Quade's Babies - Brenda Jackson [31]
Quade pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and punched in Chase’s phone number. Chase was the cook in the Westmoreland family and owned several soul-food restaurants in Atlanta, as well as in other parts of the country.
“Hello.”
“Chase, this is Quade.”
“Hey, what’s going on with you, man? You said you would call if you found her.”
Quade rubbed the back of his neck. Yes, that’s what he’d said to Chase, his brothers and the rest of his cousins before leaving Montana. All of them had known that he was on a woman hunt. “I found her, but things are kind of complicated.”
“In what way? I felt you worrying about something.”
Quade paused a moment and said, “Cheyenne was pregnant.”
“Cheyenne?”
“Yes.”
“That’s her name?”
“Yes. It’s Cheyenne Steele.”
“Oh, okay. And has Cheyenne delivered yet?”
“Yes.”
Chase waited as if he’d expected Quade to say something else and when Quade didn’t, he said, “Hey, don’t keep me in suspense. Is the baby yours?”
A smile touched Quade’s lip. It was a very proud smile. “No, the baby isn’t mine, but the babies are mine.”
There was a slight pause and then Chase said, “Babies?”
“Yes.”
“More than one?”
Quade couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, more than one.”
“Twins?”
“No, triplets.”
Chase whistled. Moments later he said in an astonished voice. “The woman had triplets?”
“Yes. Two daughters and a son.”
“Congratulations!”
“Thanks,” Quade said with pride nearly bursting his chest.
“How is everyone doing?”
“Mother and babies are doing fine. But…”
“But what?”
Quade struggled to keep his emotions in check. They were emotions he wasn’t used to having. “The youngest of the three is the smallest. She’s such a tiny thing and I worry about her.”
Chase paused once again. “You sound like your entrance into fatherhood is going to be a challenging one. You’re worrying already and she hasn’t started first grade,” he said.
“I know, man. But you’ll see how things are one day when you get there.”
Chase chuckled. “I’m already there. Jessica informed me this morning that she’s pregnant.”
A huge smile spread across Quade’s features. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks. When will you tell the family about your babies?”
“I’m working on the mother to marry me and don’t need any interference until then.”
“Okay. As far as keeping silent, you know you can trust me.”
“Yes, I always have.”
Moments later, as soon as Quade ended the call with his cousin he heard the sound of the doorbell. He moved quickly toward the door, not wanting the sound to wake up Cheyenne or the babies. He snatched the door open to find four men standing there. They were as surprised to see him as he was to see them. But he figured out quickly who they were—Cheyenne’s four cousins—the Steeles.
The one who appeared to be the oldest of the four lifted a brow and asked, “Where’s Cheyenne?”
“She’s asleep.”
“Asleep?” the one he figured to be the second oldest asked.
“Yes.” Quade leaned in the doorway. He could tell the four had gone from surprised to cautious to curious. “I take it you’re her cousins—Chance, Sebastian, Morgan and Donovan,” he said, appreciating the fact that he had a very good memory.
“Yes, that’s who we are,” the oldest one said. “Who are you?”
Quade smiled. “We haven’t met, but you’ll be seeing a lot of me,” he replied. He extended his hand to the men. “I’m Quade Westmoreland, the father of Cheyenne’s babies. Would you like to come in?”
Seven
“S o, Quade Westmoreland, where have you been for the past nine months?”
Quade saw anger flicker in the eyes of Sebastian Steele.
The four men had come inside and stood in the living room, all in a single file, with arms folded across their chests staring at him, evidently waiting for his response to Sebastian’s question. The room was filled with thick tension and a part of Quade understood. He, his brothers and cousins would be doing the same thing if his cousin Delaney, who had grown up overprotected by her five brothers and six cousins,