Chapter 101

**Blue**


I’m so nervous that I have a strong urge to throw my door open and throw up on the side of the road. Artemis’s sisters sounded excited by the news of the baby which is amazing but they aren’t the ones I’m worried about. I’m worried about Lilly. She has only been with us for a few weeks and now I’m pregnant. What if she thinks we won’t care about her when the new babies come? I know if I was in her position, I would be worried, but I love her so much already.

“Do you think Lilly will be happy?” I ask out loud because I can’t suffer in my own thoughts without getting a second opinion.

“Why wouldn’t she be happy?” Artemis asks like he really has no idea why she wouldn’t be.

He must not have gotten jealous when his sister was born.

“Well, sometimes foster kids get sent away when the families have their own kids. What if she thinks we’ll send her back?”

“It’s different with her because we aren’t fostering her. She is legally our daughter, so why would we do that if we planned on sending her back as soon as you got pregnant?”

I wish I was as oblivious as he is, but I’ve seen this before. I don’t bother with the subject again and we are silent for the rest of the drive home. When we arrive, there are two more cars in front of our house and Artemis lets out a long sigh.

“Here we go.” He throws his door open and before I can open mine, he’s there pulling it open for me.

That’s new.

I give him a confused look, but he doesn’t seem to notice so I don’t say anything. He closes the door for me too and rests his hand on my lower back as we walk up to the front door. Before we open the door I hear several voices and small laughs.

“Rhea must have brought the kids too.” I say.

Rhea’s kids are adorable, but I’ve only met them twice since I joined the family. Now that we have Lilly, I hope she can spend more time with them. Artemis doesn’t move to open the door, so I do the honors and the noises get louder.

“Stop running!” I hear Rhea yell from further in the house.

She walks past the door and stops when she sees us. I am about to greet her, but she rushes me and hugs me so hard that I squeak.

“God dammit Rhea you’re going to hurt the babies!” Artemis yells.

Rhea laughs and lets me go, but Artemis isn’t satisfied at the small distance between us and pulls me back against his chest. His arms wrap around my waist and his hands rest on my stomach like he’s guarding the tiny babies inside.

“They aren’t hurt Artemis. They’re the size of a pea right now.” Rhea says rolling her eyes. “I can see you’re going to be a grump through all of this. Just remember that I have kids of my own, I know a thing or two.”

Artemis grunts but keeps his protective hold on me and steers me into the other room where everyone else is. Everyone cheers and claps. Artemis must not have expected it because he tightens his hold on me. I pat his hand, but he doesn’t seem to have any intention of letting me go. It’s funny that he was okay fucking in the car on the side of the road but people cheering is too dangerous. We are going to have a talk about this sudden overprotectiveness but for now I’ll let it slide.

“Congratulations brother.” Max says patting Artemis on the shoulder.

“Thanks.” Artemis nods at him but eyes him as if he expects his brother-in-law to come at me.

“Where’s Lilly?” I ask the room.

“Here!” I hear her little voice in the back of the room behind Dane.

He’s standing tall and has his arms cross wearing the same face as Artemis. He must be protecting her from the excited crowd. I walk toward them with my new Artemis backpack and raise a brow at Dane. He looks down at me and shrinks back slightly when I narrow my eyes at him. He isn’t immune to the death glare of a woman, and he knows by now that I will raise hell against him. When he steps aside, I find a smiling Lilly.

“You’re back!” She says happily. “Uncle Danny said your having a baby, is that true?”

I feel so relieved at how excited she sounds. “Actually, I’m having three. Can you believe that? There are three babies in my stomach.”

Her eyes go adorably wide and my whole body relaxes, but I still want it to be clear to her where she stands in our family. I tap Artemis’s hand again and this time he let’s me go. I crouch down in front of Lilly and grab her hands.

“I want you to know that you are just as much a part of this family as they will be, okay?”

My sweet girl smiles and nods. “I know. You are too nice to send me back.”

I laugh and move in to hug her. She hugs me back and I say what I’ve been dying to tell her.

“I love you.” I whisper into her ear.

“I love you too…mom.”

Well, that does it. I burst into tears again and hold her tighter. I didn’t think or expect her to ever call me that, but maybe because she’s young it doesn’t mean to her what it does to me. Either way it makes my heart so warm. I hoped one day to be a mom when I had my life in order, but here I am soon to be a mother of four. We jumped from one kid to a group in one day.

The family stays for a couple of hours talking and planning things like names to what the nursery will look like. It’s way too soon for any of this but it’s fun to think about. By the time everyone leaves Lilly can barely keep her eyes open and I’m no better off. Artemis stayed right beside me the whole time and is right behind me as we walk down the hall to help Lilly get ready for bed. She quickly brushes her teeth and I help her change into her pajamas. When she’s tucked in, I lean down and kiss her on her forehead.

“When are the babies going to be here?” She asks when I move to stand.

“Not for a little while, but it will go by in a flash.”

She smiles. “I’m going to be a big sister.” She says softly.

“Yeah, you are and you’re going to be an amazing big sister. Good night sweetie.”

“Goodnight…mom.”

I catch the pause before she calls me mom, but I’m not sure if it’s because she isn’t sure if she wants to say it, or she’s worried I won’t like it.

“Goodnight.” I say one more time before closing the door to her room.

Artemis is leaning against the wall next to the door, no doubt listening in.

“You heard?” I ask him and he gives me a small smile.

“I did.” He opens his arms and I walk into them.

I sigh happily against his chest. Cold and hard Artemis has worked his way into my heart, the bastard and I love it.

“Come on. You need sleep too.” He turns with me still wrapped in his arms making it hard for him to walk and me stumbling not to trip and take us both down.

I laugh and try to dislodge myself, but he lifts me up so that my feet hover over the ground and walks the rest of the way to our room. He walks over to the bed and sets me down slow and easy.

“I’m not going to break Artemis.” I remind him. “You weren’t worried about hurting me in the car.”

He gives me an unimpressed look. “That was different.”

“How so?” I ask.

He kneels in front of me and rests his hands on my thighs. “I will never go easy on you when I fuck you unless you ask me to. But I will protect you with my life in any other situation.”

I shake my head, but I can’t help but smile. The perv sure likes to be bossy and a brute when it comes to sex but a total overprotective softy otherwise. I don’t understand it, but it’s his thing so I’m getting used to it. Also, I don’t want him to take it easy on me in bed so we can agree on that front. I do wonder what sex will be like when I have a huge stomach though.

“What’s wrong?” I must have cringed when the thought of me getting fat entered my head.

“I’m going to get fat.” I say.

He snorts. “You are going to be growing three babies. I would be worried if you didn’t gain weight, but you will in no way be fat. As long as you and babies are healthy that’s all that matters. Even if you weren’t pregnant and gained weight I wouldn’t care.”

“Yeah right.” Like I would believe any of that.

“It is right. Now strip and wait for me in the shower.” He stands and strides off leaving me to check out his perfect ass.