cookout. One call to Logan, Stacy, and Lauren and plans were made. Not that I mind. They’re family and having this little corner of our gated community to just us and our kids, it’s like living in Mayberry, only on steroids. Our road is a dead end, which means the dads set up their lawn chairs toward the middle of the street and let them run crazy. They know they can’t pass where we sit and are not allowed to play in that particular spot unless we are out there with them. Not that we ever get any traffic. But when it’s your babies, you can never be too careful.

  “He’s out,” Kacen says from his seat beside me. He has his daughter, Paige, in his arms giving her a bottle. I think she’s eight months old, or around there. I lost track after we all had our firsts. Cass is the one that always remembers the birthdays of the family.

  “He is. Eat, sleep, shit, repeat at this age.” I laugh.

  “Yeah, but damn, it’s hard to see them grow up. It feels like yesterday we brought her home from the hospital.” He motions to Paige who is eating without a care in the world in her dad’s arms.

  “Hey, y’all need a beer?” Cole walks over to ask us.

  I remember the days he would have yelled it out with not a care in the world, but as parents, you learn to be mindful of sleeping babies. Especially Cole. Their second, Colton, had colic and the little guy was miserable for the first few months. Looking out in the yard, I watch as he plays with the other kids—a happy healthy three-year-old. I think he’s three. I’ll have to remember to ask Cass.

  “Yeah,” Kacen and I answer at the same time.

  “Tristan and Lauren are on their way,” he tells us. “Justin had an accident.”

  “Ah, the joys of potty training.” Kacen laughs. “We had a hell of a time with Drew, finally threw some Cheerios in the toilet and we made a game of it. Worked like a charm.”

  “Did you tell T that?” I laugh.

  “Yep, he and Lauren said it worked like a charm with Zach.”

  Cole comes back with four bottles of beer, setting the extra on the table, I assume for Tristan, who comes walking over as soon as he takes his seat.

  “That’s for you.” Cole points his bottle to the one on the table.

  “Thanks. Sorry we’re late. J had an accident. He was so excited to come play wi
th his friends, he waited too late to go to the potty,” Tristan explains.

  “Been there.” Cole laughs.

  We’re quiet for a few minutes as we watch our kids run and play, while our wives work on setting up the food. We were instructed we were on kid duty because they needed girl time, and they would take care of the food. None of us complained; it’s not a hardship to watch your children run and play, or in my case, sleep peacefully in your arms while his siblings run and play.

  “Stacy’s pregnant,” Cole says, tipping his beer to his lips. “Number four. You would think that the excitement would simmer a little, but fuck, it’s not. And the kids, Riley, Colt, and Sienna are all excited as well. Sienna doesn’t really understand yet, but the boys, I think they get it, especially Riley.”

  We all congratulate him, when Tristan speaks up. “We’re trying for number three. We’re hoping to give Zach and Justin a little sister this time.”

  More congratulations, then Kacen speaks up. “I’ve been trying to convince Logan that we need at least one more. She says that Drew, Shane, and Paige keep us busy enough.” He laughs.

  “It took me two years to get this little guy after Grant was born.” I kiss my Garrett on top of his tiny head. “Although, Cora keeps telling her mom she needs a sister, so maybe I can convince her of another one.” I think about my wife, and the love that shines in her eyes when it comes to our kids, and I know without a doubt, that we’ll be trying for another little girl. Not right away, but I can see it happening for us. No matter the sex of the baby, we’ll love them unconditionally.

  “Funny, right?” Cole asks. “Who would have thought that this is where we would have ended up? Sitting in the backyard, sipping on beer, watching our kids play, while our wives use the excuse of ‘making dinner’ so they can socialize without the interruption of us or the kids?” He grins.

  “Yep,” Kacen says, deadpan, and we all chuckle at his reply.

  Kacen was always the calm one of the bunch. Never bringing home random girls, he was an old soul, so to speak. Matured beyond his years, he was always ready to settle down and have babies. When I met Logan for the first time and realized she was his girl from the beach, I knew he was sunk.

  “Wouldn’t change it, brother,” Tristan says.

  “Nope,” the four of us say in unison.

  When we first started the band, way back when, I fell into the fame, the girls, and although I’m not proud of that, I’m glad my path led me to her. To my wife and kids. To my band of brothers and their families.

  There is nothing like spending time with those you love to Serenade your soul.

  I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to read Insistent. I appreciate each and every one of you. I’d love to hear from you.

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  Website

  With You Series

  Anywhere With You

  More With You

  Everything With You

  Stand Alone Titles

  Tempting Tatum

  Unwrapping Tatum

  Levitate

  Just Say When

  Unexpected Reality

  I Just Want You

  Reminding Avery

  Hey, Whiskey

  When Sparks Collide

  Pull You Through

  Beyond the Bases

  Soul Serenade Series

  Emphatic

  Assured

  Definite

  Insistent

  Southern Heart Series

  Southern Pleasure

  Southern Desire

  Southern Attraction

  Southern Devotion

  It’s hard to see this series come to an end. In the beginning Emphatic was supposed to be a standalone novel, but you asked for more. It took me some time, but each of the Soul Serenade guys finally have their HEA. Thank you for sticking with me, and following the band

  To my readers:

  I never thought that anyone would be interested in my stories, you have proved me wrong. I am truly honored to have you on this journey with me. Thank you for always supporting me.

  To my family:

  I’m blessed beyond measure with the support that you provide. I could not do this without you.

  Scott Hoover:

  Thank you for an amazing image of Travis. I look forward to working with you again soon.

  Tami Integrity Formatting:

  You have a way of taking my words and turning them into a beautiful little package. You put up with my changes and my frantic messages. I don’t know what I would do without you. As always, it’s been amazing and my pleasure working with you.

  Travis DesLaurier:

  Thank you for doing what you do and being the face of Insistent.

  Sommer Stein:

  Your talent never ceases to amaze me. Thank you for yet another stunning cover. You’ve brought this series to life and for that I thank you.

  My beta team:

  Jamie, Stacy, and Lauren I would be lost without you. You read my words as much as I do, and I can’t tell you what your input and all the time you give means to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking this wild ride with me.

  Give Me Books:

  With every release, your team works diligently to get my book in the hands of bloggers. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for your services.

  Tempting Illustrations:

  Thank you for the promotional teasers. You’re the best!

  Bloggers:

  Thank you, doesn’t seem like enough. You don’t get paid to do what you do. It’s from the kindness of your heart and your love of reading the fuels you. Without you, without your pages, your voice, your reviews, spreading the word it would be so much harder if not impossible to get my words in reader’s hands. I can’t tell you how much your never-ending support means to me. Thank you for being you, thank you for all that you do.

  To my Kick Ass Crew:

  The name of the group speaks for itself. You ladies truly do KICK ASS! I’m honored to have you on this journey with me. Thank you for reading, sharing, commenting, suggesting, the teasers, the messages all of it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you do. Your support is everything!

  With Love,