Sirens in Bliss

Chapter Twenty-One:

Stef and Jen

Jennifer cuddled her son in her arms as she looked up at the friends who had gathered in her room. The morning sun was streaming through the windows, giving the little room a soft, gauzy feel. Rachel and Callie had been in the waiting room most of the night, and Nell had shown up with zucchini bread bright and early.

“He’s so beautiful,” Nell said, staring down at him. She put a hand on her still non-existent stomach. “I hope my baby looks like Henry.”

Callie gave Nell a hug. “I think whoever the baby looks like, he or she will be beautiful.”

Nell took a long breath and nodded.

Jen reached her free hand out and covered Nell’s. Something was wrong. Maybe it was just pregnancy hormones. Jen hoped so, but it seemed like something was wrong with Henry, too.

“Good lord. Nell, what the hell is wrong?” Rachel asked from her place in the comfy chair. She was bouncing Paige.

“Rachel!” Callie said, indignation in her voice.

Rachel just shrugged. “Well, we’re all wondering about it. She’s been moping around for a month. It’s like someone put moody juice in her tofu.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Callie shot back.

“Neither does tofu,” Rachel replied.

Nell held a hand up. “I found a gun in the house.”

Jen felt her eyes go wide. Nell and Henry were pacifists. “Holy shit.”

She needed to clean up her potty mouth. Her little baby boy was already learning bad words. But, holy shit…

“That has to be a mistake,” Callie said.

“Maybe it was left behind by someone else,” Jen tried.

“No one leaves a gun sitting around,” Rachel retorted. She frowned and seemed a bit more sympathetic than before. “This town can be a dangerous place. Maybe that mess with Gemma’s ex scared him. A man can do some strange things when he thinks his woman is in danger.”

Nell sniffled a little. “I think he’s hiding something. I think…I think he might have been lying to me for a while now, but he won’t tell me anything.”

Jen couldn’t believe it. Nell and Henry were solid. They had to be. “Honey, I just went through this with Stef. Men get scared. First he had to deal with the fact that Gemma’s ex nearly killed you and then he had to watch the man die. Now you’re pregnant. It can make a man a little crazy.”

“What did he say about it?” Callie asked.

Nell looked a little hopeful suddenly. “I didn’t mention it. Oh, do you really think it could all be a misunderstanding? Or that he’s just scared?”

Rachel waved a hand her way. “Honey, men are dumbasses. You can always count on them to do the dumbassedest thing possible. For Henry, that means buying a gun. For Max, it’s eating wings. You just thought Henry was perfect. Well, guess what, hon, he has a penis. It was just a matter of time.”

Rachel had a way with words, but it seemed to work wonders on Nell. She smiled and her naturally sunny disposition seemed to come back.

“I’m sure you’re right. That incident with Gemma’s ex was very scary for both of us. And my first trimester was a little touch and go. I haven’t told anyone except Laura and Holly, but we actually decided to try a while back and I miscarried twice.”

Jen’s heart went out to her friend. “I’m so sorry to hear that. That could make any man crazy.”

Stef would definitely have gone a little nuts.

Callie pulled Nell in to a hug. “Everything is going to be fine. You just need to talk to him.”

“And you need to take that gun away. I can’t imagine Henry is any good with it,” Rachel said. “He needs to leave the defense of the town to law enforcement and me and Marie.”

Nell smiled brightly. “I will. It’s time we talked. He’s been tense. Yes, talking it out will be good. He’s been talking to someone on the phone, too. Someone named Levi. I wonder if he’s a counselor Henry turned to.”

Jen had no idea who Levi was, but if anyone would talk to a counselor it would be Henry.

Callie sighed. “Well, we need to start getting ready.”

Jen wished she could go with them. “Please tell Shelley I’m so sorry I’m going to miss the wedding, but Caleb said no. You know how he just says no and doesn’t really give you an explanation and refuses to argue in any way?”

Callie grinned. “I might have come up against that once or twice.” She sat on the edge of the bed.

Rachel shook her head. “One of these days I’m going to throw down with that man. He can be deeply unreasonable. I’ll probably wait until I’m done having babies, though. The man is damn good at delivering them.”

Jennifer looked down at her boy. She couldn’t complain. “Doc does a good job. And he’s going to let me go home tomorrow, but he’s insistent about staying here for the night. Naomi even offered to stay with me but Doc said…”

“No,” Callie and Rachel finished in perfect harmony.

Baby Logan was sleeping, his head on her breast. Naomi had suggested that she hold her baby skin to skin. She’d offered to diaper the baby, but Stef wouldn’t have it. He’d looked a little lost in the beginning and tossed out the first two diapers, but he’d finally managed to get it around the baby’s bottom perfectly. Stef had been the one to put Logan against her breast. He’d sat and watched as their son latched onto her nipple and began to suck.

Now her baby was sleeping and Naomi had been right. Being skin to skin with her baby was perfect.

Stef walked in. He took in the scene and his eyes heated for a moment. And then he frowned. “Anyone could walk in here.”

While Logan was covered in a blanket, her torso was still naked.

Rachel rolled her eyes. “We’ve seen her naked before, Stef.”

Callie shook her head, a confused look on her face. “I’ve been naked with Jen lots of times. What’s the problem?”

Callie was a bit of a nudist. And it was completely true. Before Callie had married Nate and Zane, Jen had felt completely comfortable shedding her clothes at Callie’s house. Nate had caught them sunbathing once and said she blinded him because those boobs didn’t belong to him, so now they only did it at Mountain and Valley and only where she wouldn’t cause Nate Wright hysterical boob blindness.

Nell frowned Stef’s way. “I sincerely hope you’re not trying to discourage your wife’s very healthy practices.”

Stef wasn’t amused. He pulled the blanket up. “I think I’m going to have to agree with Max on the whole nursing thing. I don’t know that I want my wife’s breasts on display for all to see.”

Rachel’s eyes narrowed. “Well, then you should figure out a way to make your man chest produce some milk, mister.” Her face softened, but Jen wasn’t fooled. “Uhm, by the way, Stef, I was just kind of hoping that you wouldn’t kill my dumbass husbands over the whole shooting you and carrying your naked body around town thing. And I want you to know that I have confiscated all the pictures. I also took the thumb drive Max thought he hid.”

Stef’s face went a little red. “I promise you this, Rachel, I’ll tell the assassin I hire to not touch you or Paige.”

“Stefan!” It wasn’t nice to scare pregnant ladies.

The second pregnant lady in the room wagged her finger Stef’s way. Nell gave him a good frowning. “That was very impolite, Stefan.”

Stef shrugged. “So was shooting me up with sedatives and shoving me in the back of Rye’s truck naked. I have a sunburn on my ass you wouldn’t believe.”

Jen stifled a smile. “Rachel, he’s not going to hire an assassin. He’s going to jump Max when he least expects it and beat the holy living shit out of him, because that’s what they do.”

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god. He’s been a pain in the ass lately. He really needs a release. Do it quick, Stef.”

“I will,” Stef agreed. “And don’t you protest me, Nell. This is totally consensual. Mostly. I think I need a physical outlet, too, and it can’t be sex. I asked Caleb if he could shave a couple of weeks off that whole six-weeks-without-sex thing and he just told me no.”

Yep, that was Caleb Burke. He had zero bedside manner. And he would be the one to perform her baby’s checkups. Baby Logan would have to get used to his gruff doctor, but then he was a Bliss Boy. Jennifer had made damn sure of it. She’d wanted her baby born here and not in Del Norte or Alamosa, and Caleb Burke had made that happen, so she would put up with his “nos.”

“I think Logan here will keep us busy for a couple of weeks.”

Stef frowned. “Fine, but I’m sleeping with you.”

She couldn’t help but smile. He’d talked about sleeping in the guest room so he wouldn’t disturb her. “I thought you had other plans.”

He turned his Dom eyes on her. “You’ll just have to put up with me.”

What had Jack Barnes told her? Sometimes a Dom needed a good poking. Her Dom was back in charge. Well, he thought he was in charge, and that was just the way Jen liked it. “I suppose I will.”

“Ladies, I think Jennifer needs some rest,” Stef said.

Callie sighed. “It’s time to get to the wedding anyway. I’ll send your regards.”

“And I’ll be waiting for you to jump Max,” Rachel said. “Do I even want to know what you’re going to do to Rye?”

Stef shook his head.

“All right then.” Rachel and Callie and Nell took one last glance at the baby before saying their good-byes.

And then she was alone with her boys. With her husband and her son. God, she had a son—a little piece of her and Stef—someone totally unique in the world. She wanted her boy to have her sense of humor and his dad’s intelligence and talent. She wanted him to have his namesake’s bravery and Stella’s enduring loyalty. She prayed the universe gave her son Rachel’s stubborn will and Callie’s deep tolerance.

And that the world around him would give him such bliss.

“Hey, you’re crying.” Stef’s voice had softened and his hand came out to cup her cheek. “Are you in pain, love?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m just so happy.”

“Scoot over,” he commanded. “And get rid of the blanket. It’s warm enough in here.”

Such a bossy man. She moved slightly, and Stef climbed on the bed and wrapped his arm around her, cuddling her close. The blanket fell away and she lay naked from the waist up. Baby Logan’s body moved as he sighed, his eyes opening and his mouth starting to move. She moved her nipple to his mouth and he started to suck. “I thought I was supposed to be modest.”

“Not around me,” Stef said, his eyes going straight to where his son was nursing. “And that is a beautiful sight.”

“Stef, I don’t want you to think of me as just a mom.” She remembered how Callie had worried that her hubbies hadn’t wanted her sexually. She didn’t want to get into the rut they’d been in before one long night in the guesthouse had proven to Callie that she was still a woman.

Stef chuckled a little and moved against her, pressing on her thigh. “Love, does that feel maternal to you?”

Nope. That was an erection. “God, I’m so glad you’re a complete pervert.”

“I’m a pervert who loves his wife. Jennifer, I love you. I love our son. I can’t thank you enough for him.”

“So no more pulling away? You should know that I’ll just pull you back.” She had no intention of ever losing her husband.

“I live in fear of it.” Stef touched his mouth to hers in a sweet kiss. “I’ll never leave you. Either of you.”

Logan kicked and started to cry.

“I think he wants his dad.”

“His dad is right here.” Stef gently cradled the baby. “Come on, son. Let’s let your mom get some sleep.”

He took Logan to the rocking chair and unbuttoned his shirt. He cuddled the baby to his chest and started to rock. “Well, Naomi said skin to skin, right? She said it would soothe him. I assume she meant my skin, too.”

Sweet tears pricked at her eyes. “Yes, absolutely.”

Logan settled down again and Stef was watching their son.

Jen laid back and dreamed of their future.