Page 109

I get lost staring at Colt all over again.

He’s passed out, so I can’t see his deep blue eyes, but the pregnancy books warned us the color could change as they get older. They have the same light brown hair as Abby, but we read that it’s common for their hair color to change too.

Basically, it’s a toss-up on who hit the DNA jackpot. Some packs are really careful about knowing who fathered which children, but the three of us decided that we would be more comfortable not knowing.

“I mean, I wouldn’t turn down a burger,” Abby says, shrugging. “Bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles—all the good stuff. Just no condiments, unless they have barbecue sauce.”

“Like I could forget how you like your burger,” Bryant says, pushing himself out of his chair. “I’ll check the cafeteria and report back.”

“Bring me something too,” Lawson chimes in as Beau starts to fuss.

“Me three,” I say as Bryant waves a hand over his head.

“Want me to take Colt, so you can feed Beau?” I offer.

Abby nods, pulling the baby off her breast. “I feel like I’m going to be feeding one of them all the time for a while, but I kinda love it.”

“It’s crazy that your body can produce all the nutrition they need to survive.” I take Colt, bringing him up to my shoulder to burp him. “But a few bottles here or there won’t hurt anything.”

Law steps over to the bed, handing off the now-screeching Beau.

Something tells me that we’re going to be in for a wild ride with these two.

* * *

If I thought the first few weeks home from the hospital were chaotic, I had no idea what was coming with the whole six-week sleep regression thing.

I’m so grateful there are four of us. It allows us to split shifts with two on and two off. It’s not too bad during the day, since they still sleep for long stretches, but at night it becomes a party in the nursery.

I can’t understand how some moms go back to work when the baby is six weeks old. Hell, none of us have set foot inside the businesses for more than a quick meeting since the boys were born.

Letting Lucy take over as restaurant manager was one of the best business decisions I’ve made. She was already kicking ass as our bar manager, and she alleviated so much stress when she let me know she thought she was ready to manage the entire business.

Bev was clearly ready to move on, and it had been showing in her attitude for a while.

I let Lucy hire two assistant managers, one for each side of the business, and there was no looking back after that.

Before the boys were born, Abby occasionally helped out at the gym and the restaurant, but it was more of a sporadic thing and just for fun.

Beau finally stops fussing as I rock him against my shoulder, and my gaze moves to Law. He’s always done well with a lack of sleep, but even he looks beat.

He carefully lays Colt down on the changing table, and I jolt as the door bumps the wall.

Echo and Shadow peek their heads in, but that’s just part of their nightly rounds. Ever since the boys were born, they alternate between sleeping in the hallway outside their door and pacing the house all night long.

Colt starts screaming, and Lawson pops his pacifier into his mouth. The dogs take off, and I chuckle. They’ve had enough of listening to the fussy baby.

By the time I check back on Law, he has Colt’s footie pajamas unzipped, and he’s in the process of pulling off the baby’s diaper.

“Shit, man. Get another diaper on him ASAP. You know they like to…” My words trail off, and I grimace as the stream of pee hits Lawson’s stomach. “Pee all over us.”

“Ahh, hell,” Law mutters as I barely hold back the laugh.

Yeah, I’d say sleep deprivation is getting to all of us, but honest to God, I wouldn’t change a single thing.

Epilogue

Lawson