by L. P. Maxa
“Landry, baby, how do you do that?” His grip tensed, his breathing stopped.
I watched as he came, my name on his lips.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Brody
It was amazing what a family of rich and famous people could throw together on short notice. Landry and I had spent the rest of the evening holed up in her bedroom. We literally fucked until we fell asleep. No joke, my dick was still inside her when I woke hours later.
When we’d finally come out this morning, her parents were dying to know what the results were. Halen and Beau had even stayed the night so they didn’t miss finding out. We told them I was the biological father, and pretty much everyone in the room cried. But Landry refused to tell them we were having a boy. She said she wanted to make it special. Make it fun. So her mom and Halen organized the coolest gender reveal in the history of gender reveals, in under five hours.
“You know, I was thinking, maybe I can fill in with the band when the baby is born.” Luke and I were standing on the Coles’ back patio, shooting the shit over some beer.
“Really?” Truth be told I’d been wracking my brain about how to be in two places at once. There was no way I was missing the birth of my son, and I hated the thought of having to get on a plane the next day to make it to a gig.
“Yeah.” Luke took a sip of his IPA. “It’s been so long since I’ve performed like that, and I miss it. Jett can come surf while we’re all in Cali. It’ll be fun.”
“Thank you so much. That would be amazing.” And just like that, having a large crazy family willing to butt in and help at a moment’s notice became another thing I loved about life with Landry. “The guys will be stoked. You’re a living legend.”
“I’m glad to help.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “And I’m proud of you, man. The way you love my niece, it’s admirable. Welcome to the family.” After that he patted my back and walked off toward Jett. “Hey, kiddo. Looks like Talon is going to be able to teach you to surf after all.”
“That kid smokes more pot that I do.” Brax came up beside me, watching Luke talk to Jett. “I think he and the quiet one—” Brax tilted his head to the right.
“Emmie?”
“No, the other one. Marley.” He pointed across the yard to one of the younger kids wearing thick black-framed glasses. “I think they have some kind of grow operation going on.”
I snorted. “Come on, man, that’s insane. They’re high school kids.” I shook my head. Leave it to Brax to come up with something like that.
“Brody, you ready?” Landry caught my eye, waving me over to where she was standing. I slid my hand around her waist, resting my palm on her belly. “You going to do the honors? Or am I?” She gestured in front of her, to her old drum set.
“I think the better drummer needs to do it.” Her dad winked.
She shrugged. “Nah, I think the baby’s dad should do it.”
“Very funny, baby cakes.” I tickled her ribs, making her squirm. “Okay, everyone ready?”
“Hold on,” Lexi came over, positioning a camera on a tripod in front of us, making some adjustments while she looked through the viewfinder. “Now, everyone step back. Brody has to peel the cover off the glitter packs.”
Landry had written the gender on a piece of paper and then sealed it in a new envelope. She made her mom and Halen swear that they wouldn’t peek, that they would hand it over to the person making the custom packs for the drums. And then she still didn’t trust them so she made them Face-To-Face her while they made the exchange.
“How did you guys even come up with this idea? It’s fantastic.” Talon was standing next to Jett, his new bestie.
“My mom did a photo shoot of the band back in the day. She covered Uncle Luke’s drums in glitter and told him to play.” Halen was sandwiched between Beau and Cash. “The picture is in Landry’s bedroom.”
“It’s my favorite picture of Uncle Luke.” Landry nodded.
“And now, this will be your favorite picture of Brody.” Halen smiled at us, her kind eyes twinkling.
I waited for everyone to move back, and then I peeled off the covers, careful not to let any of the bright blue glitter fall out. “Ready?” I looked at my girl, and felt as if my smile rivaled the sun. When she nodded, I held the drumsticks over my head, and beat the opening sequence to the song that I was playing the first time Landry winked at me.
Blue glitter flew everywhere.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Six Months Two Weeks
Brody: How’s my boy this morning?
Landry: Kicking like he wants out.
Brody: Tell him his dad said to be nice to mommy.
Landry: I’ll relay the message.
Brody: I keep having dreams about fucking you doggie style.
Landry: Pretty much the only way you’d be able to fuck me these days.
Brody: Your father called me last night.
Landry: From doggie style to my dad? Really?
Brody: He wants us to build a house on the compound.
Landry: No.
Brody: He offered us the land on the other side of the tank. We’d be far away from everyone else. You could finish your residency in Austin. You’d have plenty of help when I’m on the road.
Landry: I’ll agree to a SECOND home on the compound. But I like living near the ocean.
Brody: Main home on the compound and second home in Florida.
Landry: Cali.
Brody: Really? Why Cali?
Landry: My parents are here, and yours are there.
Brody: Always free sitters. I like where your head is at.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Six Months Three Weeks
Landry: I peed myself today. It was only a little, but it happened.
Brody: I’m sorry baby cakes, but that’s kind of hilarious.
Landry: I’m massive. I don’t know how much longer I can do this. I mean, how much more can my skin stretch?
Brody: Next kid, we’re planning, because not being next to you while you do funny shit like pee on yourself is killing me.
Landry: Did you really just mention having another baby while I’m still pregnant with this one?
Brody: You’ve gotta give me at least one more pregnancy, I’m missing so much of this one.
Landry: I’ll give you one more, but that’s it. After that, we adopt.
Brody: Deal.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Seven Months One Week
Brody: Dane has gray hair.
Landry: Is he freaking out about it?
Brody: Totes. He found it this evening while we were getting ready to go on stage. I thought he was going to cry. He’s so old.
Landry: He’s my age.
Brody: Oh.
Brody: Wow baby, you’re a lot older than me.
Landry: Thank you.
Brody: You’re like a cougar.
Landry: Stop it.
Brody: You’re a hot cougar.
Landry: Doesn’t make it better.
Brody: A hot MILF cougar.
Landry: I’m going to sleep.
Brody: I fucking love you.
Landry: I love you too.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Seven Months Three Weeks
Landry: We need to pick a baby name.
Brody: I already picked his name.
Landry: Oh yeah?
Brody: Yeah. Wyatt Jackson, after my dad and yours.
Landry: Well, crap.
Brody: You like it, don’t you?
Landry: I really do. And I was prepared to give you so much shit about picking a dumb name. But I love it.
Brody: You’re crying right now, aren’t you?
Landry: Of course I am.
Landry: Wait. Your dad’s name is William.
Brody: It’s Wyatt William, but he’s always gone by his middle name.
Landry: Why?
Brody: Fuck if I know.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Eight Mont
hs
Landry: I got us a puppy.
Brody: Please tell me it’s not a golden retriever.
Landry: From what we can tell, it’s a Mastiff/Great Dane mix.
Brody: Hold on, I’m surfing the net.
Landry: No! Don’t surf.
Brody: Holy freaking shit baby! You got us a horse, not a dog.
Landry: Halen and Beau finished their backyard, and I went with them to the shelter.
Brody: You aren’t supposed to leave the compound. And you thought it was a good idea for a hormonal pregnant chick to go to a shelter and look at homeless puppies?
Landry: Are you mad?
Brody: Not at all. Did I sound mad? I’m practicing my parent lectures.
Landry: I named him Charlie. All the dogs in my family have had C names. Halen and Beau got his brother, they named him Boxer.
Brody: Do the dogs in Halen’s family have to start with the letter B?
Landry: No. The dogs in Halen’s family have to have names that come from lines said by Brad Pitt’s character in Snatch.
Brody: Your family is weird. And obsessed with Brad Pitt movies.
Chapter Forty
Brody
Landry and I were sitting on her brother’s front porch, watching our puppy play with theirs. The things were twelve weeks old and already too big to carry. “If we hadn’t already broken ground on the new house, I would change my mind about living here most of the year.” I took a swig off my beer bottle, leaning back to catch more of the fan breeze. “August in Texas is fucking hot as balls.”
Landry whipped her head to the side, glaring at me. “Oh really? You’re hot?” She pointed to her massively pregnant belly. “I’m carrying around an extra thirty-five pounds of person.”
Crue bent down and took a beer from the cooler between him and Beau. Crue and I had a weird bond. We’d kind of clicked from the start. He really did feel like a little brother to me. “No one forced you to get knocked up and gain a bunch of weight.” An annoying little brother.
I popped him in the back of the head. “Hey. Don’t say shit like that to her.” Crue was in a craptastic mood, again. The kid was perpetually cranky these days.
“Sorry.”
“One of these days, I won’t be pregnant. And I hit harder than Brody.” She narrowed her eyes, shooting daggers at her younger cousin.
“Have you talked to the band? How’s Uncle Luke doing?” Halen walked out of the house, carrying five popsicles and a bowl of ice for the puppies.
“Yeah, Landry and I actually watched the performance last night. He’s doing great. He’s still got it, that’s for sure.” Our boring road manager, Ted, had set up a FaceTime system with great audio so we could watch Luke’s second show with Clashing Swell. “I’m so glad he offered to fill in for me.” I took a large bite off my cherry-flavored treat and then rested my free hand on Landry’s belly. “She’s gonna pop any day now.”
“It’s so damn hot.” Landry sat up and whipped her shirt off. She was wearing a white bikini top underneath. She spent most mornings in the pool; she said she liked feeling weightless.
“Baby cakes, if you’re that hot, then let’s go back to the house.” I got up, hoisting her to her feet.
“I need this baby out of me, Brody.” She shook her head, eyes pleading. “I need it OUT.”
“Go have dirty sex.” Crue drained the rest of his beer. Halen smacked his hand when he reached for another. “It always works on TV.”
“Is that true?” Landry regarded Crue skeptically, like she was almost afraid he was lying to be a dick.
“Yes, it’s true.” Landry’s Aunt Lexi walked up on the porch. “That’s how we got Avory to come on out.”
“Mom. Stop it.” Halen shook her head, a semi-disgusted look on her face.
I turned to Landry, a big fucking smile on mine. “You wanna have a baby today?”
She nodded. “Yes, please. I’m literally begging you.” I took her hand and pulled her toward her brother’s front door.
“Whoa, where are you going? You aren’t banging my sister in my house.” Beau stood up, blocking the entrance with his arm.
“Well, I certainly can’t dirty fuck her in your parents’ house, now can I? She’ll be too loud. Your dad would shit a brick.”
Landry took a step forward, pointing her finger in her brother’s face. “I need this baby out of me, Beau. I’m hot, I’m tired, my feet hurt, my ankles are swollen, and my back is killing me. I can’t stop sweating.” She shoved past her brother, opening the door, the AC blasting the porch and making everyone groan at how good it felt. “I’ll buy you a new guest bed.”
He moved out of the way, looking at his Aunt Lexi. “You know, you guys think we hide things from you, but do you see what brutal honesty looks like? Do you? They could have told us they wanted to cool off. Landry could have asked to take a nap in the guest room. But no. I have to be hyper aware of the fact the Brody is about to nail my sister until she goes into labor.”
“I thought you were on board with no more lies.” Landry leaned back out of the house, cocking an eyebrow.
“I may be changing my stance.” Beau stomped off the porch into the front yard. “I’ll be at the pool house. Come get me when they’re done, or when Landry goes into labor.”
“Oh, we aren’t stopping until my water breaks.” Landry cupped her hand around her mouth, calling out into the yard. She slammed the door on the image of her brother flipping her off. She pulled me down a hallway to the right, kissing me and peeling my shirt over my head. “If this works, we’re making Crue the baby’s godfather.”
I spun her around once we got into the guest room. She pressed her palms on the mattress and I curved my body around hers. I trailed my nose up her neck and my fingers up her thigh. “So fucking ready for me, baby.”
“Holy crap.”
“Did your water just break?” I took a step back, studying the trickle of clear fluid that was forming a puddle on the wood floor. “Damn. I was really in the mood to fuck. What are the chances that you still want to?”
“Brody.”
I held my hands up. “Yeah, no, you’re right. We should get you to the hospital.”
“No, help me up on the bed first. I want Beau to think my water broke from us getting it on in his guest room.” Landry crawled up on the bed, sitting with her legs stretched out in front of her.
“That’s kind of mean.”
“That’s siblings.” She wiggled around and then got back off. “Okay. Now we can go have a baby.”
I took her face in my hands, kissing her lips.
“Holy shit. We’re going to have a baby.”
Epilogue
Landry
“Your whole family is in the waiting room. You ready for visitors, little man?”
I watched from the bed as Brody held our son, talking to him while he slept. I’d been in labor for eighteen hours by the time Wyatt Jackson Frost came into the world. I was utterly exhausted and blissfully happy.
“You good with that, baby cakes?”
I nodded, my throat clogged with emotion, like it had been from the moment Wyatt was born. Brody walked over to the bed, handing me the baby so he could go get the rest of the family. His parents were on a plane, headed east to meet all of us. I prayed they didn’t run screaming when they were blasted with our particular brand of crazy.
They were staying with us at my parents’ house. Our new home wasn’t anywhere near finished yet. “You are so very loved, baby boy. You will always be surrounded by people who adore you. I promise you will never feel alone. You will never feel abandoned or lost.” I kissed his soft blond head.
I rarely thought about my biological mother, but holding my newborn baby boy in my arms, she was on my mind. I knew now, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was meant to give me life but she was never meant to be my mom. I’d die before I let anything or anyone harm my child. I’d move heaven and earth to make sure he never felt alone. The fierceness, the protectivene
ss I felt, was staggering. And it was something I’d seen in Bryan’s eyes every time she looked at my brother and me. No, giving birth didn’t make you a mother; it was everything you did after your baby’s first cries that truly mattered.
The door to my room opened, The Devil’s Share family all filing in. Cash was holding a laptop with Luke, Jett, and Clashing Swell on the screen, all waiting to meet Wyatt before they went on stage.
Brody scooped Wyatt out of my arms and handed him to my mom. She instantly started crying. “Hey, handsome boy.” My dad put his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder and gazing at his grandson.
“You did good, kiddo.” Uncle Luke was smiling at us from his holo-image. “I can’t wait to meet my great-nephew.”
Brody climbed up on the bed with me, wrapping me in his arms while we watched our family dote on our son. He kissed my head. “Who would have thought a tummy bug made in a supply closet would be so damn cute?”
I snorted, leaning against his chest, my eyes heavy. “He has your blond hair. I want to let it grow long. I want it to be wild.” I yawned. “If I fall asleep, don’t stop watching him, okay?”
“I’ll never stop, baby cakes.” Brody whispered the words against my ear as I drifted off to sleep.
***
Brody: Are you naked? You better be naked.
Landry: Why are you texting me from upstairs?
Brody: I just got little man to sleep. I want to fuck you on the back porch.
Landry: We already broke in the back porch. Let’s do the dining room.
Brody: Plllllllease…meet me on the back porch. The big blanket is on the couch.
Landry: Fine, but hurry up, the milk monster will be awake again in an hour, I’m sure.
I walked outside to find the back porch covered in candles. There was a new hanging day bed in the corner, a giant red bow on it. I turned when Brody stepped out of the house behind me. “What is all this?”
