Ellison

“We need to stop over at Wyatt and Bailey’s house on our way home.”

My eyebrows practically climbed all the way up to my hairline at the casual way Jack tossed his comment out, as though it wasn’t a big deal. Today had already been interesting with Jack’s reaction to my lunch with Declan. Meeting part of his family would just cap the day off, especially since I’d been looking forward to changing out of my work clothes and pouring myself a big glass of wine. Annoyed, I grumbled under my breath, “I know you’ve been working all day and you’re stuck in scrubs instead of the kickass outfit you put on this morning because I ruined your blouse when I ripped it from your body, but I’m sure my family will love you anyway.” I mimicked what I wished he would have said.

“I promise it won’t take long, and you look hot as fuck in those scrubs, just like you do in anything you wear.” Apparently, I hadn’t been quiet enough. Whoopsie. “My nephew, Jack, has been running a fever all day and my sister wants me to stop by to make sure it’s nothing serious.”

Oh, no! I felt guilty for being such a grump. “Of course we should go.”

“He usually eats like a little pig, but Bailey said he’s barely eating and incredibly irritable. Plus, he’s been rubbing his ear a lot today. It’s probably nothing more than teething his first tooth, but she wants to rule out other possible causes like an ear infection and couldn’t get them in to see the twins’ pediatrician until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Poor baby,” I sighed, turning towards him and offering a commiserating smile. “But it’s nice that Uncle Jack can race to the rescue.”

He reached over and gave my thigh a quick squeeze as he pulled into the driveway. “If it’s nice for Jack and Julia to have a surgeon for their uncle, imagine how lucky our kids will be to have two surgeons for their mom and dad.”

Our kids. How was it possible we were both calling them that already? My hand drifted down to my stomach, and I tried to imagine what it would be like if I were pregnant with his baby. Neither of us had used the L-word yet and I’d been offered my dream job in another state. The timing wouldn’t be good for a baby, at all.

And then we walked into his sister’s house, and my biological clock roared to life. I’d always thought Jack was handsome, but seeing him with his baby niece and nephew made him even more irresistible. There really wasn’t anything like a sexy man with a baby in his arms to make your ovaries feel like they were about to explode. Sneaky bastard, if baby Jack hadn’t been sick, I would have been positive he’d planned our visit for precisely this reason.

“I’m so happy to finally meet you,” Bailey whispered to me as we both watched from the doorway while Jack checked his namesake over. Or I looked on while she stared at me appraisingly until I felt a blush creep up my cheeks.

“Finally? Jack and I haven’t been a couple very long.”

She chuckled softly. “Maybe not, but I’ve been hearing your name pop up in conversation with my brother more and more over the last six months.”

I tore my attention away from the sight of Jack with a look of pure adoration on his face as he stared down at the adorable baby boy in his arms, one long finger rubbing along his gums. It wasn’t easy, but I was intrigued by what Bailey had just said. “Really?” She nodded, and I lowered my voice before continuing the conversation. “When did Jack first mention me?”

Bailey cocked her head to the side and tapped her bottom lip with a finger. “It’s been at least a year because I feel like I was pregnant enough to just be in maternity clothes and the babies are seven months old.”

“Huh,” I murmured, my gaze flitting back to Jack. “I’m surprised it was that long ago. We didn’t know each other very well back then.”

“It wasn’t what he said but how he said it,” she explained. “You were working a case together and his eyes lit up when he mentioned your role in helping to save the patient. The way he looked when he said your name, combined with how complimentary he was about your surgical skills put you on my sisterly radar.”

“He’s not exactly known around the hospital for offering praise to other doctors.”

Bailey’s soft chuckle turned into a belly laugh, drawing Jack’s gaze our way. “This doesn’t surprise me. I love my brother dearly, but he can be a bit arrogant. Remind me to tell you the story of how he reacted to Wyatt’s and my relationship some time.”

Jack glared at his sister before looking back down at the baby in his arms. “Your mommy is being a brat, buddy. But it’s a good thing, because she reminded me that you and I need to have a talk about what it means to be a big brother.” He stood up and walked over to the crib decorated in pink where Julia slept peacefully.

“See your sister down there?” He leaned over so he and the baby could look at Julia. “Your toughest responsibility as her big brother is going to be to protect her from all the boys out there. You’ll have a lot of help from your daddy and me, but there will be times when you’re the only line of defense. Doesn’t matter if the boy is your friend or not, a good guy or a bad one—you’ll know he isn’t good enough for Julia. None of them will be.”

“Oh, for goodness sakes, Jack,” Bailey huffed as she walked over to take her son from his arms. “He’s too young to understand a single word you’re saying.”

“Hey, you can’t blame me for giving him a head start.” He threw his arms up defensively. “I just want to make up for the late one I got.”

The look that passed between brother and sister brought tears to my eyes—Bailey’s too.

She settled baby Jack into his crib before moving back to give her brother a hug. “You better not make me cry or Wyatt will try to kick your ass,” she mumbled into his shirt.

“Nah,” Jack answered. “He’ll forgive me when I tell him his baby boy is about to get his first tooth and doesn’t need to see the doctor tomorrow.”

“What a relief,” Bailey sighed, leaning back and beaming up at him.

“Besides, it’s not like he could kick my ass anyway,” Jack drawled, dropping a kiss on her head. “And we won’t be here when he gets home.”

He crossed the room, pulling me to his side and whispering in my ear. “We need to get home so I can make sure my reminder from this afternoon stuck, and give my swimmers another chance in case they didn’t do their job earlier.”

Jack didn’t get any arguments from me. If I’d been wearing panties under my scrub pants, they would have been drenched.

* * *

Life with Jack moved lightning fast. One week we’re work colleagues who flirt and the next we’re friends who are practically joined at the hip. In one night, we moved from being firmly in the friend zone to an exclusive relationship. Then, I felt my biological clock ticking and the next week my period was late. It always came every twenty-eight days, like clockwork, and should have started two days ago. There was no sign of it starting anytime soon. I was pretty sure Jack had gotten his wish and knocked me up, which is how I found myself hiding in his bathroom first thing this morning while he was making breakfast. I’d peed on the stick three minutes ago and was trying to get up the nerves to look at the results.

“You can do this,” I murmured softly. “No matter what the test says, you’re a strong woman and you’ll figure out the right thing to do.”

My little pep talk wasn’t doing anything to stop the flutter of butterflies in my belly. Taking a deep breath, I picked up the stick from the bathroom counter and flipped it over.

Not pregnant.

The air left my lungs with a heaving sigh. The emotion I should have felt was relief since I wasn’t sure I was ready for babies, let alone to have them with Jack. Although I’d known him through work for two years, we’d only really been a couple for two weeks. Plus, I still needed to decide what to do about the job offer from Children’s Minneapolis. My brain knew this was probably for the best, but it seemed my heart had a different perspective because I felt like it was breaking.

Logic didn’t factor into what I was feeling. I’d spent the last two days thinking maybe he’d been right and he’d gotten me pregnant. How was I going to tell him I wasn’t? He didn’t even know my period was late because I hadn’t been ready to talk to him about the real possibility of me being pregnant. It seemed like the right decision at the time, but I wished I’d said something because then I wouldn’t be facing this alone. Sitting on the side of the tub, sobbing into my hands, I came to a few realizations.

I loved Jack Halston.

I couldn’t take the job in Minneapolis.

And I wanted to have his babies, all four of them.

My tears shifted into a chuckle snort at the irony. Back in my undergrad years, I’d been a little judgy towards the girls who were there for their “Mrs. Degree,” but I was going to turn down a promotion because of a man. Not just any man, though. I had a feeling my fellow nerd girls would make the same decision if given a chance with Dr. Jack Halston. Too bad for them he was all mine.