Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
Jack
I’m definitely thinking about Bree as Arthur rides my cock that night. When I admit it to him, he looks like I’ve just gifted him the moon.
“Good,” he says, slowing down to take me deeper into his ass. “Now you see? What we like about her?”
After today? “Yeah. I do.”
She’s smart and funny, independent and yet considerate to everyone around her. She always wants to do the right thing, whatever she believes that is.
Arthur kisses me on the lips. “Now we just have to marry her.”
The suggestion stops me still. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“You have to have some patience,” Bennett chimes in from where he’s sitting and stroking himself.
I agree with him. If I’m learning anything about Bree, it’s that she respects others’ boundaries and also her own. She doesn’t want to overstep.
But maybe those very things are what make me believe she would be the perfect woman for our herd.
“All right,” I tell Arthur, grabbing him by the hips so I can thrust into him. He moans and his head falls back. “We’ll figure out a way to marry her.”
It doesn’t take much after that to make him come.
We wait to hear from Bree. With summer upon us, Arthur’s job finally ends, and he switches to working hard on getting the house ready for sale.
We’ve also started shopping for a new one, which is more exciting than I expected.
It feels full of possibilities now, and when the realtor takes us looking, I can picture us in almost every house we visit.
But it’s missing something without Bree here. I find I want her input. Which room would she use for her studio? Of course I’d want her to keep up with her business even if she lived with us. It gives her happiness and purpose.
Then I think about which room would belong to the fawn and my heart skips a beat.
Every house we look at, I imagine what kind of trouble a fawn could get into, which knocks the house with the beautiful open loft off the list. I also cross a house off with a trio of big, barking dogs next door.
Our yard should be a happy, easygoing place for our fawn to play.
We find many good options that weekend and bring home brochures so we can remember the parts we liked and discuss later. We show them to Bree when she comes over, where she oohs and ahhs over the stainless steel appliances and wood mantelpieces.
“Fancy,” she says about almost all of them, which makes me wonder. She hasn’t told me much about her life, how she grew up. I don’t even know if she has siblings.
I should probably learn these things before we get too far ahead of ourselves.
So I make a point of asking her questions whenever I can about her mother, her sister, the world she grew up in.
Her family lived in poverty, I discover, and I start to understand why having her own condo has become so important to her.
Then, one quiet Sunday afternoon, Arthur’s phone rings wildly. I cover my ears as he pulls it out of his pocket.
“It’s Bree,” he hisses, and puts the phone on speaker when he answers it. “Hi baby! How are you?”
“I’m great.” But there’s something anxious in her voice that has me sitting forward in my seat. “I have big news.”
Arthur cocks a brow quizzically, as if her news could be anything but…
“What’s the news?” he asks innocently.
Bennett gathers around, too, putting a hand on my shoulder as he leans in closer.
“I’m pregnant!” Her announcement fills the whole living room.
We all leap to our feet at once, and Arthur lets out a sound that can only be described as a victorious howl. He dances around in a circle while I try to hear Bree over the sound of Arthur’s crowing.
“You did a test?” I ask her.
“Three of them. All positive.” She’s practically beaming over the phone. “We’re going to have a baby, guys.”
Bennett throws his arms around me, and I hug him back as emotion bubbles up inside me. We did it. We’re going to have that fawn, if all goes well. And I hope, desperately hope, that it does this time.
“We’re on the way over,” I tell her, and she agrees as we hang up the phone. Then the three of us hop in the car and speed over to Bree’s apartment as fast as we can while still obeying traffic laws. Sort of.
She’s waiting outside when we arrive, and Arthur’s the first to throw himself at her, bundling her up in his big arms. Bennett gets her next, and then finally, I bring her into a tight hug and kiss the top of her head.
“Thank you,” I murmur, holding her even closer as I think about what we’ve accomplished. “Thank you for everything.”
“Of course.” She grins up at me, a little shyly. “Thank you for… you know. Paying me.”
I hold in a sigh. Yeah, we did pay her for this, which is what she deserves. But I’m starting to wish, like Arthur does, that there was more to our arrangement than that.
Still, we celebrate that evening with a fancy dinner out. Then we take Bree home with us and show her all night how thrilled we are, and what she means to us.
Bree
I hope it works this time. I hope with all my heart, because I would hate to disappoint them again.
Bennett, Jack, and Arthur insist I make a doctor’s appointment they can attend with me, so I set it for the following week.
Life is going swimmingly. Since the satyrs have joined me on the stream a few times, my revenue is higher than ever. We’ve set a schedule so I can properly promote our sessions, and I’m drawing in dozens of new viewers every time.
It feels like… life might be good. Great, even. Which makes me wonder when the other shoe is going to drop and everything will go wrong.
The guys have been house hunting, which picks up in earnest now that the baby is on the way. I’ve also been secretly shopping for condos and trying to budget for a down payment. I ate through my funds from DreamTogether after the miscarriage, and I’m still building it back up.
The first time we go to an OB-GYN appointment, Arthur is practically bouncing as he leads the way into the clinic. Bennett gets me some water while Jack holds my hand and we check in at the counter.
The doctor, a rather short, stout little goblin, tries to hide her surprise when all three of them come in with me, but doesn’t fully succeed. She pats the table for me to indicate I should get onto it.
“Well, dads,” she says with a smile, “I need to request some more chairs.”
Once they’re all seated around the table, the doctor gets to work on the ultrasound. I wince as the cold wand makes its way inside me. Everyone’s eyes are focused on the screen.
“Oh, that wasn’t hard to find,” the goblin says after a few moments. “Look there. It’s tiny, but it’s there.”
I can’t see anything until she points it out on the screen. It looks like little more than a sunflower seed.
“Hmm,” she says thoughtfully. “Let’s keep an eye on this one. I think there’s a chance you might have two fetuses in there.”
My mouth falls open. When I glance at Jack, he’s also staring at the doctor like she’s grown another set of arms. Arthur’s eyes are enormous.
“Two?!” he says, beaming. “No way!”
“We’ll wait and see how it develops.” The doctor takes a few pictures before she withdraws the wand. “But you might want to prepare yourselves.”
Bennett takes off his glasses and wipes them surreptitiously, and when he puts them back on, I can see that along with his happy grin, his eyes are moist.
The doctor wishes us luck and departs so I can get dressed again. Then Arthur is hugging me, not even bothering to keep his voice down as he says, “Two! Can you believe it? Twins!”
I don’t know what to feel as we head out to the car. Two babies. That’s a lot of babies. And they’re both going to grow inside me.
It’s suddenly starting to feel real again.
When the guys drop me off at my apartment, I’m a bundle of strange emotions. What’s going to happen when these children arrive? I find that even though they’re barely a seed inside me, I’m much more attached than the first time around. We made this together, not in a sterile breeding room.
I think about what Arthur said during sex, how he wanted me to feed the baby, and I find myself returning to that once more. I want to be there, to do that for them and for the little ones when they come. But what else does that entail?
I’m barely paying attention as I approach my front door with the key out, but something stops me in my tracks.
There’s a note stuck to the front. Hmm. Maybe one of my neighbors received a package for me by accident. The property management company usually calls me directly if there’s an issue.
I peel it off and read in the low light.
Dearest Bree,
I was devastated to learn you had banned me from your stream. It hurt my feelings immensely as one of your staunchest supporters and biggest fans.
I hope you’ll forgive me for my comments, but I simply prefer you by yourself, the independent woman that you are.
Best,
GingerWatchman
My stomach performs an incredible, terrible flip.
Whoever he is… this man has my address. Not just my name. He knows where I live now.
I grab my phone out of my pocket, open favorites, and hit dial.
Bennett
My heart is immeasurably full after our appointment with Bree today.
We’re not just having one fawn. We’re having two. It’s a little more than we bargained for, but it’s not unwelcome. There are three of us, after all. We can manage it, no problem.
I hope. Those might be famous last words.
And besides, maybe someday it will be four of us. A guy can dream.
“We’re going to need two cribs,” says Arthur over dinner. “And then two beds. And then two rooms.” He sits up straight in his chair, alarmed. “We need to be looking at bigger houses, guys.”
I’m in agreement on that. We’ll have to adjust quite a few plans.
Jack’s putting the salad bowl on the table when his phone buzzes in his pocket. He sets the bowl down and slides it out, then his brows rise.
“It’s Bree,” he says. Then he cocks his head at Arthur. “She usually calls you.”
“Well, answer it,” I tell him.
He taps the screen and holds his phone up to his ear. “Bree? What’s up?”
I can’t hear what Bree’s saying, but I do hear the frantic pitch of her voice. Immediately my hackles rise.
Jack’s brows lower dangerously. “What did it say?”
She talks more, faster, and I wish I knew what’s going on.
“Come over right now,” says Jack in a firm but gentle voice. “You need to pack your things for tonight and get out of there. Just take what you need right now and we’ll go back for more tomorrow.”
All I can make out is Bree thanking him, and then she hangs up.
“What is it?” Arthur demands, practically falling out of his chair. “What happened?”
“That guy’s back. The one Bree banned a few weeks ago.” Jack growls. “He left a handwritten note on her door.”
“Oh, fuck,” I say, my heart catapulting into my throat. “He knows where she lives.”
Arthur whines miserably. “Maybe we should have gone to pick her up. Then we would know she’s safe!”
“I didn’t want her to wait. He could still be around.” Jack starts pacing across the kitchen. “How did he find her? What does he want?”
“He wants her,” I say.
I know people like him, like this GingerWatchman. There are always types like him floating around Sienna, just like they do around other streamers I used to watch before I found her.
“What do you mean?” asks Arthur.
“He wants her for himself. Us appearing on the stream ruined his fantasy that she belongs to him and she’s performing just for him.”
Jack scowls deeply. “Do you think he knows anything about us?”
“I don’t know.” Which is worrisome. “I thought before that maybe he’d pulled her real name from her domain registration. But if he has her address, too…” I shake my head. “No way to know what he’s got or not.”
“Full blown stalker,” says Jack, his hands curled into fists. “Shit. Bennett, how do we make sure this guy doesn’t find out where we live? Because if Bree comes to stay with us, I need to know she’s safe here.”
I nod. “Don’t worry. Unless this guy has some kind of advanced facial recognition, I think we’re okay. But we should check her car for tracker tags.”
“A tracker?” Arthur says with horror. “You think he could be following her?”
Jack suddenly pulls out his phone. “I’m telling her to park around the block,” he says. “I’ll come out and we’ll check the car before she brings it here.”
With that plan in motion, we all head out to meet Bree. When her car pulls up, she jumps out and there are tears in her reddened eyes. I grab her before she’s even on the sidewalk, hugging her hard.
“It’s okay,” I tell her as she cries against my chest. “You’re safe here.”
After we check the car from front to back, looking at the undercarriage with our phone flashlights, we determine there’s no tracker on it. Jack and I lead Bree back to the house while Arthur re-parks her car. Her hand trembles in mine the whole way.
She doesn’t have much to say that night as we all curl up on the couch to watch a stupid TV show. Her knees are drawn up with her arms around them, her eyes not really watching the screen.
“I’m sorry your safety was violated that way,” I tell her, weaving a finger through her long curls. “Tomorrow I’m going to contact your streaming service to see what I can find out.”
“We’re filing a police report first thing.” Jack’s tone is unyielding. “The cops need to get involved now.”
Bree’s shoulders hunch, and I pull her in closer.
“That’s for tomorrow,” I say. “Now, I think it’s time for ice cream.”