Dominic tittered while my sister smiled lightly.
“Who’s me favourite girl in the whole world?” I asked Georgie, who was now lying on my bed with me hovering over her.
“If you don’t say me,” my sister cut in, “I’m goin’ to be extremely hurt.”
Georgie laughed up at me, clapped her hands together, and kicked her chubby legs, which made me smile wide. She was in much better form now that she was fed.
“Tell Mammy to go away,” I crooned.
Bronagh grumbled to herself, and whatever she said made Dominic snicker.
“I know,” I said to my niece when she began talking in her own little language and blowing spit bubbles. “Tell me all about it... no way, did she really say that... oh, my God... what did you do... no, you didn’t!”
The more I spoke to Georgie, the louder and more excited she became.
“What is my wife doing?”
My body went on high alert upon hearing his voice. My skin became hypersensitive, my breath caught, my nipples hardened, and yes, my clit pulsed to life. My reaction was that of a teenage boy who first discovered his right hand. I could only put half of it down to my new pregnancy hormones because the other half was purely my being a red-blooded woman turned on by everything about Ryder Slater.
I couldn’t be blamed for it because my husband was hot.
“She’s in a very intense discussion with Georgie,” Dominic answered his brother. “You know... girl talk.”
Ryder’s chuckle sent a shiver up my spine.
“I’m not familiar with girl talk; I try to avoid it at all costs.”
I snorted. “Please, we girl talk all the time. You just don’t realise it’s girl talk.”
Dominic laughed at his brother but shut up when Bronagh said, “I don’t know why you’re laughin’. We girl talk all the time, and we watch Teen Mom together.”
That was kind of Alec’s fault. He got Kane and Dominic hooked on it after he realised one of the stars of the show was now a porn star of some kind. Of course, they all watched the porn video before the show itself, and now they just judge everyone and their parenting skills on the show. Only one of them was a father, but they all talked shit anyway.
“Quiet, woman,” Dominic grumbled to my sister.
I snaked my hands under Georgie’s armpits then lifted her up against my chest. I loved that she was much sturdier now. She was over four months old and was well and truly out of the newborn phase. She was awake more than she was asleep, she was loud—so bloody loud—and she liked her tummy time and watching cartoons on the television. All of that was only when I was babysitting her, though, so I could only imagine what she was like when she was at home with her parents. Everything about her would surely amplify.
“I’m gonna miss you,” I said and gave her kisses all over her face, making her scream with laughter as she tried to ‘eat’ my face when it neared her mouth.
I knew Ryder was at my back before I turned around—I felt how close he was to me.
“Bee, quick,” he began, “take the child before my wife changes her mind and bails on our honeymoon.”
“Maybe I should leave Georgie with ‘er, if that’s the case.”
Ryder growled at my sister while I chuckled.
“I’m fine,” I assured him when I straightened up and turned around. “I’m just not lookin’ forward to not seein’ this puddin’ for two weeks.”
Ryder’s expression softened, and he switched his gaze from me to our niece. He lifted his arms, held his hands out to Georgie, and she almost instantly leaned in his direction. She didn’t raise her hands to go to anyone yet, but I had a feeling that would change over the coming weeks. The child had all of her uncles under her thumb, just as Jax did. All of the Slater brothers were big, bad, and took no bullshit... but if you put a baby in front of them, they became the biggest suckers known to man.
“I’m going to miss her too,” Ryder said and kissed her chubby cheek.
Georgie rested her head on his shoulder as she used her hand to play with the ring on his necklace.
It was his wedding ring. He had to put it on a chain because he lost the bloody thing more times than I could count since we got married just three weeks ago. He wasn’t used to wearing anything on his fingers, so when he took it off to wash his hands, he would sometimes forget to put it back on. Usually, it was in our bathroom or in our kitchen, but recently, he took it off in a public restroom to wash his hands and walked out without putting it back on. Luckily, he realised the second he left the restroom and ran back for it. That very day, he bought a long necklace and put the ring on it. He said he preferred it on the necklace because it was closer to his heart.