Standing in the gardens of Lillian’s plantation under the heavy moss-covered limbs of almost three-hundred-year-old live oaks, I look over at my wife of about two hours. She’s talking to Melody Keegan and Maya Cain while holding a glass of champagne.

I swear, the woman is capable of feeling my eyes on her no matter where we are because she glances my direction and smooths her hand down her flat stomach over the silk of her gown. Giving me a small smile, she raises her glass to me but doesn’t take a sip.

No one knows. She doesn’t want to tell anyone for a couple months.

Hell, she only told me last week.

“Congratulations.” I turn to see my buddy from Ranger school, Grady Cain.

I take his outstretched hand and shake it. “Thanks, man.”

“No,” he smirks at me, “I mean congratulations. On the baby.”

I frown. “How did you know?”

He tips his head to the three women talking. “Your new wife has been holding that glass for over an hour and hasn’t taken a sip. It’s hot as fuck out here—no way would anyone still want to drink that shit after losing its chill. You might want to tell her to grab a new glass if you don’t want anyone to know.”

I shake my head.

Grady Cain was discharged from the Army and fell off the face of the earth a year after we graduated Ranger school. Word is he’s been doing some top-secret shit, but he’s never offered, so I never asked. He surfaced a few years ago and is back in the States, settled down with a wife, kid, and with another on the way.

“Don’t mention it to anyone,” I warn. “No one at work knows and we’re not ready for the questions yet. Lillian has started a foundation for the plantation and it’s time consuming. She’s thinking it could be a full-time gig if she opens it to the public and donates the proceeds back to the community.”

Lillian’s parents were denied every motion they filed to contest her grandmother’s will. Two months ago, the estate was settled and my wife now owns this fucker and all the land it sits on. Since we’re settled in Indy, she said she wants to open it to the public. Now that her parents are out of the picture, she can move forward.

Her parents weren’t invited to the wedding.

This was an easy decision and one I’m happy my sweet as hell wife didn’t feel guilt over. No way did I want to see their faces on this day after the shit they put Lillian through.

“Never thought I’d see the day Gabe Blackburn would get married, let alone be a daddy.”

I look over to see Tex Keegan and I frown at him. “The fuck?”

“I still don’t understand how you got someone as perfect as her to like you, let alone marry you.” He raises his beer and watches our wives chatter. “But here’s to little Blackburns running amuck. I hope they make you gray. Your hair is too perfect.”

“Does everyone know about the baby?” I ask.

I know nothing about pregnancy—other than drugs and alcohol are bad. I also know nothing about babies. All I know is I’ll never subject my kid to the horrors of my Great Aunt Libby’s cats—dead or alive. I also know I probably won’t be able to stop my mother and sisters from pushing their classic musicals on my offspring. I don’t have enough power in the world to put a stop to that.

Tex looks back to me. “It’s plain to see. Your woman can’t keep her hand off her stomach.”

Interesting. Neither can I since she told me my sperm was the strongest in all the land since it took no effort at all to get her pregnant. She did away with her pills last month after talking me into the fact small humans will make our lives better. Since my life is fan-fucking-tastic right now, I’ll basically do anything she wants.

Except get a cat.

We’ll never have a fucking cat.

I’ll buy her a dog after the honeymoon.

Hell, I’ll buy her a ferret if she wants one, but I draw the line at cats.

“Got you a tracker as a wedding present. You’d better carry it, too.”

I look over and Tex is grinning like a loon.

“You didn’t,” I say, knowing he probably did.

He shakes his head and takes a swig of his drink. “You’re too damn hard to find without it. I’ve already talked to Lillian. She said she’d make sure you’d cooperate.”

Damn. Tex has figured out my weakness. He knew I’d say no to him, but to Lillian? She’ll make me carry the damn thing, for sure.

“Here’s to settling down.” Grady raises his water glass. Tex and I follow suit with our beers when Grady adds, “May you have all girls and they look just like your new wife so you will forever be surrounded by pink and be on punkass-boy patrol.”

I click my glass to theirs and glare at Grady. “You’re an asshole.”

“I got your back, man.” Grady grins. “I make people disappear.”

I ignore that statement for fear of being an accessory to a crime and because I see Great Aunt Libby pull my sweet Lillian away from her new friends.

“Excuse me. I need to save my wife before my aunt ropes us into a visit.”

I make my way across the lawn to the tents where dinner will be served in about an hour and the air-conditioned space where our tiered chocolate wedding cake is displayed. Lillian explained to me that humidity and icing don’t mix well.

“…I’m Gabe’s favorite aunt. He just loved to visit me when he was little.”

I wrap a hand around Lillian’s waist and pull her back to my front. Splaying my hand over our miniature human, I greet the crazy cat lady. “Hi, Libby. Thanks for coming.”

“Well, I was just talking to your bride here about when you were little. I can’t wait to get to know her. I do hope you’ll come for a visit soon.”

“We’d love to have you at our house. Lillian will bake you a cake. Right, baby?” I look down at my wife and give her a squeeze.

When she smiles up at me, she’s so damn beautiful, I realize Tex is right. It’s nothing short of a miracle she gave me the time of day, let alone agreed to marry me. Even now, with the small human on the way, it’s hard to believe she’s mine.

“Of course.” Lillian grins at me. I was forced to spill one night before the wedding about my cat phobia so she’d have my back in case something like this happened. Like the kickass wife she’s proven to be over the last two hours, she turns her southern charm on my aunt. “You have to come to our house. Nothing would make me happier than to create new memories with Gabe’s family as we start our lives together. I’ll cook and bake for you and you can stay as long as you like.”

I frown. Now she’s just going overboard.

“If you’ll excuse us, Libby, I’d like a moment with my bride.”

“I’ll call you,” Aunt Libby yells after us as I drag Lillian away. “You have to answer because I don’t text.”

Lillian waves at her as I pull her into the gardening shed that’s really just a fancy building for flowers.

“Aunt Libby is sweet,” Lillian says as I close her in and put her back to the wall.

“She’s not. Don’t let her fool you. She’s a freak.” I take her in my arms and put my lips to her skin where her neck meets her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Gabe. I’ll protect you from the cats.”

I lift my head and frown. “That’s not funny.”

Her smile grows big. “I know. Cats are no joke.”

I bring my hands to her face and change the subject. “You married me.”

Her face softens. “I did.”

“You won’t regret it.”

She shakes her head in my hands. “Never.”

“Love you, baby.”

“Gabe.” My whispered name floats across my face and, like every time she does it, it’s a fucking gift I’ll never take for granted since I wouldn’t be here right now if it had been left up to my own damn stubbornness. “I love you, too.”

And for the millionth time, I thank God we were ambushed in a Nicaraguan rainforest.

“Why?”

I fill my travel mug with coffee and look over at my wife who’s exhausted and run down. I know this because I feel the same fucking way, I just don’t look it because I’ve at least had a shower this morning to wake my ass up. She’s in a sweatshirt that I’m pretty sure she’s worn three days in a row with spit-up, breast milk, and coffee stains on the front. Imma, who was named after Lillian’s Gran, is sitting at her feet in our kitchen and has just dragged all the Tupperware out of the cabinets, pretending to cook. Rosco, our four-year-old black lab who still acts like a puppy, is right next to Imma, chewing the fuck out of a plastic lid and all I can think of is I’m going to find that in his dog shit the next time I mow.

Lillian keeps on. “I don’t understand why she won’t sleep more than thirty minutes at a time at night and look at her now? She’s sleeping like a baby, like she should be, because she is one.”

I set down my coffee and reach for my youngest daughter. Izzy, who’s just as perfect as her older sister, is snoozing away in her swing. She’s four months old and, since I’m a baby expert, I know she should be sleeping at least four to five hours at a time, if not longer.

On my wedding day, Grady Cain put a curse on me and it stuck. So far, I’m outnumbered in this house, three to one, if I don’t count the dog. All girls so far, but in about nine months, I’ll start sweet talking my wife into small human number three. It only took me a day to convince her to let my sperm do what it does best before I knocked her up with number two, so this means the sooner I can get Izzy to sleep through the night, the sooner I can let my boys free again.

Izzy stretches in my hands as I hold her up to my face. “Izzy, we need to conference about something important.” Her fists rub her eyes and she yawns, drawing her chubby little legs up. She’s just as bone-tired as the rest of us. “Your mommy is gonna keep you awake as much as possible today. You’re not going to go in the car, or listen to the hair dryer, or hang out by the laundry room. There will be no white noise for you all day. And tonight, you’re going to sleep in your own room for the first time—”

“No!” Lillian argues. “She’s too little. We need to keep her close where we can hear her.”

I ignore my wife. “—in a room that your father spent a fuckin’ mint to decorate—”

“Gabe! Watch your language.”

“—not to mention all the high-tech equipment I’ve installed to watch you from everywhere in the house and our phones and our computers because your father not only has the strongest sperm around—”

“Would you quit with the sperm?”

“—but he’s also a technological genius.” I smile at my daughter who’s now sort of awake and reaching for my nose. “And you know what, baby? You’re gonna sleep so good tonight because your mommy won’t wake you up with her snoring.”

“Gabe Blackburn. I do not wake her up.”

I look down at my tired but beautiful wife. “I love you, but you do. She’s sleeping with the giraffes tonight. It makes my stomach turn every time I think about how much money I spent on that damn room—it’s time for some return on our investment.”

Lillian’s tired brown eyes float to our baby who I’ve got settled in the crook of my arm that was made just for her. “She’s too little to be away from us.”

I lean in to kiss my wife’s forehead. “We’re not sending her to boarding school. She’ll be in the next room, with a well-insulated wall between us so she can get some shut-eye. Trust me. I know babies. Now, go take a long shower. I can skip my first meeting.”

My sweet Lillian doesn’t head for the shower, she falls into my chest. I wrap her up in my free arm and put my lips to the top of her messy-haired head that really needs to be washed. “I love you.”

Imma has wrapped herself around my leg, sitting on my Magnanni Italian leather dress shoe.

“Daddy!”

I look down at my oldest human. “Yeah, baby?”

“Fuckin’ mint!”

Lillian’s whole body tenses and I tighten my hold on her so she can’t move.

“Gabe!”

“Shh.” I put my lips to her head, holding her in a vice grip. “That didn’t just happen. You’re tired and hallucinating.”

Rosco jumps on me, barking, and Imma giggles, pulling at my leg. “Gimme a ride, Daddy.”

Lillian looks up at me and gives me a tired smile and shakes her head.

“Aren’t you glad you married me?” I ask her this every time I find a way to annoy her.

She lifts up on her tired toes and puts her lips to my jaw. “Everyday. I love you.”

With Imma yanking my leg, Rosco about to hump me, and Izzy grabbing at Lillian’s hair, I pull my wife up to kiss her long, hard, and deep. When I let her mouth go, I tell her the truth. “You still bring me to my knees, baby. The most powerful woman in the world.”

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story of Gabe and Lillian. Grady Cain, mentioned in the Epilogue, already has his own book. Read how he and Maya find their happily ever after in , the second book of my Killers Series, also available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited.