“I wore it better. Sunnie even said so, and since it wasn’t a planned,” she air quoted, “‘partner costume,’ I was the winner because it was my awesome idea. So I have three wins to your two.”
Colm let the debate end there, simply because they’d already had this fight approximately forty-two thousand times since that Halloween. He let his casual shrug tell her he wasn’t conceding. “Doesn’t matter. This year, I’ve got it in the bag. My family might even decide it’s the greatest costume of all time and stop holding the contest altogether since it’ll never be topped.”
“We’ll see.” Then she glanced at her phone and winced. “It’s after one, Colm.”
He groaned as he pushed himself up from the couch. “Tomorrow is not going to be fun.”
Kelli followed him to the kitchen as he grabbed both of them a bottle of water, then they locked up, turned out the lights, and headed for the stairs.
When they reached the top, she stopped at the threshold to Finn’s room, watching as Colm continued to his door. Once he was there, he turned back to look at her.
“Night, Kell.”
“Night,” she repeated. “And, Colm, thanks.”
He nodded and smiled before walking into his room and closing the door, trying to recall if Kelli Peterson had ever thanked him for anything before.
Then he tried to remember if he’d ever done anything worthy of her thanks.
That thought provoked a chuckle…until he shed his clothes and flopped down onto his bed.
Kelli wanted a baby.
Those words drifted through his mind as he closed his eyes, lulled to sleep by the image of him holding his own baby in his arms, rocking the little thing to sleep.
It was peaceful and perfect.
Until he realized Kelli was there too.
What the fuck was that about?
“Too much Guinness,” he murmured just before he fell asleep.
Chapter Three
Kelli laughed once again when Colm walked—or more accurately, stomped—by her in his Hagrid costume. The man had actually bought platform boots that added at least six more inches to his already six-foot-four height.
When she and Robbie had first arrived at the Collins Dorm for the Halloween party, it had taken her close to five minutes to figure out it was Colm in the costume. The majority of his face was hidden beneath a shaggy beard and wig, and he’d added quite a bit of padding under the long, tattered trench coat. No part of the well-dressed lawyer was present tonight, and though it killed her to admit it, he looked so much like the character, it was uncanny.
“I’m going to grab another beer,” Robbie said, pointing toward the kitchen where the keg was. “Want anything?”
She lifted her wineglass. “Nope, I’m good. Just refilled. Something I’m going to pay for tomorrow.” She really did need to get a grip on her wine consumption. She was out of control this week.
Oh, who was she fooling? This decade.
Robbie grinned. “We’re celebrating.”
“Damn right we are,” she said with a laugh as he walked away.
“What are you celebrating? You lost the costume contest, Merida,” Colm said, somehow managing to sneak up on her from behind, a pretty amazing feat considering he really wasn’t very quiet in those boots.
God only knew what the patrons of Pat’s Pub below thought was going on up here. Colm’s dad, Tris, had come up earlier to ask if they were using a jackhammer on the floor. He’d taken one look at Colm’s costume, rolled his eyes, muttered “competitive bastard” under his breath, and gone right back downstairs.
She’d been so sure she would take first prize this year. She had the hair, the dress, the bow and arrows, everything just perfect for her favorite Scottish Disney princess. She’d worn the costume to school yesterday, and her kids had gone out of their little minds. Of course, it helped that she had long red hair and they constantly told her she looked just like Merida.
Kelli narrowed her eyes at Lucas and Caitlyn, this year’s costume contest winners. “They had a very unfair advantage.”
Colm chuckled. “You’re not kidding. But you have to admit that costume was a pretty awesome way to tell the family she’s pregnant.”
Colm’s cousin and partner at the Collins and Collins law firm, Caitlyn, had shown up with her husband, the two of them dressed as Daddy and Mommy Shark, while Caitlyn had pinned a stuffed shark to the front of her shirt with a note attached that read “Baby Shark arriving in April.”
“You really didn’t know she was pregnant?” Kelli asked.
“No. And I fully intend to read her the riot act for that at work on Monday.”
Kelli could tell from Colm’s tone that he would do no such thing. He and Caitlyn were very close, and while she couldn’t see much of his face, she could tell he was beyond happy for his cousin.
He lifted one leg. “I’m just glad Sunnie awarded the prize early. I’m done with these boots. They’re killing my feet.”
Kelli lifted her dress to reveal her bare feet. “I kicked off my heels two seconds after she pronounced Caitlyn and Lucas the winners.” She pointed to where she’d shucked them into a corner. “Wanna add to my pile?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll do that in a second. You didn’t tell me what you’re celebrating.”
Kelli’s smile widened as she rose up on tiptoe and leaned as close to Colm’s ear as she could manage. “Robbie said yes. We went to dinner before the party and talked some more. He’s in on the you know what.”
Colm nodded, but she couldn’t tell if he was smiling or not, thanks to the damn bushy beard. Something in his eyes made her think he wasn’t happy for her, which bothered her more than she cared to consider. He’d really seemed to get it the other night. So much so, she’d slept like a baby—granted, the wine had probably helped—for the first time in months.
She sure as hell hadn’t intended to confide her hope for a baby to Colm, but the fact he’d been supportive had gone
