MAY 16

I grinned, reaching out to grasp Mal's hand. She leaned her head against my arm as we walked through the mall. We were sort of on a date. It was one of those last minute, unofficial things. We decided to meet up at the mall, and we'd been wandering around, just doing a little bit of window shopping and snacking, for about an hour.

We'd been dating now for almost three and a half months. And it had been a great three and a half months. I really liked Mal. Really, really liked her. She was the kind of girl that I could see myself settling down with someday. Getting married, having kids.

I was pretty happy with my life at the moment. I mean, Mallory was totally hot. And she was talented, and funny. She was just plain amazing. And right now, I was the only one of my friends with a steady girlfriend. Although Adrian did have his eye on a girl in our Spanish class. But there was only about a week left of school, so I doubted he'd start dating her before the summer.

And then, I was actually getting along really well with Jon. It was kind of nice to have him in my life and to learn about his life. It had become pretty easy to talk to him. And his fiancée was just downright awesome. I'd met Charlie a few days ago. She was super nice.

I was even kind of excited about my newest siblings, both of them. I was pretty sure that I was going to become the default babysitter for both kids, but whatever. I was okay with that. And, to be honest, I was kind of used to it. I babysit Bex and the twins a lot, when Mom and Dad went out on a date or something.

"Any news on whether or not your dad is going to be deployed?" I asked. Her father was in the Air Force, and her family was waiting to hear whether or not he'd be deployed.

She shook her head. "Not yet. We should be finding out sometime in the next couple of months. I hope he doesn't, though. It's been nice having him home."

"I bet. I'd hate it if my dad were in the military. I mean, I'm grateful that we have people fighting for our freedom and everything. Don't get me wrong. What your dad is doing is great. I just wouldn't like to have my dad away from home so often."

"It's hard." She smiled at me. "But my parents absolutely love you."

I grinned down at her. "Well, my parents happen to think you're pretty amazing, too."

She sent me a small smirk. "Of course I am."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "And so humble," I muttered. Then I leaned down to press a kiss to her lips.

Mallory suddenly pulled away with an excited squeal. "Oh, look, Stryk! It's a baby store! We should get something for your new baby sister."

I had not been ready for that kiss to be over. "Ah, Mal. We really don't need to. Kensley's going to have way more toys than she'll ever need as it is. Trust me. The nursery is more than stocked."

"Oh, come on. Let's pick something out for her, from the both of us."

I sighed. She was probably about three times as excited as I was about the new baby. She absolutely loved kids. "If we go in there together, shopping for baby stuff, people will think that we're having a baby," I warned her.

Mal rolled her eyes. "People shouldn't jump to conclusions like that. And if they do, that's their problem. Come on, Stryker." And with that, she pulled me into the store, ignoring my protests.

She was obviously having the time of her life as we browsed through the store together. A huge smile was on her face.

"It's too bad there's nothing with her name on it. There's some really cute personalized stuff here. But Kensley isn't exactly a common name."

"Yeah, but she won't have to worry about being confused with anyone else. That was something I've always liked about my name. I've never met another Stryker."

Mallory grinned at me. "Well, it suits you perfectly. I've always thought you were pretty striking." She giggled at her own pun.

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. She was usually pretty funny, but that was just… "That was super corny," I told her. "And not really funny."

"I know. It was kind of lame. Oh, look. Isn't this cute?" She held up a brown plush hedgehog. She pressed a button on its toe, causing it to make a sound like a child's giggle.

"Yeah, that is cute."

Which, of course, prompted her to get a cart and drop the toy into it.

"Whoa," I protested. "We're only going to get one thing for her. We don't need a cart. Let's not get carried away."

She rolled her eyes, giving me a look of mock sympathy. She tsked. "You can't go into a baby store and not get carried away, Stryk. It's impossible. Besides, we should probably get something for your brother, too. Jonathan's baby. You can't play favorites, you know."

I sighed. She did have a point, though. It wouldn't be fair to play favorites with my siblings. "All right, fine. We'll get one toy for Kensley and one toy for Roman. Just one each, though."

She jutted out her lower lip in a pout. She was super cute when she pouted. "Oh, come on, Stryker. Please?"

"Mal. They really don't need a lot, I'm sure. Like I said, Kenny's already got a whole bunch of toys in her nursery."

She sighed. "Oh, all right. Just one."