It. Is. Heaven.

“Yeah?” He shakes his head when he comes into the room and sees that I haven’t left the seat—again—for the second day in a row. “Sunshine, should I get you one of these in every room?”

Whatever he sees in my face has him throwing his head back and his rich laughter booming in the room.

“It’s not going to happen, so get that thought out of your head.”

“What time is everyone coming over tonight?”

We decided late last week that we wanted to have everyone over for dinner. It means a lot to us that we share this with our family. I’ve been so proud of Asher. After the successful takedown of Dominic, eight other major players in the nasty underworld of drugs, guns, and sex trafficking were apprehended that day. I know there are still times when Asher questions himself if he made the right call, but then I will see him look over at me, his eyes tracing a path from my face all the way to my very large belly. His eyes get all sexy and soft and he just nods his head—coming to the conclusion without any help from me that he is, without a doubt, on the right path. His decision to give up his determination of being the one to take Dom out made it so that some major players in crime are now locked tight behind bars.

We expect that Dominic’s trial will take years. That’s not really an issue for us because there is no way he will ever live his life as a free man again even if he were to have a trial tomorrow. There is just too much stacked against him—all because of Asher.

“I think they’ll be here in about an hour. I wasn’t sure about Maddox and Emmy. Not sure what’s going on with them right now, so I guess we will see.”

“All right, baby.” I lean my head and close my eyes, determined to sleep until the last second possible.

I hear Asher laughing as he walks back down the hall to get the food ready for tonight.

I smile and thank God for bringing that man into my life.

***

Axel, Izzy, and baby Nate are the first ones to arrive. Izzy gives me a warm hug and we both laugh when our bellies smoosh together.

“Are you still grunting and groaning about having a daughter?” I laugh, leaning over Nate to give Axel a hug.

“I wasn’t. Woman, did you tell them I was complaining about my princess?”

Izzy bursts out laughing, her tiny belly bouncing with her mirth. “Oh my God! You’re already terrible! She isn’t even here yet and you’re going all possessive over her! I tell you, Axel Reid, she is not going to like that when she gets older.”

He pulls himself up, towering over us all at six foot six, pulling Izzy to his side. He cups her under her arms and lifts her right off the ground as if she weighs nothing more than a feather. “You listen to me, babe. My princess will never date. Ever. I’m considering going ahead a looking at homeschool. We need to get all those dicks away from my baby.”

“Your baby?” she mocks.

“You heard me. Just like her mom—she’s mine, and I’m not letting some little prick get near my princess.” He gives her a deep kiss before putting her back down.

“Incorrigible caveman,” she says under her breath, earning her a light smack against her ass.

“Daddy! What’s a prick?”

We all turn our heads sharply when we hear Cohen speak from behind Axel. He looks up at us with his wide smile, chubby cherub cheeks, and his chocolate-colored eyes twinkling with wonder. He really is one of the coolest kids I’ve ever met. I’ve never seen him act up, and the things that come out of his mouth are hilarious.

“Can you guys make at least a small effort to remember there are little human ears around?” Greg complains while carrying both of his daughters—in their car seats—into the house.

Melissa follows close behind, a blinding smile across her face. She gives me a bone-crushing hug before following after Greg to help with their twins.

Right when I’m about to close the door, I hear another car pull into the driveway. I smile when I see Dee and Beck. She is shaking her head and moving her mouth as if she’s singing—but anyone who knows Dee knows that that’s a terrifying thought. That girl can’t hold a tune to save her life.

Beck sits in the driver’s seat, watching her with adoration shining bright.

I shake my head and lean against the doorframe to wait her out. When the song finally ends, she jumps out of the car and runs towards me.

“Guess what!” she screams.

“Uh, what?”

“We started trying,” she says with the biggest grin on her face.