Reeve (The Henchmen MC 11)

"Rey, babe, she is going to love you."

Was it even possible not to?

"You don't know that! We're so different!"

I almost regretted all the stories I had told her about Wasp's antics. While all were true, they had clearly made Rey think things that simply weren't true about Wasp.

Like she could only like women who were like her.

Which was insane.

Reese could not be more different from Wasp. But the two of them got along great. The reason Wasp managed to get along with her little girl squad she worked with here and there was because she celebrated their differences. She certainly didn't expect all her friends to be like her. And she knew that her brothers would never end up with women like her either.

Hell, Wasp was overjoyed that I even got to this point, that I found a woman that I wanted to open up to, that I had been able to put some time in, find happiness again.

I was pretty sure she wouldn't give a fuck if I was in love with the female version of Hitler at this point.

"Where is Charlie? We need to get Charlie down here. He is a good ice-breaker."

"Babe," I said, snagging her as she rushed past me with a plant that apparently needed to move for some reason, "calm down. With or without Charlie, Wasp is going to love you. Relax."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

Wasp liked to show up early and unexpected.

That was her thing.

"Don't know if anyone is aware," her voice called through the closed door, "but there is a giant iguana sunbathing on your porch rail."

Champ was a relatively new addition, left on the porch in a dog carrier because, we imagined, someone didn't realize how big he would get when they saw him in the little tanks at the pet store.

And since not many people were in the market for an adult iguana that needed a giant enclosure to be happy and healthy, Rey had decided to keep him.

We have all these spare rooms that serve no purpose, she had pleaded her case. As if she needed to. I didn't care how many critters she took in if they made her happy. And she wasn't wrong either. Aside from our bedroom, the bird room, and the two guest rooms we kept just in case of company, we still had three empty rooms. Why not put them to use?

Champ had the enclosure of kings up there, but since it was hot out, Rey let him chill on the front porch to soak up the early afternoon sun before she put him back in his cage.

"Take a breath," I demanded, giving her a little squeeze before I went to open the door.

There was Wasp, sporting her California tan in gray jean shorts and a simple white tee, her wild blonde hair free, a collection of jingly bracelets on her wrist.

"I found this out there too," she declared, holding up Rey's fluffy chicken. "I kind of want one now," she added, bringing it up to rub her cheek against his soft head before putting him back down to waddle off and eat some pesky bugs. "You live in a zoo," she declared, smiling big. "I love it." She moved in, throwing her arms around me, squeezing me too tight for too long, silently sharing how happy she was not just to see me, but for the life I had built. "And you," she said, letting me go to greet Rey. "Growing up, I always wanted sisters. Now I have Reese... and you! And I love Reese and all her trashy books she keeps loaning me, but I have a feeling I will be crashing here with all the furry and feathered things. Oh my god, is that a tortoise?" she asked, moving past Rey to tentatively touch Gandalf's head.

Rey looked over at me, wobbly smile on her face, knowing that I hadn't just been trying to soothe her, that everything would be okay.

Wasp made good on that promise, too. Whenever she breezed into town, alone, or, later, with the only man who she deemed worthy to run through life beside her, she always stayed with us.Rey - 4 yearsI was terrified.

That wasn't how a woman in my position wanted to feel.

But, in this situation, I felt the fear was genuinely warranted. Because it was the one thing I knew could never happen.

That was why we took steps to ensure it didn't.

But there was no denying it.

Heck, I didn't even need the five sticks to turn blue to know.

I had felt it one morning. I had opened my eyes, and the second I did, the contents of my stomach just rolled. Then it happened the next day. And the next.

"Breathe," Wasp demanded as Reese broke down the cardboard boxes the tests came in for me.