“And how’s that going for him?” Anna asked. “Because if I recall correctly, you weren’t a fan of the idea to begin with.”
She had a point. I hadn’t thought it was a good idea, even though I’d known for a while it could be a possibility. “It’s going okay,” I said begrudgingly. “I still think he should have taken some time off, but he’s not a little kid anymore. He makes his own choices, even if they’re terrible and I dislike them immensely.”
“He’ll be fine,” Anna said. “You know that.”
“Of course he will,” Otter said. “He’s got all of us.”
“And Dominic,” Creed said.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “And Dominic.”
“Who sexes him up.”
“Creed,” Anna growled.
“What? He does. I know none of us like thinking about it, but it happens. You know it does.”
“I hate you so much right now,” I muttered, trying to find something to throw at him. But Otter had taken away everything sharp within my reach without batting an eye.
“You should see some of the things I do to Bear,” Otter said mildly.
Creed gasped and started choking on garlic bread.
“I love you so much right now,” I said.
“It’s like nothing ever changes,” Anna sighed.
“Dude! Wrong! So wrong!”
“You brought this upon yourself,” Anna reminded her husband. He opened his mouth to retort, but Anna narrowed her eyes at him, and he subsided. She waited a beat to make sure he wasn’t going to speak before she turned back to us. “So, spill.”
“What?” I said distractedly, staring at Otter, thinking about some of those things he’d done to me.
Otter was smug, of course.
Anna snapped her fingers at me. “Bear. Close your mouth and wipe your chin so you can tell us about this poor woman you’ve decided to inflict our family upon.”
I blinked. “Oh. Um. Right. So, I have some questions.”
Otter looked less smug at that. “I’m sorry for what’s about to happen.”
Creed looked thrilled as I dug into my pocket, trying to find the flashcards I’d written my questions down on. I thought it was better to write them out so I didn’t forget anything.
“Her name is Megan,” Otter said, sounding resigned. “She’s twenty-six. She’s… funny and sarcastic. Very sweet. She’s a paralegal in Eugene. This would be her second pregnancy if we go through with it.”
“Second pregnancy and she’s only twenty-six?” Creed asked. “She have her own kid?”
Otter shook his head. “She carried for another couple two years ago.”
“Some women just like being pregnant,” Anna said, patting her husband’s hand. “And I can see why. Sometimes. All the other times, though, I want to have this demon child out of me and then have you castrated so we don’t have to worry about this happening ever again.”
“When’s your due date?” Otter asked.
She smiled thinly. “Not soon enough. Middle of December.”
“I told her to hold it in for an extra week or two so we could have the baby on Christmas and name it Jesus,” Creed said. “But then she reminded me I was terrible at ideas and we agreed the actual due date is just fine.”
“And do you know the sex yet?”