“Tired?” I asked Riley as she sat on the edge of the bed with her head bowed.

She looked up at me, giving me a slight smile that made her eyes twinkle. “Who would have thought building a human could be so draining?”

I sat beside her, and took her hand in mine. “I’m sorry.”

She moved closer, and then put her head on my shoulder. “Keep your apologies for later when I’m complaining about being fat.”

I put my arm around her. “You won’t be fat.”

She snorted. “Says the guy who won’t gain a single ounce while I balloon up with my belly button poking out as I waddle around.”

“I’ll waddle with you, okay?” I said, trying my hardest to push away the overwhelming fear that settled in on my shoulders since the moment Riley told me she was pregnant.

“I’m scared,” she whispered.

I held her closer. “I am, too, Riles.”

“Nothing will be the same.” There was a hollow ring to her voice that worried me.

“My mom always said that everything happens for a reason. This baby—our baby—was meant to be. I won’t say it isn’t a shock, but it isn’t the end of our world either,” I said, feeling a little bit of the tension go out of her.

“Paige knows,” she said.

“So does Mark.” I let go of her, moving to help her up so I could turn back the covers.

I wasn’t sure if it was because she got up too fast, or if it was one of those random bouts of nausea, but Riley took off to the bathroom. It wasn’t but a few seconds before I could hear her getting sick.

I set out pajamas for her. After giving her another minute, I walked into the bathroom, grabbed a washcloth, wet it, and then handed it to her.

“Thanks,” she said as she sat on the toilet lid. Unfolding it, she covered her face while breathing deeply.

“Need help getting changed?” I asked, feeling like a complete ass that she’d had nothing but bouts of morning, afternoon, evening, and middle-of-the-night sickness for the last couple of months. I wasn’t sure how either of us ever thought she just had food poisoning or was sick. Maybe we were just too scared to even think about it.

“I’ll be fine. It just takes a second and I’ll feel normal again,” she said, sighing.

“Is there anything I can get you? Water, or are you—”

“No. No, I’m good,” she said, but the look on her face told a different story.

Seconds later, she was on her feet. She flipped the toilet lid up, and then went through a round of dry heaving that made my heart ache to see it. I couldn’t stand back any longer and not step in to help her, or at least be there for her.

I put my hand on her back, giving her a second. If she didn’t want me to touch her, she’d make it known. She shivered, but didn’t rebuke my touch.

“Water,” she said in between another round of dry heaving.

I filled the cup by the sink and gave it to her.

She couldn’t stand up, so she sank to her knees. After she took a small sip, she swished it around her mouth and spit it out. Then she took another sip and swallowed it.

The cup was thrust at me. I almost didn’t get a hold of it before she let it go to throw up what little she’d taken in.

“Riley, I don’t think this is right,” I said, scared seeing her like that.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Pushing herself up, she said, “I’m better now.”

It was clear she wasn’t at one-hundred percent, but she also didn’t have that pasty, nauseated look either. “Let’s get you in your pajamas and tucked in.”

“Good idea. I’m freaking exhausted,” she said, allowing me to undress her.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine. But I’ll tell you, I’m ready to move past this getting sick nonsense. It’s getting old real fast,” she answered, shivering when the air hit her overheated skin.

Leaning in, I kissed her forehead, then slipped one of my old sweatshirts over her head. “Almost midnight,” I said as we made our way to bed.

“Mmm,” she answered, crawling in and curling up on her side.

I slipped in behind her. When I pulled the covers over us, she moved to settle against my chest. I put my arm around her, and she gave a contented sigh.

“Are we telling them today?” I asked.

“Today?” she asked, stirring just enough to look at the clock on the nightstand. “It’s Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, Riley,” I said, nuzzling into her neck.

She squeaked, pulling away slightly. “Merry Christmas, Jake.”

Having her so close always excited me. I tried to ignore the stirrings of my body, but she had noticed and wiggled closer.

“Thought you were tired?” I asked, running my hand over her hip.

“Got my second wind,” she said, grabbing my hand.

“I’m hungry,” she said, lifting her head up from my chest.

I brushed my hand along her shoulder and chuckled. “I suppose you want me to go raid the kitchen for you?”

She lifted her head, but then lowered it again. “I’ll go with you. I just have to convince my body to move.”

“Well, while you’re at it, convince mine, too,” I said, feeling sleep tugging at me.

“I’m just going to rest for a minute, then we’ll go downstairs and raid the refrigerator. Maybe we can even make rustling sounds and rattle some bells so everyone knows Santa has been here,” she said, yawning.

Five minutes later, Riley was snoring softly against my chest, leaving me to a quiet room and my thoughts.

She hadn’t answered me when I’d asked her about telling everyone. It seemed like it would be the right time, being Christmas and all. What I wasn’t looking forward to was all the questions, or the look of disappointment on Oliver’s face. He cared for us way more than he let on. And he, of all people, knew the dangers of bringing a child into our unorthodox lives. He’d witnessed firsthand what it was like with Jared.

The upside was we weren’t alone in it. We’d have more help than we’d know what to do with. Our child would have so much protection it would probably feel smothered most days. But even more than that, it would be loved.

I’d yet to wrap my head around how our child came to be. We’d been more than cautious. Taken preventative steps. We hadn’t been irresponsible, yet there we were, facing the future of parenthood. None of it mattered, though. Not when it came right down to it. We were having a baby. The rest was unimportant.

Riley shifted, moving to roll over on her side, and I turned with her. My hand slipped over and rested against the soft flesh of her stomach where my child slept.

The more I thought about it, the more real it became. And the more real it became, the more nervous it made me. But then the nerves would roll over and give way to an excitement that felt like the flapping of wings in my gut. There were so many emotions in me. They bounced off one another, leaving me almost breathless since she’d told me.

Riley’s head settled against my shoulder, and I curled around her even more as I made a silent vow to the two most important people in my life. So long as I have a breath in my body, I will protect you and keep you safe.

I drifted off, but not before hearing the soft tread of feet sneaking down the hallway. Christmas antics were afoot, but I just didn’t have it in me to get out of bed to see whose footsteps they were, or what they were up to.

“Looks like Santa’s elves were busy last night,” Riley said as we came down the stairs.

She’d woken cheerful and flushed with excitement, but gave herself a few minutes before getting out of bed, saying, “I refuse to be sick this morning.”

I’d sat with her until she deemed it safe, but we’d taken our time getting dressed. Just in case.

“Look at all those stockings,” Paige said, coming down the stairs behind us.

“Wait, let me get a picture of everything before everyone comes down,” Mark said.

We stopped midway on the stairs, waiting for him to give us the all clear.

“What is this, a Christmas traffic jam?” Josh asked.

“Oh, wow, stockings,” Ella said.

It was like a ripple effect; everyone noticed them as they came out of their rooms and joined us.

“Okay, you can go down now,” Mark said, staying where he was and snapping pictures of us on the stairs.

“And who’s going to get pictures of us?” Paige asked.

“Here, let me,” Oliver said, moving across the living room and gesturing for Mark to lower the camera.

“Don’t drop it,” Mark warned.

Oliver reached up and caught the strap in his fist before moving to the far side of the room, snapping pictures from different angles.

“You’re pretty good at that,” Eli said, making bunny ears over Nova’s head when Oliver turned the camera on them.

Once Mark was downstairs, Oliver handed it back to him and said, “Is it me, or does it seem like there are way more gifts under the tree than there were last night?”

He was right. The tree seemed to have gained several more gifts than it had before we’d gone to bed.

“Merry Christmas!”

“Mom! Dad,” Jared said, breaking away from Murphy and grabbing Nadia up in a rib-cracking hug as Grant shook hands with Oliver.

Jared beckoned to Murphy. “She said she couldn’t live without me, so I finally caved in and said yes.”

The room erupted as Murphy turned several shades of red.

“I’m sure that’s exactly how it happened,” Nadia said, giving Murphy a hug. She stepped back to do one of those motherly sort of touches where she tucked a lock of Murphy’s hair behind her ear and said something to her that only the two of them could hear.

Grant didn’t give her time to absorb the words before he hugged her and then put his hand on her shoulder. “We’re officially passing the torch on. It’s up to you to keep him fully in line. Thank God.”

Nadia chuckled. “Seems like we can’t let any of them out of our sight, or else all sorts of things happen.”

Riley stiffened beside me. It was one thing telling our friends we were having a baby, but telling Nadia and Grant made my nerves ping off one another. She had to be feeling the same way.

“I should have known you’d come,” Oliver said.

“Too many nogs?” Grant asked, breaking into a laugh that startled us.

“About two too many,” Oliver admitted.

“I wondered when you didn’t come out of your room. I figured the only one who would bust us would be you. Never would have thought it would be Santa’s little helpers,” Grant said, beaming a secretive smile.

“It looks wonderful in here,” Nadia said, making her rounds to hug each of us.

“I’ll get the coffee going,” Josh said.

“I’ll turn on the music,” Paige chimed in.

Grant moved to stand by me, and then put his hand on my shoulder. “Merry Christmas, Jake.”

“Merry Christmas. Thanks for taking care of that thing I asked you to get for me. Still don’t know how you managed to get a prototype for next year’s mode, though.”

He slapped my back and laughed. “Friends in high places.”

I gave him a look that said I knew just who that friend was. No doubt Cole had his hand in it.

“Everyone grab your secret-list presents,” Riley said, her cheeks flushed with happiness.

“How are we supposed to do that when someone, or rather, two someones, rearranged everything under the tree? I’m afraid if I touch even one present, the whole pile will topple and bury me alive,” Jared said, catching Murphy’s hand in his when she went to swat him.

“Men,” Paige huffed as she moved to kneel on one side of the tree. “Murphy, you start on the other side.”

“Where should we put all the secret gifts?” Murphy asked.

“I’ll clear a spot on the coffee table,” Nadia said.

It took over ten minutes for them to sort through everything. When they were done, we all had piles of presents stacked on the floor by our feet like mini mountains.

“I thought we weren’t going to get carried away?” I said, looking around the room.

The rest of them laughed.

“Okay, let’s start on this side of the room,” Paige said, pointing to Riley. “You gave Josh his already, so Jake, you’re up first.”

I wove my way around the presents between Riley and me. Grabbing the shiny red package I’d wrapped, I handed it off to Ella.

“You got me?” she said, holding the package on her knees and splaying her hands on the top of the box. “Should we wait and open them once everyone has theirs?”

“One at a time, so everyone can see what each of us got for the other,” Riley said.

“Hurry up, Ella! The suspense is killing me,” Paige said, plopping down next to Mark.

Ella ripped the paper, and then came to a complete halt when she lifted the lid on the box. Her eyes rounded, and her jaw dropped.

“What is it?” Jared asked, leaning forward.

Ella pulled the pistol out of the box. “Ace, how the hell did you pull this off? It isn’t even on the market yet.”

I grinned, winked at Grant, and said, “Friends in high places.”

“You bought her a weapon for Christmas?” Josh groaned, scrubbing his hand over his face. “I’ll never live this one down. Thanks, bro.”

“Ella likes weapons, bloodthirsty woman that she is, so that’s what I got for her,” I said, shrugging.

Ella handed the pistol over to Josh. She worked her way to the back of the couches until she was close enough to give me a hug. “I love it. Thank you,” she said, squeezing me really hard before letting go.

“Okay, Mark, you’re next,” Riley said.

He squinted at her, shrugged, and then lifted a bag with cartoon penguins on it. When he sat down, he flicked a quick glance at me before his eyes moved to Riley.

She yanked several handfuls of tissue paper out, uncovering two boxes, each labeled in the order she should open them. Inside the first box was a handful of various gift cards that Riley hugged to her chest. “Best gift ever.”

“You still have another one,” I said, collecting the torn paper and discarded tissue.

“I know,” she said, dropping the gift cards into the bag before tearing open the other box.

She lifted the lid and pushed aside the glittery paper folded over the other present. Her hand shook, and she jerked as if someone had taken a pin to her.

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Murphy joked.

“Before you do that,” Nadia said, holding a stack of boxes and going behind each of our friends to hand one over their shoulder.

Grant walked over with a larger unwrapped box and set it on the coffee table in front of us.

“Okay, open those first.” Nadia gestured to everyone holding boxes. “But the catch is, you have to do it with your eyes closed. No peeking, and you’re not allowed to talk. That means you, too, Jared.”

We laughed when he protested about being singled out.

“Okay… eyes closed. Now, open your gifts. Don’t open your eyes until I tell you to,” Nadia said.

It was comical to see them fumbling with their packages. Once they had them open, Grant nabbed Mark’s camera.

“Grant, Oliver, and I will be coming up to each of you to help you with your gift. Keep your eyes closed,” she said.

Riley caught my attention by tapping my arm. Her eyebrows pulled together, but before she could speak, Grant moved to stand in front of us. He put his finger to his lips and beckoned us to stand. Once on our feet, he turned us toward the tree.

We could hear Nadia and Oliver working their way from opposite sides of the room, apparently helping everyone up from the couch and guiding them to a clear spot with a stern warning to keep still and keep their eyes closed.

None of us had a clue what was going on, but it was clear they’d had it all planned out.

“Eyes closed,” Nadia said firmly, and then gestured for us to do the same.

I felt Riley turn when her shoulder bumped mine, and then Grant’s hand was on my shoulder, putting pressure on it to get me to turn as well. Once in place, my hand was lifted and the corner of something was set in my palm. Grant’s hand rested on my shoulder long enough to keep me in place.

“On the count of three, I want you to open your eyes, look straight ahead, and smile,” Nadia said.

“Ready? One… two… three. Smile!”

“You guys are the weirdest parents ever,” Jared said as the rest of us chuckled. “Can we look at our shirts now?”

“Not yet. Now, on the count of three again, I want all of you to turn toward the Christmas tree. Oliver, if you would,” Nadia said, gesturing for him to go to the other side of the room.

“Did I tell you that you’re weird?” Jared asked, shaking his head.

“Ready?” Nadia asked when Riley and I turned to look at one another with questioning glances.

“Eyes closed before you turn,” Nadia said, getting mine and Riley’s attention. She pointed at her eyes and then at us.

I closed my eyes as she counted down again.

“Holy shit!” Jared exclaimed, but then slapped his hand over his mouth.

Riley gasped, and I felt sucker punched. The guys were wearing The Godfather T-shirts, and the girls had on Disney fairy godmother ones.

Riley turned to me. “They knew. How the hell did they know?”

I shook my head, unable to form a complete thought, let alone speak.

“Is this real?” Josh said, coming toward us and pointing to the thing Riley and I held clutched in our hands.

I looked down at it when Riley let go of her side and moved to stand in front of it. “Will you be my godparents?”

Her hand slapped over her mouth as tears ran down her cheeks.

The room exploded with questions, exclamations, and more than a few tears of happiness. There was no way to process any of it, or answer anyone at that moment. Riley moved close. I put my arm around her, tucking her against my side as a piercing whistle brought the room to silence.

“I know you all have a lot of questions. I promise, we’ll talk about it. But first, Riley should probably open her other gift from Mark,” Nadia said, handing the other small package to her.

Her hand shook when she took it.

Nadia gave her a warm smile, squeezing her hand before stepping back.

“Hurry up, Riles, before next Christmas rolls around,” Jared said, putting Riley in motion.

She fumbled the small clothing box, so I took it from her. I held it while she pulled out the smallest shirt I’d ever seen. “What is that?”

Riley busted out laughing, and then shook it out. It wasn’t a shirt after all. It was—

“It’s a onesie,” she said, turning it around and holding it up for me to see.

“Sixlet? I don’t—” And then it clicked. I busted out laughing and pulled Riley against me. The tension of keeping such a huge secret drained away with each shake of our shoulders.

“Hold it up so we can see,” Paige demanded.

I let go of Riley as she held it up and said, “So, Ace and I have something to tell you.”

“A little late for that, don’t you think?” Aiden snickered as huge grin stole over his face.

“What I want to know is how Mark knew?” Eli asked, turning a quizzical look in his direction.

“And you call yourself a doctor,” Mark said, making a fizzing sound when Eli rolled his eyes at him.

“Mark saw me just after Riley told me. He’d already put it together by then,” I answered.

“And Paige demanded I tell her what was going on with me. She’s pushy that way,” Riley said.

“So both of you knew? How long did you know?” Josh asked.

“Not long,” Paige answered.

“Okay, I can understand a few of us finding out since we’re always together, but how did you know?” Jared asked, turning to his mom.

It was a very reasonable question. One I wanted the answer to as well.

Grant came to stand behind Nadia as she drew in a deep breath. “It all started when Ace’s helicopter went down…”

The dynamic of our team was unlike anything Cole Enterprise had dealt with before. The close-knit relationship meant that more security measures had to be put into place, especially since our tie to Jared was so close. Cole, seeing it, had begun work on a nano-chip. One that would be able to locate us anywhere in the world, no matter where we were, but also be able to diagnose and treat anything from infections to injuries. An all-in-one recovery system, Nadia called it.

“After Jared was kidnapped, and then Aiden was taken, Cole worked night and day to fine tune everything. It’s how we found Eli so fast,” she explained.

“Are you saying that we’ve all been chipped? How?” Ella asked.

“You were. We did it on your last checkups. Remember the inoculations and B12 you were given?” Nadia asked.

“Who could forget that? That B12 felt like more like a B52 bomber going in,” Josh said, rubbing his arm in the same spot we’d all gotten the shot.

“Why not tell us, though? I don’t think we would have been against it. I know I wouldn’t. You found me in Mongolia because of it,” Eli added.

Grant put his hand on Nadia’s shoulder. “The only two who knew about it were Cole and Nadia. It was important that it stay between the two of them. And would have stayed that way, only—”

“Only Riley got pregnant. It flagged in Cole’s system, right?” I asked.

Nadia nodded. “Riley, you thought you had a virus, correct?”

“I was really sick for a couple of days,” she answered.

“When the virus showed up in Cole’s system, he sent out the signal to counteract it. Only he hadn’t planned on certain contingencies. I’ll spare you the finer points, but what it all boils down to was there was a reaction that did a number of things. Had he done the same to any of the guys, the virus would be gone, and none of you would be the wiser.

“It’s a lot of science. Science even I don’t understand, but the end result was eliminating the virus, but it also negated any sort of birth control. Anything foreign in one of your bodies was programmed to be handled by the nano-chip. Cole hadn’t thought about differentiating between the male and female compositions. His focus had been on location and elimination of viruses, or diseases.” Nadia clasped her hands in front of her, waiting for all of us to take in what she said.

“So it’s Cole’s fault. What about the rest of us girls?” Paige asked as the color leeched from her face. “If a virus shows up, and the nano-chip goes into attack mode, are we subject to this happening as well?”

Nadia shook her head. “After Riley’s results came to light, Cole locked himself in his lab. I didn’t see him until he sought me out and told me about all of it. He’s made adjustments for you ladies. He also sends his apologies, and congratulations, to the two of you,” Nadia said, tipping her head to Riley and me.

“What sort of adjustments?” Murphy asked.

“Only to the way the nano-chip will detect viruses, or diseases. Cole will be alerted if something pops up. If it does happen, you’ll be alerted as well. Knowing what you do now, and what the potential outcome could be, we ask that you take it into consideration when he tells you he’s activating the chip to deal with whatever is going on inside of your body,” Nadia said.

“I know it’s a shock,” Grant added as he moved to put his hand on Nadia’s shoulder. “But you have all of us, and we’ll be here for you. Now, it’s Christmas, and I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to open some gifts.”