Colton looked at him flatly. "You do remember that time you and I wanted to go camping and you fell off the mountain? That was just outside Lycaonia's borders."
Aiden stared at Colton. "Tracking devices, huh? I'll ask my father about them." He looked around the room. "Let's all take the day off tomorrow. Construction on the trainee addition has finally wrapped up. Let's take a day to recover."
Darian snorted. "You just want to keep an eye on Meryn," he joked. Keelan and Colton laughed.
Meryn stuck her tongue out at Darian.
Aiden turned to his mate. "I love you with every breath in my body, but lately you have become more ... erratic than normal." Even Rheia could tell that Aiden was worried about his mate.
Colton looked at his oldest friend. "Meryn's adjusting to her new no caffeine lifestyle. She's also taken on the training of two new intel warriors."
Meryn gave him a thumbs up.
Aiden frowned at him. "Intel warriors?"
Colton shrugged. "That's the phrase Meryn wanted to use. Noah and Jaxon seem to soak up every scrap of confidence she instills in them."
Meryn shrugged. "It sounds badass."
Beth turned to Meryn. "You're going to be an amazing mother."
Colton shook his head. "You mean Ryuu is going to be an amazing mother," he joked.
Aiden shrugged. "Marius played a huge role in raising us; I think it's perfectly natural for Ryuu to help raise our son."
"Daughter. Meryn's insisting you're having a girl," Keelan said winking at Colton. Already Aiden's neck was starting to flush. The red stain crept upward to his cheeks.
"We are not having a girl. Girls are delicate and fragile. What would we do with a baby girl around here? Penny is enough." Aiden shuddered.
"Well, if your daughter's anything like Meryn, she'll probably blow up the armory." Colton suggested.
Aiden paled. "No! Absolutely not! No girls."
Gavriel shook his head. "This may not be something you can control."
Aiden scowled at Gavriel. "Just you wait. It'll be your turn soon enough, and then I'll sit back and laugh and laugh and laugh. According to Beth, she wants to try and get pregnant next year. What if your daughter takes after Beth?" Aiden asked.
All of the men froze and shook their heads.
Colton looked over to the vampire. "We may need to start looking into those large plastic bubbles for children now, just in case your fathers-in-law need time to make modifications," he suggested.
Gavriel sat still as stone. Rheia couldn't even tell if the man was breathing. Without saying a word he pulled out his cell phone. He put it on speaker and they all listened as the phone rang.
"Hello?" A male voice answered.
"Good evening, Broderick. Listen, how difficult would it be to engineer a large protective plastic bubble for a small child?" Gavriel asked as a greeting.
Beth rolled her eyes.
Over the phone, they heard the man gasp. "Beth cannot be pregnant..."
"No, no, she's not. But she wants to start trying as early as next year. I want to be prepared," Gavriel informed them.
"She would want to start right away." Rheia heard another man say.
"True, Caspian. Gavriel, we'll put our heads together here and see what we can come up with," Broderick promised.
"Thanks," Gavriel said and ended the call. The men all breathed a sigh of relief.
Colton looked at the empty plates. "Everyone ready for movie night?"
Ryuu stuck his head into the dining room from the kitchen. "I have already delivered your movie snacks to Jaxon and Noah. If you leave the plates, I'll pick them up momentarily."
Everyone began to stand and head towards the family room.
Keelan stopped, frowning. "If the kid is in a bubble, what happens if they can't get fresh oxygen, won't they suffocate?"
Rheia covered her mouth with her hand.
Wrong thing to say.
Grinning she and Colton kept walking. Seconds later, she heard Gavriel on the phone with Broderick again.
Never a dull moment.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
They each kissed Penny goodnight twice before making their way up to their room. Rheia knew Colton would never truly hurt her, but she was still nervous about being claimed. She'd never had anyone bite her before. She didn't know whether her body's reaction was due to the unusual stimuli or because it was Colton. She got undressed on autopilot, as if she were getting ready for bed. She was so distracted by her thoughts she didn't even realize that Colton was naked and waiting for her. She jumped when she felt a warm thumb rub between her eyebrows.
Colton was standing in front of her, smiling. "You're frowning and thinking too hard. What has you so lost in thought?" She had to take a moment to remember what she'd been thinking. His body was wreaking havoc with her concentration. Her eyes wandered up and down, taking in every golden muscle and dark blonde hair. She had only seen bodies like this in magazine ads and on the internet, she had an overwhelming desire to run her hands over every square inch of him.
Shaking her head, she answered. "I was just wondering if my body was responding to your bites because of the pain or because it was you." Unable to resist, she lightly ran her hands down his chest and then down his sides. He jumped a little when she grazed his lower ribs.
"Are you ticklish?" she asked, reaching for him again.
He stepped back. "Nope, not even a little bit."