Page 195 of G.O.D.S Omnibus

“What if there is nothing else, and I’m just a selfish bastard? I just got her back, and now I have to share her with every one of those dickheads. Once the babies come, where do I fit? Will there even be time for me?”

“Do you think you could be jealous?”

“Jealous? Of what?”

“The babies, and the amount of time Jolie will have to spend with you. After all, you did just say you’re worried, and I can understand that. My daughter is almost one, and I was shit scared when the line on the test was positive. I felt like I hadn’t had time to grow up, then all of a sudden, I was going to be responsible for this little human. I had to be a decent person, the provider, the protector. What if I couldn’t be that man?”

“So, what did you do?”

“I winged it, pretended to have my shit together. But I will let you in on a little secret. When Izzy looked at me for the first time and grabbed my finger, I knew I would do whatever it took to be the best version of myself. I’m not perfect, but I will be whatever she needs me to be.”

“What if I can’t be a better man? What if I fail them like I did their mother? I should have known something was going on. I should have protected her.”

My head falls to my hands. I should have figured out long ago what her psycho father was planning and then protected her from it. We lost so many years together.

“Life is full of should haves, could haves, and would haves, but all that matters is what you do from today forward. Do you want to miss all these milestones and look back and regret it? We don’t get to grow the babies inside of us, so we don’t get that maternal instinct, but it will all be fine.”

I take a deep breath and look back up at him. Maybe he is right. I’m still living in the past, dwelling over what I did as a thirteen-year-old boy.

I’m not that boy anymore, and I need to be the man she deserves, a man my child deserves.

“Thanks for the talk. Maybe Brennan is right about all this feeling and talking crap.” I push up from my seat with one goal in mind. I need to find Jolie. She should be just about to finish class.

“Yeah, well, don’t tell him that. Big brothers can get a big head.”

I laugh with him; he isn’t wrong there.

I pull my phone from my pocket and open it, clicking on the pinned image of Jolie’s timetable. She insisted on starting school just like everyone else, so we made sure one of us is in each of her classes or she is with someone we trust—which is a limited number of people.

She is now in a self-defence class with Trace. He took on a few classes like the rest of Team Zeus, and no one trusted the babies’ safety in a class like that, so he willingly took the job. I didn’t think it would be possible for her to catch up to the rest of the girls, but she proved us all wrong. When she puts her mind to something, she never gives up.

I run across campus to the building where the first years train, and I can hear Blayne before I even enter the room.

“This is bullshit! We shouldn’t have to be stuck here doing this pansy-ass shit. We were trained harder than this in primary school.”

I walk in and see Trace standing at the front of the room in his trademark short shorts, shirtless, with Jolie watching him like she is about to pounce and eat him alive. I can’t lie—that turns me on. The way she will look at us like we’re the only man in the room.

Blayne throws her hands in the air and storms off. This class was originally designed as training for the pregnant girls. But it turned out there were so many of them scattered over the year levels, it just made sense to run one general class where they could do some basic training safely.

Jolie’s belly has become massive over the last few weeks. Sinclair is just as big as Jolie is, and I have heard her complain more than once about it being Colt’s fault. Apparently, he was almost 11 pounds as a baby, and Sinclair isn’t a big person. Summer laughs at something Jolie says, and Sinclair flips them both off.

They haven’t noticed me yet, so I stealthily make my way across the back of the room. They all have their backs to me, but Khale is leaning against the wall. The guy is obsessed—he never lets Summer out of his sight. He has serious trust issues, but if I’m honest, we have never given him a reason to trust us.

“Alright, class is over for the day. Go pee while you can.”

I roll my eyes as the girls giggle at him.

“Could he be any more nauseating?” Khale spits out.

“Probably. But, fuck, if your girl looked at you like that...” I motion towards Jolie standing in front of Trace, who has his hands on her bump. She is looking at him like he hung the stars and moon just for her, and damn, if that doesn’t hit me right in the heart.

Trace helps Jolie sit and takes off her shoes. I ditch Khale and make my way to her side.

“Boston,” she says, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to see you. Are you okay? Did he make you overdo it?”

“Don’t start with your stupidity. I didn’t make her overdo anything,” Trace throws back at me.

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