Branna(6)

“I’m going to miss her too,” Ryder said and kissed her chubby cheek.

Georgie rested her head on his shoulder as she used her hand to play with the ring on his necklace.

It was his wedding ring. He had to put it on a chain because he lost the bloody thing more times than I could count since we got married just three weeks ago. He wasn’t used to wearing anything on his fingers, so when he took it off to wash his hands, he would sometimes forget to put it back on. Usually, it was in our bathroom or in our kitchen, but recently, he took it off in a public restroom to wash his hands and walked out without putting it back on. Luckily, he realised the second he left the restroom and ran back for it. That very day, he bought a long necklace and put the ring on it. He said he preferred it on the necklace because it was closer to his heart.

He was a charmer if I’d ever met one.

“Georgie,” I said, gaining my niece’s attention. “I love you.”

She smiled at me, and it made us laugh because her bare gums showed... or her almost bare gums.

“I can see the tooth you mentioned, Bee,” I said as I lifted my hand and placed my pinkie finger in Georgie’s mouth so I could feel it.

“Branna, don’t!”

“Ow!” I cried and snatched my hand away. “She bit me!”

Georgie laughed and so did Ryder and Dominic.

“I tried to warn you,” my sister winced. “She bites everythin’ now. Every. Thing.”

I rubbed my thumb over my throbbing finger.

“That’s the last time I put me fingers near your mouth,” I said to Georgie and playfully narrowed my eyes.

“She’ll learn not to put her fingers near your mouth either,” Dominic mused.

I looked at him. “Why not?”

“Your surname is now Slater, but you’re a Murphy at heart, and Murphy girls bite.”

“That’s true.” Bronagh chirped. “Georgie is a Slater, but she’s a Murphy, too. She’ll be every bit like us.”

“Heaven help me,” Dominic said teasingly.

I snickered. “Oh, give over. We’re harmless.”

“When you’re sleeping,” Ryder commented.

I gasped. “How dare you!”

“My mistake.” My husband smirked. “You still have some bite in you even when you sleep. I’ve the marks to prove it.”

“It’s your own fault for wakin’ me up for sex; you know that never ends well for you.”

“Bullshit.” Ryder laughed. “Nine times out of ten, I get what I wake you up for.”

I cocked a brow. “But there’s still a chance it can go very wrong.”

“It’s worth the risk.”

I tried not to smile but epically failed.

“You’re both so cute that it’s actually makin’ me feel sick.”

I looked at my sister. “Maybe you’re just pregnant again.”

Bronagh hissed. “Don’t jinx me!”

“What’s wrong with you being pregnant again?” Dominic asked, his tone displeased at his fiancée’s obvious hiss of anger.

“Georgie is only four months old,” my sister said in duh tone.

“So? Jax is ten months old, and Aideen isn’t far off her due date with her second baby,” Dominic countered.

“Aideen is a machine,” Bronagh deadpanned. “I’m not.”

“I want another baby, though,” he said, no trace of humour in his tone.

I shared a look with Ryder who shook his head at me, silently telling me not to get involved. I mentally grunted because I was still learning to keep my nose out of my sister’s relationship especially when an argument occurred in my presence.

“You can’t make a baby here,” I said, hoping to break the tension. “We’re still present.”

Dominic’s lips twitched, indicating he’d heard me, but he didn’t look away from Bronagh as he awaited her response. She was gnawing on her lower lip, her nervousness showing.

“But I’ve only got six pounds to go to get back to me pre-pregnancy weight.”

If I heard about her weight or her diet one more time, I was going to kick her. It was all she talked about, and if it was grinding my gears, I could only imagine how much it peeved Dominic.

“Babe, come on. You had Georgie four months ago, and you already have the body of wet dreams,” he said and pulled her against his chest. “You know I want five kids, at least, and you were the one who said you wanted them to be close in age.”

Bronagh narrowed her eyes. “Don’t use me own words against me, Fuckface.”

I playfully gasped as I reached over and covered Georgie’s ears. “Language!”