Darcy called contacts at both the Richmond and Reagan airports, verifying that Kitty had indeed flown to Vegas. Maybe not entirely legal, but it got results. Two days ago, she’d flow out of Reagan on a direct to Vegas. That was the best confirmation they were going to get.

There had been a brief discussion over whether Eliot should fly at seven months or not, but a quick call to his OB settled both Darcy and Gina’s protests, if not their fears.

As soon as Eliot had told his family they were going to Vegas to find Kitty, Liam had insisted he come to. Eliot had tried to sidestep him by going straight to the airport, but Liam was there waiting.

“This is the most legit ballsy thing Kitty’s ever done,” he said. “Kudos to her. I mean, I’m kinda been there done that with George, but… she’s young. Gotta sow your wild oats somehow.”

Eliot buried his hands in his face. “I apologize for my brother, Gina,” he said, as soon as Liam peeled off to go to the restroom.

Gina patted him on the arm. “We don’t get to pick our family, Eliot.”

Darcy stood quietly nearby, tapping away on his tablet.

As soon as they were past security, Liam headed to the bar nearest their gate and started slamming fruity cocktails, crowing about, “Vegas, baby!” Eliot sat as far away from him as possible.

“Are you okay?” Gina said, sitting gently next to him.

Eliot nodded, eyes closed. “Just stressed. I think the baby can feel it. She won’t stop moving around.” He pointed at one side of his belly. I’m pretty sure this is her butt... “ Eliot winced and straightened, lengthening his torso. “And she’s kicking me somewhere over here.”

He opened his eyes to see a look of pure longing on Gina’s face.

“Oh, shit, Gina. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking—”

“No, no, no. It’s okay. I’m okay. I was just… would you mind if I touched your belly?”

Eliot moved his arms out of the way. “Go for it.”

Gina touched his stomach tentatively, and after a moment of the light press of her fingers, he grabbed her hand and moved it, pressing her hand flat against the skin.

“Pretty sure she’s punching me right there.”

At that moment, something thumped inside of him, and Gina jumped with a delighted giggle. She held on to Eliot’s stomach for several moments longer before tucking her hand under her thigh.

“Thanks. I know I did the right thing for me, getting an abortion. It wasn’t a good time, and Wickham would have been a terrible father. But I do wonder about being a mother someday. I want to. Someday.”

Eliot pulled her into a hug, forgetting his own problems for a moment. “I think you’ll make a great mom. Someday. When you’re ready.”

A voice came on over the broadcast system, alerting them that their flight was about to start boarding, and Liam stumbled over.

“Are you guys read to par-tay?” he slurred.

“Liam,” Eliot snapped. “This isn’t a party. This isn’t fun. Kitty is not just having a wild weekend with the girls. This is serious.”

“Ugh.” Liam flopped in a seat. “When did you get to be such a party pooper? Is that what happens to omegas when they get pregnant? Because if so, I’m never ever never getting pregnant. Nope. Just gonna stay signal and ride the party train all the way to the end.”

“I wonder what staying ‘signal’ looks like,” Gina whispered to Eliot.

“I’m pretty sure it’s like getting lit, and it looks like Liam,” Eliot grumbled. His brother had clearly meant to say single, and was too drunk to know the difference.

The flight attendants called for first class, and Darcy reached down to grab Eliot’s carry on. “That’s us.”

Liam struggled to his feet. “We gonna fly first class?”

Darcy pinned him with a ferocious glare. “No. We are flying first class. You are flying whatever ticket you bought.”

Eliot blushed. He hadn’t even considered that when Darcy offered to buy the tickets now, and let Eliot pay him later, that he would just default to first class. Hopefully they weren’t terribly expensive. Eliot wasn’t doing badly these days, but he wanted to save up every dollar for when the baby came.

“I feel kinda bad about leaving Liam,” Eliot said.

“Chances are, he’s acting too drunk for them to let him on the plane. But if he somehow manages to behave himself long enough, we’ll reconnect with him when we disembark. For now, let’s try and figure out where we might find our runaways.”

“He had an obsession with Elvis,” Gina said. “I mean, looking back on it, his reasons were ew. Lots of people love him for his music, or the mystery of his death, but George loved him because he could sleep with whatever omega he wanted. He always said if he was going to get married, he’d have an Elvis wedding.

Darcy did a search for Elvis wedding chapels. “How are we going to check them all? Every drive through chapel has an Elvis option.”

Gina peered at the screen. She laughed bitterly. “George would definitely pick ‘Viva Las Vegas.’ It fit his view of life.”

They also searched for a hotel. Here Gina was less effective since George had mentioned more than one—each of which he would claim that “he wanted to stay in the penthouse.”

“I doubt he’d be able to stay anywhere expensive,” Darcy said. “If he were currently floating in cash, he wouldn’t be working as a waiter at Provence.”

“Bartender,” Eliot corrected. “That’s where I met him.”

“Can I just say how happy I am that in-flight wifi is a thing?” Gina said. “I know it’s random, but it’s so useful right now.”

Darcy’s phone pinged, and a moment later he said, “Bing is at the Venetian. He says he saw George with Kitty in the lobby.”

“What is Bing doing in Vegas?” Gina asked.

“I told him,” Darcy said. “He was visiting his grandparents in California, and that was closer than the east coast.”

“Good deal. Have him keep an eye on him. We don’t want to lose him.”

Darcy was already tapping away at his phone. “Done.”

Eliot relaxed slightly. They knew where Kitty was, and Bing had his eye on her. It felt like the battle was half won.

Liam had managed to make it on the plane, but had been refused liquor service the entire way, so as they piled into their Uber—which was a way fancier Uber than Eliot had been in before—he sat with his head between his knees, groaning.

“Is he going to throw up?” Their driver asked, a woman with long, straight hair and almost equally long, straight nails.

“He’ll be fine,” Gina assured her sweetly, bending to softly murmur in Liam’s ear, “If you throw up in her car, I will let her eviscerate you with those nails.”

Liam just groaned in response.

“Are they still there?” Eliot asked.

“Bing texted that they were just a few minutes ago,” Darcy replied.

Liam groaned again.