I looked around the guest room, satisfied that it was as cozy a place as it could be for my new guests—Devon and his infant daughter. Larry had immediately agreed when I'd asked if it would be okay if we invited Devon to come stay with us for the short term. I'd gone to visit him in the hospital yesterday, only to find him sitting there in tears after seeing an older couple leave his room on my way in.

It had taken several long minutes to pry the story from him, but apparently his parents didn't want an unmarried omega for a son with a bastard for a granddaughter. The only way that Devon could return home was if he agreed to give his daughter up for adoption. There was obviously no way I was going to allow that to happen to this poor kid who’d already been through so much. While he talked, I'd immediately texted Larry and Ryan, both of whom were waiting downstairs for me. We hadn't wanted to overwhelm the kid, especially after the first two times we'd met.

Once I'd had the green light from my partners, I'd extended an offer for Devon and his daughter, Ramona, to come stay with us. He hadn't wanted to accept because of our now mutual ex. The poor kid had no idea the narrow escape he'd had when Milton had jilted him—although hopefully in time, I'd help him to see it. What had finally encouraged him to accept my offer was Bella. I'd pulled out the trump card: the fact that our daughters were half-sisters. It was only right that they got to meet, and know, each other.

What I hadn't expected was to come home from the hospital after my visit to already find Larry's friend Daniel hard at work inside the guest room. He had rearranged the furniture and was busy putting together a brand-new crib. I didn't question his motives—I had no reason to, not that it would have been my business either way. I mean, Devon was eighteen already, and a single father now. He wasn't the same naïve student that my ex-husband had romanced. I had zero idea what Daniel’s thoughts were regarding Devon. For all I knew, he just felt protective toward the guy and his new baby after rescuing him at the recital earlier in the week.

The only reason that Devon was still in the hospital several days later was due to the C-section, and a fever he'd spiked the following day. Unsurprising to any of us, Daniel had insisted on picking Devon and Ramona up from the hospital, which was why I now found myself double checking the guest room one last time while we awaited their arrival.

"Daddy? How can I have a new sister if Papa isn't going to be here? You never explained that, and I want to know." Bella spoke seriously from where she stood in the doorway watching me.

I blew out a slow breath and rolled my head on my shoulders as I made my way out of the room. Resting my hand on Bella's back, I guided her to the dining area. Larry and Ryan were watching a game, killing time until Devon arrived. They both stayed right where they were, but kept an obvious ear out when they correctly read the tension on my face.

They’d both told me I needed to be straight with Bella, but I'd wanted to spare her the knowledge that her Papa was such an asshole. She had more than enough pain from him in her short life, although not telling her about Ramona would've been a crime in and of itself, as far as I was concerned anyway.

"Sit down, Bella-bear. You know how your Papa and I got divorced? Well, Papa was going to get married again. And his fiancé, Devon, was pregnant with your little sister. They aren’t getting married anymore, and Devon and your sister have no place to go. That's why your Papa Larry, Papa Ryan, and I have invited them to come stay with us for a little while. Is that okay with you?"

"Why wouldn't it be, Daddy? Of course, my sister and her daddy need to stay with us. It's not Ramona's fault that we have a bad papa. Poor Mister Devon. He must be sad he didn't have someone like grandma to go stay with like we did when Papa broke up with us. I'm glad we can be there for him and help him not be sad. Can I go draw a picture for his room? And will you help me pick out one of my teddy bears for Ramona? I know babies can only have certain toys, and I don't want my sister to get hurt." My heart broke, reformed, and broke a little more at this sweet, yet logical and completely correct thought process that Bella displayed.

I smiled and reached awkwardly over my large gut to give my daughter a hug. I blew a raspberry on her cheek, grinning as she squealed. "All right, Bella-bear. Go draw your picture, I'll come in a little bit to help you pick out an appropriate stuffed animal. Although, we could just order something online and have it delivered."

Bella's eyebrows drew together as she shook her head. "No, silly. Then it wouldn’t be special. I went to give Ramona one of my stuffies that I love, so that she knows I love her even more." I blinked back proud tears as she bounced up and dashed off to her room.

When I felt Ryan's arms quietly slip around me, I leaned back into the comfort of his embrace. I started to ask where Larry was, when I heard his voice at the door. Apparently while I'd been occupied, someone had knocked at the door. And by someone, I meant our new house guest.

* * *

Two weeks later, I found myself surrounded by more people than I would've expected Larry to invite for Ryan's birthday. Although I'd wanted to go all out, given how Ryan was about most social situations, I really hadn't expected Larry to be the one to plan a celebration like this.

He'd closed the bar for the afternoon, although given that it was Sunday in a small town, it probably wasn't too much of a financial loss. I looked around the room, smiling as I saw familiar faces of the small circle of friends I'd begun to build in my new life here.

I didn't know any of the teachers who had been invited by Josiah or his mate Dusty, I would bet. But I definitely knew Josiah, Dusty, and Richard. My mother and Big Dick were sitting at a table, coloring with Bella and Samantha, while Devon was unfortunately being waylaid by Kai—who was currently doing some sort of chant over Ramona.

"One of us should probably go rescue the poor kid, don’t you think?" Daniel said from beside me, as he slid a plate of fried chicken fingers in front of me. The jewel of a man truly knew the way to a pregnant person's heart. I grinned and accepted the dish of Ranch he passed me; Larry had truly gotten me addicted to the shit now.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm sure Kai isn't actually hurting Ramona with whatever it is he’s doing—although I'm sure the same can't be said for Devon's poor ears." I grinned as I dunked a chicken strip into the Ranch.

Daniel's eyes narrowed as Julian walked over and pulled out a seat next to Devon after deftly removing Ramona from Kai's hands. I didn't know what he was saying, but the flirtatious grin was visible to anyone. Not that Julian was necessarily flirting with Devon. He was one of those guys that flirted like he breathed—naturally and without needing to think about it.

"Excuse me," Daniel said as he patted me on the shoulder and moved to step away. "I'm just gonna go see if Devon has eaten yet; the kid just had major surgery. He needs to keep his strength up."

I was still chuckling when Larry came and slid onto the stool beside me, with Ryan right behind him. I was just lifting a Ranch coated chicken strip to my mouth when Larry darted in and stole the bite.

"Are you kidding me? Here I am pregnant with your children, and you're going to steal our food?" I asked pitifully, flashing my biggest puppy dog eyes.

"You bet I am, especially when I see Ranch involved." Larry winked, right before he dipped his mouth down to nip the rest of the chicken out of my fingertips.

Before I could complain, I heard a loud voice behind me. "Hot damn, you'd better be carrying twins. It’s either that or you need to lay off those fried foods, baby doll."

I turned with a wide grin to see my friend Diane standing there, with a definitely-not-ugly alpha standing at her side.

"Lady Di! Get over here and give me a hug, I'd come to you, but you'd be waiting awhile." Diane threw her head back with a loud, bawdy laugh before swooping in to give me a fierce hug.

We swayed from side to side with the hug, as Diane whispered loudly in my ear. "It is so good to see your bony little ass again! Lord have mercy, you have no idea how much I've missed you and that adorable little girl of yours."

When we pulled back, we smiled at each other for a long moment before I turned to look at my men. "Did you guys know Lady Di was coming today? And nobody told me? What the hell, it's not like this is my birthday."

"No, not your birthday—but we do have two other little births coming up to celebrate." I couldn't even bitch about how I'd repeatedly told them that it was tacky to have a shower if you already have a child when I saw the happy smirk on Ryan's face. If sharing his birthday with a mini shower for me meant this much to him, then I would embrace the tacky. I'd be so tacky, that my face would belong on a glue bottle.

Just then, the kitchen doors opened and an older lady I'd never seen before came walking out with Marc at her side. They each carried a tray with a cake on it. Marc carried what looked like one heavy-ass mother of a cake. It was in the shape of a large teddy bear, split perfectly down the middle so half was blue and half was pink. Totally adorable.

The older woman carried a cake with two fondant covered numerals on top—a four, and a zero. She called for us all to gather around, and Ryan helped me up. Diane turned to join her definitely-not-ugly brother who I looked forward to meeting later. I’d been rooting for him ever since she’d told me about his struggles to get custody of his son. With Ryan on one side of me and Larry on the other, the three of us walked over to the cakes.

We sang happy birthday to Ryan after the candles were lit on his cake. I leaned into him with my arm around his waist while Larry propped him up on the other side, which was probably the only thing that kept him from running. Especially given how hard he was blushing. I’d have felt bad to put him in the spotlight, except that the happy glow in his eyes gave away that he was enjoying it despite himself.

After we sang happy birthday, candles were lit on the babies’ cake and Kai stepped forward with his hands out.

"I've been asked to give a blessing, but the true blessing lies within that of the life bringer. The blessing of two new souls coming to share their knowledge with us is not one to be taken lightly. Let us take a moment to reflect on the beauty that is life, and to appreciate the joy these two new lives will bring into their family—and the world at large."

After that surprisingly lucid speech, Kai floated off and Daniel joined Marc to serve cake while Larry and Ryan helped me back to my seat. I spent the rest of the party eating, catching up with Diane, and enjoying the knowledge that this really was my life now.

As I hugged Diane goodbye, I couldn't help but notice that Kai had her brother, Daniel, Julian, and even poor Marc all trapped in conversation over by the bar. He was looking up in the corners of the room and waving another bundle of his thankfully-unlit sticks around. Daniel was shaking his head no, his body language saying a resounding hell no—while the other guys seem to be fighting back grins.

I really wanted to know what that was about, but my feet were too swollen at this point to walk over there and eavesdrop. I'd have to remember to ask Larry to get me the gossip later. Kai wanted to smudge something here in the bar, I knew that much.

"Would you like my help getting some of the leftover cake and all these gifts carried upstairs?" Devon asked helpfully as he walked up, bouncing Ramona on his shoulder.

"No, the guys will do that. You're recovering from surgery, and I feel like I've been pregnant for five years right now. What do you say we go upstairs and split a pint of Cherry Garcia?"

"I'd really like to tell you that it’s a bad idea because you’ve probably eaten at least Ramona's weight in cake today, not to mention all the fried foods Daniel kept shoving in front of both of us. But I'm right there with you on the Cherry Garcia." Devon grinned as he shifted Ramona to his other shoulder.

Ryan and Larry wisely kept their mouths shut about my need for ice cream; the only thing Larry had to say was that Daniel definitely liked to know that any omega that crossed his path was being cared for.