9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Ford
Nearly two years after the wedding…
Ford helped Carlotta into the seat belt in the back seat of the car to head home. Sela was off to New York for a photo shoot, so the three men were watching the little lady while her mother began percolating their eggs.
It was February, Fashion Week in New York. Sela had been hired by a very prestigious women’s magazine to capture the magic, and the Delacroix men had vowed to take as good of care of her offspring as she would take care of theirs inside her.
After many discussions, the Delacroix men had decided to use donor eggs and have Sela be their surrogate. At the end of the day, Ford thought it would be too emotionally difficult on his sister to be the biological mother of their child, so they’d all discussed it and decided seeking donor eggs and trusting Sela to grow the baby for them was the best way to handle it.
The three of them had gone to the clinic one Thursday before Christmas, and together, they’d deposited their source into the same cup. The law had caught up with science, so two of them were allowed to mix their sperm in the same specimen. They added Cade’s with a wink from the nurse at reception, and after the eggs were harvested from their donor, they were fertilized. Five were implanted into Sela, and they had no idea who the father might be, but they vowed to love the child or children equally. They were all giddy about the fact Sela was pregnant, and when she returned from New York, they were all going for the first ultrasound. It was a miracle.
“Okay, so Uncle Jax wants to play tea party, but I was hoping you could help Uncle Cade and I make cookies for Uncle Jax. We’re all going out for dinner because It’s Valentine’s Day. Oh, how did the exchange at school go?” Ford’s nine-year-old niece didn’t look happy at all, based on the view he had in the rearview mirror.
Carlotta scoffed, which made him want to laugh because she sounded so much like her mother. “It was ridiculous. You had to bring cards for everybody , not just for special people, and the pack of cards Momma chose was icky. There weren’t special cards for me to give my friends. I don’t even care.”
“Darling girl, there will be plenty of time for you to have special cards and the like,” he told her as he pulled the car into the garage, seeing Jax’s Expedition and Cade’s smaller SUV were parked, which meant they were home. Cade’s vehicle purchase had been a fight, but Ford and Jax won. In the end, Cade loved it. It was a great twenty-fourth birthday gift.
“Do you have special cards for Uncle Jax and Uncle Cade?” she challenged with her beautiful head tilted so much like her mother.
Ford sighed. “No, but guys don’t think about cards as much as girls, Carlotta. Women love tangible proof they’re important. Men like other proof,” he said, thinking about a blow job like a total deviant. Both of his husbands were spectacular at blow jobs, and Ford was going to miss them until Sela got home from New York. Both of his men refused to partake of the carnal fruits when Carlie stayed with them for fear of traumatizing her. He staunchly disagreed.
“So, you don’t make Valentine’s for each other?” she asked as Ford opened the laundry room to lead her inside so she could relieve herself of her snow boots and the heavy coat. He slipped off his galoshes and his overcoat, hanging them on the coat tree.
He opened the door to the kitchen to see Connor, their cook, at the stove stirring something in a pot. “Connor, we’re home.” Obviously, the garage doors had already announced their arrival.
The guy laughed and turned to Carlotta, taking her hand to kiss. “Hello, little miss. I have been told to direct you and your uncle downstairs to the pool area. I’m making homemade ice cream for dessert. Your bathing suit is in the changing room,” the young man said.
“Thank you,” Carlotta announced as she hurried downstairs.
“How’ve you been, Connor?” Ford opened the fridge to grab a couple of juice boxes to take downstairs. The beer fridge was in the changing room, so all they were missing was something for his niece.
He could see the young man appeared to be uneasy. “I’m fine, Mr. Delacroix. Mr. Hayes is here,” Connor said.
Ford thought about it for a minute before he smiled. It had to be Ashton. The kid had transferred to an upscale boarding school in Boston. He was gifted, which Ford didn’t doubt, and he was set to graduate at sixteen. They already had their reservations to go to the ceremony.
“You don’t mind cooking for a couple more, do you?” Ford asked.
Connor had been with them for a few years, and he’d started making extra food so they could stock Sela’s freezer because Winnie had retired at Cleve and Griff’s insistence. She complained she was perfectly healthy, but they wanted her to take it easy so they moved her into their three-bedroom house in Edgewater, and the three of them were getting along fine. Winnie volunteered at Rainbow House a few afternoons a week to have something to do, and Ford doubted the kids who went there had ever been so loved in their lives.
“No, not at all. Mr. Hayes, um, he’s grown up a bit.” Conner glanced at Ford before he turned back to the stove. The chef had a strange expression, one Ford recognized. He’d had the same look on his face when he’d first met Kincade. It was an unadulterated lust.
“Yes, but he’s still not sixteen,” Ford reminded him as he headed downstairs without looking back.
He felt bad for Connor because Ashton was as beautiful as Cade, but he’d beat the man senseless if he made a move, regardless of whether Ash had settled on the gay side of life or not. If Jax found out about Connor’s feelings, he’d bury the man in the garden.
Ford went downstairs, hearing the happy laughter from the pool area. The outdoor pool was closed, as it always was after the New Year, but Jax, Cade, Ashton, and Carlotta were playing a game of keep-away indoors.
“Who wants a drink?” Ford stood on the pool deck waiting for responses.
Brady Jones was watching the club that night, along with Owen Hatch, who had taken a part-time position at Fairytails as a host.
Four hands went up, which made him laugh. “Okay, I have two juice boxes. Strawberry banana, as a matter of fact. Carlotta, would you like beer or wine?” he teased as he slipped off his tie and suit jacket. Her giggle affected him nearly as much as Cade’s.
“Bud for me,” Jax announced.
“Wine, please. Whatever you’re having,” Cade followed.
“Strawberry-banana smoothie,” Carlotta said, a big smile on her face.
“I’ll take what you’re serving, brother dear.” Ashton’s eyebrows waggled at Ford as he grinned.
Ford laughed but went to the makeshift bar downstairs and blended up the two juice boxes with ice from the ice maker they’d installed two years prior. He poured it into fancy plastic cups they’d bought specifically for their niece and any other underage guests, and he carried the drinks over to the pool.
“I’m going to change, and then Carlie and I will challenge you three to a game of volleyball.” The cheers made him laugh as he went into the changing room and donned his trunks that were in his locker.
As he looked around, it reminded him of the locker room at the stadium he’d seen once when Jax was still playing. The memory made him smile, remembering when Jax was the warrior on the field, and he wondered if the big man missed the gridiron.
After he was changed, he walked out to the pool to see Carlotta on Ashton’s shoulders as Cade served the ball to them, Jax batting it down every time. The huge grin on his face revealed everything Ford needed to know. The man didn’t care about his old life. He was ready for their future.
The first of March would be a day Ford Hayes-Thomas-Delacroix would never forget. They were at the doctor’s office with Sela, their surrogate, and she kept yelling, “ By my head, dammit! ”
The doctor was doing an intravaginal ultrasound to see how many babies there were, and the three of them kept wandering down to the dark side, as Ford thought about it. He definitely didn’t want to see his sister’s hinterlands, but the doctor was there…
“Okay, guys, look at the screen,” Dr. Lois Hu, the fertility specialist they’d used, instructed.
They all looked at the screen, and Ford had no idea what the hell he was seeing. He glanced next to him in time to see Jax and Cade were equally perplexed, which gave him some comfort.
“Here,” she circled three different things on the screen with her finger, “are three distinct amniotic sacks. Here’re the heartbeats.” She hit something on the keyboard in front of her which came alive with sounds that mimicked a herd of horses.
Triplets? As he looked at his husbands, Jax was entirely sure they could handle anything that came their way. If they were blessed with three babies, they’d rise to the occasion, he had no doubt.
The three of them sat in the waiting room of the hospital, yet again. Sela had started to bleed, and she was still in the first trimester, so it seemed as if she’d miscarried. Ford studied his husbands. “Do we give up or try again?”
Cade, who was usually the most optimistic of the three of them, turned toward him, his face wet with tears. “I don’t think it’s meant for us to have our own children, Branford. I think this is God’s way of letting us know we’re not worthy.”
“Bullshit,” Jax blurted out. Ford turned in Jax’s direction, deducing the man wasn’t happy with Cade’s statement.
“What? You think three fags together deserve to be blessed with kids? How the fuck would we ever explain it to them? ‘ Oh, we weren’t content with just two of us, so we had three of us so we’d never get bored and decide to cheat like so many fags do.” Cade’s response was harsh.
Ford couldn’t help himself when he slapped Cade’s face. Jax immediately wrapped Ford in his arms. It was a horrible thing to do, but he refused to listen to such vile filth. If God hated gay people, the deity would have taken Ford out a long time ago, he was certain.
“ Stop it! ” Jax hissed at both of them.
Cade was holding the side of his face as he pulled his legs up to his chest and curled into a ball. Never in his life had Branford ever struck another person in anger, as far as he could remember. Why he’d hit Cade wasn’t anything he could comprehend, except he was so worried about not only losing the babies but maybe his sister. Still, however, his actions were indefensible.
“Oh, God, I’m so fucking sorry,” Ford gasped as he crumbled into Jax’s strong embrace.
“Baby, tensions are high, but we don’t hit each other no matter how frustrated we get with circumstances. Go apologize, and if you ever do it again, Branford, I won’t be happy.” Jax released him.
Ford hurried to Cade, kneeling in front of the man before placing his head on Cade’s knee, begging for forgiveness. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I… I just… I have no excuse. I’m so very sorry. I swear I’ll leave if you want. I’ll never, ever, lay a hand on you again, Kincade,” Ford sobbed, unable to believe his own behavior.
He wasn’t one to ever act out physically. He had no idea what had come over him to take out his worry on Cade.
Before Cade could accept his apology, Dr. Hu came into the waiting room. “Sela is fine, and two of the fetuses are doing well. The smallest of the three wasn’t viable, and Sela’s body shed it to be able to provide the best environment for the other two. I’m sorry the fetus was lost, but the body knows things we don’t. I’m going to keep her overnight so I can monitor her and ensure the bleeding stops.
“Just so you know, some women continue to have their menstrual cycles throughout their pregnancies, which is why we get the stupid television shows about women not knowing they’re pregnant. I’m going to do an ultrasound in the morning, so if you show up around nine, you can hear the strong heartbeats of your babies. You should go home and go to bed. I’d rather you see Sela in the morning when you’re all calm.” The doctor studied Cade’s face, red with Ford’s handprint.
“Thank you, Dr. Hu,” Jax told her as he gathered the other two to leave. Ford felt about a foot tall because of his earlier behavior. He wasn’t sure how, but he’d make it up to Cade.
The next morning, Ford woke when a hand touched his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Cade sitting on the side of the bed with a tray in his hands. “I brought you coffee and homemade muffins. Connor made them, but I helped a little.
“Anyway, I’m sorry, Ford. I shouldn’t have lashed out as I did last night. I was heartbroken over the thought Sela might lose the babies, and I spoke without thinking about how you two were feeling. I’m sorry.”
Ford felt lower than a toadstool. “No, Kincade, I was the one who was wrong. I don’t care what you say to me or about me, it’s never okay for me to strike you. I should have had more self-control, and I’ve resolved myself to go talk to someone so I can handle things better. It’s never okay for one of us to hit the other.” Ford’s guilt consumed him.
“I’m gonna beat both your asses if nobody brought me coffee and muffins.” Jax let go of a loud yawn, sitting up and scooting over to his regular side of the bed so Cade could join them in the middle. The night before, Jax had insisted he’d sleep in the middle because Cade didn’t want to sleep with them, which broke Ford’s heart. He’d hurt one of the two people he never wanted to hurt in his whole life, and it made him sick.
Cade giggled as he climbed in between them and placed the tray over his lap so each man could reach his coffee and the basket of berry muffins.
Just as Ford was chewing, there was a knock on the bedroom door. They looked at each other and shrugged, so Jax called, “Come in.”
Carlotta came flying into the room and crawled up onto the bed with them. Thankfully, they were all dressed. “Can I go see Mamma today?”
After Sela had called Ford, he’d hurried over to her house to take her to the hospital. Cade had been at the club working late, and Jax was finishing up at the Center, so he’d called Winnie to come take care of Carlotta so he could get Sela checked out.
“Is Auntie Winnie downstairs?” Ford asked.
“She was talking to Connor about something. She packed things for me and Mamma. She said she was pretty sure we would be staying here for a while. Is Mamma okay? Are the babies okay?” the young girl asked, surprising Ford.
“You know about the babies?” he asked, astonishment evident.
“Of course, I do. Mamma throws up a lot, and I asked why. She said she was giving you a big gift, and when I asked what it was, she said it was three babies. I know they won’t be my brothers or sisters, but they’ll still be related to me, right?” Carlotta asked, stunning Ford.
Cade laughed and pulled her in between him and Jax. “They’ll be your cousins. There are two of them, but we don’t know yet if they’re boys or girls, so we have to think of a lot of names. Do you have any ideas? We’re just dumb boys, but you’re a very smart young lady,” he told her.
Ford’s eyes teared up, so he excused himself to the bathroom to cry in private. He just couldn’t forgive himself for slapping Kincade. It wasn’t in his DNA to ever strike out, but he’d done it without a second thought.
He felt his stomach roll as the bathroom door opened to reveal Cade in his sleep shorts. “Let it go. It happened. Hell, I was hysterical, and you brought me back to reality. You didn’t do it with maliciousness in your heart, and I doubt you’d ever do it again, Bix. Quit beating yourself up about it. You wanna make it up to me?”
“More than anything in my life,” Ford said.
“Blow me,” Cade told him with a little giggle. Oh, that wasn’t a chore at all.
“Just so we’re clear, I’ll never raise a hand to you again, and this isn’t… Well, it’s exactly me trying to make up for my failings by blowing you, but I love you more than myself, Kincade. I’m sorry,” he apologized again.
Cade giggled again and dropped his shorts. “Yeah, yeah, get to it, Delacroix, and make it really good.”
Ford crawled over to him and did just as he asked, feeling the comfort of Cade’s hands wrapped in his hair as he pumped into his mouth. Makeup sex… in any form… was great.