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Marshall grinned and held out his arms for the baby. “Just shop talk,” he said with a shrug.

“It looks like the court case is going to be thrown out any day now, but I just found out who one of the witnesses is for the opposing side.” Emmett grimaced. “It seems Jenn is still pissed that I fired her.”

I snorted. I’d heard all about his ex-assistant’s antics, and I was genuinely surprised, considering Emmett hadn’t even looked at her for all these years. She’d always rubbed me the wrong way. It was an office building, and she treated it like an episode of Love Island. And I would know, since Summer enjoyed her bouts of trash TV.

“Crazy will be crazy.” I shrugged.

“Thankfully, crazy is nowhere near our family anymore,” Emmett said, leaning down slightly so he was face-to-face with the baby in Marshall’s arms.

Hattie wandered into the kitchen and looked at us disapprovingly when she saw the three of us huddled together instead of outside with all the guests.

“Really? Can you guys stop hogging the baby for one moment? You have guests, and people want to see the man of the hour.” She said the last part in a higher-pitched voice as she made a face at Milo, who squawked happily.

He was loving all the attention.

“We’re going to be doing the birthday cake and singing ‘Happy Birthday’ in a minute, so you guys had better get out there,” she said lightly, pushing us out the door. There was no messing with Hattie when it came to strict birthday celebrations.

Looking out, I found Summer standing at one of the picnic tables, which was covered in a pale blue gingham tablecloth, placing candles in a cake.

She didn’t have a bump yet, but every time I looked at her, I couldn’t help thinking about the fact that she was pregnant with our child. It made me grin like a loon, which was pretty normal when it came to admiring our mate.

We’d come to the conclusion that she’d probably gotten pregnant during her heat. So, biologically speaking, the child could be anyone’s, and we liked it that way.

Biology didn’t make a child belong somewhere or create a real father. Choosing to step up every single day did.

That was why Milo was our son, and there would be no changing that. Thankfully, we also had plenty of legal paperwork to back us up.

Four happy fathers, ready to celebrate their oldest child turning one and thrilled to welcome another into the world. We were all the dads, and our children would always know that.

A while later, Summer collapsed onto the picnic bench, a glass of soda in hand. “The grandmothers are putting him to bed now. He is absolutely tuckered out.”

“Of course. He hasn’t had a nap today. All the excitement of the party…” I trailed off, a little exhausted myself from all the chaos. I was surprised Summer had it in her to keep at it all day.

She grimaced. “Hopefully, that means he’ll sleep through the night. I could use the rest.”

Marshall wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap.

“And you will get the rest,” he said. “You’re going to sleep in my bed, and someone else is going to take baby duty tonight. You need sleep in your condition.” He snickered, and Summer rolled her eyes.

“I know, but I feel like I’m abandoning Milo.” She pouted, doing her best to fight a yawn.

“You’re not abandoning our son by accepting the help that’s being offered,” Noah reiterated.

We’d had many conversations with Summer about this. She was stressed, thinking that a new baby would make Milo feel left out. It was understandable that she was concerned, but we assured her at every opportunity that we’d make sure he never felt that way. We’d just have to prove we meant what we said through our actions every single day.

Like we had today with the amazing celebration.

All the guests had left, so it was just our family and the grandmothers in the house. They’d insisted on staying to help tidy up, and given how exhausted we all were, we weren’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“This has been amazing,” Summer hummed, tilting her head back, melting into Marshall’s touch.

“Agreed,” he rumbled.

I opened my mouth to speak, but was stopped by a squeal from the back door.

“Oh my God, why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” Hattie screeched, running out the back door straight toward us and pulling Summer out of Marshall’s lap and into a hug.

We all stared at her in shock.