Epilogue
Billie
I stomped out of the carriage house, furious about what I was seeing. Betsy was being led out of the old barn by two of my husbands and behind her, Brutus was being carried out in front of Owen like he was rabid. I held my massive stomach and moved as fast as I could.
“What the hell are you doing?” I was way too pregnant to be stomping around and the babies were doing their best to let me know it. The pain radiating through my body was almost unbearable. Almost. I could always shout at my husbands, in pain or not. “Put them back! Now!”
Owen bared his teeth at me. “Go back inside, woman! This rodent bit me multiple times and I’m not feeling too friendly about him right now.”
I swallowed down another stabbing pain and felt sweat break out across my upper lip. “What…what did you do to him?”
“We’re giving them their own little barn, Billie Hellstone. Now, get back in the house. You’re not supposed to be stomping around. You’re going to drop one of the babies if you’re not careful.” Keaton shook his head at me and patted Betsy’s ass. “Go on, girl.”
Gray studied me with his most assessing eyes and his jaw clenched. “Call Jamison to finish this up.”
“How the fuck do you think I’m going to hand this little bastard off? He’s—” Owen froze. “It’s time, isn’t it?”
They were all watching me as I grimaced and bent forward slightly in an attempt to ease the pain. Forcefully shaking my head, I growled. “It’s not time! It’s not!”
It was totally time. I swore I could feel one of the triplets” heads wedged against my vagina suddenly and I screamed as an even bigger wave of pain struck. “It’s happening!”
Betsy and Brutus were forgotten as Gray, Keaton, and Owen ran over to me. Owen scooped me off my feet and ran towards the truck. “Call Eve and tell her we’re coming!”
Eve’s neighbors were paramedics and had been part of our emergency birth plan since the moment we’d found out we were pregnant with triplets. I wanted a natural water birth but with three giant Hellstone babies coming out of me, it just wasn’t going to happen. If the triplets would’ve waited until their due date, they would’ve been born in a hospital, like we’d planned. Between me ignoring the pain and them being in a rush to meet their parents, the hospital wasn’t happening.
“Goddammit, Billie. How long have you been hurting?” Owen barked at me, but I could tell it was panic making him shout at me. He nearly tripped over Turtle and shouted even more. “Get the crazy dog, somebody!”
“Let him come!” I realized later that I was being crazy, that bringing a dog to my birth was not the right call, but in the moment, I wanted my Turtle there.
Keaton, on the phone with Eve, fumbled to get Turtle in the house. His shouting rang out over the ranch. “They’re coming! We’re coming!”
Gray slid into the backseat of the truck and pulled me in so I was stretched out across the seat, braced against his chest. With what was happening, I began to kick off my pants, much to his horror. “What are you doing? No, B! Leave your pants on. They can’t come yet!”
Owen stood in the open door, staring at my crotch with fear etched into his face. He took a kick to the chest as I struggled before grabbing my pants and yanking them off. He looked up at my face before grabbing my wet panties and snatching them off. “When did your water break?”
I moaned from an especially painful contraction and looked between my thighs to see what was somehow both the most beautiful and disgusting thing imaginable. The first baby was coming. “He’s coming!”
Keaton stood behind Owen, eyes wide, phone still pressed to his ear. He swayed and went down hard.
I screamed and pushed down hard while reaching between my thighs to catch the first baby’s head. Owen glanced back at Keaton and then rushed to the front of the truck to grab a bottle of disinfectant from the glove box. He slapped it all over his hands and arms and shook his arms off before positioning himself between my thighs again. His jaw was set and his eyes were sure.
“One more push, baby. You can do it. He’s almost out.”
Gray’s arms locked around me and he helped me brace. “You’ve got this. Kick the little shit out, baby.”
I would’ve laughed if the little shit in question wasn’t making my vagina feel like it was being ripped wide open. I screamed and pushed one more time and then he was out. Owen held our tiny son in his hands and blinked rapidly for a few seconds before jumping into action. Grabbing for our go-bag, he found a suction to clear our son’s throat and nose and then a shrill scream pierced the air and it wasn’t mine.
I sank into Gray’s chest as relief washed over me. Our first son was okay. I knew we had only a tiny slice of time before I had to do the whole thing over again but that moment was so magical that I wanted to hold onto it forever.
Owen looked up at me with tears in his eyes as he held our tiny son in his big hands. “Owen Junior.”
“I’m not naming our son OJ—” I lost my voice and breath as another contraction hit. It was time for the next baby already.
Our next two sons came just as fast and they were all already screaming in the backseat of the truck by the time Eve and her neighbors pulled up.
“When you didn’t show up right away, I was afraid something bad hap—” Eve peeked into the backseat and gasped. “Oh, my god.”
I nodded at her and smiled through happy tears. “They came early.”
“No shit, they came early! Oh, my god. You did it! Billie!” She reached in to grip my knee and wiped her own tears away. “Can the guys check them out? I called Dr. Wallace on the way and he’s coming as fast as he can but it’ll still be around half an hour.”
“Can someone make sure Keaton’s okay, too?” I felt Gray’s chest shaking behind me as he laughed. “Stop it. It’s not his fault he fainted.”
“I didn’t faint.” Keaton held up a hand from where he was sitting against the side of the truck, just outside the door. “I think I might need a sleep study. I just fell asleep randomly.”
Owen looked torn between never letting me, or the babies, out of his sight, letting the newcomers check out the babies, and teasing his brother. The latter won out in the end. “Remind me not to call you if I ever have a medical emergency. I’ve never seen you go out like that.”
Their bickering faded to the background as the babies were checked out and deemed to be perfectly healthy little boys. Dr. Wallace arrived in time to find the babies and I being carried to our house. He did a more thorough exam, complimented me on birthing triplets naturally, and then left. Eve and her neighbors took Turtle with them for the night and they left, too, leaving me alone with the six most important males in my life.
I yawned as I watched Owen, Keaton, and Gray each cradling a baby in their arms. It was clear they were already in love. Then, they turned those same eyes on me and I felt my heart thump faster. The love they showered me with was the stuff of dreams. Not my dreams, since my dreams still seemed to be of the dirty variety. Not that I could complain. That first dirty dream had brought me my husbands in the end.
I realized the guys were arguing about our sons’ names and smiled. “Oliver, Kannon, and Griffin.”
They looked at each other and smiled. Owen shrugged. “Sure. I like it. Which one is which?”
My eyes popped open wide. Staring at three perfectly identical babies, I swallowed and raised an eyebrow. “Would it be wrong to mark them? With just a little non-toxic marker?”
Keaton sighed. “I’m feeling triggered. Mom marked Owen and I until we were five. We aren’t even all that identical.”
Gray sat down next to me and grinned. “I didn’t have to be marked.”
“Not everyone can have weird eyes.” Owen grunted and sat down on my other side. “Why don’t we see which one passes out first and that one will be Kannon?”
Keaton frowned. “Not funny.”
I was exhausted, feeling a mix of elation and so worn out that I couldn’t move, but I didn’t want to miss a second. I sighed happily when Gray settled our son against my chest and watched as he latched on. “I was worried. Some babies don’t latch on right away. I should’ve known these little boys wouldn’t struggle.”
“We’re boob men in this family, baby. What can we say?” Owen watched as I fed our son and his eyes watered. “You amaze me, Billie.”
“I love you guys.” I yawned again and leaned heavily against Gray. “Someone better go find Betsy and Brutus, though.”
Keaton grumbled. “Stop looking at me, assholes. I pass out one time and suddenly I’m the scapegoat?”
“Be nice. He was sleepy.” I gave a tired smile and opened one eye to peek at Keaton. “This isn’t going to change the way you look at my vagina, is it?”
He snorted. “I’m going to worship it even more than normal, baby. It worked miracles today.”
In a sleepy voice, I murmured. “Think it could go on TV and lead a congregation?”
“No one else will ever see the miracle that is your pussy, Billie. Sorry.” Owen stroked my cheek as he spoke, his voice rough with emotion.
“Don’t say pussy in front of the babies, asshole.” Gray pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll get them in line, baby. Don’t worry.”
One of the babies started screaming and I tried to sit up to help, but Owen stole a kiss and eased me back down. “We’ve got this, baby.”
I felt one of them readjust the ice pack between my thighs and sighed. “Don’t forget Brutus.”
“We won’t, Bumble B.”
“And Betsy.” I gave a jaw-cracking yawn. “And we need to call Vera.”
“We will, baby.”
“And send Margaret and the Dolls a thank you note.”
Gray’s voice came from next to my ear. “The Dolls?”
I realized my mistake and pretended like I was already sleeping. The Dolls were a forever kind of secret. Just like my guys were a forever kind of love.
The End.