"His toes are so tiny and cute," I said, tickling Timothy's little fat digits.

"But can you believe how sharp these nails are? It's like getting attacked by a paper cut machine when he's flailing about." Jonah let the baby grab his finger and wave it about.

"It's kinda hard to imagine him getting much bigger, isn't it? Becoming a whole human being?"

"He already is a whole human being," Jonah protested.

"You know what I mean."

Flower snuck up on the bed and tried to pounce on Timothy's feet, but I grabbed her before those tiny claws could sink into his tender flesh.

"No, princess. We have to be careful with the baby," I chided, glad I didn't have to worry about stressing Jonah out by burying my face in her fur anymore now that I wasn’t pregnant. She batted at the short curls that had finally started to twist on my forehead.

"I think the princess is jealous of the prince," Jonah said.

"She just has to learn there's more than enough love to go around."

"Maybe we should have sent Cain over here with some of Timothy's clothes to acclimate her to his scent before we came home…"

Flower calmed down and I slid her around my neck, letting her rest there like I was a tree limb. I wondered how long she'd be able to still do that.

Timothy yawned, his tiny mouth opening like a mini black hole.

"He's grown so much in just the first week," Jonah said.

"Soon enough, he's going to be in preschool, then kindergarten, then driving, then college," I teased. "But I think we've got enough time to enjoy him just being a baby."

"We'll probably move at some point," Jonah mused.

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Well, this place is comfortable, and safe, but it's small. I'm not a huge fan of having all my security stuff in our closet, though I do like Timothy having a room of his own. I just dread the idea of finding some place that fits all of my requirements."

"What are those?" I asked with a smile, ready to hear Jonah's outlandish ideas of what was necessary. I wasn't disappointed.

"We'll need a house with a yard. Big enough for both kids and a dog. And a garden. A basement would be ideal. Two stories, though the stairs will need to have strong posts at both top and bottom, if not a wall all the way up so we can install baby gates. I prefer it to be already wired with fiber optic, but that's not a deal breaker. I can always install it myself, if needed. Built within the last ten years with a complete water inspection."

"Sounds like it might be easier to just build a house from scratch," I teased.

Jonah nodded seriously. "You're probably right."

"But not now, right?" I leaned over Timothy to kiss Jonah lightly. Flower meowed in protest and jumped off my shoulders to curl up on the pillow above Timothy's head.

He nodded. "We'll probably wait until the next baby."

My eyes just about bugged out of my head. "Hold on a minute there, cowboy. I've got my career to consider. I've got work to do—I can't just be barefoot and pregnant all the time."

"How about part of the time?" Jonah said with a glint in his eye.

"I'm about to put your knot on lockdown," I said as he started to prowl across the mattress toward me. I leaned away from Timothy as Jonah pounced, pinning me to the bed.

"I haven't done much research on that, but if that's something you're into, Agent Sugar Bear…"

I tried to squirm away, but my body was still tired from giving birth and the three months of my abs slowly stretching out. I did manage to roll over Jonah, leaving us precariously on the bottom edge of the bed as I ground on him over his clothes. How long had it been since we'd had sex? It was sad I couldn't even remember.

"How about one kid every year?" Jonah said. "That's nine months of work, three months off."

"One kid every three years," I countered.

"Every two?"

I rubbed our noses together. "I'll consider it." Which meant, keep hoping, mister.

A noise from Timothy made me sit up suddenly.

"Was that a laugh?" Jonah asked.

"I think it was just gas."

We crawled back up the bed to look down at our perfect boy. He squirmed and made a face at us that could have been a smile.

"I think he laughed," Jonah said confidently.

"Babies don't even start to really smile until two months," I said.

"Oh?" Jonah raised an eyebrow. "Who's been researching now?"

I bumped shoulders with him. "You're not the only one who knows how to use Google."

The doorbell rang, and Jonah jumped up to check the video feed in the closet.

"You know it's just your brother and his family," I chided, scooping Timothy up off the bed.

Jonah checked the feed anyway. "It doesn't hurt to make sure." He unlocked the door for Ezra and Cain while I settled Timothy into his swing.

I took one of the baby carriers from Cain, while Jonah took one from Ezra.

"And which precious darling is this?" I asked. I'd given up trying to figure out who they were without being told for now. They were only three and a half months old. They weren't going to mind until they were older.

"That is Hope, and Jonah has Destiny," Cain said.

"Can I just say, I'm so glad we had just one baby," I said. "No offense, guys."

"None taken at all," Ezra said. "I wouldn't give our girls up for anything, but I fantasize about what it might be like with only one."

"Best thing we ever did was hire help," Cain said. "We've talked about whether we still need her with the team on sabbatical, but really, I can't imagine not having Alice. Having her and Ezra just means everyone will get a better chance for sleep."

I unbuckled Hope from her seat and cuddled her in my arms. "They seem so huge compared to Timothy now!"

"They are huge!" Cain agreed. “It's hard to imagine when they were as small as Timothy, even though they were so much smaller than him at birth."

Jonah cuddled Destiny, while Ezra pulled little Faith from her carrier, and Cain picked up Timothy.

Cain laughed suddenly.

"What?" Ezra looked around for his mate's source of mirth. "Did someone let one rip?"

"It's just" —Cain laughed again— "could you have imagined us sitting here like this even a year ago?"

Jonah shook his head. "I couldn't imagine it, but… I always hoped."

Cain's mirth turned into a sad smile. "Me too, brother."

"I know that life hasn't been the best for us, for any of us," Jonah said, his voice breaking. "We've all had rough times. Me losing Cain. Cain being trapped. Matthew working undercover. Ezra having to deal with being himself."

We all cracked up at his unexpected joke, even Ezra.

"Hey, at least I didn't have to deal with being Zeke!"

"But you guys… the whole team. Family… it's been… I just want to say…"

Cain shifted Timothy to one arm and crossed the room to sit by his brother's side, pulling him into a one-armed hug. "You don't need to say anything, bro. We get it."

Jonah burst into tears, and I leaned against his side, while Cain offered him his shoulder. I would have been lying if I said my eyes were dry, and I saw glints of something on Ezra's lashes before he dashed them away.

"The thing we've always been looking for is family," Cain said softly. "I think that's the thing every person in your team wanted and needed, even those who had pretty decent families to start." He smiled at his mate. "And we have found family on so many levels. With the team. We've found each other again. And we've both created families. No one can take those things away from us again. We're not lost little boys trying to be men, Jonah. We're dads. We have mates. Hell, you're even getting married in a couple months."

Jonah nodded. "Sometimes it feels too good to be true. Like it's all a dream."

I reached over and pinched his thigh. Hard.

Jonah hiccupped an "ow!" and looked at me with betrayal. "What was that for?"

I shrugged. "Just making sure it's not a dream."

"You could have pinched your own thigh," Jonah grumbled.

"I wasn't the one doubting," I said. "Dream or not, I'm content—no, beyond content—with what we've got, and I have no need to question it."

Ezra coughed. "If this is going to turn into a contest of who can be the sappiest, I'm fucking outta here. Y’all can take your Housewives of Team ALPHA show somewhere else."

"Like you're not the biggest, sappiest tree in this bunch," Cain said.

"Poke me and see," Ezra grumbled.

"Flirt." Cain batted his eyes at his mate.

"Gross," Jonah complained.

Perfect, I thought.