“Damn, it’s a good thing he looks like you, Lily, and not his pops,” Jake mused.
“Dickhead,” Brayden mumbled.
Jake glanced from Jude over to me and then winked. “Bet you’re surprised I didn’t drop him, aren’t you?”
A nervous giggle escaped my lips. “Maybe a little.”
“You know, I’m not a total dumbass when it comes to babies. I had some practice when Allison was a baby back in the day.”
Cocking my head at him, I smiled. “You do look very natural with him.”
His eyes widened. “Oh hell no. Don’t even think it.”
“One day, Jake Slater. One day you’re going to be holding your own baby in your arms.”
He shook his head. “Not possible. I always wrap my shit up with my own condoms. Not with one some chick brought that she could have voodoo dolled.”
Wrinkling my nose, I countered, “No, not with some random hookup. I meant with a wife.”
AJ snorted. “Jake married? Let’s wait for hell to freeze over first.”
“Believe me, it’s going to happen. I don’t know when or with who, but it will.”
“Whatever,” Jake mumbled. Our conversation seemed to dampen Jude’s allure because he was suddenly ready to pass him over AJ’s eager and waiting arms.
“Such a handsome boy,” AJ said, before bestowing a kiss on the crown of Jude’s blonde hair.
Jake reached over and lifted up one of Jude’s clenched fists. “Looks like Little Man here has some guitar playing fingers.”
Brayden grinned. “I thought as much.”
As Jude squirmed awake, AJ cooed and sang to him in Spanish. Surprisingly, it calmed him, and Jude went back to sleep.
When AJ met what must’ve been my shocked expression, he winked. “Just call me the Baby Whisperer.”
I laughed. “I’ll know exactly who to come to when he gets fussy.”
Pressed up against the wall, Rhys watched AJ and Jude curiously. I jerked my chin at AJ, signaling him to give Rhys a chance. When AJ started toward him, Rhys held up his hands. “Dude, I don’t know anything about babies.”
“Just give it a whirl. Worst thing you can do is drop him,” AJ replied.
Both Rhys and I gasped. “Just teasing,” AJ mused, which earned him a glare from Rhys.
Gently, AJ placed Jude in Rhys’s arms. I bit down on my lip not to laugh at how still Rhys stood. Like if he even blinked too hard, it might hurt Jude. “He really does look like you, Lily,” Rhys said, a smile playing at his lips.
“Thank you.”
Rhys’s face lit up when Jude’s eyes opened, and he stared up at him. “Hey buddy,” he murmured.
While the guys seemed enthralled by Jude now, I couldn’t help wondering about the future. “Are you still sure about me bringing him on the bus when I come to visit?”
“Why wouldn’t we be?” Jake asked, as he ran his fingers through Jude’s dusting of fine hair.
“Well, babies are a lot of work—”
AJ held up a hand. “Are you insinuating that once you get on the bus, you and Bray are going to expect us to raise the little man while you two have a reconnection fuck fest?”
My face instantly warmed at his words while Brayden only chuckled. “No man, that’s not what we had in mind,” he replied.
“Then it’s fine. Right, guys?”
Rhys and Jake nodded. I hoped, rather than believed, they would still be sincere when Jude started crying in the middle of the night. Of course, they were all so nocturnal that it would be worse during the day when they were trying to catch up on sleep.
Speaking of crying, Jude began to wail, his fists flailing. When I met Rhys’s frantic eyes, he said, “I didn’t do anything. I swear.”
I laughed. “I know you didn’t. He’s probably just hungry.”
All three of the guys froze. “Like for a breast?” AJ questioned, his brows furrowed.
“Yes, he did really well latching on earlier.”
Rhys hurried over to the bed and deposited Jude into my arms. “Yeah, uh, I gotta go.”
“Me, too,” AJ said.
“Same here,” Jake echoed.
Cocking my head at them, I grinned. “Who would have thought three notorious manwhores would be afraid of a breast?”
Jake laughed. “Call it what it is, but we’re outta here.”
“Thanks for coming, guys. It really means a lot,” I said over Jude’s cries.
“You’re welcome, hot mama,” AJ replied, bestowing a kiss on Jude’s forehead and then mine. Jake followed suit while Rhys merely waved at me from the door.
As I pushed down my gown for Jude, I couldn’t help laughing at the guys’ reaction. Whether they knew it or not, their lives had changed too with Jude’s birth. After all, we were one, great big musical family.
BRAYDEN
THE PRESENT
“And after Jude, you waited three years to have another child.” Giovanni glanced between us. “Any particular reason? I mean, I do recall Brayden saying he wanted a houseful and for you to be started by twenty five.”
Lily and I laughed. “Actually, it was easy to talk about a houseful of kids before we actually had one. Once Jude came along, we realized the work that went into raising a child. Of course, we weren’t a conventional family considering Brayden was on the road most of the year, and I was home teaching.”
“How did you make it as a single mom?” Giovanni asked Lily.
“Well, I had it a lot easier than most single mothers. Our first home just happened to be Brayden’s grandparents’ old house, so I was right next door to my mom. My younger sister, Kylie, decided she would go to school at night and be my nanny during the daytime—as long as she got to live rent free at my house.”
Giovanni smiled. “That seems reasonable.”
“The hardest part was not having Brayden with me, but more the fact that I hated he was missing being with Jude.”
“How did you feel about the separation, Brayden?” Giovanni asked.
“It fucking sucked, frankly,” I replied.
With a smile, Giovanni questioned, “Can you elaborate on that for me?”
“I felt I was being pulled in two separate directions. My band mates needed me because we continued to skyrocket in popularity in the business, and then my wife and son needed me to be the father I’d always wanted to be.
Giovanni nodded. “How did you two stay connected?”