Even his damn dog seemed to be laughing at him.

Well, okay, at least she wasn’t deathly ill.

Bull sighed. He’d found himself a temperamental New York Italian. A laid-back Polynesian was outclassed.

Crouching beside her, he took her hand and kissed it. “I’m sorry. I’m just worried.”

He’d leave it at that because she had a tender heart to go with her temper.

And there it was. The anger disappeared. She ran her hand over his shaved scalp and down his cheek. “My orsacchiotto.”

He’d never tell her how much he loved being called her teddy bear.

Then sparks hit her eyes again. “You are so stubborn. I wanted to tell you tonight. In private.” She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.

“Jesus, tell me what?” Was he wrong? Was she ill?

“We’re having a baby.”

“Baby?” What. The. Fuck?

“What happened?” he asked, not in accusation, but in shock.

Down the table, he heard Grayson murmur to Caz, “Mako assured me he’d told you boys about the birds and the bees.”

Frankie leaned her head against Bull and confided, “I, um, messed up taking my birth control pills a while back. I needed a refill, but then I got hurt at the compound, and Kit was in the hospital, and everything was going on, and my family showed up and…oops?”

Oops.

A baby.

A sense of wonder was rapidly overtaking the surprise. A baby. Their baby.

Maybe even a little girl who might have her eyes.

Frankie put her hand on her midsection. “When I was growing up, I always wanted a big brother. So we should start our family with a boy.” Her mouth set in a stubborn line. “So that’s what has to happen.”

Across the table, Gabe started to laugh. “Hate to tell you, bro, but ‘your boy juice already picked out a gender, and she’ll blame you for not giving her what she wants’.”

Bull burst out laughing, plucked Frankie up from the table, and spun her around.

His shout of “We’re going to have a baby!” silenced everyone on the entire school grounds before cheering filled the air.

Much later, the festival began to wind down.

Gabe saw Zachary Grayson rise, obviously to start gathering his family. “Hey, Doc. A question. Something I’ve been wondering for a while.”

Zachary inclined his head. “Of course.”

“You’re maybe around fifteen years older than us, so how the hell did you have a doctorate when you visited us when we were young?”

“I didn’t.”

Gabe barely kept his mouth from dropping open. Bull, Caz, and Hawk looked equally shocked.

“When Mako and I talked, just before he stole you from the foster home”—Zachary put his foot up on the bench and rested his forearms on his thigh—“he ordered me to get my ass out of combat and into psychology.”