Page 22 of Rowdy & Kat

“Um, but you named your only son Roy.”

“Roy Reed is a solid name.”

“And I’m totally going to embrace it again when I’m forty,” Rowdy said as Bebe cooed over the baby. “But why not name me Ruger?”

“Your mom didn’t want names about killing.”

“Look at his little nose,” Bebe murmured, pretending to ignore the conversation happening around her. “You have your mama’s nose.”

Her words made me tear up. Maria squeezed my hand, knowing immediately what I was thinking. Our real mother would never meet her grandsons.

Over the last few months, I’d dreamed Rowdy would want me despite how our relationship revolved around hooking up in my SUV. My boys could have a dad, grandparents, aunts, and cousins.

Now, everything was coming together. So why was a little part of me sad? Admiring my tired sister at my side, I considered how Maria and I shared little habits and traditions. We worked in the same place, ate meals together, and spent most of our free time together.

After I got pregnant, she joined me at every doctor appointment. We went to Lamaze class together. She gave up curry since the smell made me nauseous.

Now, we were part of something bigger, and I feared losing my special bond with Maria.

“We’ll be alone tonight,” Maria whispered in Estonian.

The way Maria knew exactly what I needed to hear only inspired more tears.

“Don’t cry,” Rowdy said softly as he sat on the edge of my bed while Maria cradled me.

“I’m just overwhelmed.”

“Because you don’t like the middle name Attila the Hun?”

Grinning, I shrugged. “Does anyone care about a middle name?”

“What would you have named the boys if I hadn’t shown up?”

“I was going to name them Roy.”

“Both of them?” Pax asked. “Not very creative.”

“They’re twins. Growing up, I liked matching with my sister.”

Pax looked at Maria and me for a long time. “I bet you two could cause a lot of trouble with those identical faces.”

“I did gym class for her,” I said, smiling at Maria.

She nodded. “I took her science class. But those were the only naughty things we ever did.”

“Well, you hooked up with an outlaw biker. That’s pretty naughty.”

“She did that,” Maria said and glanced at Rowdy. “I don’t plan to follow in her footsteps.”

“Bull,” Rowdy said instantly. “I’m going to find you a nice biker with a big dick. He’ll give you a sexy nickname like “sweet tits,” and you’ll be married by the end of the year.”

Despite Maria’s horrified look, I laughed and hugged her. “That sounds nice as long as you can convince the big-dicked biker to call you something else.”

“Who are you thinking?” Pax asked Rowdy. “Not Rock. Tell me you aren’t planning to set up this fine, young nurse with that humorless hunk of meat.”

“Rock is handsome,” Bebe murmured. “Will the twins have our last name?”

Nodding, I explained, “I had planned on naming them Reed since our last name isn’t a family one.”