“He just did that so I would stop crying,” I tell her in shock.
“He did,” she agrees, smiling.
“He’s crazy.” I grin back at her.
“Crazy hot.” Maggie giggles, and I look at her in shock; I have never in my life heard her do that.
“Did you just giggle?” I ask.
“Absolutely not.” Her eyes get big. “Holy shit, I f**king giggled. What the hell is wrong with me?”
“I don’t know, but you should get that checked out,” I tell her with a straight face.
“Your man turned me into a giggling school girl.” She sighs, laying her head back against the couch, a large smile on her face.
I smile and then look around our new home. The house is a newer two-story brick home with a location perfect for being close to family. Our new living room is much larger than the townhouse’s, with dark bamboo floors, tall vaulted ceilings, and large windows that look out to the forest behind the house. The kitchen is also large and has all new appliances, with a large island that can seat five barstools. Next to the kitchen is a small dining room that was built into a rounded section of the house that is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling bay windows.
I love this house. I love that the backyard is huge and already has a play set for kids. I love that all the bedrooms are on the second floor so we won’t have to be separated from the babies when they get here. What I really love is that Nico loves it as much as I do. I know he loved his townhouse and his neighbors, but when he walked into our new house for the first time with me, I could see it on his face that he loved it. Or maybe he just loved the fact that he’d have a three-car garage and two of his brothers as our neighbors.
“Aunt Sophie!” I hear yelled in time to see July running into the living room, carrying a very annoyed Daisy in her arms.
“Hey, honey.” I sit forward on the couch as she runs to me.
“Uncle Nico said you’re getting another puppy.”
“He did, did he?” I look over at Maggie, who shrugs her shoulders.
Nico hasn’t said anything to me about getting another dog, but with him, I never know what’s going to happen. He never even told me he wasn’t going to be working for Kenton anymore or that he was taking a job with the MNPD working with Leo until he had to be gone for a week to do some training and testing. When I first found out, I was upset; I didn’t want him to change jobs because of me. Then he sat me down and explained that, with the babies coming, he didn’t think he would be able to handle being away all the time, and taking the job with Leo meant he would have more stability. I told him that was good, but if he didn’t like it, he should go back to working for Kenton.
“Yes, but Daisy’s still my favorite,” July says, and I laugh as she pulls a wiggling Daisy up to her face to talk to her. “You will always be my favorite. You’re so cute and small and fluffy,” she tells the Pomeranian before bringing her down to her chest for a hug. Poor Daisy looks like her eyes are going to pop out of her head, making me wince.
“Honey, why don’t you let Daisy down for a bit and go wash your hands? Maybe we can make some sandwiches for everyone.”
“Uncle Nico ordered pizza,” she says, holding Daisy tighter against her, making her squirm.
“Daisy may need to pee.”
I guess those are the magic words, because she immediately puts the dog down. I watch as Daisy jumps off the couch, quickly running away, probably trying to find somewhere to hide.
“I don’t want her to pee on me. May peed on me one time when I was holding her, and that was gross.”
“That is gross.” I laugh at the squeamish look on her cute little face.
“Now that you live here, can we have more sleepovers?” she asks, looking around.
“We can.” I don’t tell her that it won’t be for, like, ten years. She doesn’t need to know that. I’m still trying to recover from the last sleepover we had.
“Good! The last one was so much fun!”
I smile and shake my head. Having six kids over for a sleepover was insane, and not something I want to repeat anytime soon. The first couple of hours were fine, but then it came time for bed and none of them wanted to sleep, except Jax, who was hanging with his uncle most of the time. Then there was a lot of crying. We had to take all of the kids home at around two in the morning, so it really wasn’t a sleepover; it was more like an extended visit. I love them all, but I won’t be doing that again for a long time.
“Uncle Nico,” July says as soon as she sees him walking into the room carrying a box, “Aunt Sophie said we can have a sleepover.”
“Did she?” he asks, smiling at her. I bite back my smile when his eyes come to me and narrow slightly.
“She did.”
“After the babies are born, we will talk about it,” he tells her, carrying the box somewhere into the house and getting out of Dodge.
“Where are your sisters, honey?” I ask her before trying to stand.
“Outside with the other kids.”
“All right. You go get them and bring them in here. When all of you wash your hands, we can get you guys some juice for when the pizza gets here,” I tell July, and she runs off. “I’m gonna go check on Nico,” I say, looking at Maggie, who is lying on the couch with her eyes closed.
“Sure, whatever. Leave me to my dirty fantasies about your husband.”
“Whatever you say.” I laugh, leaving the room. When I get to the office, Nico’s there with his back to me, putting something up on one of the shelves built into the walls.