CHAPTER TWELVE

Erica watched Moose set Jennifer on the floor, then clean up the mess she'd made during lunch. He grabbed a basket of laundry, put it away, then came back out and put the dishes away.

"Moose, please sit down," she begged.

"Honey, I'm trying to get everything done so that you don't have to do anything," he said, smiling at her.

"Moose, I'm capable of doing things. I need you to stop treating me like I'm incapable, like I'm an invalid. I'm just fine doing everything I was doing before."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "You can't keep carrying your cello."

"Fine. I'll have someone help me carry the cello when I take it to the studio, but everything else I can do myself. You won't even let me carry my own daughter, Moose. Please. I'm begging you, please stop."

Moose stared at her, his heart cracking in two. He wanted nothing more than to ensure her safety and comfort and the safety of Jennifer. He'd placed this baby inside of her. His son. Their son. But he would be big, and Erica was tiny.

"I can't risk losing you," he said, shaking his head.

"You're not going to lose me," she smiled. "You're stuck with me now. We're married, we're a family, and our family is going to continue to grow." Moose kneeled in front of her as she leaned forward, her hands framing his face.

"I love you, Moose. I love you more than just about anything in this world. Jennifer, you, and my cello," she smiled.

"I can live with that order," grinned Moose. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to drive you crazy. This is my issue. I've always worried about a woman having a child by me. A big child. Hell, I always worried about women having sex with me. I just don't want to hurt anyone."

"Moose, you were a SEAL. I feel certain that there have been moments when you had to hurt someone in your career and just by the sheer fact that you're still walking around free, I also have to assume that you never took it too far."

Moose held his tongue, remembering a time or two when he probably went too far. Hell, he'd gone a bit too far when killing the man responsible for brutalizing his ex-wife. And he didn't even love her any longer. He wondered how far he would go if someone touched Erica or Jennifer.

"I promise I'll try to do better," he said, kissing her sweetly. Erica smiled at him, nodding toward Jennifer, who'd fallen asleep on the floor of the living room. Reaching between them, she rubbed his bulging cock, licking her lips.

"I need you, Moose," she moaned.

"What? No, you can't need me," he said in a panicked voice. "I'll hurt the baby."

"Moose, you could never hurt the baby, never. Look at the information that Wilson gave you. We'll be fine. There are ways. I'm going to put one of those ways to use. I'll be on our bed with a pillow below my pelvis, waiting for you to satisfy me. If you don't, I'll be forced to do it myself."

"God," he growled. "When did you get so demanding with sex?"

"When you filled me with your man-child," she grinned. "Read all that information that Wilson gave you. You'll discover that pregnant women often have an insatiable appetite for sex."

It was the fastest orgasm Moose had ever given or received. He was worried about Jennifer asleep in the living room. He was worried about his son in Erica's belly. And more than anything, he was worried about his wife. But damn him to hell, he couldn't refuse her, and he didn't want to. Her body did things to him that he'd only dreamed of. He would never be able to say no to this woman.

By the time they showered and dressed, it was close to dinner time. Moose lay on the floor, gently waking Jennifer from her nap. The minute she saw his face, she smiled, hugging her DaDa. It was his favorite time of the day. When she would wake from the night or from a nap and reach for him, hugging him, calling him DaDa.

The noise of the cafeteria always made Jennifer more excited. All her favorite ‘uncles' were in the room. Now toddling at a faster clip, she would walk a few steps, fall, get back up, and head straight toward Rory, Noah, Max, or Titus. She seemed to enjoy the height of the other men, perhaps because she enjoyed Moose's height.

They would lift her, toss her into the air a time or two, then pass her to the next man. Even the younger kids seemed drawn to her magical smile. Pierre, Hayes, Mattie, Victoria, all of them. They just loved the newest member of their family.

"Any word from Ece?" Moose asked Hiro.

"Nothing yet, brother. But we know that she's in the city."

"How do you know that?" frowned Erica.

"Oh, uh, well, we have a lot of interesting technology that's been developed here. Most of it from G.R.I.P., our research and development firm out on one of the islands." Erica continued to stare at Hiro, and he squirmed a bit. Hearing Moose chuckle, he knew it was okay to reveal some of the information to her.

"We've developed technologies that can tap into most telephones, computers, security cameras, just about anything remotely."

"You don't have to be near it or touch it?" she asked.

"No. Absolutely not. A few months back, we adopted a number of children that had been taken and used because of their advanced intellect," said Hiro. "Victoria, Hayes, Nigel, Spencer, Brady, Marilisa, and Monroe all have IQs that are much higher than the average person's. They have no families, no one that wanted to take them in. We were concerned about putting them in the system or with someone who might use them again.

"So, members of our own family adopted them. Brady was adopted by Noa and Kelsey; Marilisa is now with Trev and Ashley; Nigel and Spencer insisted that they are brothers, so they were adopted by Fitz and Zoe; Monroe was adopted by Jax and Ellie; Victoria was adopted by Mo Ophelia; and Hayes was adopted by Scout and Hoot. Victoria and Hayes are older and would have probably aged out of the system, but we felt like they needed us."

"That's remarkable," she smiled. "So, do the children work here?"

"No. Absolutely not," said Hiro. "They attend school, participate in anything they like, music, art, sports, anything, and in their spare time they can help at G.R.I.P., but only if they want to. The older kids are taking college courses virtually, sometimes live."

"That must be terrifying for them," said Erica.

"It was, initially. Then, the parents all worked out a schedule where they would accompany the kids to their classes. Problem solved."

"When Jennifer is old enough to attend school, will she do that here?" asked Erica. Moose nodded.

"We have a private elementary school here on-property. When the kids are older, we send them to a private school outside the grounds that's open to all kids in the area. The school is owned and operated by Matthew and Irene. Teachers are interviewed, vetted, and screened by us. We have so many kids here at any given time, we can practically fill a school," said Moose.

"It's how I grew up," smiled Patrick. "What's up, Moose?"

"Not much, man," grinned the big man.

"As you know, I'm a triplet," said Patrick. "Christopher, Sadie, and I went to school here on the property, then to the private school. All our friends did as well. It was like having instant friendships and family on your first day of school. Not a lot of kids get that."

"No, they don't," frowned Erica. "I didn't. I went to a school of my father's selection when in North Korea, except for the musical education I received. That was all my mother and, now I suspect, my grandfather."

"Well, our little Jennifer and the little man, Bear, will get a choice," said Moose. "Not for elementary school, but they can choose whatever college, university, or branch of the military they desire."

"Even Jennifer," smirked Erica. "I mean, what if she wants to be a Marine?"

"A Marine?" frowned Moose. "Come on, a Marine?"

"Careful, big man," growled Rory. "I like your kid, but you I can get rid of."

The table laughed, light-hearted and feeling comfortable with the banter. For Erica, she realized just how far she'd come these last few months. Recognizing what her father had done in forcing her to be with a man she didn't love, having his child, extricating herself from his life, then the death of her father was a lot. But to be kept safe by Moose, falling in love with the man was almost too much to even dream.

"You okay, baby?" he whispered in her ear.

"I'm perfect," she said, smiling at him. "I'm literally perfect. My life is nothing like I imagined it would be. Lonely, frightened, always looking over our shoulders. You saved me, Moose. You."

"Oh, honey, don't you know that you saved me, too," he said, kissing her. She wiped her eyes.

"Sorry, I'm a bit hormonal," she laughed.

"Don't be sorry, sweetie," said Christopher. "You forget that our wives had triplets. Damn. Margo and Ramey were insane during the first few months. Top that with our already insane sister, Sadie, and the island mansion was more like an island funhouse."

"Well, I feel for all three of them. Carrying one baby is difficult, but carrying three must have been unbearable."

"I've carried bigger loads on my back," smirked Patrick. Erica raised her brows, staring at him.

"Is that right?" She stood, walking toward Gray. They watched as she spoke to her, waving her hands in the air animatedly. The woman nodded, laughing, then sent a text to the clinic. A few minutes later, Ajei walked in with a small suitcase.

"You've carried a bigger load, is that right?" asked Erica.

"Well, I mean, yeah. But. What the hell is that?"

Ajei took the device from the suitcase and began strapping it around the mid-section of Patrick, while Gray took a second device and did the same to Christopher. Ramey and Margo just watched, smiling to themselves. They knew exactly what the devices were.

"What is this?" frowned Moose.

"These devices simulate labor pains," smiled Gray. "We have others that simulate menstrual cramps."

"Labor pains?" laughed Christopher. "Come on, Gray. This won't be any harder than getting through BUDs."

"We'll see, big man. Every notch is an increase in labor that a woman would experience as she dilates. It will be slow at first, then speed up."

"Bring it on," smirked Patrick. "I can take it."

"Why do I get the feeling you shouldn't have said that?" asked Moose.

"Whatever, dude. Oh!" he said, jerking his body forward. "Oh, okay. I get it. That's nothing."

"That was level one," said Ajei.

As the levels were increased, the two men tried to hold back on screaming in pain. They were both red-faced, sweating, and leaning forward on their knees. When Ajei hit level seven, the two men screamed out loud, the entire room staring at them.

"That's enough! That's enough!" said Patrick.

"Nope, not enough," said Gray. "You're not even close to delivery yet."

"I can't believe this," gasped Christopher. "I can't believe it. I can't believe you went through this." He turned to look at Ramey, and she just smiled at him.

When Gray finally hit level ten, the two men were on the floor in the fetal position, begging for mercy. She finally let them off the hook, not putting them through several minutes of non-stop labor pains.

"If you're ever interested, we have similar devices that mimic menstrual cramps. Just let me know if you'd like to experience that."

Able to finally catch their breath, they stood and took their seats beside their wives, hugging them fiercely. Erica just looked at the men, smiling.

"Now, what was that you were saying about carrying a heavy pack?"