Until Autumn

Thorne hugs her and the warmth between them is as clear as the blue sky above. “I’m good, Aunt Susan. Really good. What about yourself?”

She releases her hold on him and steps back to look over me. “Oh, sweetie, I’m doing perfectly fine now,” she tells him before stepping right into me and pulling me into a big, welcoming hug. “I never thought we’d see the day Thorne brought home a girl.”

I look up at him over her shoulder and give a smug grin, which only makes his eyes roll more. “Tell me about it,” I laugh. “I never thought that I’d see the day that he actually asked me on a date.”

Susan laughs and pulls back before taking me by the hand and dragging me into her home. “You really must tell me all about it,” she says as Thorne’s left to follow behind, closing the door as he goes.

We get all of three steps into the house before November comes flying out of nowhere with three little girls barreling behind her. Not a moment later, the entryway is flooded with bodies, and children are everywhere. I stare wide-eyed as Susan goes around the group, introducing every single one of them.

I do my best to focus; the last hour spent with Thorne trying to explain this very thing all but wasted. Susan starts with November and Asher, which is easy to remember, along with their many gorgeous daughters. But I can guarantee that if they weren’t named after the months of the year that I would have forgotten them instantly. November crashes into me with a warm hug as the kids crowd around, making it nearly impossible to move.

Susan moves on to Trevor and Liz who have Hannah and Cobi, then Cash and Lily who have two adorable little kids, Ashlynn and Jax. But when she turns to the last couple, my mouth drops.

It’s a freaking tribe.

“This here is Nico and his beautiful wife, Sophie,” Susan explains, pointing toward the couple who each hold a toddler in their arms with about a billion more children around their legs. I mean, woah. That’s a lot of kids. If they just stood still for a minute, I’d probably be able to count them.

“Yes, I remember,” I tell Susan, glancing around at the many couples. “You were all at the hospital when little June broke her arm, but I didn’t except quite so many children. You guys could start your own football team.

“Tell me about it,” Sophie says, adjusting the little girl in her arms. “They certainly keep me busy. I can’t even remember if I ate breakfast this morning, but judging by the way my stomach has been grumbling, I think there’s a good chance that I forgot.”

Within seconds, Asher’s hands whack the backside of Nico’s head. “Hey, what was that for?” he demands.

Asher sends a scathing glare at Nico. “Are you not looking after your wife? Why aren’t you feeding her better?”

Nico groans and rolls his eyes. “I’m feeding her just fine. I made her three lots of bacon and eggs this morning and each one of them went cold. I was just about ready to sit on her and shove it down her throat when Talon decided to shove his hands down his diaper and smear shit across my kitchen floor.”

The boys laugh at the expense of their brother before Susan finally ushers us deeper into her home, where we see James standing out back, slaving over the barbeque. Thorne walks beside me, his hand on my lower back as the further we get, the happier he seems to become.

“What’s that smile for?” I ask, stopping to look up into his eyes.

His hands fall to my waist, and after ducking in and gently brushing his lips over mine, he pulls back and meets my stare. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to bring you here and meet my family properly.”

A warm smile settles over my lips, but before I get a chance to remind him how much I love him, his cousins are pulling him away, leaving me with all the wives, staring at me with expectant grins. “So,” November starts, her eyes sparkling with excitement as the other women crowd around and slide a glass of champagne into my hand. “Have you ever heard of the BOOM?”

And just like that, my brow raises, and we all take a seat at the table, the rest of my evening filled with nothing but love, laughter, and light as I watch Thorne from across the room, realizing that without a doubt, this man is the best thing that ever happened to me.

CHAPTER 21

THORNE

The ER nurse glares up at me as I dump a pile of paperwork down on her desk. Someone has to do it, and with four inductions and the emergency cesarean I just wrapped up, I really don’t have the time for it.