Page 125 of Grease Monkey
“I still can’t believe we weren’t invited.” Mom pouts.
“We told you we wanted it to be just us,” I huff, pinning my dad’s arm behind his back and waiting for him to tap out.
“Miles Grant, will you stop rough-housing with your son on my front lawn,” Mom says sternly. “Whatever will the neighbors think?”
“Is that my pain in the ass, younger brother?”
I jump up, releasing Dad and darting up the porch stairs as Wyatt sweeps Ana into his arms and squeezes her.
“Nice to see you again, Wyatt,” Ana says, laughing as he drops her back to her feet.
Wyatt grins when he sees me, and we crash into each other, arms flailing everywhere as we hug. “Little bro.”
“What are you doing here? Mom didn’t tell me you were coming.”
“She called and said you were flying in today, and I was off, so I couldn’t resist surprising you.”
“Yes, yes, we’re all surprised,” Mom says, ushering us indoors. “I want to see all the pictures from the wedding. Tell me everything. Miles, get the kids something to drink.”
Ana mouths “Help”as Mom drags her into the living room while Wyatt and I help dad with the drinks.
“How is she holding up?” Dad asks, popping the cap off a beer bottle and holding it out.
I take it, nodding while I take a deep pull. The flight and the drive here were long. Especially being hard as fucking nails the whole time while sitting next to mywifeand unable to do a damn thing about it. Maybe if Wyatt had picked us up in his boss’s private plane, we could have joined the mile-high club.
“She’s okay,” I say on an exhale. “Her parents ignored her invitation to the wedding, so we decided to elope instead. Sorry, we didn’t tell you guys.”
“Hey, you do what makes you happy, and if that is just the two of you and some fat Elvis impersonator, well, that’s fine by me.” Dad chuckles, and Wyatt nods in agreement.
After Juliette walked out of Ana’s rented apartment, everything was a whirlwind. Ana’s placement in Phoenix finished, so she quit. Shay helped organize her apartment back here, so it was ready to be rented—and the couple currently with an eight-month lease absolutely love it. And to top it off, we also had a pregnancy scare. Not that I was scared. I was fucking delighted that my sperm beat her birth control. Still, with everything Ana had gone through emotionally, her body needed some time to heal, making her periods a bit wonky or something sounding a little more biologically technical. But after that, I knew I needed to marry my girl and fill her with as many babies as she’d let me, so we eloped in Vegas, fat Elvis and all.
We join Ana and Mom in the living room, the two of them huddling around her phone as she swipes through the pictures of our wedding. Dad turns on the TV, flicking to the Cardinals game, and Wyatt and I drop down on either side of him on the sectional. Dad starts his commentary as my brother shares silent looks above his head whenever he’s clearly talking out his ass. I glance at Ana, smiling when she catches me staring.
“Love you,” I mouth.
“Love you too.”
“Hey, guys.”
Mom squeaks and my dad’s explanation of how the Cardinals will make it to the playoffs this season ends abruptly as we all stare at the man coyly smirking in the doorjamb. Like when I arrived, we barrel into Bowie, Wyatt and I crashing on top of him, sending him flying to the ground with a thud. Then my dad’s there, his heavy weight crushing down on our human pile-up.
“Can’t breathe, can’t breathe.” Bowie’s voice is muffled beneath us, but he’s laughing.
“Let my baby up.” Mom giggles, slapping each of us on the back of the head until she helps Bowie to his feet. He hauls her against him, and Mom lets out a sob.
“Is she okay?” Ana asks, and I wrap my arm around her waist, bringing her flush against my side.
I kiss her temple and watch as Dad hugs Bowie next. “Yeah, she just gets all emotional when we’re all together. It’s been…” Fuck, I don’t even know. “Years since we’ve all been in the same room.”
She snuggles into my chest, watching as Bowie and Wyatt talk.
“So this must be my gorgeous sister-in-law. It’s great to see you in the flesh.” Bowie grins. Ana sticks out her hand, but he bats it away, tugging her out of my hold and crushing her to his enormous chest. She groans as he squeezes too tight. “Oh, sorry, did I hurt you?”
“No, no, I’m fine.” She chuckles, but I snatch her away from him anyway and press her back to my chest, my hand splaying protectively over her stomach. She dances her fingers up my arm as if sensing my concern. “I’m fine, Teddy. I promise.”
I brush my thumb up along the top of her belly and relax.
“How long are you home for?” Mom asks Bowie.
