I hadn’t realized Layla and her mom had joined the conversation until they both burst out laughing.
“Defiled me? I’ve been married for over six years now, Dad,” she pointed out. “And we defiled each oth—” I clamped my hand over her mouth to stop her from talking.
“See, he’s into the kinky smothering stuff,” Hurst said to Linda.
“You’re letting your ass show, honey,” she soothed, patting him on the chest. “And not the one behind you, the one on your shoulders. Now, congratulate them and think about the new baby that will be here by this time next year. Don’t you love having great-grandkids?”
Hurst’s eyes slid to the side. “I do love that they like me more than him.” He gestured at Jack with his chin. “And I get great hugs whenever I need one.” Mind made up, he opened his arms. “Congratulations, you guys. I can’t wait until he or she gets here.”
Jack’s anger was now focused on his dad, leaving me slightly sad that I hadn’t been allowed to wind them up even more. Having grown up around them, I had a rapport with the Townsends and knew well how to play them at their own game, but since Layla and I had gotten back together, I’d grown to love irritating them.
I did enjoy sinking to the Townsend level and winning. It was a special type of pleasure that just never went away and the highlight of any day it happened on.
As soon as Hurst released us, Jack was there hugging us both.
“I’m excited to be a grandpa again.” He stressed the word and smiled smugly at his dad. “That’s first in line to the babies, which makes me in front of a great grandpa.” Turning back to Layla, he smiled widely at her. “You’re going to be a great mom, Lala. I’m genuinely happy for both of you.”
Holding her against his side with one arm, he reached out with the other and shook my hand. “Even better, it won’t be twins like that guy.”
‘That guy,’ being my brother who’d joined us and shot Jack a glare.
“Gee, thanks,” he muttered before he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me off to the side. Looking around us for something, he leaned in and hissed urgently, “Seriously, don’t let it be twins. I don’t know what it is, but your life will never be the same again if you have two of them at once.”
I patted him on the back. “Relax, the twin thing only happens on the mother’s side, but, hey, congrats to both of you on your news, too.”
Luke shook his head. “There are no twins on Isla’s side, Mark, but somehow we’ve managed to do it again. The doc said they’re in the same sack inside Isla this time, which means they’ll be identical.”
“Luke, these might not be like the other two. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, per se,” I added quickly, realizing how bad it sounded. “But these ones might not be mini evil geniuses.”
Looking over my shoulder at Layla, Luke asked, “Has she had a scan yet? Do you know for sure?”
“No, we’ve only had the appointment where the doctor confirmed it for us. We’ve got our first scan in two weeks.”
Something behind me made him stiffen, and he said quickly, “May the odds be forever in your favor.” Then, pasting a smile on his face, he said brightly, “Mark and I were just congratulating each other, angel. Isn’t it great news.”
I couldn’t help finding his situation hilarious and be thankful that even though we both had crazy genes in our DNA, mine and Layla’s kid would be perfection.
When things happen that we don’t expect, like Layla getting pregnant, those surprises usually bring the best things into our lives.
Layla
Three years later…
“Gampy caught me?” my daughter, Meadow, asked softly before sticking her thumb back in her mouth.
“He did, indeed. Mommy was in a lot of pain, and you were just so excited to meet everyone that you popped out before we could even get in the car, so Gampy had to catch you.”
“And me?” my other daughter, Raine, mumbled sleepily.
“Papa caught you because Gampy’s arms were already full with your sister.”
Judging by the smiles on their faces, they liked this story.
Raine rolled onto her side and rubbed her nose with her blanket. “But where was Daddy?”
“He was at work saving all of the people from the mean fire-breathing dragon. Daddy and the other knights had to fight with their swords so the two baby princesses could come into the world and save it in the future.”
My daughters were two-and-a-half years old now, and stories like this should have been their jam… except they were Montgomery twins.