“Aubrey’s choice. She wants it to be a surprise, and since she’s the one who has to carry the ball for nine months, I figure it’s up to her.”
“One way to look at it,” Leo said. A shiver went up his spine. Carrying a baby and then caring for it? The little creature all mushy-faced and squalling. His brother and sister-in-law could call him to come visit on the kid’s first birthday.
“You look sick.” Justin nodded toward Leo.
“Just thinking. If men had to carry babies—” He shuddered.
“The human race would have died out long ago,” Justin finished Leo’s thought. “Don’t know how she does it, really. Watching her body change is amazing. Right now is the good part, though, the second trimester. Lots of energy, not too heavy. She says it gets really tough soon.”
“How so?” Anthony perched on the arm of the couch, an intent look on his face.
Leo tuned out his two brothers as Justin began to go on about cankles, sciatica, and stretch marks, Anthony chiming in with observations and questions. Really? These were men. Titans of industry. Billionaires. Now they were reduced to conversations about cocoa butter versus udder cream. Anthony, newly engaged, couldn’t wait to be a father. He animatedly turned the discussion with their eldest brother, Justin, to the pros and cons of home birth.
Jeez. This was pathetic. Give Leo a football game, some rugby, and some beers. He certainly hoped the baby-making craze that had infected two of his brothers wasn’t catching, because if so, Leo needed to find a vaccine. The scene in the kitchen was testament to what happened when a man married. Eight months ago there had been four brothers. One fell, and now there were four brothers, a sister-in-law, her sister, her best friend, her father, a nephew, an as-yet-to-be-determined niece or nephew, a soon-to-be sister-in-law, and that soon-to-be-sister-in-law’s grandmother. Leo didn’t mind the additional men so much—in fact he downright adored his nephew—but all those women? Too much estrogen. He sighed.
He appreciated women from a distance, as though they were a separate, specialized species that needed to housed away from the male pack. It wasn’t that he didn’t like them. He simply preferred his women on a more contained and scheduled basis, hence the Convenient Arrangement app.
“Leo, did you hear me?”
Leo turned away from the floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the Manhattan skyline at the sound of Justin’s voice.
“Sorry, thinking about the launch.”
“The party. Did you ask Gwen to plan the launch party?”
Leo waved his hand and nodded. “Of course, and I’m going to convince Nina to do the food. No use fixing a wheel that isn’t broken. I mean, Nina’s food?” He scooped up one of the crab puffs his nephew Max had pirated from the kitchen, which they had been specifically instructed not to eat before the party, and devoured it. “Gwen killed it at the Teddy Bear Luncheon. I’m sure she’ll do the same for the launch.”
“Should we consider bringing her in-house?” Justin asked. “We’ve got quite a few events lined up, particularly with Aubrey working with the foundation and fundraising.”
In-house. Leo liked the thought of having Gwen in-house. She’d be around the office in those lovely little black skirts she wore and her high heels and the sweaters. Yes, she wasn’t his usual type, but she was a lush beautiful type indeed. No way he could do more than look, though. Gwen was too close to home, and from her blush in the kitchen she wasn’t the demographic for A Convenient Arrangement. Much too old-school where relationships were concerned.
“Shelly’s convinced Gwen to do the wedding,” Anthony volunteered.
“She’s planning Aubrey’s couples baby shower,” Justin replied.
“And a bridal brunch too,” Anthony added.
Oh for fuck’s sake. So this is what an infestation of estrogen did to men? Please God, save him now. They’d gone from udder cream to bridal brunches and baby showers? What next? Baby burping techniques?
“Any football on?” Leo asked, lifting the remote from an end table. He pointed it toward the flatscreen. Perhaps seeing men beat the hell out of each other would remind his brothers that they were indeed men. Men with testicles and manly thoughts, not nursemaids who planned parties.
“That’s kind of loud,” Anthony said. He squinted at Leo. “We’re talking about pain management for the birth.”
“Oh really?” Leo said and turned up the volume.
Chapter 2
It was nearly nine when Gwen rounded the corner from the kitchen with another tray of crab puffs in her hand. The party guests in Aubrey and Justin’s penthouse living room chatted and laughed. Not a huge crowd. Family with a smattering of close friends. Gwen knew all of the people present, thanks to Aubrey treating her like family.