“I know you don’t.” She pats his chest then rolls her eyes, making me giggle.

“Dad’s home,” Nico says as we hear a loud diesel engine pulling up outside, and before I have a second to gather my thoughts, “Grandpa’s here!” is yelled and a swarm of children run into the living room then out the front door.

My heart swells as we walk out onto the front porch. There’s obviously a rule in place and the kids must do this often, because they all stay on the porch until the truck is shut off. The second the engine dies, the kids all run full speed down the steps. An older man—who is still very handsome and looks a lot like his sons—hops out of the truck. Then chaos ensues, and the kids are on him, jumping up and down, and all of them talking to him a million miles a minute at the same time. He takes his time, greeting each one, picking one up, and giving them a second of his time before kissing them on their head and putting them down until every single one of them has had their turn.

I fall in love with Nico’s family right then and there—his mom, brothers, sisters-in-law, and now his dad—and I can tell without a doubt that they all genuinely love each other. They are the definition of family and exactly what I never knew I wanted for myself.

After all the kids have their time with their grandfather, he makes his way up the porch steps with a wide smile on his face holding Jax.

“So I hear Nico’s in love. That right?” he asks, looking at Nico and then at me.

I bite my lip to keep from smiling at Jax, who looks utterly annoyed with his uncle. “Um…” I don’t know how to respond.

“He is, Grandpa. He was wookin’ at her all funny and everything,” Jax says, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff.

“Well then, I’m James, but you can call me Dad. Welcome to the family.” I’m about to put out my hand and introduce myself, but I’m suddenly pulled into a bear hug that forces Jax between us.

“I’m Sophie,” I tell him, hugging him back.

“Nice to meet you, Sophie,” he says, pulling away to set down a wiggling Jax.

“You too.” I smile up at him, seeing that his eyes look exactly like Nico’s.

“All right, you guys. Come inside. Dinner’s ready,” Susan says as she comes outside, wiping her hands on a dishcloth.

James pulls her to him with an arm around her waist and kisses her once before patting her butt and sending her inside in front of him. Now I know where the Mayson boys get it from, I think, looking up at Nico with a smile as we follow his parents into the house.

“So how’s work been, son?” James asks Nico.

We’re all sitting around the table and eating, and the conversation has mostly been about my history. I’ve tried to steer things away from what happened after my mom died and before I went to Job Corps. I feel a little like I’m lying, but there are some things I just can’t bring myself to talk about. I look at Nico curiously when he avoids the question his dad just asked him and completely changes the subject.

“How do you guys feel about the fact that Cash and Lilly ran off and got hitched?” he asks with a smirk, and everyone at the table stops looking at him and turns to stare between Cash and Lilly. I look at Nico funny, knowing he’s avoiding talking about his job. I’m happy to know I’m not the only one he keeps his work-life separated from, but I really hope he talks to someone about it. I can’t imagine doing what he does and not having someone to vent to.

The rest of dinner is spent talking about Cash and Lilly, their time in Alaska, and their quickie Vegas ceremony. I also spend most of dinner with different kids in my lap, each asking me questions of their own. First, it is July asking me about my nail color and if she could borrow my polish. The next is June, who has a hundred questions about me and Nico, and then May wants to know why she’s never met me before and asks me every question under the sun, from my favorite food to if I had any pets. By the time Hanna comes to sit on my lap, I am thankful for the little girl because she only wants to talk about books. Ashlyn is the last to sit with me. I tell her all about Daisy, who she has only met a couple of times but has fallen in love with her. Jax is quiet during most of dinner. He sits on the other side of Nico, who I guess from their talks is his idol—well, until I came along. Apparently Nico broke his trust when he got a girlfriend.

After we’ve finished our dinner and each had a piece of homemade lemon meringue pie, it is almost nine and time for us to go home.

“Are you sure you can’t hab a sleepober wif me?” May asks, bending her little head backwards so she can look up at my face.

“I’m sorry, honey, but your uncle Nico would be sad if I didn’t have a sleepover with him,” I tell her. Leaning forward, I can’t help but kiss her head. “I promise you we will have a pajama party soon though. We can watch movies, paint our nails, and do all kinds of fun things.”

“Mommy! I get to have a sleepober wif Aunt Sophie!” May yells, jumping down off my lap, and then all the kids run into the dining room and swarm me, asking if they can have a sleepover too.

“Yes, you can all come and have a sleepover.” I laugh as they all run off to their parents, yelling about a sleepover at ‘Uncle Nico and Aunt Sophie’s house.’

“When you have this sleepover, I’m gonna make sure I gotta work,” Nico says, making me narrow my eyes.

“No, I figure this will be good practice for you, Mr. I-wanna-get-you-knocked-up.”

“Touché.” He smiles, kissing my nose. He wraps his arms around my waist, and I lean into him. “You ready to go home?”

“Yeah, if you are,” I tell him before getting up on my tiptoes to kiss him. Today has been awesome. I now know that I have nothing to worry about. His family is sweet. I’m happy to know them and glad Nico has them at his back, and I can’t wait to spend time with them again soon. “I love your family,” I tell him as I kiss the underside of his jaw.

“They love you too baby.”

“I love you,” I tell him with a smile.

He leans forward and kisses my forehead before leaning back his eyes meeting mine. “Love you too, sweet Sophie.” I smile and shake my head. “All right. Let’s get out of here. I need to be inside you,” Nico says, making me tingle.

I nod and make quick work of saying goodbye to everyone, including all the kids, who make me promise again that we will have a sleepover soon.

“What do you mean Jax and Ashlyn are missing?” I ask, watching as Nico pulls on a pair of jeans and boots, and I immediately hop out of bed and start to get dressed.

Not long after I met everyone, Lilly was arrested, and Nico worked hard to get her released. This morning, he found evidence proving that Lilly had been wrongfully accused. I hate that they are being forced to deal with more drama, and I feel nauseated just thinking about something happening to the kids.

“Cash couldn’t say much, just that he and Lilly had been home with her parents and the kids. Lilly noticed that the kids were quiet and went out to check on them. He said they’ve searched everywhere and still came up with nothing.”

“Okay, so we can help them look,” I tell him, pulling on a hoodie along with my Chucks.

“Sorry, baby. No way.”

“No way, what?” My eyebrows draw together.

“You’re not going with. I won’t be able to focus if you’re there.”

“I wanna help,” I tell him firmly. There is no way I’m going to be sitting here worried out of my mind while he is searching for the kids.

“No. No way.” He shakes his head.

“I wasn’t asking you for permission.” My hands go to my hips.

“I don’t have time to argue with you, Sophie,” he growls, pulling a shirt on.

“Then don’t argue.” I leave the room and head to the kitchen to grab my bag.

“You’re not f**king coming!” he yells behind me. Once he comes into the kitchen, he grabs his keys and heads for the front door. I quietly follow behind him, thinking maybe he won’t even notice I’m there. “Baby, serious as fuck, I don’t have time for this shit right now. Please put my mind at ease. Stay here and wait for me,” he says, turning around, his hands going to my face. I can see in his eyes that he is stressed, and I don’t want to add to it. As much as I want to go with him to help look for the kids, I know I can’t add to his worry.

“Okay,” I agree reluctantly.

“That’s my girl.” His mouth drops to mine, and before I can kiss him back, he’s opening the door.

“Call me the minute you find them!” I yell as he’s getting in his car. He gives me a chin lift, so I figure that’s basically an affirmative.

I don’t know how long I pace back and forth between the living room and the kitchen, but it must be a couple of hours. I give in and call Lilly, who’s a wreck and can’t even get a word out without breaking down into tears. I can’t imagine what she’s going through, but I tell her that, if she needs anything at all, I’m here.

After I get off the phone with her and another hour passes, the phone rings and I jump to answer it, thinking it’s Nico with good news. I’m disappointed when it’s November and Liz calling to see if I’ve heard anything. They both know as much as I do, which is nothing at all. Halfway into our conversation, November gets a call from Susan, who says they found Jax and are on their way to get Ashlyn. She doesn’t have a lot of information, but I feel better knowing that they are on the right track. I want to help, and I hate that I’m stuck at home and can’t do anything. By the time Nico calls to tell me they have Ashlyn and that Cash is heading to the hospital with both of the kids in an ambulance, I’m a mess.

“Should I meet you there?” I ask, holding my breath.

“No, baby. I’m just going to take care of a couple more things and then I’ll be home. We can go and see the kids tomorrow, but right now, I think Cash and Lilly just want to be alone with the kids,” he says quietly.

I want to cry; I feel horrible not being there with him. “Are you sure? I can meet you at your parents’. That way, if they need us, we’re close.”

“Baby, I swear if I thought for one second that would be best, I would have you come here, but as of right now, everyone’s going home. Asher wants to go sit with his girls, Trevor told me he needs to be with his, and I want you at home.”

“Okay,” I whisper, hearing the stress in his voice.

“Be home soon,” he says, hanging up.

I sit there for a few minutes, going over everything that happened to Lilly—and now the kids—and also what November told me about her story and what Liz explained about hers while we were on the phone. I look at the picture of Nico and me on the screen of my phone and swear to myself right then that I will do everything in my power to be worthy of Nico. It’s not that I don’t still have fears, but knowing how life can change so drastically in the blink of an eye makes me want to live my life completely. I’m in love with an amazing man who looks at me like I’m his reason for breathing when, in reality, he’s mine. I want to be the strong person he sees me as. He deserves that and more.

“He’s so cute,” I tell Nico, looking from Trevor and Liz’s new son to his smiling eyes.

“He is, babe,” he agrees, his face soft as he looks at his nephew.

“Here. You hold him.” I hand Cobi over to Nico, helping to situate him in his arms before smiling up at him.

His eyes drop to my mouth before he leans forward to kiss my forehead. I feel warmth flow through me. I love Nico’s family. That’s why, when Trevor called to say that Liz had gone into labor, I freaked out and ran around the house in a hurry, wanting to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

By the time we arrived, Liz was already seven centimeters. Two hours after we got there, a smiling Trevor came out to tell us that baby Cobi had arrived and he was nine pounds and six ounces. When he made this announcement, my first thought was, Oh my God, I can’t wait to see him! Then my mind wandered to the bag of flour I had to carry around in junior high during sex education that weighed ten pounds. And then I thought about something that size coming out of my va**na and wanted to stop ha**g s*x altogether. The idea of that coming out of something so small made me feel uneasy.

The second I had Cobi cuddled to me, all thoughts of teeny, tiny vaginas and giant babies left my head, and I knew that, no matter what, when you’d hold your child, whatever you went through would be completely worth it.

Chapter 10

Nico

“You sure you don’t want me to go with you?” I look at the GPS, seeing that I should be in the Nashville area in about two hours.

“I’m sure. I just need to get some clothes and check the mail. I won’t even be there for more than thirty minutes.”

“Just wait for me and I’ll go with you,” I try again.

“You and I both know that, when you get home, you’re not going to want to leave the bed, let alone the house.”

“Shit,” I groan, getting hard just thinking about being inside her. “You say it like it’s a bad thing.”

“It’s not a bad thing. That’s why I want to go to my house. I don’t want to leave the house either once you get home,” she says shyly.

“Be na**d in bed,” I demand.

“What?”

“You heard me. I want you na**d, spread eagle on the bed so when I get there, I can get my taste before f**king you.”

“Nico,” she breathes, but I can hear the hunger in her voice.