Page 39 of Rowdy & Kat

“I heard you’re starting your own chapter down here,” my cousin taunted, likely having heard my dad’s big plans. “I’ll miss you.”

Grinning as his petite wife giggled over the boys staring at her with their identical eyes, I replied, “Bebe made us promise to move to Little Memphis. I guess I’ll have to wait until the boys are grown before I can start my own chapter.”

“Is that something you’re interested in doing?”

“God no,” I said, chuckling. “Your job sounds hard.”

Clint laughed at my comment, seeming relieved to keep me in Little Memphis. He and Ivy stayed two days before they were replaced by Vanessa. Lula, Exile, and Dillon drove down with her, but stayed at my sister’s ex-husband’s house in Little Rock.

“How come you never brought Kat to the house when she was pregnant?” Dillon asked me, mimicking her mom’s lawyer attitude. “Why hide such a lovely woman?”

“I’m devious, kid,” I replied and shrugged. “I don’t know what else to tell you.”

After Dillon frowned at her stepdad like he should take her side, Exile gave me one of his infamous glares.

I still didn’t know Exile well. He seemed to have two modes—grumpy or silly in love. Yet, after siding with Dillon, he mellowed out and buddied up with me.

“I heard you’re building a house in Sleepy Eye,” Exile said after joining me in the kitchen.

“That’s what I promised Bebe, but I haven’t started considering what that process would take. I mean Kat hasn’t even seen my condo or met Goblin yet.”

“It’d be nice to have you next door. Lula’s hoping she’ll get a positive pregnancy test soon. I didn’t have family my age around when I was growing up. I hope my kid will have that closeness with your boys.”

Seeing a chance to bond with my brother-in-law, I mentioned his sister, “I heard Nova and Boone are trying for a kid after their wedding. Sleepy Eye Community will soon be full of babies.”

Romance had bloomed for several of my people in the last year. One of those new couples visited Little Rock but didn’t bunk at the townhouse.

“I refuse to sleep on an inflatable bed,” Zodiac Bondi told me as he arrived with my cousin, Elle. “We booked a suite at a nice hotel.”

Zodiac was the president of the Baton Rouge-based Black Rainbow Motorcycle Club. After knocking up my cousin during a quickie, he talked her into living in his territory.

“My kids were also conceived through unsafe sex,” I told Zodiac, who snarled at me. “But my jizz was doubly successful.”

“That’s on her, isn’t it?” Zodiac said and gestured at Kat, who sat with Maria and Elle on the couch with the three babies. “She shit out two eggs, and you got lucky with your average sperm.”

“Don’t take the bait, Rowdy,” Elle warned as she cooed at the nearly two-month-old Trent. “Zodiac’s jealous because he wanted two crying babies, but I only gave him one. Every night, I’m forced to hold him while he sobs with regret.”

Zodiac grinned at her bullshit. I’d always heard the guy was a little crazy, but he acted like a whipped pup with Elle.

“When will Sutter Cane get here?” I asked before Zodiac and Elle started flirting again.

“My parents are bringing him over after they visit the zoo,” Elle answered. “He needed a break from babies by visiting a place filled with babies and toddlers.”

“He wants to see the penguins,” Zodiac said as he dropped into a recliner. “This is a nice townhouse. Are you moving in permanently?”

Knowing Zodiac was fucking with me, I took another seat and shrugged. “No way to know what the future will bring. A few weeks ago, I was jealous of your handsome son. Now, I’ve got twice as many cute kids as you.”

“I count Sutter Cane as mine. In fact, it’s likely I screwed Elle at that Mexican resort and just forgot,” Zodiac said, running his tongue across the front of his teeth like we might throw down soon. “That means I have two sons, just like you.”

“Your boys aren’t identical. Sorry, but if it’s a competition, I’m winning.”

Zodiac narrowed his icy blue eyes, and I could imagine us wrestling under different circumstances. However, with three tiny babies and two pissed cats in one room, we kept our asses planted in our chairs.

“I’m proud of you,” Elle told Zodiac. “A lesser man would have whipped out his dick and demanded a measuring contest.”

Chuckling at her taunts, Zodiac relaxed and stopped hassling me. I smiled at Kat, who had gotten the hang of dealing with our visitors.

At first, she tried to appease whoever was at the house, but Maria insisted we stick to our schedule. I was relieved to have Maria play the bad cop role. I didn’t want to be a dick to my visiting family, but our routine kept me from dozing off all day like an old man. These days, I needed to be in bed by nine if I wanted to function the next day, especially since I spent a good thirty minutes fooling around with Kat every night.