June

"Hey, Mama," Rio murmured from above her. Just as she felt his words wash over her, Beth could feel the heat of him against her shoulders, her spine. Tipping her head back, she looked up at him - always content to be where he was but also curious as to why he was interrupting her. "Your sister and Ruby are here," he told her with a small, amused grin while tipping his head to the side in indication of a tentatively hovering Ruby and a blatantly snooping Annie.

"What?" It wasn't that she didn't understand what he was telling her or that she couldn't see it for herself, but it felt like she had just sat down to do some research a few minutes earlier. "When? What time is it?"

Rio's smile turned tender. Unconsciously, Beth found herself squirming in her chair. He clocked that, too. "It's time for this little man to eat again," Rio answered her, gently pulling Marcus away from his bare chest to transfer him into her arms.

"Oh, and did he tell you that?" As far as Beth could see, Marcus was sound asleep and perfectly content, but Rio seemed to have a sixth sense about their son… at least when it came to his feeding schedule.

Smirking, Rio teased, "nah, Darlin'. We Herrera men just have similar tastes, so I know when Pop's gonna be hungry."

"Hmm," she hummed part in mirth and part in alarm. "Let's hope that's not true about all of your appetites."

With a flash of teeth, Rio bent at the waist to drop a chaste yet lingering kiss upon her lips. Her head was still tilted backwards, so their mouths met upside down. It should have been awkward, but Beth had long since realized that everything Rio did was easy, relaxed, and graceful… unless he wanted it otherwise. "I'm gonna take a shower and then get started on dinner. Is there anythin' you cravin'?"

What Beth wanted, she couldn't have yet, and they both knew it - Rio's words intentionally teasing, though not testy or taunting, as they both eagerly awaited her medical clearance to resume their normal sex lives. They still fooled around - kissing, and petting, and touching each other to release, but it had been weeks since Rio's cock was inside of her, and they were both feeling its absence. "That sounds good, and no, nothing that I can actually have."

He kissed her again and then stood up. "See if your girls want to stay for dinner, yeah?"

Beth smiled up at him, always appreciative of how welcoming Rio was towards Annie and Ruby… even if the consideration wasn't always returned. "You know they won't, but I'll still ask."

"That's all you can do, Elizabeth."

If she watched him saunter all the way across the loft until he disappeared behind the sliding door of the bathroom, Beth felt like the moment was justified. In just a pair of shorts - Rio's usual casual dress when they were at home unless it was particularly bitter and miserable outside, he was just asking her to return the favor, for his gaze was never far from her either. Discreetly shaking away her thoughts, Beth stood up from the dining room table where she had spread out to work that afternoon, preferring the long, wooden surface to the crowded desk they'd moved out into the sitting area over by the fire escape from what had once been a semi closed off office but was now Marcus' nursery. Before joining her sister and best friend, she made sure that the laptop was closed, any sensitive paperwork hidden away in the proper folders.

"You know, even I got maternity leave, and I work at a crappy diner," Ruby mused sharply, indignantly eyeing Beth's files and computer.

Settling into the left side of the couch so she could prop her elbow up on the arm to more comfortably hold Marcus to her, Beth tucked her legs up and to the side. With well-practiced flicks of her right wrist - she was almost as proficit at it now as Rio had always been, Beth undid the first few buttons of her blouse and then the left drop-down cup of her nursing bra. Marcus, still asleep but wanting fed anyway and, apparently, aware and in tune with his mother, immediately latched on, his perfect, little, rosebud of a mouth covering her swollen, beading with milk nipple before it was even fully exposed. Only once he was eating did Beth address her best friend's remark. "What are you trying to say, Ruby?"

While Annie practically collapsed into one of the side chairs, swiveling to throw her legs over a metal and leather arm - Beth flinching, glad that Rio was in the bathroom and not witnessing her sister's cavalier regard for others' belongings, Ruby hesitated. She glanced around her, wringing her hands, and only sat down when the moment stretched past uneasy and verged on rudeness. Resting on just the very edge of the couch… like she was ready to jump up and flee at a moment's notice, Ruby turned to face Beth, wincing as she spoke. "It's just… it hasn't even been six weeks since you gave birth, Bee," - a fact that she was very aware of without the reminder, "and he already has you working. You were so busy that you didn't even notice when we arrived. Meanwhile, your boy had the game on and looked like he had just woken up from a nap when he opened the door."

It was always like that when Ruby spoke of Rio. She refused to even say his name. But Beth didn't let it bother her that evening. She was too happy, too content, and she felt like part of the blame for Ruby's reluctance in accepting Rio was that Beth still kept so much of him from her best friend and sister. But that was about to change. In fact, it was why she had invited them over to visit. "If Rio had his way, I would have been on that couch, napping with him and Marcus. He didn't force me back to work already; he doesn't make me do anything. I wanted to do some research, so I did. As much as I love being Marcus' mom and Rio's… as much as I love Rio, I'm more than just who I am to them." Shrugging modestly, Beth smiled and admitted, "plus, I like what I do. I enjoy it."

"Which… is what exactly," Annie questioned. She sat up so quickly, so abruptly, that she made her chair wobble, and Annie had to brace herself and the piece of furniture to prevent either or both of them from toppling over.

"I'm glad you asked, actually."

"You've been as shady as an elm tree for almost a year… wait, what," Annie stopped herself mid-accusation when she finally heard what Beth had said. "You mean, you're really going to answer our questions? No more cagey half-answers or just outright dodging our concerns?"

Well, to an extent. Beth and Rio were in agreement that Annie and Ruby never needed to know the truth about the heist they orchestrated the year before, and there were aspects of the business that her sister and best friend - for everyone's best interests and protection - couldn't know about or be involved in. But Beth was also confident enough now in her knowledge of Rio's world and the operation she helped him run to share that part of herself with the rest of her family, to even offer them employment… if they were so inclined. "What do you want to know?"

"Let's start with something simple," Ruby suggested. "What had you so distracted when we got here that you didn't even hear us knocking on your door?"

"I was looking for some new investment ideas. We need to buy into or start some additional businesses."

"Jesus. You guys haven't even been open for six months yet, and you're already looking to expand," Annie wondered, sounding both impressed and incredulous "If the bar's bringing in that much money, I'd happily take some of it off your hands… and put it into mine."

"The bar is doing well, yes," Beth hedged, speaking slowly as she worked out exactly what she wanted to say. "But we're also making more money than the bar can handle on its own."

"I don't get it," Annie complained, glancing between Beth and Ruby. "It's like you're just saying the same thing over again."

"No," Ruby argued. She stared at Beth, unblinking, comprehension dawning. "She's not."

"Well, if either of you would care to share with the rest of the class - i.e. me," Annie prompted, waving a hand between them, "I would appreciate it."

"They're using the bar as a front to wash dirty money."

"Lucky's is a legitimate business," Beth clarified her best friend's succinct explanation. Rio had used his lawn care wages to purchase the run-down bar and fix it up. "And the money isn't dirty so much as it is… fake."

Okay, some of it was dirty. There was the protection money that they pulled in, and Rio had some side hustles - things that he came up running long before they knew each other - that Beth wasn't involved with… per her choice and his preference, but those were a part of the list of things that she didn't want Ruby and Annie knowing about. If they wanted to come and work for her, they wouldn't touch that side of the business, so there was no need for them to even be aware of it.

"As in counterfeit," Ruby hissed out her request for clarification.

Beth simply nodded, prying Marcus from her breast. As she propped his tiny body on her right shoulder to burp him, she reattached the left cup of her bra. He fussed at first, not wanting to part from his food source, but he quickly settled, burrowing into her despite the warmth of the evening and the sheer amount of heat his little form managed to give off. He ran hot… just like his father. Gently patting and rubbing her baby boy's back, she allowed a quiet to settle over them, giving Annie and Ruby a chance to absorb what information she had already shared and mentally prepare themselves for what would come next.

"Funny money, huh," Annie was the first to break the silence. "That's some real white-collar crime, Elizabeth. What happened to the girl who repented for years for stealing our mother's car in order to buy groceries?"

"Nope. Don't do that," she warned her sister. "You don't get to call me that."

Annie pouted. "What, only Baby Daddy gets that privilege?"

"And his name is Rio - not Baby Daddy," she glared at Annie, "and not he or your boy," Beth moved her censoring look towards her best friend. "If you're going to come work for us, then you need to treat not just me with respect but Rio, too."

"Wait, this is a job offer?" In her excitement, Annie sat up straight. She was practically bouncing in her chair. Beth grimaced, but at the same time, Marcus burped, so her reaction was no doubt taken as a response to the baby, not her sister.

Beth returned Marcus to her breast - only, this time, she opened the right drop-down cup, so he could nurse evenly. "It's a… temperature check, I guess you could say. I fill you in on what we do, and then you can decide if you're interested and want to hear more."

"But we're not talking about filling in for your weekend bartenders, are we," Ruby guessed.

"We are not," Beth confirmed. "You'd hate the clientele at Lucky's, and Annie would be a horrible bartender."

"I would not," her sister objected vehemently, jumping to her feet, her raised voice ringing throughout the loft and making Marcus jump in Beth's arms.

After shooting Annie an unimpressed look, Beth bent over her son, cooing and rocking him until he settled back down. Even agitated, though, Marcus never once stopped suckling from her heavy, pendulous breast. It was a relief to nurse, to feel Marcus take the milk that her body made in such abundance. As good of an eater as Marcus was, though, and as often as he ate at just a month old, her breasts were constantly tender and sore, always full and ready to nurse. She contemplated pumping as well and donating the extra milk to preemie babies in need, but then literally all of her time would be spent nursing in one way or another, and Beth wanted to enjoy these first precious months with her son, with Rio, not be lost in a haze of pumping and feeding, feeding and pumping.

"You'd drink all of our profits, arbitrarily decide who gets served based upon something ridiculous like what their favorite Rhianna song is or if they like Sour Straws or not, and you'd constantly be trying to come up with a signature drink… only to run the risk of giving yourself or some poor, desperate idiot alcohol poisoning in the process."

"Okay, first of all, there is no wrong answer for a favorite Rhianna song, so everyone would still get to drink, and b.) I already know what my signature…."

Interrupting her sister before she could get on a roll, Beth reminded her, "and you're a mother of a six year old. Even when Greg is pulling his weight as Sadie's dad, you can't bartend, Annie."

"Oh. Yeah." Collapsing dramatically back onto her chair… and it would be a small miracle if the piece of furniture survived the night, Annie sighed. "Fair point."

"Alright, so now that we know what we won't be doing, why don't you tell us what you're actually suggesting."

Addressing her best friend, Beth revealed, "you'll be shopping."

"We're going to need a little more than that, Bee."

"Big box stores have generous return policies," she reminded them. Because, as mothers, this was information that Ruby and Annie already knew. Using it to their advantage, though, was a new idea Beth wanted to try. "You'll go in. You'll shop, paying cash of course. A few days later, you'll realize that you spent too much, or it's not the right fit, or you simply changed your mind, and you'll return everything. Fake cash in; real cash out. It's a simple concept. For your time and efforts, you'll earn ten percent."

"And let me get this straight: you and Rio," Annie mocked her request by putting as much sass and innuendo as possible into his name, "will take the other ninety percent?"

"Well, minus the cost of our initial investment, transportation, processing, and storage?" Beth calculated the numbers again in her head, knowing intimately just how much time and money had already gone into their counterfeit business. She had been involved from the jump - picking up the wrapping paper in Canada from Big Mike; hiring the warehouse workers to cut, sort, and band the bills; even selecting which storage facility they would use. Because of the bar and his protection racket, Rio had some places already set up to wash their fake cash. But there were millions upon millions of dollars that needed to be cleaned, and he had welcomed any and all of Beth's suggestions, wanting her to feel a sense of ownership and pride in their work. So, resolute in the figure she had thrown out to them, Beth nodded once decisively. "Yes."

Annie was already opening her mouth to argue or to ask another question when Beth changed tactics. "This isn't meant to replace your income but to supplement it, to help you find a little security. I know how scary it is not to feel financially safe."

"Yes, because this ridiculous loft and your shiny, brand new Lexus SUV says that you're really hurting right now."

Glaring at her sister, Beth hissed, "it's a hybrid, and I was referring to when we were kids!" Hearing the shower turn off, she knew that it would only be a matter of minutes before Rio would rejoin them. Even though he planned to work on dinner in the kitchen, the open concept of the space practically begged sound, and voices, and conversations to carry. He'd be able to hear everything they said. Beth wasn't trying to keep secrets from him, but she also didn't think it would be good for the future of… whatever relationship he managed to cobble together with Annie and Ruby if he heard what they had to say for himself. It would be better if Beth could… translate later when it was just the two of them, preferably in bed, because that always helped soften any blow. "Besides, we don't even know if this will work."

"You haven't tried this out," Ruby flinched away from Beth, misunderstanding her. "You want us to be your glorified lab monkeys?"

"The returns work," Beth reassured. "That's not what I was talking about." She had made sure. Taking Rio along one day when she was still heavily pregnant, Beth played up the indecisive first mom cliche, cleaning thousands of dollars in fake cash in one trip to Cloud 9. Realizing that, though he refused to let go of her nipple, Marcus had stopped actually nursing, Beth repositioned him onto her shoulder, simply using his body to cover herself up until after he was burped and she could redress properly again. "I was referring to us working together. Mixing family and business can be tricky, and if this conversation is any indication of whether or not you'll," she looked at Ruby, "be able to trust me enough, "or if you," she turned her pointed look onto her sister, "even respect me at all, then I think my doubts are well founded."

"It's a lot to process, Honey Bee."

"And it's not that I don't respect you," Annie argued… even after Beth narrowed her eyes in challenge. "It's just… well, it sucks. You have this whole, new, amazing life, and I'm still stuck exactly where I've always been: going nowhere fast with Boomer, of all people, as my creepy cab driver."

"Well, think of this as a probation period… for both of us. It'll give you both the chance to see if you like the work, if you're alright with me as your boss. As for me, if I think it's going well, then I'll have time to try and find something a little more permanent for you - something with regular hours, benefits, and health insurance."

Ruby and Annie exchanged intrigued glances, but it was Ruby who asked, "is that really a possibility?"

"Everyone who works at Lucky's is on payroll, and any other legitimate businesses we may set up will be structured the same way with salaries, and permits, and taxes - anything and everything that the diner or Fine & Frugal do."

"So, are they in," Rio inquired curiously, rounding the corner by the bathroom and walking directly towards Beth and Marcus. He was dressed in a clean pair of shorts, and he already had the baby sling on for Marcus, obviously intending to cook with him and give Beth some time with just her best friend and sister, no baby duties.

"I think we've settled on a trial run," Beth answered. Despite how tense the discussion had been with Annie and Ruby, she couldn't help but smile up at Rio. His short hair dried almost instantaneously, and he always dried off thoroughly, but she still loved to be near him after he showered, savoring his smell, for it was always at its strongest then. He used some ridiculously expensive body wash with coriander and black peppercorns - something Beth teased him about as much as she enjoyed how the spicy, woody warmth of it just seemed to emphasize and accentuate his own natural, heady scent.

"Nothin' wrong with that," he complimented. "And dinner?"

Beth stood, knowing it would be easier to transfer Marcus that way. "We didn't discuss that yet," she told him. While she eased a slumbering Marcus off of her shoulder and into the pouched fabric of the sling, Rio reached out with his free hands, reattaching the cup of her bra and rebuttoning her shirt but not before discreetly running the nail of his thumb along her exposed nipple.

"Ugh, could you not fondle my sister while I'm in the room?"

Rio smirked, and Beth was already rolling her eyes in response to whatever cheeky rejoinder was about to come out of his mouth. "If you think that's fondlin', you need to find yourself some better dates."

Toasting him with an imaginary glass, Annie said, "from your lips to my Tinder app profile!"

With Marcus carefully and precisely cocooned against him, Rio turned around to face their guests. "So, how about it ladies: you stayin' for dinner? Nothin' fancy. I'm just makin' my Abuelita's paella."

"He makes cute babies and he cooks? Beth, you better lock him down and put a ring on it already," Annie teased. "Seriously."

Rio waved his fingers, displaying several pieces of jewelry. "I already got that covered." Annie was frowning before Rio could continue. "It's your sister we need to properly… accessorize."

Marriage wasn't something that they'd really discussed. Oh, it had come up. Multiple times. In fact, Beth wasn't sure if the other women in his life - his grandmother, his mom, his aunts, his older sister, and his cousins - all female - ever let an opportunity pass by without asking for a wedding date, or offering to make introductions to their local priest, or commenting upon what a beautiful bride Beth would make and, now, how adorable of a ring barrier Marcus would be. She was officially divorced now, and technically they could marry whenever they wanted, but Beth didn't need a ceremony or a piece of paper to convince her that Rio was dedicated to her and their son, and he seemed perfectly content living in sin with her… as his grandmother so often put it. They would need to make sure that they were married before adding to their family, or if they unexpectedly found themselves pregnant again without planning for a second baby, then they would need to elope down at the courthouse before announcing the pregnancy to Rio's mom and grandmother, but, otherwise, they were in no rush.

"Trust me, I'd marry her myself if that wasn't frowned upon in the state of Michigan."

"I'm pretty sure that's frowned upon everywhere, Annie."

"I mean, Utah has those sister wives, so whenever you're ready to move…."

"Yeah, that ain't happenin'," Rio denied immediately and vehemently.

Rolling her eyes, Beth laughed indulgently at her baby sister's antics and flushed pleasantly at Rio's. "You know that's not what that term means, so don't even start." Before Annie could respond, Beth asked, "and are you staying for dinner or not?"

Rio seemed to take that as his cue to move towards the kitchen, though Beth could tell from the tilt of his head that he was following along with their conversation while he started prepping his ingredients. "I'm feeling a little peckish," Annie announced. "I could eat."

"Bitch, you made me take you through the Five Guys drive-thru on the way here, because you were so hungry you were about to dive into the bottom of that garbage bin you call a purse and eat whatever scraps you could find."

"Don't food shame me, Ruby Hill!" Pouting, Annie whined, "I'm hungry again, and I really want to try Rio's Abuela's paella!"

"Plus," Ruby continued, ignoring Annie and standing up to literally move the conversation along. "I drove you here, and Stan is waiting with dinner at home. It's chili night."

Annie stood as well, but she was still grumbling, "who eats chili during the summer?"

"Don't you let Stan hear you say that. He'll never forgive you or feed you again." Ruby emphasized her warning by tossing her bag over her shoulder.

From where she was seated once more on the low-slung leather couch, legs tucked up underneath her, Beth offered, "Annie, I could run you home later if you want to stay."

"No," her sister declined glumly. "Stan has both girls, so if Sadie's stuck eating chili in this hot and humid weather, then I should probably eat it, too. It's our house motto: suffering in solidarity." Ruby looked on the verge of slapping Annie when the younger woman suddenly brightened, fairly bouncing on the toes of her flip flops. "Ooh! Speaking of suffering, have you heard the latest about Deansie?"

Beth shrugged, shook her head. "I never heard the earliest. As soon as the judge approved our divorce, I purposefully lost track of Dean."

"Well, when the dealership went belly up - I think he ended up losing it for, like, unpaid taxes or something, ol' Dean got a job at some tacky hot tub store. Now, the latest is that he slept with his boss, broke up her marriage, and they're engaged. I heard the wedding is Hawaiian themed. They're not going to Hawaii; they're bringing Hawaii to Detroit."

"Do I even want to know how you know all of this," Beth tentatively asked. "Please don't tell me you're stalking my ex-husband."

"Now that you're not married to him, I have to admit that I kind of find his bumbling ways pretty amusing… you know, in that 'I'm laughing at you, not with you' way. But no," Annie assured her. Standing up, Beth moved to walk with her sister and best friend as they made their way out of the loft. "I know someone who works with him. His name's Eric. He shops at Fine & Frugal, and he updates me, like, every week. He hates Dean almost as much as I do… for boinking the boss to get the better customer referrals, so he's pretty great. We might start hanging out."

"Annie, how old is this guy," Ruby wanted to know, sounding leery.

"Oh, he's like, I don't know, in his forties, maybe?" At the dubious looks she was receiving, Annie defended, "not like that! He's gay. That's why he wouldn't boink Gayle himself. I mean, he said he thought about it, but he just couldn't bring himself to actually, you know, do it."

Even after Beth shut the door behind Annie and Ruby, she could still hear her sister and best friend bickering outside in the hallway. But she didn't linger long, turning to join Rio and Marcus in the kitchen. She knew that he wouldn't let her help him. They often cooked together, and it wasn't that he was territorial over his grandmother's paella recipe, but Rio just simply enjoyed doing things for her sometimes. And it wasn't like it was a hardship for Beth either - sitting at the kitchen island on one of the stools, watching Rio make them dinner, sampling bites whenever he wanted a second opinion. So, she'd humor him, and she would savor and appreciate someone wanting to take care of her… not to mention the view. Later, after they ate, they might clean up together, or she might take Marcus and give him his bath while Rio washed up the dishes, but no matter how the night unfolded, it would be as partners, as equals.

"You know, the city auctions off seized properties real cheap. Might be something we should explore for our next business venture."

Quirking a single brow, Beth wondered, "and is there any particular type of property you'd be interested in acquiring, Mr. Herrera?"

"I'm thinkin' a car lot could present some… unique opportunities for us - the truckin' and shippin' contacts alone could see us branchin' out all over the country. And only an absolute idiot fails at sellin' cars in Detroit."

Placing her elbows on the raised countertop, Beth pushed herself up and out of her stool and leaned over so as to be closer to Rio - close enough for his mouth to inevitably find hers. Between slow, savoring, suggestive kisses - his tongue licking into her mouth, his lips rubbing against her own and his teeth sinking into the tender flesh of her dimpled chin, she murmured, "I'll start researching after dinner."

"Nah, Mami," Rio argued, grinning smugly. Beth pulled away from him just far enough to take in his handsome face. She found Rio intently watching her as well, except his gaze was glued to her mouth, his lush, ridiculously long lashes lowered over and hiding the lust she knew she would find in his eyes. "After dinner, I'm gonna want to eat my dessert. You know I love kneelin' between those soft as fuck thighs of yours, Sweetheart, but our floor is a bitch on the knees, and my sweet tooth is gonna take hours to satisfy."

Well, alright then.

Beth might have been relatively new to the business world, but she recognized a better offer when she heard one.