Page 85 of Wild King
“That’s true. There was only about two years between Matthias and Theo.”
As soon as I say his name, it’s like the vibe among the three of us changes. I don’t want that to happen anymore, so I quickly say, “I think it’s great Matthias and Ava named their first son Theo.”
My brothers give me a long, hard look before Marius says, “I heard you apologized for saying all that stuff about Theo and Ava. I’m glad you did that. Matthias may not have been a perfect angel in that situation, but he never meant any harm to Theo.”
“Let’s just say I had to learn the hard lesson about judging people before I figured that out. Matthias was cool about it, though.”
“Good! So we’re one big, happy family again,” Ronan says with a smile, lifting his glass in a toast. “To the King brothers finally all getting along.”
From across the room, Matthias loudly says, “Can we have your attention? Ava and I have an announcement and then we’ve got enough food for an army, so we’re going to need you to eat it or we will.”
Ava stands next to him and takes little Theo into her arms as he begins to whine. “Someone needs to go to bed. We better make this announcement quick before things go downhill.”
Salem walks over to where I’m sitting and stands next to me as we wait for the big news. The baby begins to cry, which drags things out more, and all I want to do is say, “Can you just give the news before your first kid has a conniption?”
“I bet it’s another baby,” she says in my ear.
If it is, that’s great for them. Or maybe it’s that they bought another house. If they plan on having half a dozen or so kids, they might need more rooms.
Finally, a pacifier does the trick, and baby Theo is content enough for his parents to give us their news. Matthias looks like he’s going to explode if he has to keep it all inside for another minute longer, and Ava just beams happiness like she has ever since becoming a mother.
“Can someone please give the details about this top secret thing?” Marius says, relishing his role as malcontent of the family.
“Okay, okay. We’ve tortured you enough. We have three surprises, actually,” Matthias says.
Beside me, Salem says, “Oh my God! They’re having triplets.”
My oldest brother hears that and looks at her in horror. “No, we are not having triplets.” Then he turns to look at Ava and asks, “We aren’t having triplets, right?”
Everyone bursts into laughter at how terrified he sounds, but Ava pats his arm and sweetly says, “No, Matthias. No triplets.”
He lets out a heavy sigh of relief and shakes his head. “For a second there, I nearly passed out. Okay, the first surprise is sort of out of the bag. Ava and I are expecting another baby next summer.”
Salem slaps my arm in excitement as the entire room erupts in cheers. “I knew it!”
Ava quickly adds, “But there are two more surprises.”
“The second one is we’re finally going to get married this Christmastime. We hope you’ll all be able to join us here at the house for the ceremony and reception afterward. We’ve got the invitations to hand out tonight,” Matthias says.
Ava’s friend Eden runs up to her and squeals, “I knew it! It only took a year of being engaged and the birth of your first child. I can’t wait to go shopping for the dress!”
Out of the corner of my eye I see Marius paying more than his usual attention to Eden. Interesting.
Leaning over, I push on his leg and joke, “Seeing anything you like tonight?”
His answer surprises me. With a rare grin, he answers, “Maybe.”
“She’s pretty excited about a dress, dude,” Ronan teases him. “That doesn’t sound like the type of woman you’d like.”
He’s not listening to us comment on his life anymore and instead is staring at Eden as she dances around with little Theo and his parents prepare to tell us their third surprise of the night. Maybe I was wrong about Marius being anti-love.
“Okay, the final surprise is more a me-thing,” Matthias says, staring directly at me as he speaks. “Well, a me and Kellen thing. I didn’t get to talk to him about this, so let’s hope he’s okay with what I’m about to say.”
My heart slams into my chest at the thought of what the next words out of his mouth might be. I look to my left at Salem, but it’s clear by the mixture of confusion and fear in her expression that she has no idea what’s about to happen.
“Um, big brother and bossman, maybe springing things on people when they’ve only had half a glass of whisky isn’t a great thing to do to your brother,” I nervously joke.
Matthias smiles at me like he did that day when we talked right after Theo was born. “I hope you’ll forgive me, Kellen, butin my defense, I did mean to discuss this with you before now. After Ava and I get married, we’re going to be taking a trip with Theo to Europe right after the New Year before Ava gets too pregnant to enjoy it. If you’re willing, I want you to be the interim head of King Industries starting in January and staying in the position all next year. With the honeymoon trip, another baby on the way, and an infant, we’ve got a lot on our plates. I can’t think of another person I trust more to run our company than you. So will you do it?”