Alec.
I laughed so hard everyone looked at me, so I waved them off and turned my back, trying to focus on Damien.
“I have to go,” I said to him. “I’ll see you later.”
I hung up, noting he was still arguing with his brother to even hear me say goodbye. I jumped when my phone rang before I put it into my pocket; at first, I thought Damien was calling me back, but when a different name shot across the screen, I smiled and clicked answer.
“Hey, Morgan,” I beamed.
“Hey, Alannah,” came his response. “I’m just checkin’ in that we’re still good for me startin’ tomorrow? I’ve logged your address into my sat-nav, so I’ll make it there no problem.”
“We’re still on for tomorrow,” I said, glancing at my friends. “I still haven’t got the spare bedroom switched around yet, but we’ll manage with the desk and setup I have for the time being.
“Brilliant,” Morgan answered. “I’ve a schedule done out, and I’m buzzin’ to get started.”
“Well, it seems I made the right choice in hirin’ you. You sound more than ready to get to work.
His chuckle practically rumbled through the receiver of my phone.
“Born ready, boss.”
It was seven p.m. when we prepared to leave the hospital so Branna and Ryder could have one-on-one time with their sons and get some well-deserved rest. Bronagh and I stayed the entire time; the rest of the tribe showed up one hour after she gave birth, and by then, she was settled in a large private room with no distractions. All of us stared at the babies in complete awe. Georgie and Jax looked at them but weren’t all that bothered; the only time they showed any interest was when their parents held the twins. They didn’t like that very much, and they didn’t like when I held them either.
“I told you she was their favourite,” Keela scowled. “They didn’t cry when the rest of us held the babies.”
I grinned, taking Jax from Kane after I carefully handed Jules back to his father. Jax snuggled against my chest and placed his hand on my breast. He began to play with it, and this was how I knew he was tired and that Aideen would have to nurse him soon. I glanced at his younger brother, and my lips twitched. Locke slept nearly the entire time he was in the hospital. He was brilliant at two things, eating and sleeping.
“Am I the only one seeing him openly play with her tit?”
I rolled my eyes at Alec.
“Am I also the only one seeing Damien openly glare at the boy for it?”
I looked at Damien, and sure enough, his grey eyes were locked on his first-born nephew, and they were narrowed.
“I don’t even think I’m allowed to freely play with them,” Damien said, not taking his eyes off Jax. “Why should he be allowed?”
“Because he is a baby.”
Damien flicked his gaze to mine. “That’s no excuse.”
Jax locked eyes on Damien then fully rested his hand on my breast, his palm flattened, and it caused Damien to hiss at him.
“You know damn well what you’re doing, kid. I know you do.”
I couldn’t believe it when Jax tiredly chuckled.
“See!” Damien pointed at him. “I told you. He knows she’s mine, and that touching her pisses me off.”
The playful show of dominance caused a pulse to grow between my thighs.
“Stop cussing,” Kane said to Damien. “He’s nearly one; he’ll learn the words easier if they’re spoken often.”
“Is damn a curse word?” Bronagh mumbled to her sister.
Branna smiled, tiredly. “Not to us, but in America? Yeah.”
“What about hell?”
“It’s a cuss,” Nico answered his fiancée.
“That’s stupid. How can it be a curse word when it’s a place?”
“We didn’t make up the rules, baby.” Nico chuckled, cuddling Georgie to his chest. “We’ve just been raised to know they’re cuss words.”
“Curse, not cuss.”
I rolled my eyes. “Let them have their way of sayin’ it; we’ve a shiteload of words they have to deal with daily, and you don’t hear them complain about it.”
Every male in the room said, “Thank you.”
I smiled and kissed Jax’s head, gaining his attention.
“Do you want to have a sleepover, little man?” I cooed. “With Auntie Alannah?”
“And Uncle Damien.”
I smiled, not taking my eyes off my nephew. “If one of you are stayin’ in me bed, it’s Jax.”
“Damn, kid.”
“Damien!”
“What? Shit, sorry.”
“Don’t say shit either!”
“I can’t remember all these rules, Kane!”
I laughed. “I’ll remind you, big man.”
Damien’s attention zeroed in on me. “Is that a promise, gorgeous?”
I swallowed.
“Oh.” Bronagh sighed. “I can feel the sexual tension between you both.”
Instantly, my face reddened.
“Bronagh!”
“What?” She smiled, fluttering her eyelashes. “What’d I do?”
She knew bloody well what she did.
“Stop talkin’, please.”
She made the motion that her lips were sealed with her fingers, but she had a shit-eating grin on her face, which caused me to shake my head as I fought off a grin of my own. I focused on Aideen and Kane, then with a nod down to Jax, I asked, “Can he sleep over?”