Chapter 174: Her Mother's Love, Part 16, Family

MICHAEL

Slinging one towel around my hips, another in my hand, I head back into the bedroom. They're together between the sheets, naked, sheened with sweat, silent.

He lies with his head pillowed on her breasts, stroking her belly.

Her eyes follow me in. "Thought I was going to wash your back?"

I scrub the towel into my wet hair. "From the sound of things, you were otherwise engaged."

She flashes teeth, then wriggles out from under James. "Just have to do my own then." And she too heads for the shower.

James sits up and I toss him a robe. "Michael," he begins, "I know I've already said it, but thank you. There aren't many men who would have done what you did. Ensuring that I would be the father of her first. I'd always assumed it would be a lottery between us." He shakes his head, rubbing a palm over the back of his skull. "I still can't believe I didn't notice what you were up to, the pair of you."

My voice wry, "It's not as though there aren't other options. Mouth, as