Recipe for Love

Epilogue

"I don't give damn what your great grand father was known for I'm not naming our son Suleiman." I tell Mike. He chuckles and nods.

"Alright forget family names. Any name at all in the twenty thousand or so we've been through you like?"

"No." I tell him.

"A real no or a no because you are in pain and grumpy."

"Of course I'm in pain, I'm in labor for hell's sake."

"You keep cussing and I'm gonna start lowering my standards for your congratulatory desert." Mike tells me.

"That's just cruel."

"Maybe but it'll be effective. I agree with Tyler its a habit that should be broken before the baby is here, and you are at the wire." I sighed and glared at Tyler. He and Alex were across the room from Mike. I was on the stupid bed in the middle for the entire world to ogle as they came and went.

"Alright fine."

"Now, name, he's almost here he needs a name."

"Of the all the names I've heard, Seth, Xavier, and Luke aren't bad. I could live with those."

"Then Seth Simon he is and we'll hold the other two in reserve for the next boy." Mike says.

"Why Simon?"

"Because you birthed him." Mike says.

"That'll work since the next time you are gonna go through this sh...." I stopped and sighed. "I'm gonna gonna need something to say. Not saying anything is gonna kill me."

"Try foods." Mike suggests. "For instance instead of what you were just gonna say say shortcake instead." I rolled my eyes then hisses as another contraction went through me.

"Ha five minutes. You owe me another nights baby sitting." Mike tells Alex.

"He's faking it so you'll win."

"I love him but not enough to fake anything right now." Mike smiled and I knew he was gonna say something suggestive.

"He never fakes it with me." He says wiggling his eyebrows. Tyler laughs.

"You never did tell me how this came about. I looked it up the chances for you two were nearly as bad if not worse for Alex and I."

"You don't need to know." I tell him.

"Why not, come on you know all kinds of stuff about our sex life hell you've given me advice on how to get him going quicker." Tyler said.

"He did what?" Alex asks.

"Well I did sleep with you for decades if ever anyone would know it'd be be. Thought I think he's gotten all my tricks by now. I could tell him about your elf thing."

"Don't you dare or I'll refuse to baby sit, ever."

"It's worth it." I say turning to Tyler who is now all ears. "I found out on accident one year he's got this thing of Santa elves. I had volunteered at some hospital and they made me wear the stupid outfit. You could pull it off better and Christmas is coming up." I could see Tyler already planning that surprise for him.

"You are an evil man if he gets pregnant again I'm blaming you." Tyler laughed.

"So Alex, any advice for me?" Mike asks standing up.

"Yeah, he likes red underwear, cans of whipped cream and if you top it all with some really bad country you'll be pregnant before he can say get the baby." Alex says. I look at him.

"Traitor."

"Dare I ask about the red underwear." Mike says laughing.

"Forget it." I tell him but Alex goes on.

"I got them as a Christmas present from a girl hoping to get to see me in them and them only, then nothing. They were perfectly good underwear so I wore them for Christmas spirit. He went mad for some reason, put his ass on my plate and I burned the hamburgers I was making." Alex says, now the whole room is rolling with laughter. I shake my head.

"If we're swapping stories. How about new years that same year?"

"Go ahead. It was horrible but I lived."

"He and I got a new years party, we go as a date, so that people won't expect us to go home with them. Midnight comes he's tonguing me, pulls back looks straight past my shoulder to his mother who had been in town and gotten invited because he was going to be there. The one and only time I met his mother and he got ten minutes of an ear full for cheating on the little blond he'd lied about dating to her."

"She kept asking about grand kids. I didn't want kids yet and if I was constantly dating she gave me less grief. So I told her I was taking my pretty little blond girlfriend to a new years ever party. She came wanting to meet this paragon I spoke of and saw me giving him a really passionate kiss. After the ten minute tirade about what a horrible person I am I explain that she broke up with me so I came stag and met Simon who she loved."

"I was better than nothing but I doubt she really thought we'd go anywhere." I said, Alex snorted.

"We didn't."

"See she was right again. Now Tyler she'd have really loved."

"Oh god, she'd have moved to town and been here everyday babysitting. He'd be set so high on a pedestal if he fell he'd break his neck." Alex said laughing. "That she had two granddaughters and a grandson would cement Tyler being the most wonderful person in the world that he was perfect on his own would be the cherry on top." Tyler was blushing.

"You really think she'd like me that much?"

"I know so." Alex said to him. "But speaking of mothers," Alex looked at me. I just shook my head. "He met her over the summer he knows how crazy she is. Go ahead."

"Did you know that his mother was convinced that she was having another girl. Went on and on for six months about the little girl she'd have. Had nothing but girls clothes ready and he had to wear girls clothes for the first three months because, in her words 'they were perfectly good clothes and she'd use them.'

"Oh god where are those pictures."

"I burnt them about the time I turned fifteen and started dating. She showed one date and that was it. I have a grand total of five left and I swore to myself she'd not know about them until after I had the gloating power of a grand kid to give her as a bribe not to put them in the public albums. She already promised in the baby album only, but I'm not handing them over till we go to visit with Seth." Mike smiled at me.

"Hmm, you were a chunky baby, I bet you were adorable." I laughed.

"Now I know you love me. Come here." I kissed him then jerked back and gasped.

"What?" He asked, a hand flying to my stomach.

"My water just broke." With Alex, Tyler and Mike the man I never thought to love as much as I did, I pushed a nine pound, has to be a bear, kid out of my body.

"I had one, anymore are your job."

"How about I do the next one and we flip a coin after that?" Mike countered.

"Sure. Next time I'm home I'll find my old trick coin." I held our baby in my arms. With the mess over we'd let Payton come in the room. Their twins Lindsay and Keith had to stay in the other room. My family was flying in tomorrow to see our new son.

"So what do you think Payton?" I ask her. She smiles and leans down. She kisses the babies head. As she sits back up we all hear her first word.

"Mine." I laugh.

"Well how about we share until he's old enough to date."

I turn to Mike. He'd become my husband over the summer. Pulling him down for a kiss. I smile and steal her word.

"Mine."

"Always and forever." He tells me.