Page 60 of Marked

All I really wanted after the shit day we’d had was to gohome and spend a few hours getting lost in Lanie. The universe had other plans, despite my protest. Instead of being buried balls deep, I was up to my eyeballs in barbecue chicken thighs. I didn’t mind though. Not when I heard shrieks of laughter coming from the house every once in a while. Lanie needed this time with her girls just as much as they needed her.

“You’re gonna burn those,” Koen pointed out.

“You do it then.” I tossed the set of tongs at him and grabbed a beer from the small cooler we’d brought outside.

“Just call me the grill master.” He spun the silver utensil around in his hand.

“Yo. Grill master.” Keaton pointed to the brick built-in barbecue. “One of your thighs is on fire.”

“Shit.” Koen picked up a nearby water bottle, dousing the small flames. “That one doesn’t count. I literally just took over.”

“Did you find out whether you're having a boy or girl yet?” I asked Keaton, sitting opposite him in front of the metal firepit.

Mountain living came with perks; the views and the isolation from the rest of the world were two of them. Like everything else, there was also a downside. The weather was something I had yet to become accustomed to. Regardless of the time of year, evenings could get chilly. It was as if the heat of the day was magically sucked out of the air as soon as the sun set behind the majestic peaks. Needless to say, having the extra warmth from the fire was helpful, especially since the girls relegated us to grill duty the second we walked in the door.

“Henley wanted to be surprised. I guess we’ll find out in the next few weeks.”

“Are you ready to be a dad?”

“Am I ready to finally meet him or her and hold them in my arms? Absolutely. In terms of preparedness, I’m not even close.” He took a long pull from his beer. “I still haven’t figured out how to put the crib together. You’d think the instructions would be pretty clear, right? Wrong. There aren’t any words on the paper, only a bunch of diagrams. Who the hell knows how to read a diagram?”

“Me. Do you want help?”

“Fuck yes,” he answered quickly. “I’m not too proud to admit when I’m out of my league.”

“We can do it this weekend.” He nodded in agreement.

We were the only family Henley had beside a pseudo-grandmother and the people she worked with at the diner. As such, Lanie and Jade had been planning a baby shower pretty much from the moment they found out she was pregnant. At first, she didn’t want anything special, but the girls were able to use their powers of persuasion to convince her otherwise. Originally, the shower was supposed to take place the weekend after the wedding. For obvious reasons, it was postponed.

“I’m bringing her horses here,” I announced.

“Does she know that?” Keaton raised his brow.

“Not yet.”

“Your last surprise didn’t go over very well. You sure you wanna try for round two?”

“She’ll love this one.”

“It’s your funeral.” He took a swig of his beer.

“Chow time.” Koen slid open the glass door, waving us inside while holding tight to a platter overflowing with delicious smelling chicken.

In the kitchen, the girls had put together a feast. Bowls filled with pasta salad, coleslaw, baked beans, and several different vegetables lined the countertop. My gaze immediatelyzeroed in on my girl. She had me worried earlier. Lanie was one of the strongest people I knew, but everyone had their breaking point, and I thought she’d reached hers. It’s why I’d taken her to the training gym at the office; to remind her she had a lot of fight left in her. Or maybe I was the one who needed the reminder. Either way, watching her stalk around the ring like a panther on the prowl was a spectacular sight, but it didn’t hold a candle to the ear-to-ear grin she was wearing on her face as she sat at the table, cracking up with her two best friends. She looked invincible…untouchable. I just hoped we didn’t have to find out whether she was.

“Keaton and I wanted to ask you guys something.” Henley wrung her hands together nervously. “Will you all be the baby’s godparents?”

Deathly silence was followed by ear-bursting shrieks as all three girls pushed back from the table simultaneously, colliding mid-kitchen into a blubbering mass of tears and hugs. To be fair, I may have felt a bit emotional myself. It wasn’t every day I was asked to be responsible for someone’s child.

Children were a bit of a sore subject for me. At least they had been until I’d found someone I could imagine having a family with one day. After my sister found out she couldn’t have kids, not only did my parents blame me, they also made it abundantly clear the responsibility of providing them with grandchildren rested solely on my shoulders. They beat me down with their words one minute, then demanded an heir the next. It was part of the reason I shut them out of my life years ago and why I’d never allow a child of mine anywhere near them.

“I’ll take that as a yes?” Keaton chuckled.

“Pretty good assumption,” I returned.

The evening dwindled to a halt when Jett returned home from studying with his friend, Phoebe. Henley would be staying the night in their guest room since Keaton was on watchguard duty for the night, so after we all said our goodbyes, the three of us headed out.

“I’ll follow you,” Keaton called out, rounding his car parked at the end of the driveway.

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