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covered with barbecue sauce."
Beth licked her lips. "Mine was tuna fish, made with mayonnaise and spring vegetable sour
cream mix, served with Andy's Hot Fries."
Meryn's eyes widened. "That sounds amazing."
Beth nodded, "I know, right."
A tiny sigh of contentment had everyone looking at Penny. She sat back in her chair patting her
belly like an old man. Everyone burst out laughing.
"Glad you liked it, angel," Colton said, before ruffling her hair.
Yawning, she surprised the hell out of him when she climbed into his lap, popped her thumb in
her mouth and snuggled up next to his chest. Colton stared down.
"What do I do?" he mouthed to Rheia.
Laughing, she pointed to his full plate. "Good luck and welcome to parenthood."
Colton carefully maneuvered his fork, taking small bites so that nothing would drop on his
daughter's head.
Aiden chuckled at his discomfort. Colton flicked him off.
His friend took a huge bite of chicken and licked his lips, teasing him. Colton nearly woke
Penny when Meryn elbowed her mate, causing Aiden to choke slightly on the huge bite he had taken.
Meryn winked at him.
Aiden cleared his throat. "The contractors said they'll be with done with the addition by
tomorrow. Meryn, what did Jaxon and Noah say about moving out?"
"They want to stay here, close to Command Central. Jaxon brought up a good point, too. He
said that as I get further along with my pregnancy, it might be a good idea to have them close by. I may
need their help walking and getting up, that sort of thing."
Aiden frowned. "You're kidding right?"
Meryn rubbed her belly. "Look at me, then look at you. I'll be lucky if I'm not on bed rest the
last months of my pregnancy. I'm already having problems with anemia."
Colton frowned, feeling concerned for his friends. As much as Aiden was a brother to him,
Meryn had become the bratty kid sister he never had; he didn't want to see anything happen to her.
Aiden stared at his mate. "I thought humans have babies all the time?"
Rheia spoke up. "We do, Aiden. I have a feeling that after today, I will be Meryn's attending
physician and I can tell you that if your baby is as big as I think it will be, I will be classifying Meryn
as a high risk pregnancy."
Colton reached over and placed a supporting hand on Rheia's shoulder. She smiled at him
gratefully.
Aiden paled and pulled Meryn into his lap. "What does that mean exactly?"
"It means I'll have to have a C-section for sure. I'll be cut from here," she pointed to one side
then dragged her finger horizontally across her midsection, "to here."
"My poor mate," Aiden said sounding slightly ill.
"That's right buddy, I may not be able to have chocolate, but you owe me desserts and lots of
them." Meryn said snuggling close.
Colton noticed that Rheia had to look away to hide her smile. Poor Aiden.
Colton frowned when suddenly something very warm spilled across his lap and down his
legs. He looked down and Penny had a blissful expression on her face. Stirring, she opened her eyes
and blinked. He knew the exact second she realized what she'd done. Her tiny face contorted into
silent tears and she reached out for Rheia.
"What happened?" Rheia demanded.
Colton winced looking down. "I think we may have had an accident."
Penny's small frame shook with sobs as she hid her face in embarrassment.
"Shh, baby, it's okay. Look, Colton doesn't mind, do you?" she asked giving him a look.
Colton scooted over until he was in Penny's old seat next to Rheia.
"Of course I don't mind. Look at it this way kiddo, you marked me, now you have to keep me,"
he said, rubbing her back.
When Penny looked up her bottom lip trembled. He took her tiny hand and kissed it.
"Accidents happen; it's nothing a little water won't fix. I'm not mad at all and no one minds.
Everyone's had accidents before, right guys?" Colton asked giving everyone a look identical to the
one he'd just received from Rheia.
A chorus of agreements sounded off around the table. Penny sniffled, but didn't hide her face
again.
Rheia turned to Colton. "Can you do me a huge favor and run to the store to get her some pull-
ups for nights? We've had a lot of excitement and scary things happen in the past couple days, plus
she's in an unfamiliar place, so I'd rather be safe than sorry. I think she'll be back to normal after she
adjusts."
"Sure I can get some, no problem," Colton said.
Relief filled his mate's eyes. He could tell this was the first time she had someone around to
ask for help. He couldn't imagine the hardships she'd faced over the past year raising Penny alone.
Rheia stood. "Come on, doodlebug, let's get you washed up and ready for bed."
Penny turned and stared at Aiden. He nodded. "I didn't forget. I'm going to the store with
Colton and I'll pick you up something special. Get ready for bed and if your mommy says you can,
maybe you can have it for breakfast in the morning," he promised.
Penny nodded and rested her head on Rheia's shoulder. Rheia turned to Aiden. "If you
promised her sweets, she can have small powdered donuts for breakfast. How's that pumpkin?"
Penny nodded and popped her thumb back in her mouth. Rheia went to walk past Colton then
paused. She leaned down and kissed him on the lips. "Thank you," she whispered and left with Penny.
Aiden stood. "Come on men, this time Colton needs our help."
"Gods, I hope Bart is working tonight," Darian muttered.
Colton stood and followed the men out to the foyer.
"Colton, I thought you may need these," Ryuu said, holding out a wet washcloth and clean pair
of sweatpants.
"You are a lifesaver!" Colton dropped his pants right there in the foyer and quickly washed up
with the washcloth.
"See, I told you he had a great ass." Colton heard Meryn say.
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