“Back to the wedding,” Bubba said. “We need to pick a date, a place, and who we want to officiate. Then we need to decide how formal we want to be. Do we want to say our own vows?” Bubba focused on her. “Do you want to walk down an aisle, or should you be the one at the front while the four of us walk to you?”
Oh…hey. “That’s not a bad idea,” I said. “When it comes down to it, we are the ones who pursued you.”
Frankie chuckled. “You also made me untouchable.”
“Hell yeah, we did,” Jake said with more than a little pride. “I’m still sorry that hurt your feelings, but I’m not sorry we kept the schmucks away.”
“While I’m certain she has long since forgiven us,” I jumped in. “Let’s not pick at old wounds, shall we? What were the other problems, Beautiful? You said the legal issue is one.”
“The name issue,” Frankie said. “Do we want to change any names? I mean—Frankie Curtis Brennen Benton Rhys Standish is a bit of a mouthful.”
“You can handle it,” I teased. “You handle all of us just fine, and I speak from experience.”
She flushed, but she also laughed.
“Lose the Curtis,” Archie suggested. “Then you’re Frankie Brennen Benton Rhys Standish—Mrs. Standish for short.”
There it was, the wild smile on his face and the gleam in his eyes. I got it. The idea of her being Mrs. Brennen was definitely appealing, but Archie wasn’t wrong. If we went with all the names…
“Okay, legal issues, name issues,” Jake said, ticking them off. “What’s our third problem?”
Lifting her head, Frankie studied all of us. I braced for it, because whatever it was, we’d fix it or tackle it together.
“Kids,” she said slowly. “We’ve really not talked about it since…the new year. Do we want them?”
“Hell yes,” Archie said. “Eventually. When you’re ready.”
“Agreed,” Bubba and Jake said almost in the same breath. But I caught the look she sent me. The one that said help.
“Beautiful, we’re not in a rush. Bubba’s twenty-two, we’re twenty-one, almost twenty-two. We’re not graduating for another few months, and then I’m going after my master’s degree while you take over the world, and Bubba writes the soundtrack for two evil geniuses who will be creating all the neat new tech. We have time. We want kids—when the time is right for it. What do you want?”
She sighed as Bubba rubbed her back. “Being a mom scares the hell out of me.”
“Frankie,” Jake leaned in to catch her free hand, “you are not your mother. You have never been your mother. You have that big ass heart, and you have all four of us. We’re going to love every single child we make, no matter whose sperm wins the race…”
I rolled my eyes. Really? Making sperm into a competition.
“…you’re going to be an amazing mother. Your kids are gonna be so fucking lucky to have you. That said, nothing happens until you’re ready. If that day doesn’t come, well, there’s nothing wrong with having the freedom to be naked any time of day and fuck like rabbits on the sofa if we want to.”
It was Frankie who rolled her eyes. “You guys will do that anyway.”
“Yes,” Bubba agreed. “We will. The point is that we make the decision together. No one is doing this alone. Whether it’s you taking on a more pivotal role at Standish or Coop getting licensed—those two trying to build the next best thing without blowing anything up.”
“Hey,” Archie said. “We haven’t blown anything up in months.”
“We’re also not done with the test engine,” Jake said drily. “Yet.”
Laughter spilled out of Frankie, and she tucked her head against Bubba’s shoulder. He kept rubbing her back while Jake rubbed his thumb over her palm.
“I love our family,” she said softly. “I don’t want to lose this—”
“Then we don’t,” I promised. “We keep talking, we keep working together, we build the future we want. We do it together. That doesn’t mean we won’t have hiccups or stumbles. But we pick each other up, we steady each other, we pick up the slack when someone else needs it.”
“What he said,” Jake agreed. “I love our family too. Fuck it, if names are an issue, I say we all change our names to something so we match and the only mouthful you have to deal with is us.”
That set her off laughing even as Archie groaned. I caught Bubba’s eye and gave him a questioning look. He wore a tiny worried frown, tensing into a line between his brows. With a gentle shake of his head, I got it.
Later.
Probably have to go running, but I’d do it.
“Sorry, Coop,” Frankie murmured, which yanked my attention right back to her.
“For what, Beautiful?”
“You called the family meeting and I sort of wandered all over the place with it.”
“Angel,” Bubba said in a soft, almost scolding voice that held way more affection than irritation. “That’s the point of a family meeting. We’re all agreed on New York. Coop’s going after his master’s to get licensed. We’ll back him up and ensure he doesn’t burn out.” He kept rubbing her back as he ticked the items off. “We’ll figure out the names and the legalities. We want kids when we’re ready, and if it happens before, we roll with it. Oh, and Jake and Archie will continue with their endeavors while hopefully not blowing anything up. That about it covers it, right?”
We nodded.
“Great,” I said. “Movie time and give her to me, Bubba, time to share.”
He chuckled as I rose and slid her out of his lap and shifted her over onto mine. Not that I took her far, we just sat on the sofa as well.
Frankie wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed a kiss to my jaw. “I’m proud of you.”
I grinned. “Right back atcha, Beautiful. We got this. Now, without looking at the screen, pick a genre…”
Archie cracked up. One of our favorite movie games. Pick a genre. Pick a number. Hit play and watch whatever crazy thing we got.
A genuine smile curved her lips. “Action.”
“Number?” I asked.
“Four,” she teased. “The perfect number.”
She was way too damn tempting. I kissed her and she arched into me as I teased her lips apart. The guys laughed and Jake groaned but it wasn’t until I dragged my head up that I got why.
The fourth movie was Demolition Man.
Eh, it worked. Besides, Frankie loved the three shells jokes and the jingles. But I had that stupid bologna one stuck in my head all night.
There were worse things. I also had a cuddly Frankie in my lap, even if I had to share her.
CHAPTER THREE
I FEEL YOU
FRANKIE
The slow stroke of a hand over my hip lulled me out of sleep. Gentle, teasing traces of fingers gliding down my thigh and then back up again. The sheet whispered over my skin as the warm body pressed against my back shifted to press a very thick, very hot dick right against my bare ass.