The Billionaire's Dance(18)

"I know I did a lot of moaning and groaning in the last month of my  pregnancy but all the bloating and aching was well worth it when I held  my baby boy in my arms. I don't get to hold him much when this family is  around though. He's definitely a celebrity here," she finished with a  smile.

"It's the same way with Jasmine. They adore her. I love how much this  family values each of their own. I also love how much they love the  adopted family members like you and I. Once you're a part of this  family, it's for life," Amy added with a smile.

"I'm so nervous around everyone though," Jessica admitted. "You and  Lucas obviously love each other with such a deep passion. Alex was  forced to marry me because of Jacob," she said with a sad quiver at  those last words.

Amy immediately wrapped an arm around Jessica. "I love Lucas heart and  soul but trust me when I say it didn't start out strong. We seemed to  have an instant dislike for each other. I wasn't willing to marry him. I  felt how you do. I felt like I was trapping him. I'd wanted a baby so  badly for so long and I'd wanted to belong to a real family and I felt  like I'd somehow made the pregnancy happen. We were both fighting our  attraction like crazy. I thought I wasn't good enough for him." She said  with tears in her eyes.         

     



 

"I was so, so very wrong. I want to really emphasize that point to you.  We fought our attraction, which was stupid, because I see that now as  wasted time. We love each other and it only grows stronger. This family  loves me and my daughter with a passion as well. They love you too and  so do I. You will one day wake up and wonder what took you so long to  see how much you're meant to be together," she finished.

The two women finished by giving each other a hug, even though it was a  little bit difficult with Amy's belly protruding between the two of  them. Amy giggled, "See I told you this thing is always in the way."

"Well, I repeat you're absolutely beautiful," Jessica said.

"There's my pregnant wife. How are you feeling? Shouldn't you be sitting  down? Can I get you anything?" Lucas walked up, fired a bunch of  questions at his wife and then placed his arm around her like he was  going to pick her up and carry her off to bed.

Amy laughed at her worried husband and reached up to place her hand on  his face. It was such an intimate moment Jessica felt like an intruder.

"I'm fine, hunny. You need to quit worrying so much. I told you if there  was anything at all wrong, you'd be the first to know," she reassured  him. Lucas then bent down and kissed Amy with such a tender passion, it  brought tears to Jessica's eyes. She wanted that same love with Alex.  She knew her heart was going to get broken into a million pieces because  she fell for him more each day.

They finally broke apart and now Amy's face was the one flushed instead  of Jessica's. "Now you go and help your brother cook while I waddle over  to that comfy lounge chair and continue chatting with my favorite  sister-in-law. No wait, scratch that, just my sister," she finished  smiling fondly at Jessica.

The words choked Jessica up even more. She was grateful she'd decided to  put her worries aside and join the family gathering. Her son was  getting all kinds of love and she knew she and Amy were going to be true  friends. She needed one in her life.

"I would listen to her Lucas; pregnant women tend to change moods faster  than a speeding bullet." Both girls giggled and then Amy took Jessica's  arm and they walked towards the lounge chairs and warm fire.

"But Alex lost fair and square, which means I can hang with you," Lucas  said, sounding like a little boy. Amy gave him a look and he conceded  defeat.

Lucas walked up to his brother, offering his help. "Ha, looks like you  were annoying your wife as much as you were annoying us today with all  your worrying," Alex goaded him.

"I wasn't annoying her, she was just having girl talk with your wife about you," Lucas said with a wicked smile.

Alex's head whipped around, as his confident smirk fell. "What were they saying?" he asked.

"You know, its girl talk. No boys allowed in that conversation," he  said, liking having the upper hand again. His smirk faded though as he  sought out his wife. He wanted to take her home and keep her safe. He  was worried with all the walking she was doing. He wouldn't survive it  if something happened to her or the baby.

"Yeah kinda sucks being over here huh?" Alex mocked him good naturedly as he noticed his brother staring at his wife.

"I love her so much Alex. I really can't remember life without her," he  said with real passion. "I know you love Jessica and I know you're  confused right now and I know things aren't perfect but they didn't  start perfect for us either. I promise you it will get better," he  finished with sincerity.

"It's all good. Why don't you quit talking like a girl and help me grill," Alex said, changing the subject.

"Okay, I don't want you running to Amy and telling her you did all the  work. Then I'll get in trouble," he said as he grabbed some tongs and  started flipping the juicy steaks over. The smell reminded him he hadn't  eaten in hours and he'd worked his butt off all day. "Let's get this  done before I die of hunger. Man, Mark worked us hard today."

"No kidding. I think little brother was trying to kill us," Alex laughed.

"Did I just hear you tough boys whining?" Mark suddenly popped through the doorway.

"Not whining Mark, just discussing how sore I'm going to be tomorrow,"  Alex said with a chuckle. "I guess I should try and get out here a  little more often. I'm getting a little too used to that desk," He  finished.

"Hey, speak for yourself. I chase around an almost two year old daily.  Let me tell you it's a workout that rivals rustling up cows." Lucas  immediately looked around until he spotted his daughter. She was, of  course, being coddled by her grandfather.         

     



 

"Notice how Dad's always telling us we need to give Mom grandkids but he's the one who's hogging them," Lucas said.

"I know. Dad's all bark and no bite. We all know he wants those  grandkids for himself but man, have you noticed how good he looks. I'm  really glad he has those two babies in his life. It's brought a whole  new youthfulness to his entire appearance," Alex said.

Mark stood beside his brothers feeling a bit left out. He hadn't felt  that way since they were all young kids and they would sometimes run off  ahead of him. He'd been too young to keep up but they'd eventually  always come back for him.

"Well I think I'll just enjoy being a favorite uncle," he finally spoke  up. As if Jasmine had heard him, she looked up from where she was with  her grandpa and spotted her dad and uncles. She started toddling over  towards them as fast as her chubby little legs would carry her.

"Unca Mar, unca Mar," she demanded as she held out her arms towards him.  Her words were getting so much better but Mark wished she would keep  the sweet baby talk forever.

"How's my beautiful princess," he asked, while he swung her up into his arms and blew raspberries on her tummy.

"Hungy," she said and pointed to the steaks. "That's Uncle's good girl.  Let's get you some dinner. You can be my beautiful date. I will most  definitely have the prettiest one here," he said with total adoration in  his eyes and voice.

"Yeah," Jasmine replied as she clapped her hands together, then grabbed Mark's face and gave him a sloppy kiss, which he loved.

"Looks like this is ready," Alex said. He motioned for the staff to come  and gather up everything and stepped down with his brothers to be with  the rest of their family.

They all had an amazing dinner. Everyone was enjoying themselves. It was  hard to get two words in with all the laughter and stories being passed  around the large picnic tables set up on the massive lawn.

Jessica finally allowed herself to relax and found she having a great  time. She loved to watch Alex interact with his brothers. They all acted  like little boys, as they were trying to best each other and telling  many embarrassing stories about one another.

" … Seriously, you should've seen him standing there with his pants around  his ankles … " Jessica heard Mark saying as she tuned back into the  conversation. She'd have to ask Alex about that later. It sounded like  she'd missed out on a great story.

"Okay everyone ignore my brother. I think he's had one too many if you  know what I mean," Alex said, as he motioned in the air like he was  tipping a bottle up to his mouth.

"You're just upset because you're usually the one who ends up at the  losing end of all these childhood stories," Mark said as he lightly  punched his brother in the arm.

Alex shrugged at the good natured teasing. He turned towards Jessica and  gave her a smile. "I like the stories," she said somewhat shyly.