Joy (Hell's Handlers MC 7)

“Sit,” Shell said, pointing to a barstool at the end of the island. “I’ll get it. You’ve gotta be exhausted after all that activity.”

“Thanks, girl.” The refrigerator was covered in colorful papers with drawings of rainbows, butterflies, and people. Beth’s creations all displayed by an amazing mom. Shit. Would Izzy have even thought of that? She’d probably put the pictures on the counter, then accidentally spill coffee all over it.

Shell strolled over with a cold bottle of water in her hand. “Of course.”

The cold liquid felt fantastic as it slid down her throat, cooling her. “Whew, I didn’t realize how sweaty I was getting in there. It’s gonna take me forever to get back into shape.”

With a snort, Shell leaned her hip against the island. “I know you think you’re the biggest pregnant woman to ever walk the earth, but trust me, you look fantastic. I think I was at least twice your size when I was pregnant with Beth.”

A cloud moved over Shell’s expression, and she grew quiet, sitting on the stool next to Izzy.

“Hey.” Izzy bumped her friend’s shoulder. “You okay?”

“What? Oh yeah, I’m good.”

“Hmm.” After another drink of water, Izzy said, “You didn’t drink.”

“Uh, what? Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You didn’t have any shots.”

“Oh, yeah, uh, well, that’s because…”

Izzy met her friend’s gaze. She smiled. “Holy shit, Shell. Congratulations.” She drew Shell in for an awkward hug considering the belly between them. “I always figured you’d be bouncing off the walls with excitement when you got pregnant again. Oh, shit. What’d I say?”

Tears ran in rivers down Shell’s cheeks. She shook her head. “Nothing. It-it wasn’t you.”

“What is it, sweetie?”

“C-c-copper doesn’t want a baby.” Her lower lip trembled.

Goddammit, if this baby would just come out, she could kick Copper’s ass for Shell. “Oh, bullshit.”

Shell’s head snapped up. “What?”

Okay, so maybe this was the reason most didn’t choose her for a heart to heart. She tended to be far too blunt and not very touchy-feely as far as her emotions went. But whatever. Shell knew how she was, and if she wanted to open up, she’d get raw Izzy. “Copper is king of all these macho, alpha, walking testosterone factories.”

Shell’s face scrunched in confusion. “Okaaay…I’m gonna need a little more than that.”

Rolling her eyes, Izzy winced as her belly tightened. No pain, nothing regular, just lots of random uncomfortable tightening. If this was the warmup, the real thing was going to be a bitch and a half. “The desire to knock up their woman is in their DNA. The more alpha they are, the more they want to impregnate you. It’s basic science. Look it up.”

Shell barked out a laugh. Then another. And another until she was bent over with her hands on her knees hysterical. “Oh, my God, Izzy. You’re the freakin’ best. I didn’t realize how much I needed that. And I’m pretty sure your science is bunk.”

Izzy shrugged. “Well, maybe, but trust me on this. That man wants you to have his babies.”

“He flat out told me he didn’t. Quite adamantly stated he wants a vasectomy.”

“He’s just freaking out. Scared about something and all that testosterone makes it so he can’t have a normal human reaction to something that scares him. It makes him act like a stupid beast first. He’ll come around.”

“Hmm.” With her lower lip between her teeth, Shell sighed. “I don’t know. And I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Let’s get back in there before Jazz tackles Thunder. Pretty sure Screw would murder him if that happened.”

“What’s going on with those two, anyway?” Izzy had been wondering about that for the past few months, but Jazz staunchly refused to discuss anything Screw related.

“Who knows. He’s sniffing after her pretty hard, but Jazz says she has no interest.”

With a snort, Izzy slid off the barstool. “I’m gonna have to call bullsh—oh, fuck.”

With a gasp, Shell rushed over. “What’s wrong? Are you okay? Contraction?”

With a shake of her head, Izzy looked down at her soaking wet maternity yoga pants. “No. I think I just pissed myself. Like seriously pissed, not a little I-sneezed-and-pee-came-out. Holy fuck, here comes some more. I’ve lost control.”

Shell’s face lit up, and she jumped up and down while clapping her hands.

“Why the fuck are you clapping? I’m gonna need fucking Depends.”

Still beaming like a maniacal clown, Shell rolled her eyes. “You didn’t pee yourself. Your water broke! The baby is coming!”

Izzy froze. What? The baby was coming. No, that couldn’t be right. “I’m not having regular contractions.” Nope. No way. No how. She wasn’t ready. She’d only had nine months to turn herself into a maternal creature, and she was pretty sure she’d failed.

Shell shrugged. “Sometimes your water breaks first. Come on, let’s get you to the hospital. I’ll have someone call Jig for you.”

Izzy shot her hand out and grabbed Shell’s forearm, preventing her from walking away. “What? No. Shell, the baby can’t be coming. I’m not ready. I can’t do it.”