Anna pursed her lips, and I could tell she didn’t want to tell me. “What?” I asked, feeling annoyance starting to build already.
“Uh…they want us to name her Kellan…but with a Y instead of an A. Funny, huh?”
Funny? No, it wasn’t fucking funny. It was fucking annoying.
I was so ticked, I almost slammed the brakes and stopped in the middle of the freeway. “They want us to do what? Why the fuck would I name my daughter after one of the band members? And Kellyn? Are they fucking kidding me? Goddamn fucking Kellan Kyle lovers!”
Gibson started giggling. Then she proudly stated, “Goddamn!”
Anna lifted an eyebrow at me. “If she says that during church, you get to explain where she heard it.”
I shook my head at her. “No one will even question where she heard it…” Anna laughed, but I was really starting to get irritated. “Can you believe there is a petition to get us to rename our child? After Kellan?” I asked, disbelieving and furious at the same time.
Anna didn’t seem as flustered as I was. No, she was still all calm and relaxed from the sex in the closet. I kind of wanted her riled up with me right now. I should be more careful with my superpowers. Sometimes I didn’t know my own strength. “It’s not a big deal, Griffin,” she said, with a Please calm down sigh. “There’s probably one for all the others too. Maybe Mattlyn or Evanlyn. Actually, Evanlyn is kind of pretty…”
With a groan of frustration, I stepped on the gas. Joke or not, there shouldn’t be a petition of any kind to rename my kid. Unless it’s Griffilyn. That, I could understand.
I was in a bad mood when we got to the church. Fans wanting to rename my daughter had set me off, but it went deeper than that. Like he was the fucking moon in the sky, the tides came and went with Kellan Kyle, and I was sick of it.
The spirals of the church were dark and ominous against the gray clouds hovering low in the sky. They matched my mood. I hoped it rained. Or hailed. Then my prickliness would be properly portrayed. The parking lot was roped off when we pulled up, and Sam was standing there, looking all scary and imposing in his suit and dark glasses. He used to be the bouncer at Pete’s Bar, but now he was Kellan and Kiera’s personal bodyguard. He took his job very seriously and was keeping an eagle eye on the lot, ceaselessly on guard to keep the riffraff out. I expected him to open the makeshift gate the second he saw my Hummer, but he only stood there, bulky arms crossed over his chest, his face expressionless.
Pulling up beside him, I rolled down my window. Before I could speak, he held up a hand. “I’m sorry, this is a private service today. You’ll have to come back next Sunday.”
My eyes narrowed. “I know that, douchebag. It’s my ceremony.”
Removing his unnecessary sunglasses, he looked over my face. “No, sorry. The service is for a two-month-old girl. You don’t match the description. You’ll have to leave.”
I was about to reach over and rip the grin off his face, but Anna beat me to it. “Hey, Sam. Today’s probably not the best day. He’s having a moment.”
Sam looked over at her, nodded, then sighed. “Fine. Take all my fun away.”
He turned to open the gate and I flipped him off. “Asshole!” I shouted.
Anna laid a comforting hand on my thigh. It soothed me. Some. A blow job would be better. “He’s just playing, Griffin. Relax, babe.” I tried to, but my mood was sour, and nothing short of another orgasm would fix it.
The parking lot was a large one, but nothing was open near the front door. Muttering a curse, I parked in the back. The rest of my entourage pulled up beside me, and Anna grabbed Onnika while I scooped up Gibson. I’d dressed her in a plaid skirt, white leggings, and a white sweater with a giant red heart on it. Fucking adorable. I could dress kids professionally, if that wasn’t really creepy sounding.
My family got out of their vehicles, and the swarm of us headed toward the dark stone church. Once my daughters were spotted, they were both stolen from me. I wasn’t even sure who grabbed them, they were just gone. Clumps of oohing and aahing people pinpointed where they were though, and I caught glimpses of Gibson’s skirt as she twirled in a circle. She finally had a group of people paying attention to just her; Gibby’s adjustment period to the new baby wasn’t going as smoothly as Anna or I had thought it would. We’d assumed Gibson would see Onnika as a doll to play with twenty-four/seven, but so far, all Gibson had seen was a rival. One she wanted to get rid of. She was in hog heaven now that the spotlight was back on her, for a little while at least.
Matt and Evan were standing together near the doors. As I headed their way I saw Matt shake his head and hand Evan a ten-dollar bill. With a sigh, Matt told Evan, “Wow, I really thought I had that.”
Wondering what Matt had thought he’d had, I asked him, “What was that for?”
Matt smiled. “I bet him that you’d be incinerated the instant you set foot on holy soil, but, here you are…not burning.”
“Funny,” I muttered, not in the mood.
Looking around, I spotted Kiera talking to Abby; Abby looked like she was only half listening to her client as she cooed at Onnika in her arms. Denny and Abby represented Kiera in her writing career, as well as the D-Bags. The two of us were their only clients though. For now. I was sure they’d expand one day, once they got tired of their day jobs at some swanky advertising agency.
Beyond them Anna was talking with her father, while her mother fussed over Gibson dancing at her feet. As I turned to head inside the church, I heard Matt say to Evan, “Hey, double or nothing he combusts when he steps inside the church?”