Twins For My Bestie’s Brother (Billionaire Daddies)

29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Lily

T he tattoo gun buzzes as I shade the belly of the red male cardinal. I pause momentarily to get a bit more ink and, as I do so, I glance up at Jackson. He’s got a hand over his eyes and his lips pursed. “Almost done, baby,” I say.

He lets out a tight breath. “Good.”

I giggle, returning to his bicep. He’s been a champ sitting for me for the past four hours. This is his fourth tattoo and his biggest yet. Despite his hatred of needles and being a wuss with the pain, he’s gotten the bug. It started with Danforth’s ultimatum, the words “and whatever” on the inside of his forearm to match the tattoo on my inner thigh. Only a few days later, he said it looked a little naked without something to match it. So, I complemented it with a simple outline of a lily. You know, for obvious reasons.

After that, he felt that having his other forearm bare made him too heavy on one side. Jackson had the bright idea to get a sibling tattoo with Kayla. So, I gave him a stack of books on his forearm while she got a simple black outline of a bicycle.

That was it.

At least that’s what he said.

Until we started seeing cardinals everywhere. It seemed symbolic until we realized there was a nest outside the nursery window. And what I didn’t know until then was that cardinals mate for life. So, when Jackson said I should fill in my sleeve with an image of a female cardinal, and he’d get the male to match, I couldn’t say no.

Mine’s already been done by my talented apprentice, Vic. Now all that’s left is this last bit of shading and . . .

“Okay, that’s it. Good thing we live together because if I see an error, I can just whip out my gun and—”

“You absolutely will not,” he says with a long sigh.

I laugh and wipe off the excess ink. “Looks great, if I do say so myself.”

Jackson wills himself to peek between his fingers at the finished product. He smiles. “My bicep has never looked better.”

“I’d have to agree,” I say. I blot the tattoo, then sit up and stretch my arms upward. “Oh, God, my back.”

“I wanted to do it in two sessions . . . ”

“I’m pregnant, not broken,” I say, pushing my stool away from the tattoo chair to grab wrap to protect the tattoo.

“It’s pretty impressive, the way you work around your belly.”

I laugh. “Just wait to see me in three months.”

“You will not be tattooing when you’re nine months pregnant.”

I raise an eyebrow. “You’re forbidding me, Jackson?”

“Well, I know I can’t stop you,” he grumbles. “But I’d rather you not.”

“Good boy.” There’s a wave of movement in my belly. I stop and touch the spot, smiling to myself

“Which one?”

I glance back at Jackson. “Lefty.” At almost six months pregnant, the babies have started moving around all the time, and I’m usually able to tell which one is causing the ruckus.

He rolls his eyes. “We really gotta come up with better nicknames.”

“Or names in general,” I say, rolling back to Jackson. I work on covering up the tattoo.

“Feels too early,” he says with a sigh as he looks up at the ceiling.

“You know it’s going to go fast, and then you’re going to be like, ‘Why didn’t we come up with names?’”

Jackson laughs. “Maybe. Probably.”

“There. All done,” I say, the cardinal all covered from view. I start to roll away again, but Jackson grabs my hand and pulls me back to the bench.

“Don’t go yet. Come here.”

I laugh and let him trap me up against the side of the bench. Jackson reaches down on the top of my belly, his big hand looking not as big as it used to. “I know; you can say it. I’m huge.”

“Yeah, that’s a good thing, Lily,” he says.

“Yeah, until I remember they both have to come out .”

Jackson smirks, “It can’t be as bad as getting a tattoo, can it?”

I lift my hand and almost smack him right on the shoulder until I realize I’d be coming down on his fresh tattoo. “You’re not funny!”

I escape from his touch and get to my feet to start tidying. The shop has been open only a couple of weeks and still has that new shop smell. It’s less severe than most of the shops I’ve been in. Light and airy with high ceilings and big windows that, during the day, let all that good natural light in.

Our books are full for the next couple of months, which is fantastic. I owe Carina for the way she promoted me over the past couple of months. But also, it’s been word of mouth. The rumor mill in town for once has worked in my favor. Hell, even Tia has begrudgingly agreed to a session with her husband. That will be a funny day.

It doesn’t feel quite real. Any of it. The shop. My pregnancy. Jackson.

But it’s good. It’s so good.

Jackson comes up behind me, sliding his hands over my belly. “Hey, come here.”

“I have to clean.”

“Just a second, huh?”

He moves us over to the full-length mirror where many a client has already stood, admiring all the angles of my work. “Lemme see,” he says, adjusting my shoulder to show off the female cardinal, her orange beak bright and proud.

I grin, leaning my head back on his chest as he admires our reflection.

He peels back the bandage on his, and we look at the pair of cardinals side by side on our left biceps.

“Mated for life!” I say with an edge of humor. It’s still a concept . . . forever. It hasn’t even been a year. Rationality gets in the way of feeling. Because I’m certain I’ve found my person. I slide my hands down the front of my stomach. Always connected, the two of us.

“Yep, it’s in ink. Can’t go back now.”

I snort and put his bandage back in place. “Don’t tell me you are suddenly getting commitment issues, Mr. I’ve-Been-In-Love-With-You-Since-High-School.”

Jackson wraps his arms around me. “No. Not at all. The opposite, Lil. The exact opposite.”

I melt into him. Still do. Every time. I wait on pins and needles for the moment his touch won’t make me flutter. But it does every time.

“You’re my forever.”

I sigh and nuzzle my face into his chest. For all intents and purposes, the pregnancy is going well. But I’m tired. And my body aches. And there’s constant emotional upheaval in every direction. Everything is both scary and beautiful at once.

It helps I don’t have to do it alone. Not just Jackson, but my mom and dad and, of course, Kayla. Carina too is constantly checking on me. They’ll be moving here in just a couple of weeks so Jackson and Danforth can get a handle on the business before the babies arrive and everything changes.

“Too bad we didn’t go to prom together, and we didn’t get a picture like this,” I say.

Jackson throws his head back in laughter, golden hair tousling angelically. “I think that’s the only upside that it took this long. No awkward prom pics.”

I look up into his eyes. His expression is so soft and loving. I still don’t fully grasp why me. But Jackson does a good job of filling in that gap for me when he can.

He kisses me softly and, when he pulls back, mutters words that bowl me over. “I want you to marry me.”

“Jackson—”

“I’ll do the whole proposal thing. I’ll do it all, but I need to tell you now. I need to know if you want it.”

“Of course, I want it,” I say, though my voice is trembling. It’s all so fast. Good fast. Great fast.

“Before the babies come. I want it all to be official.”

I gasp or laugh; it’s kind of one and the same. “But we only have three months. I—”

“I know, but even a day more is too long. I need that forever, Lily. I need your forever.”

I’m still adding up all of his words, my forehead bent with confusion. I touch his cheek, the hairs of his beard soft and wiry in my palm. “Where is this coming from?”

“It’s always been there. You know I’ve always wanted you.”

“But to marry me, that’s—”

“We’re starting a family together, Lil.”

“Yes, but it was an accident.”

“Which is why every moment since has been on purpose.”

I nearly swallow my tongue. My eyes well with tears.

Jackson spins me in his embrace and pulls me close, cupping my face in his hands. “I want you to be my wife, Lily. Mine. You’re the mother of my children, and you’re the love of my fucking life. You’ve been my dream ever since we used to play in that stupid plastic pool in your parents’ backyard when we were kids.”

I laugh, digging my fingers into his back. My belly is pressed against him, as close as we can be. The twins are acting up. They do when he’s close. They already know him. His touch, his voice, his love. He introduces himself again and again in loving whispers. “I’m Daddy” or “It’s Daddy again” or “Hope you didn’t forget me, I’m your dad.”

Jackson touches the cardinal on my arm. “We’re mated for life. I just want everyone else to understand what that means.”

I smile. “I’ll be your wife.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

He moves in closer, about to kiss me. “You’ll be mine, Lily?”

“I already am.”

Jackson kisses me, his mouth insistent and electrifying.

My blood courses through me, my heart racing. All the excitement sends the twins fluttering. I move Jackson’s hand to the crest of my belly. “You feel? You feel yet?”

It’s been too early every other time. But now, Jackson inhales sharply and his eyes widen as he looks at me. “That’s—”

I beam. “You can feel?”

“Yeah, I can. I can. I . . . ” Jackson slides his hand back and forth, following the movement. He drops to his knees, loops his arms around me, and nuzzles his face to my stomach. “All mine. All of you.”

I glance at our reflection in the mirror.

I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. And the fact I’m in this picture shocks me. That I am a part of something so beautiful.

That I am beautiful.

All thanks to Jackson loving me the way I deserved.