Taivon: Book Three of the Cantrell Brothers Series

Chapter Thirty-Three

Playing with the sleeves of her flowing shirt, Alix couldn't help but smile as Jane, Tobias's wife, told them how her pregnancy was going. Her belly looked absolutely gigantic on her small frame, and the way Jane's eyes lit up as she talked about their little boy Tawson had all the women around the table getting a little teary-eyed, even her.

“That's really sweet,” Alix said, all of a sudden feeling shy.

Jane wiped a tear from her eye and beamed at her, sniffling as she said, “Tawson was a sweet man. I'd only met him a handful of times, but Tobias...Him and Tawson were so, so close.” More tears began to fall. “I'm sorry. I've just been so emotional lately. Honestly, I give you all credit for putting up with me.”

“Nothing to worry about, dear,” Tina, Taivon's mom, said and reached over the table to hold Jane's hand. “You should've seen me when I was pregnant with Tobias. I cried all the time, and it didn't help that I had five other boys to look after.” The older woman turned to Titus's wife, Anna, as she came back into the room, a smiling baby girl in her arms. “Did you miss your mommy, little Ella?”

Anna beamed and handed her daughter over to Tina. “I think she wanted to say hi to her grandma.”

Alix could only watch as the redheaded baby and the older woman played around, tiny hands clutching long fingers and a raggedy stuffed rabbit being cuddled between them. Something pulled inside of her then, something that got caught up in the intimacy between this family, and it made her ache inside.

From here in the kitchen, it was so easy to hear Mr. Cantrell, Taivon, and all his brothers in the living room as some sports channel played on TV. They were talking in more quiet tones, and she heard all different types of voices, but she never once heard Taivon's soft speech.

“Your family's still plannin' on coming tomorrow, right?” the older woman asked as she continued to play with Ella.

“Yeah, of course! But fair warning, Dad just expanded one of the arenas and built another barn. That's probably all him and Titan are gonna be talking about. Heck, that's all he ever wants to talk about with Titus. Well, that and a few more grandkids, but-”

“How many are you planning on?”

Anna blushed. “I figure we'll know, ya know? But Titus wants-”

“What do I want?” The tall man walked in and all but picked his wife off the stool before hugging her to him. He literally dominated the room, and when he started nuzzling Anna's neck like nobody else was in the room with them...It made Alix want to just grab Taivon, walk to a place where they could be all alone, and be taken by him.

“Titus Arthur Cantrell.” His mother smacked his hands until he took a step back, looking thoroughly scolded. “You have all the time in the world to do that, but not now. I swear, you and your brothers want to send me to an early grave.”

Titus ignored her, kissed Anna once more on the cheek, and grabbed a beer from the fridge before going back into the living room where some cursing could be heard. It was so strange how all of the brothers looked so much alike. Everything but their hair was the same. Other than that, they were all the perfect mix of their parents.

And then, as if the Cantrell women had all just telepatically made a decision, all sets of eyes were on her. Even little seven-year-old Callie had those blue eyes trained on Alix.

She hadn't even been her an entire hour and and hoped to God that she didn't mess anything up. Picking up the glass in front of her, Alix took a sip of lemonade and tried not to look as nervous as she felt.

“So, how'd you and Taiv meet?” Anna asked her.

She took another drink of lemonade and cleared her throat. “Oh...uhm...he just came in one night and...kept coming in.”