Walk Of Shame(158)

All three of the girl’s eyes go wide, before Onyx and Sage start talking at the same time about how badly that shouldn’t happen.

“The girls don’t need any more dirty boys like you Hemy,” Onyx says, before whispering, “Only me,” and winking.

Slade grips my shoulder and squeezes. “I’ll take care of that child as if it were mine. Never forget that, bro. I love you, man.”

I can feel the truth is Slade’s words and it warms my heart. It’s taken time, but Slade is one of the best men that I know. He’s protective and gives his all. It makes me happy to know my kid will have an uncle like him. “Love you too, bro.”

Riley and the girls are in the middle of a conversation, but I pick Riley up, pulling her into my lap. Knowing that she is carrying my child makes me want to be as close to her as possible. The truth is . . . I just may never let her go now.

Eleven years ago, she became my life. Seven months ago, she became my wife and now she’ll become the mother of my children. I will always show her her worth and how much she means to me. My family will always come first.

Snuggling into my arms, she smiles against my neck as I place my hand over her stomach. “I love you, daddy,” she says with a small laugh.

Pulling her face up to reach mine, I press my lips against hers and rest my forehead to hers. “I love you too, baby. Always have and always will. Never forget that.”

She smiles and looks me in the eyes. I can see by the way she’s looking at me that she knows it’s the truth. I would never lie to her. “I know, baby. I’ve always known.”

A few minutes later, I look up to see Stone dancing while watching us from across the room. He knows something is up.

Standing up, I pull Riley to her feet and place my hand over her stomach, like I have almost every day since we’ve found out.

Stone’s eyes widen and a grin takes over his face. Without much thought, he hops off the stage and runs over to us.

“Holy shit!” Grabbing Riley’s face, he presses a kiss to the top of her head, before turning to me and doing the same. “Congratu-fucking-lations. I knew it! You’ve been acting different, man. That’s awesome.”

He pulls me in for a one arm hug as I squeeze his shoulder, thankful to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us. “Thank you, man.” I pull away from him. “Now get back on the fucking stage.” I smile, showing my appreciation as he rushes back over to the stage surrounded by a bunch of confused looking chicks. He doesn’t even miss a beat, falling back into his routine.

Just wanting to be close to my wife, I pull her into my arms and kiss her long and deep, pretending that it’s just the two of us. As much as I want to spend time with these guys . . . my family, the excitement of going home to work out the nursery is tugging at my heart. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep until I know my baby is going to have the best fucking room ever.

Leaning over Riley’s head, I grab Slade’s shoulder. “Hey, man. I think we’re going to get going.”

He looks at me, searching my eyes. He knows that feeling. He knows what it’s like to want to be the man and take care of things. It’s too bad that he never got that opportunity. “You need any help man, let me know. Any free time that I have, you know you have Aspen and I. We’re just a call away.”

“I know, man.” I squeeze his shoulder. “I’ll definitely be calling too. Just not tonight, man. Now that everyone knows, the excitement of it all is kicking in. We have a lot of thinking to do.”

“Hell yeah,” Slade responds, before turning to Aspen and picking her up, pulling her to him. “I know the feeling.” He kisses Aspen’s neck and squeezes her as if he never wants to let her go. “One day, man. One day . . .”

When I look over to say bye to Hemy, he’s standing with his arm around Onyx, them both laughing it up and talking to Sage as if there isn’t a care in the world. I swear I hear baby talk.

In this moment, I know that everyone is right where they belong. Slade has the love of his life, a new home and a good job. Hemy has his fiancé, their home and I have my wife, a baby on the way and a business to run with the love of my life.

The Walk Of Shame family couldn’t ask for anything better . . .

The end