Lock You Down (Rivers Brothers 2)

"Body, arms, trapped souls."

"Really, I think you need to see a therapist," she declared, shaking her head. "I tried to do a nice thing," she said, pretending to be exasperated.

"Tried," I agreed, putting an arm around her. "And failed. Epically," I added when she snorted. "Can somebody do me a favor and take this outside? Burn it? Bury the ashes in consecrated ground?"

"That painting is going to be hanging over our marriage bed," she declared, giving me small eyes.

"Wow. You're really determined not to have more kids, huh?" I asked, tugging her hair gently.

It was an unconventional wedding.

But perfect in its own way.

And that goddamn picture would haunt our marriage for years to come.Reagan - 5 yearsMarley was coming back for a visit.

Freshly finished with college, she was coming back to the area for the first time in nearly five years.

I had maybe gone ahead and not told Calvin about it.

What can I say? After Krissy putting the idea in my head, and watching Fiona be so right about meddling, I had maybe found I was rooting for the two of them to see each other again.

I was damn near giddy about it.

"Jackson, easy," I reminded the preschooler who was ramming his little lawnmower into the walls of my office.

Yes, Jackson.

We'd decided to stick with presidential when he came around finally. I was probably one of the very few women looking forward to childbirth. But I'd had a terrible pregnancy. Morning sickness that went well into my second trimester. Then high blood pressure which eventually led me to bed rest. I was so happy to feel better that I barely remembered the pain of the birth itself.

And then there was Jackson.

A quiet baby with a judgmental glare much like his father.

Helen had won her bet.

And I decided that I was one-and-done biologically. We were looking into getting Jackson a little sibling, but we understood it was a process. One that made me have a lot of respect for my parents, who went through the grueling home study process to get me.

"He doesn't bite, Krissy," I called to her from where she was standing in the doorway, watching my son like he made no sense, despite having been around him since he was born. "Anymore."

"It's strange."

"What is?"

"How something I enjoy so much creates something I am completely terrified of."

"They're not so scary when they're your own."

"Oh, you mean when they're clawing their way out of your body. Through a very sensitive space?"

Krissy had decided to try to be in the room with me when I delivered. It was a decision she would never stop regretting. I had never seen someone turn the shades she had turned when Jackson was being born. And that was saying something because Nixon had turned a pretty impressive shade of green/gray.

"Well, they only claw their way out once. For a few hours. Then after that, they're there and they--"

"Cry? Spit up? Need to be--" she paused there, gulping, "changed." Clearly, she also regretted the one time she'd offered to change Jackson, so I could get a shower.

"Well, yeah, they do that. But they smell good, and they belly laugh, and they look at you with wonder in their eyes. They're neat."

"I love you. And I love Jackson. You know, from a distance. But, yeah, I am incredibly thankful I live in a time where I can take a pill every day, and not have to worry about telling something to stop licking the chair. He's licking the chair!"

Yep.

That sounded about right.

"Come on, bud, let's go see what Uncle Harvey is doing," I suggested, picking him up, depositing him under Harvey's desk where he kept a collection of Lincoln Logs because Harvey secretly never grew up, and loved to get down to build stuff with him. I imagined when Jackson was old enough, the two of them would bond pretty hardcore over Legos."

"She should be here any minute," I whispered to Krissy as we grabbed our coffee, moving over toward the doorway to my office, getting the best possible view.

We would see Marley walk in.

And we would see Calvin seeing her walk in.

Krissy and I heard the heels on the steps. I didn't know about her, but my belly was flip-flopping. It was silly and over the top, but I had turned into a bit of a sap, it seemed. Between learning all the Mallick and Rivers stories, even seeing a few of those relationships bloom myself, yeah, it had softened me, given me the heart of a hopeless romantic.

Krissy's hand reached for mine, giving it a squeeze, letting me know I wasn't alone in my giddiness as the heels clomped closer.

Both our gazes slid too Calvin.

It had only been a few years, but they had recommended him, as they often did for men coming out of their teens, starting to really lean into manhood.