Page 137 of Crazy Love

She stamps the paperwork and then hands out the two new birth certificates.

“Congratulations,” she says.

I stare down at the papers, my breath catching. Samson Cole Hudson. Winnie Mae Hudson.

Sam looks up at us, his eyes shining. “It’s real?”

“It’s real,” Penn says, his voice thick.

Sam hugs Penn, hard. And Winnie wraps her arms around my waist. I bend down and lift her, hugging her tighter. Penn looks at us, tears in his eyes.

“We did it,” he says. “They’re ours.”

I nod, tears slipping down my cheeks. “They’re ours.”

“And you’re mine,” he says, leaning over to kiss me.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

CLAW DAGGERS TIMES THREE

PENN

I didn’t even want a pet. That’s what I tell myself every time Gizmo launches himself at my face like he’s an alien torpedo.

I mean, I’m an NFL player. I don’t have time for pets. Between practice, travel, the actual games, and wanting nothing more than to spend all my time with Addy and the kids, I barely have time to breathe, let alone take care of three mischievous balls of wrinkly skin and attitude.

And yet…

Jezebel purrs on my lap, her leathery little body curled up like a question mark. She’s the one who got me into this mess. This mother with giant ears and two-toned eyes who looks like she’s been dropped from the mothership, gazing up at me way too trusting.

Labor changed us.

And now, on a rare afternoon off, while Addy’s still at work and the kids are at school, Jezebel and I sit and watch as her three kittens terrorize the living room like little furless demons. Gizmo and Shadow are doing parkour off the back of the couch, while Elsa is hanging from the curtains like a tiny, naked Tarzan. I lift Jezebel up and we walk over, carefully lifting Elsa’s claw daggers from the curtain.

“That’s a no, little miss,” I tell her. “No curtain climbing for you.”

I toss a toy at her as I sit back on the couch, and Jezebel starts purring again when I scratch behind her ear.

“You’re killing me, Jezzy,” I murmur. “They’re old enough to adopt. That’s the smart thing to do. What any reasonable person would do.”

She blinks those weird eyes up at me and purrs louder.

“I know. I’m not sure I can do it. Break up a family. Separate siblings from each other…just give them to random strangers?”

She closes her eyes and stretches luxuriously like she couldn’t care less. But she’ll be hating on me if I go through with it, wondering where her children are.

Gizmo launches himself off the couch and slams into my chest.

“Oof, seriously?”

He meows and starts pawing at the neckline of my shirt, climbing his way up my shoulder on a mountain expedition.Shadow and Elsa skitter across the floor, chasing each other and rolling into a heap.

“They’d be so sad without each other,” I tell Jezebel.

Her tail flicks.

“Addy and I have our hands full. Between the football season going strong and Addy trying to finish her time with the Mustangs in the best possible way…we don’t need three more living beings depending on us for survival, Jez.”

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