He doesn’t look reassured.
“Now you,” I say, and hand my son over to Seth whose grin glazes over. “This is Zay. Just follow the manual.”
“Manual?” His voice has gone kind of high-pitched with horror. “Meg…”
“We will explain everything to you. Just hold him.” Zay looks up at Seth’s rugged face, and their dark gazes meet.
Zay makes a tiny noise and wags his little arms.
“What did he say?” Seth is frowning so hard he’ll have a headache later.
“That he digs your haircut and that you need shaving,” I say with a straight face.
He doesn’t look up but he laughs softly. “He’s a handsome little guy. Hey, Zay. What’s up, buddy?”
Okay, I think Seth’s getting the hang of this. A natural, what do you know, despite the tremor in his muscular arms.
Coming up next… Ah, Shane. He flips his long dark hair over one shoulder and takes a step back when Erin lifts little Scott and presents him like a present.
“Scott, say hi to Uncle Shane.”
“Uh,” Shane says.
“Ai,” Scott tries, and Shane’s eyes go round.
“He said, ‘Hi.’”
“He’s a clever little man,” Erin says. “Hold him?”
And Shane does, letting Scott tug on his hair and rub his jaw, his arms secure around the little body. “What’s this, a kids’ party?”
“Sort of.”
Ocean makes the mistake of popping out of his cubicle and receives baby Emmanuel without warning from Dakota.
“Hey, hi, baby.” He shifts Lee quite expertly upright, supporting the little head. “What’s up?”
“Wait, wait… You have experience with babies?” Dakota is staring openly at him.
“I’ve held a baby or two back at the trailer park where I grew up, while their moms did the chores.” He shrugs. “What’s so strange about it?”
“Nothing.” She giggles. “That’s cute.”
“He’s ready to be
a daddy,” Erin mouths at me, and I choke on laughter.
“What about me?” Micah comes out, raking a hand through his blond hair. His sky-blue eyes look merry, and he’s grinning. “No baby for me?”
“You get to keep an eye on the older kids,” I tell him and nod at Miles who’s holding the hands of Jax and Teo by the door. “Miles is pretty much his own man already, but just in case… you know.”
“Sure, no problem.” He shoves his hands in his pockets. “Though I’d been hoping for a baby.”
“Get your own,” I say.
He winks. “Maybe I will.”
Rumors have it that Evangeline, his girlfriend, may be expecting, though they haven’t announced anything yet. The light in his eyes tells me the rumors may be true.