Zane & Lucky's First Christmas (Forever Love, #5) (3 page)

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Ding dong
. I ran to the door excitedly, only pausing to take a breath before I opened it nonchalantly.

“Hey,” I smiled, expecting to see Robin on the other side of the door.

“Hey, bro. What’s up?” Leonardo’s handsome mug grinned back at me before he reached over and gave me a brotherly hug.

“Leo,” I hugged him back and tried not to show my disappointment. “How are you?”

“I’m good, but I want to hear everything.” He stared at me and laughed. “Look at you all buff, I see you’ve been working out a lot more.”

“Well, you know.” I laughed as I let him in, and we walked to the living room. “There’s not much to do when you’re in hiding.” I looked over at my brother’s best friend and chuckled before becoming serious. “It was hard being away.”

“I bet.” He gave me a look. “We thought you were dead.”

“I know.”

“Zane was devastated.”

“I know.”

“Don’t do it again.” He gave me a look and I nodded, understanding his unspoken words. I had nearly killed my brother inside and out. It had been selfish of me to disappear and not say anything; I still thought my reasons were respectable, but as time went by, I was starting to see that I didn’t have to be a martyr in the situation.

“So Zane got himself a
hottie,” Leo joked, breaking the tension in the room.

“I heard that, Leo.” Zane came running down the stairs and into the living room. “Don’t you go getting any thoughts into your head.”

“Scared of a little competition?” Leo joked and Zane laughed.

“Never.”

“If Lucky’s a smart girl, I think we both know how this will end.” Leo winked at Zane and I laughed.

“Yeah, she’ll choose me.” I joined the conversation and Zane gave me a small glare.

“Who’ll choose you?” Lucky had a big bright smile on her face as she walked down the stairs in a simple white dress.

“These two fools think that you would actually give them a chance if I wasn’t in the picture.” Zane walked over to her and grabbed her hand. I smiled to myself as I watched him pull her into the crook of his arms. It was amazing to see Zane so protective and caring with Lucky.

“Oh, Leo. You’re here.” Lucky pulled away from Zane and ran up to Leo with a delighted face. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

“Zane texted and said pizza was on the way.” He laughed. “I couldn’t say no to that, plus I haven’t seen Noah since he’s been back. I wanted to lay my eyes on him.” He hugged her back tightly, and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. “You’re looking positively radiant, Lucky. Probably the most beautiful mother-to-be I’ve ever seen. You almost make me want kids.”

“You’ll have gorgeous kids.” Lucky blushed and grinned and I laughed at the murderous look on Zane’s face as he watched her with his friend.

“It’s a pity Zane got to you before me.”

“That’s enough, Leo.” Zane walked over and stood next to Lucky. “Maybe it’s time to get your own girl.”

“No thanks.” Leo shuddered. “I don’t have time for the stress and drama that comes along with relationships – no offense, Lucky.”

“None taken.” She laughed and put her arms around Zane’s waist. “Trust me, sometimes I wonder how I put up with this guy.”

“Because you love me, duh.”

“I won’t love you so much if you keep embarrassing me.”

“Sure.” Zane laughed and walked into the kitchen. “You guys want a beer while we wait on the pizza?”

“I’ll take a Bud.” Leo lounged down on the chair and stared at me. “So, you dating anyone?” He gave me a quick look and I shook my head.

“Nah, not really. Not now that I have a kid to look after.”

“A kid?” His eyes bulged wide open and I laughed.

“I adopted a little girl.” I smiled. “You’ll have to meet her.”

“Whoa, I go away for a few weeks and I miss everything.” Leo shook his head in wonderment and I was about to tell him more about Skylar when the doorbell rang. My heart thudded as I walked over to it quickly, hoping to see Robin on the other side.

“Hey,” I opened the door with a wide smile and sighed when I saw the pizza deliveryman.

“Hey, pizza delivery.” He said in a monotone voice. I tried not to roll my eyes at him or say something smart like “I thought you were the paperboy.”

“What’s the damage?” I took out my wallet and pulled out some bills.

“There is no damage to your pizza, sir.” The pimply-faced teenager looked at me with a blank expression.

“What?” I frowned and then realized he had misunderstood my question. “What’s the total?”

“I didn’t total anything, Sir. I only tapped the back of that car. It wasn’t totaled at all.” He stammered as he held the boxes in his hands, and it was at this point that I realized that he was either high or the biggest idiot I had ever met.

“How much money do I owe you?”

“You don’t owe me, oh wait.” He paused as he realized what I was asking. “A hundred should do it.”

“A hundred dollars?” I asked him incredulously.

“Yes, sir.” He beamed at me and nodded. “A hundred dollars will take care of the bill nicely. Plus tip of course.”

I grabbed the boxes from his hand and handed him $40, before glaring at him. “You better believe I’m going to call your boss and report you. Now get out of here. And don’t try to pull this scam on anyone else.”

“But sir,” his eyes widened in panic. “The bill is $55.”

“Then I suggest you find $15 from somewhere.” I smirked at him and slammed the door shut before he could say anything else. I turned around and saw that Lucky was standing right behind me, with a surprised expressi
on, but laughter in her eyes. “Did that just happen?” I asked her and she burst out laughing.

“That was hilarious.” She grinned, while wiping tears away. “If I hadn’t just witnessed that, I would never have believed it.”

“They’re letting any old fool be a pizza delivery guy these days.”

“What is the world coming to?” She grinned and shook her head. And then the doorbell rang again and she smiled at me. “You go and take those boxes to the kitchen and I’ll take care of him this time.”

“Okay,” I grinned and walked back to the kitchen, sad that I wasn’t going to get to hear Lucky give Dopey a piece of her mind. I put the boxes on the counter and pulled out some plates, while Zane opened up the bottles of beer.

“Shit, that pizza smells good.” Zane groaned and opened up a box. “It tastes good too,” he mumbled through a mouthful of pepperoni.

“Thanks for waiting on us all to get a plate before you started, greedy bear.”

“Whatever.” He laughed and handed me a beer. I took a swig of Bud and then froze as I heard a tinkle of feminine laughter that didn’t belong to Lucky. Robin was here.  I quickly placed the bottle back down and ran my hands through my hair. My heart started beating rapidly, and I turned around slowly before walking back into the living room with a big smile on my face. Joy poured through me when my eyes fell upon her – she looked as beautiful as I remembered her, and she looked happy as she stood there laughing. I stared at her for a moment, just memorizing her features, when a feeling of jealousy spread through me. Robin wasn’t just laughing at some random joke. She was laughing up at Leo, who was laughing down at her, and very obviously admiring her goods. I felt a surge of anger as I stared at handsome Leo flirting with her. He was a blond Adonis and I knew that to most women, he was one of the most handsome and charismatic men they had ever met. I was scared that now that Robin had seen him, that she wouldn’t be interested in me; especially as we had already had a bit of a rocky start. I stood there for a moment more just glaring at Leo, and then I caught myself. I was being just like Zane, only I didn’t yet have the girl.

“Hi, Robin,” I gave her a wide smile, trying to mask my jealousy, and she turned to look at me in what seemed like slow motion.

“Hi, Noah.” She gave me a light smile and my heart flipped as our eyes met. All of a sudden, the room seemed empty. There was no one else in this moment than her and I, and
every fiber of my body was aware of that fact. I walked over to her slowly, and she moved towards me as well until we stopped in front of each other and just stood there in front of each other, smiling like idiots.

“I’m starving.” Leo’s voice interrupted our moment and I looked up and saw a tinge of disappointment in his eyes.

“Me too.” Robin turned towards him and smiled and his eyes lit up again. I frowned as they exchanged a small look. What was going on here?

“You always did love pizza.” Leo laughed and I froze.

“You guys know each other?” I looked back and forth at them and noticed that Robin was blushing.

“
Kinda.” She mumbled and Leo nodded.

“We went on a few dates.” Leo shrugged as he looked at me and I looked back at Robin.

“And then he just never called me again.” She laughed, but I could tell that she was still hurt. “I guess that’s what happens when you don’t put out right away.”

“That wasn’t why I didn’t call.” Leo’s voice was soft. “That wasn’t why at all.”

“Oh well, let’s eat before the pizza gets cold.” Lucky looked at Zane with a worried expression and ushered us all into the kitchen. “We can all catch up later after we eat.”

“Hungry, are we Lucky?” Zane raised an eyebrow at her suggestively and she hit him in the arm.

“Yes, but not for you.”

“That’s hurtful.” He pouted. “You better not try and jump on me tonight, I have a feeling I will be too tired.”

“You’re never too tired.”

“Tonight I will be.”

“Children, children.” Robin grinned and walked past me and quickly into the kitchen behind them. I stood there for a moment and tried to control my breathing. Leo came and stood next to me and gave me a look.

“I didn’t know you were dating Robin.”

“I didn’t know you dated Robin.” I gave him a side look and his eyes looked pained.

“I didn’t dump her because she wouldn’t sleep with me.” He sighed. “I really like her.”

“Like or liked?” I frowned at his words.

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I didn’t expect to see her tonight.”

“I like her a lot.” I bit my lower lip. “I can see her in my life forever.”

“So could I.” Leo looked away from me and mumbled under his breath. “That was the problem.” I pretended that I didn’t hear him and looked away quickly.

“Well, it’s good that you’re a confirmed bachelor or this could have been a problem.” I faked a laugh and gave him one quick glance before I walked into the kitchen. I looked back at Leo, who was just standing there, and my stomach flipped with worry. Leo looked like anything but a confirmed bachelor at that moment and I had a feeling that my attempt to win over Robin over was about to get a lot more complicated.

Chapter 3

Lucky

I was dreading going in to look at wedding dresses. I wasn’t sure what size to get, since I wasn’t sure how quickly I was going to grow. I also didn’t know what color dress to get. Could I get a white dress if I was showing up to the altar with a big belly full of babies? The fact that I was a pregnant bride took away from the whole virginal maiden concept, and I didn’t want to be a hypocrite. I was certainly no virgin.

“Whatcha doing?” Zane slid down on the couch next to me and picked up one of the magazines from the coffee table.

“Deciding what to wear to the wedding.” I made a face at him and showed him the magazine in my hand. “I can’t decide if I should dress traditionally or if I should get a short red dress, with a high slit and lace over the breasts.”

“Hmm, do I get to decide?” Zane’s hand slid around my waist and I giggled as I pushed him off.

“No, you don’t.”

“Is this going to be a striptease-type wedding?” His eyes sparkled at me. “Because if it is, I’d rather no one else be there but us.”

“Uh huh.” I rolled my eyes at him and his fingers slid up my torso again.

“If you want we can practice the stripping part right now.” His fingers crept across my right breast and paused. “You can start with your top if you want.”

“I don’t want.”

“Aw, you’re no fun, Lucky.”

“All you think about is sex.” I hit his fingers and shook my head. “I’m sure you’d love it if it was a striptease wedding. Maybe you’d like the wedding to be in the bedroom and officiated online. Maybe we can even be naked. That way you don’t have to wait for the dress to come off.”

“Uh oh.” Zane pulled away from me and made a face. “What did I do now? Is this your PMS talking?”
“I’m pregnant, Zane. I’m not getting a period any time soon.” I jumped up and threw the magazine on the couch. “And if you knew anything you would know that, you insensitive jerk. All you care about is sex.”

“Oh God.” Zane jumped up and made a face. “Are we going to have this conversation again?” He reached over and grabbed me, and grabbed my chin until I was looking up at him. “Do you really think I only want sex?” His blue eyes pierced into my soul as he stared at me tenderly and I could feel my heart melting as my anger dissipated.  “Because you’d be right.” He laughed at me, his eyes crinkling and I shook my head at him as I joined him in his laughter.

“You’re lucky I don’t take you seriously, Mr. Beaumont.”

“What fun would that
be, Mrs. Beaumont-to-be?”

“You can’t say such things to a pregnant woman. We are emotional beings, you know.”

“Really? I couldn’t tell.” He bent down and kissed me before pulling away. “Now how can I help you with your dress? Do you want me to come with you to try on dresses?”

“You can’t see me in my wedding dress before we get married.” I shook my head.

“Why not?”

“It’s not allowed.”

“Says who?”

“Says tradition. It’s bad luck for the groom to see me in my wedding dress before the wedding.”

“I’ve already seen your birthday suit, what does some dress matter?” He laughed.

“That’s not the point.” I groaned. “Everyone will know you’ve seen my birthday suit already, because I’ll be fat at my wedding.”

“You won’t be fat.”

“I’m going to look like a bloated pig. People are going to say it was a shotgun wedding.” I sighed.

“It doesn’t matter what people say.”

“Yeah, to you. You’re not the one that the priest is going to look at disapprovingly because you had sex before marriage.”

“At least you’re getting married and not going to raise them alone.” Zane shrugged.

“Most women don’t choose to be single mothers.” I pushed him away from me. “That’s the sort of attitude I’m talking about. You men have it so easy. You choose whethe
r
.”

“Lucky, I love you, but do we have to have another male-bashing conversation right now?” Zane pouted at me and I glared at him as he made faces at me trying to make me laugh.

“You think you can make everything better with a goofy face?”

“No, I think I can make everything better with sex. But I’m trying goofy faces first.” He winked at me and I pursed my lips to stop myself from smiling at him. “I can see you’re trying not to smile, Lucky.”

“I’m going into the kitchen.” I turned away from him with a huff and he followed me.

“We can always elope in Vegas, you know.”

“That’s not romantic.” I sighed.

“We could make it romantic.”

“I don’t want to get married in Vegas. I want a proper wedding with a priest in a church, and I want my dad to give me away and I want my mom to help me.” My lower lip trembled as I voiced the real reason for my sadness and anger.

“I’m sorry.” Zane’s voice was low and he looked at me sadly. “I know you miss them.”

“Now more than ever.” I looked at him with misty eyes. “Who’s going to give me away?”

“I don’t know.” Zane looked at me with a worried expression. “I could.”

“Zane, you cannot give me away.” I giggled, slightly exasperated. “You’re the one marrying me. You can’t give yourself your blessing.”

“I can if I want to.” He smiled at me sweetly. “We don’t have to have a traditional wedding, you know. You don’t have to have someone give you away. You can walk up the aisle yourself. Or maybe we could have a beach wedding.”

“A beach wedding would be nice.” I smiled at him. “I was actually thinking about that.”

“And maybe Noah could walk with you down the aisle.”

“But isn’t he your best man?”

“I think he can do both jobs.” Zane smiled. “I’m sure he’d be happy to do both.”

“Do you think so?” I asked hopefully, and then my heart sank. “I don’t know if that would be fair, though. After everything that’s going on with Robin.”

“Don’t remind me of that.” Zane frowned. “What a mess.”

“I know. I thought a fight was going to break out at the end of the night when Leo offered Robin a ride home.”

“I know.” Zane shook his head. “I’ve never seen Noah look so mad before.”

“Poor Robin.” I made a face. “What a position to be in.”

“More like poor me. What a position for me to be in.” Zane’s eyes were wide. “My best friend and my brother are in love with the same girl.”

“And from the looks of it, she has feelings for both.” I continued. “Poor girl.”

“Poor Noah.”

“Poor Leo.” I made a face. “One of them is going to be heartbroken.” I chewed on my lower lip. “Though, I suppose I do have a replacement for one of them.”

“If you mention
Leeza’s name, the wedding is off.” Zane glared at me.

“Well, I guess I’m going to be a single mom then.” I stared at him and he pulled me towards him.

“There is no way in hell you will ever be a single mom. I will be by your side forever. Even when you don’t want me there.” He growled before he kissed me hard, his lips pressing down on mine eagerly before he stuck his tongue into my mouth. “You are mine forever, Lucky Beaumont.”

“I’m still Lucky Morgan right now.”

“You’re mine, no matter your name.” He pulled away from me slightly and stared into my eyes. “You know that, right? We’re a team. You never have to go through anything alone. No thought is too small or too petty to share with me. I want you to come to me with everything. I want to be here for you in every way.”

“You’re too sweet. What happened to the man I met in the diner?”

“I’m still here. I’m just a ball of mush now.”

“I love you.” I kissed his lips lightly. “Thank you for being you.”

“No, thank you for marrying me.”

“Thank you for asking.”

“Thank you for having my babies.”

“Thank you for loving our babies.”

“Thank you for letting me have unprotected sex with you.” He whispered and I hit him in the shoulder.

“Zane! Just when I think you’re not going to be a dumbass.”

“You wouldn’t want me if I didn’t entertain you.”

“Whatever.”

“What to go and have some unprotected sex?”

“What?” I glared at him.
“It’s not like you can get pregnant right now.”

“I swear you’re lucky I love you, Zane Beaumont.” I shook my head. “No, we are not going to have sex now. But yes, you can take me to the mall so that we can look at baby furniture.”

“Oh no.” He groaned. “Do I have to?”

“Do you want to attend a baby class with me tonight instead?”

“This is a trick question, isn’t it?” He paused and narrowed his eyes. “You expect me to attend the class with you whether I like it or not, don’t you?” He cocked his head to the side and a smile spread across his face. “Why Lucky, I do believe you’re becoming a sly one, aren’t you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I laughed.

“Do we really have to go and look at cribs?”

“No,” I paused and smiled slowly. “We can go and check out the diapers instead.”

Zane groaned and put his face in his hands. “Diapers, cribs, baby classes. What have I done?”

“Tell me about it. I have to take off next semester.”

“What?” He looked up at me. “Why?”

“I’ll have a new baby. I can’t handle school and motherhood.”

“I’ll be here to help.”

“The man who doesn’t know anything about babies?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“I guess I can attend a few more classes with you.”

“With no sexual innuendos?”

“You’re really trying to take all the fun out of it, aren’t you?”

“Fun is what got us in this position.”

“Oh my God, we’re going to be parents.” Zane’s face went pale and I knew that it was hitting him fresh all over again.

“We’ll be fine.”

“I’m glad one of us believes that.”

“Let’s have some fun tonight.” An idea flashed into my mind. “Let’s go to karaoke and just relax.”

“I thought you wanted to go and look at baby stuff?”

“That can wait.” I shook my head. “The stores will still be there tomorrow. Tonight I want us to go karaoke.”

“Did I hear someone say karaoke?” Noah walked into the room with Skylar, who was sucking on a lollipop.

“What’s
ka-aoke?” Skylar looked at Noah with inquisitive eyes and bright blue lips. I tried not to laugh at the sight the two of them made. Noah was also sucking on a lollipop and he had bright green lips.

“It’s when people go out and sing to well-known songs.”

“Or not as well-known.” Zane corrected him. “I remember you singing a certain song called ‘Snakes going to get hurt’ and no-one in the bar knew it.”

“It was famous in France.” Noah laughed and Skylar’s eyes lit up.

“I wanna go to France and sing about snakes.”

“Hmm, I’d rather you sing about cows and pigs on a farm.” Noah smiled at her gently and ignored the other part of her comment.

“In France?” she continued.

“No, we’re not going to France.” He tried to sigh, and I felt sorry for him and the memories the thought of France must be bringing up.

“We can play karaoke this weekend if you want, Skylar.” I changed the subject and went over to the little girl. Her hair hung in soft blond tresses down her back and her big sky-blue eyes looked back at me hopefully. “We can sing all the songs you want to sing. We’ll make it a party. You, me, Noah, Uncle Zane.”

“And Aunty Robin and Uncle Leo?” she asked excitedly and starting jumping up and down.

“Stop.” Noah’s voice was a bit harsh. “Stop jumping, Skylar. You can hurt yourself jumping up and down with a lollipop in your mouth.”

“Sorry, Noah.” Her lower lip trembled and he bent down and hugged her.

“I didn’t mean to raise my voice, Sky, I just want to make sure you don’t harm yourself.”

“Because you love me.” She nodded as she spoke. “You only got a little mad because you love me and you want me to be okay. You would never harm me.”

“Exactly, my love.” Noah whispered into her ear and my heart melted as I watched the two of them. Then I thought about Zane being as loving with our children and tears came to me eyes. Zane and Noah were both so loving for two men who had grown up without the love of their parents. It made my heart ache and expand for both of them.

“I can’t wait for my party.” Skylar grinned and stared at me. “Maybe Uncle Leo will sing with me.”

“Maybe.” I smiled back at her, laughing inside. Skylar had barely met Leo for ten minutes when she had woken up and come downstairs the previous evening. But he had already won her over; something that Noah was none too pleased about.

“Leo may not be able to make it, honey.” Noah started and Skylar pouted. “But we’ll see.”

“Okay. I’m going to watch TV.” Skylar ran into the living room and Noah stood up slowly.