“I’ll be there bright and early tomorrow morning to relieve you.”
“Good. Don’t be late,” she teased.
“Like I’m ever late,” he scoffed.
He never was. In fact, Adam arrived on station for his shift way too early. You can take the man out of the Marines, but not the Marines out of the man.
Or woman.
She was just as punctual. For most of the Brysons, arriving on time was considered being late.
“Speaking of work, I need to talk to Max.”
Her brother frowned. “Today?”
“Why not?”
“Uh, because it’s Thanksgiving, dumbass. He’s in a good mood right now and I’d rather you not get him cranky.”
“I won’t get him cranky. Promise.” She made sure he noticed her fingers crossed behind her back.
“Yeah, right.” He sighed, then suddenly his whole demeanor changed, he almost went electric. “So... speaking of reproducing...” Adam grabbed her arm and dragged her into the kitchen.
She frowned. “What?”
He leaned close and whispered, “We’re pregnant.”
“What?” she yelled. That was the last news she expected.
Adam clamped a hand over her mouth. “Quiet!” He released her but gave her a warning look.
“Oh. My. God. Adam!” Not only was that exciting news for Adam and Teddy but that took some of the pressure off Jet to “find herself a good husband and settle down.”
He scowled at her. “Don’t make me regret telling you.”
“You found a surrogate?”
“Yes. But we were keeping our search hush hush for good reason.”
Jet didn’t blame him. Being gay didn’t relieve Adam of any of the same pressures to procreate that their parents put on Jet. In fact, now that Adam was married, those pressures had increased.
“Is she pregnant by you or Teddy?”
“Does it matter?”
“No!” She tried not to squeal. “Adam, I’m so happy for you both.”
“This stays between us for now. It’s early in the pregnancy yet and we don’t want to get everyone excited only to have something go wrong.”
“Nothing will go wrong. But you haven’t even told Mom and Dad?”
“No.”
“Do we get to meet her?”
“No!” Adam almost yelled and his blue eyes went wide. “I’m not subjecting her to this family.”
Jet laughed. “She’d be adopted in no time.”
“That’s my worry. It would be like having a baby with a family member.”
“Yeah.” Jet wrinkled her nose. “But wait... Did you...”
“No!” Adam made a “yuck” face that made Jet snort. “We both,” he jerked his fist back and forth, “into a cup and they,” he swirled his finger around, “so we don’t know...”
“Okay.” Jet raised a hand to stop him, pretending to gag. “Thank you for that visual, brother. One I didn’t need.”
“Well, you asked.”
“My mistake. How the hell is Teddy not bouncing all over the room, screaming the news at the top of his lungs, tossing confetti and doing pirouettes?”
“I threatened to divorce him if he did.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Adam laughed. “Okay, truth? I threatened him with no sex.”
Jet sighed. “More TMI.”
“You asked.”
“You could’ve made up a lie.”
“I did and you didn’t believe me.”
She laughed. “True.”
“Anyway, keep your mouth shut.”
“Can I at least meet her?” Jet asked. She was dying to meet the woman willing to give the gift of a child to her brother and brother-in-law. She knew they had been struggling to find the right surrogate, not only one similar in looks to either Adam or Teddy but one who was willing to carry the baby of a gay couple.
“No.”
“C’mon, Adam.”
“No. You’ll meet the baby when he or she gets here.”
“Or they.”
His brow wrinkled. “They?”
“Multiples are always possible with AI.”
Adam groaned and actually turned a bit pale. “Shut your mouth. I better hear only one heartbeat when we go to the first ultrasound.”
She grabbed her brother’s shirt, went up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Seriously, though, I’m really happy for you both. I know you’ve wanted this for a while. Teddy’s going to make a good mommy.”
Adam laughed. “He’ll be a mess.”
“That’s what you love about him. That’s what we all love about him. He’s the rainbow glitter to your boring dull steel.”
Her brother smiled and his normally piercing blue eyes went soft. “Yeah, he is. All right. Now I need to drink a shot to forget the possibility of having more than one baby.”
“Just think, you could get Mom and Dad caught up to Ron and Mary Ann with just one pregnancy.”
“Sometimes I hate you.”
“Don’t lie. You love me.”
“Don’t bet on it.”
Jet grabbed his arm before he moved away. “Hey, do me a favor? Ask Max to come in here without making a big deal out of it.”
He arched a dark eyebrow. “What do I get for that favor?”
“I’ll stay quiet about your sextuplets.”
Adam rolled his eyes. “You would anyway.”
He was right. Growing up, they had always kept each other’s secrets. Especially the one when Jet figured out Adam was gay long before he did. Then they both kept it from their parents until he was ready to come out. Unfortunately, that took a lot longer than Jet thought it would. Adam had been worried about their father’s reaction, a Marine and cop himself.