Page 21 of Rowdy & Kat

“What job?”

“She’s a nurse working at a butthole clinic,” I said, knowing the wording would crack up my dad.

As Pax chuckled and the people behind us in the elevator snickered, Bebe frowned at me.

“Are you messing with me?”

“No, she works at a colonoscopy clinic. So does her sister. They’re nurses. Smart chicks. Very cool. Twins, too. You’re going to love them.”

By the time we left the elevator, Bebe’s panic had switched to an irritable uncertainty. She entered the room, wearing a steely expression. Kat and Maria turned to her in unison. Their eyes widened in the same way. It was crazy how similar they were.

“What do you do for a living?” Bebe blurted out.

While Kat remained silent, Maria answered, “We’re nurses at an endoscopy center.”

“See?” I told Bebe. “I wasn’t messing with you.”

My mom’s expression softened as I introduced Pax and her to the twins, but she remained on edge.

“Is Rowdy really the father?” she asked Kat. “If you lie and break my heart, I’ll send my daughters to kick your ass.”

The twins’ eyes grew huge again before Maria insisted, “My sister wouldn’t lie.”

Kat took Maria’s hand to calm her. “I am not lying. Rowdy is the father. I haven’t been with anyone else since my second year of college.”

“How was he?” I asked Kat. “Was the college guy hotter than me?”

Kat looked at me like I was nuts until she realized I was fucking with her. She suddenly grinned. “He was so bad that I didn’t have sex for nearly a decade.”

“I’m glad I could woo your panties off after such a devastating experience.”

Kat and Maria snickered to each other while I took Bebe’s hand. “Come look at my boys. I burped Colson earlier. He’s the screamer.”

Bebe’s wariness melted away when she looked at the boys tucked into their cribs.

Pax helpfully asked, “Who chose these names and can we negotiate new ones?”

Before Kat could get rattled by his words, I lied, “They came to me in a dream. They’re nonnegotiable, but we’re open to middle name ideas.”

Pax rubbed his beard and nodded. “Deal.”

With that, my dad joined a crying Bebe at the cribs. I smiled at Kat and gave her a thumbs up. She laughed at my enthusiasm. Her entire demeanor was different now that she’d safely delivered the boys and enjoyed a nap.

I didn’t know how the rest of the evening would go—especially the visit by my meddling sisters—but I felt like a million bucks as my parents met their first grandsons.

KAT

I felt reborn after my nap. My worries about the boys faded away as I saw them wrapped up in their cribs. Rowdy hadn’t run away or gotten angry with my lies. My sister was still at my side. I could even see my feet again!

I felt presentable by the time Paxton and Bebe Reed entered the hospital room. When Rowdy’s mom confronted me, I didn’t burst into tears. I knew the truth about my babies’ paternity. Besides, once Bebe got a look at her adorable grandsons, she couldn’t withstand the urge to accept them.

Though Paxton also seemed pleased by them, he was mostly interested in middle names.

“I like strong names. Magnum, Winchester, Ruger, Wesson.”

“So you want their middle names to honor guns?” I asked while Rowdy handed Cavan to Bebe, who sat in the nearby chair.

Pax crossed his arms. “More like, I want to honor killing.”