His Saint (Forever Wilde 5)

MJ was setting something out on a tray in the kitchen but turned when she heard me say hello.

“Fuck,” she said before rushing over to hug me. I tightened my arms around her and breathed in the familiar, faded scent of Chanel No. 5 that always reminded me of our mother.

“Hey, you,” I murmured into her hair. “You okay?”

“I am now that my other half is here. Where you been?”

“Long story. You staying in the bunkhouse?”

“Yeah. You promise to tell me everything when we get over there later?”

I pulled back and kissed her cheek before nodding. Her light blue eyes peered at me as if checking me for any noticeable changes since she last saw me. It had only been a week or two at the most, so I couldn’t imagine there was anything to notice.

“Moose Jaw, get the lead out,” Hudson called. “My man is starving over here.”

MJ turned to him. “He’s in a coma, Hudson. I think you mean you’re the one who’s starving. And you can hold your damned horses.”

“I’ll get it,” Nico offered, hoisting himself off the arm of the chair he’d been perched on. “I want some of those cream puff things I saw in the freezer the other day.”

Grandpa looked up from where he’d been knitting some purple monstrosity that vaguely resembled a basketball. “How’d your lesson go?”

MJ interrupted before I had a chance to answer. “Were you at Twist? Was Neckie there? How is she? Is she okay?”

I noticed Nico glance over his shoulder toward West with a raised eyebrow. West shook his head without saying anything, and Nico continued to the kitchen area.

“She wasn’t there tonight, but I saw her earlier today and she was good. She left shortly after lunch for an appointment and didn’t come back though,” I said.

This time it was Grandpa who glanced over at West, but instead of lifting a brow, Grandpa narrowed his eyes at my older brother.

West let out a sigh and stood up, disturbing at least three dogs on his trek across the rug to join Nico by the large kitchen island. He slid his arm around Nico’s waist before whispering something into his ear. After Nico nodded, West spoke up loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“We have an announcement to make.”

I realized what was happening before MJ did.

“Nico and I are having a baby,” West continued. “We didn’t want to say anything until the baby came because we didn’t want our poor gestational carrier to be inundated with Wilde family good intentions for nine months, but…”

Nico broke in. “Neckie is carrying our baby.”

There was silence for a beat before the room erupted in pandemonium.

Everyone stood to surround them with excited words of congratulations and a million questions while my twin stood there in pale shock.

West noticed before I could get to MJ.

“Em…” he said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head and trying her best to paste on a big smile. It was fake as all hell. “No, that’s amazing. I’m so happy for you! Seriously. So fucking thrilled Pippa is getting a sibling.” She swallowed and spoke again. “You know how important siblings are to us, West. I’m so happy for all of you. I’m just… I’m just going to…”

West glanced at me, and I shot him a reassuring look before taking MJ into my arms and leading her outside into the cool night air.

“It’s okay to be pissed,” I said softly. “I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t. You know I would have told you.”

She snorted. “You couldn’t keep a secret from me if you tried. Remember in eighth grade when you tried to tell me Shayla Tubbs gave you that hickey?”

“It wasn’t my place to out her brother, and you know it.”

She rolled her eyes at me before tucking her head against my shoulder. “I want her to be carrying my baby, Saint,” she whispered against my shirt. “Isn’t that the most selfish thing you can imagine?”

I moved her over to sit next to me on the front porch swing and tucked her back against my side once we were settled.

“It’s totally understandable. And I think she actually feels the same way. That’s why we got you here. She needs someone in her corner right now. Even if it’s just as a friend. I think she’s scared, Em.”

“I want West and Nico to have a baby, I do. But… why Neckie?”

I thought for a moment before speaking. “Maybe it was a way for her to do something for you indirectly. She’s always adored our family. Maybe this is her way of loving us… loving you. You won’t know unless you ask her.”

We sat in silence for a while, listening to the night rustlings of creatures and the few audible reminders of the horses in the nearby barn.

“Is it too late to go over there?” she asked after a little while.