11. Epilogue
Ford
Life had been a series of ups and downs for the five Delacroixs. Remy Pierre and Chloe Sela had changed the lives of their fathers more than any of them could have ever imagined. Every day wasn’t perfect, but the memories were mounting. They became more precious as the days quickly rolled by.
When the twins were babies, the three men had a crash course in Baby Care 101, taking feeding, rocking, and diapering shifts. The twins shared a room for the first two years of their lives, but when their personalities started to emerge, they each got their own.
The three husbands also worked out a schedule so the children were with one of them all the time. They weren’t about to allow their kids to be raised by a nanny. They were hands-on dads.
They’d suffered through doctors’ visits for immunizations and the crabby babies who were suffering because they were teething. They’d tried to mediate the biting years—Chloe was the biter, and poor Remy became her primary target. Cade, who didn’t have a disciplinarian bone in his body, had a few scars on his hands from the girl as well because baby teeth were like razor blades when they sunk into flesh.
As the years went by, each man assumed a role in the family which always had Sela and Carlotta laughing when the large group spent time together. Cade, the most sensitive of the three, became the nurturer. When anything bad happened, he held them and reminded them they were loved deeply. Katrina told him he spoiled them, but Cade said there was no such thing as spoiling children with love.
Ford became the researcher in the family. Anything that came up, be it a mosquito bite or an ear infection, he knew the best way to care for the affliction, and he became the one who communicated with the doctors, often giving the pediatrician unwanted advice. “ Should we give her antibiotics? What about drug resistance when she’s older? I read an article in the New England Journal of Medicine…”
The doctors were never rude. For the most part, they listened to Ford before they turned to Cade or Jax and stated the diagnosis and the necessary medical treatment.
Jax became the court jester in the family. His entire purpose in life seemed to be to make his children laugh and encourage them to be active. He hired a woman at the gym to provide “Mommy & Me” exercise classes, which he and Cade attended with the twins three times a week.
They added a babysitting service for the clients using the rehab facility and the members of the gym who had small children. Jax liked to take the babies with him to work, and when he had a client, he took them to Marla, the lady who ran the service.
She loved playing with them, and he was only away from them an hour or so at a time, choosing to keep them in the play yard he had in his office so he could interact with them throughout the day.
Ford and Cade were still running Fairytails , and Cleveland was the manager, handling all aspects of the bar except for the performers who were handled by Griff, and the books which were generally handled by Cade.
Most of the time Ford sat on his ass, wondering what to do with his time. Some days, he would take off for a few hours during the day to go to the Center to see the babies and Jax. He felt like a man without a country, and he was unsettled.
One day in late spring just before the twins’ third birthday, Ford called Cade. “Fairytails. Kincade Delacroix speaking.”
Ford smiled. “Hey, sweetheart. How’s everything?” He’d stayed home that day and was getting ready to go to the Wellness Center to talk to Jax about an idea.
“Griff and I were just discussing his idea regarding a fundraiser for ‘Malcolm’s Kitchen’. It’s the new place in Boystown. It’s a soup kitchen that’s opening at the old location where the shelter used to be. I think it’s worthwhile, what do you think?” Cade asked.
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Say, I wondered if you could get away from the club around lunchtime. I’d like us to have lunch together, the three of us,” Ford said.
“S-s-sure.” Cade stammered.
Ford laughed. “It’s nothing bad, okay? I want to bounce something off the two of you, and I wouldn’t mind seeing our son and daughter. I’ll bring lunch.”
Cade agreed, offering to alert Jax, and after Ford finished the call, he hurried downstairs to the kitchen. “Okay, Chef. Teach away. I want to take lunch to my family. Show me what you have,” Ford instructed Connor.
It was a secret he’d been keeping, just like his potential plans. He hoped his husbands would agree because he believed they needed to be more structured. He had a presentation at the ready. It was the most important presentation of his life.
After Cade hung up with Ford, he called Jax at the Center. He’d been worried about Ford of late. The handsome blond didn’t seem to want to do much at the club, having promoted Cleveland to manage it and having surrendered the books to Cade, telling him it was in his bailiwick. Cade had never heard the term before in his life, so he looked that one up.
“Chicago Area Wellness Center. This is Janelle,” Cade heard. She was the tart who had been after Jackson for years until she finally figured out the big man loved cock—twice over. After she finally accepted she wasn’t going to be able to tempt him away from his two husbands, she was actually nice. It happened about the same time her sister became their Lamaze coach.
“Hello, Janelle. It’s Cade. Is Jax available?” He’d called Jax’s private line, and he was surprised she’d answered.
“He’s in the men’s locker room, and I’m looking after two of the cutest little kids I’ve ever wanted to kidnap.” Janelle’s voice had a teasing tone.
Cade laughed. “Okay. Well, we will hunt you down to find our babies. Anyway, could you let Jax know Ford and I will be coming to the Center for lunch? Ford’s bringing the food. If it’s a problem, tell him to work it out. Ford wants to talk to us about something.”
“Sure. What time?”
Cade told her twelve thirty and then hung up, going back to his book work. Quarterly taxes were coming due, and he’d fired the accountant.
The man’s fees were exorbitant, and Cade could do the taxes himself. It was finally his turn to give something back to the two men he loved.
He felt very grown up, as a matter of fact. The fact he was about to look thirty in the face had a lot to do with it, and of course, his husbands had no sympathy. They were in their mid-thirties. Time marched on.
“Who needs to potty?” Jax took the twins into the private bathroom he had in his office.
There were his-and-her potty chairs inside, and the training had been going better with Chloe. She would tell him when she had to go, but Remy was stubborn as a mule.
He had flaming red hair, and nobody disputed the probability he was Jax’s son. That would explain the temperament as well.
“Me, Papa,” Chloe told him as she pulled off her “Dori” panties and sat on the little potty. He looked at Remy and smiled. “How about you, Champ?”
“Nope,” the boy said defiantly.
“And why not?” Jax asked.
“No sit. Papa no sit.”
It had come back to bite him in the ass as Cade predicted, but Remy just wouldn’t sit to piss. They’d tried to figure out the best way to handle potty training, and Chloe took to it much better than Remy because Cade took her shopping for all types of character underwear and bathing suits, telling her, “You can’t wear them until you learn to use the potty because you can’t wear diapers in the pool.” It had worked like a charm. Remy didn’t seem to care.
“Well, no, I don’t, but I’m taller. You have to get taller, son,” Jax told him.
“When?” the boy asked with those startling green eyes. They were like looking into a mirror, and it made Jax’s heart skip a beat. He wasn’t partial to one or the other, but he wished his mother was still alive to see the twins. He was proud of them, and he made no distinction between them, but there was just something…
“Soon. Look, you can’t keep going in your pants. It makes a mess, and you know you can’t swim in the pool in a diaper. Daddy told you, right?” he said. Cade had tried the same trick with Remy, but it didn’t have the same effect as it had with Chloe.
As Jax watched him, he could already tell it was too late. “Stay right here,” he told him. He walked over to Chloe and smiled. “You finished, princess?” She nodded and he helped her get cleaned up before he sent her out of the room so he could change Remy.
He stripped the boy’s shorts, tossing the Spiderman underwear into the trash. He wasn’t cleaning that up.
“Look. I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll sit to potty until you’re taller if you’ll use the potty. I know you know when you need to go, so just tell us. You’re a big boy, Remy, and if you want to be able to swim this summer, well, you’re gonna have to learn to use the toilet. Are we clear?”
Jax finished stripping the boy and took him to the sink to clean him up. His gag reflex was much better when he was with Cade and Ford in a lovely sexual encounter. The smells that came from the boy nearly put him in front of the commode on his knees every time.
After the mission was accomplished, he dressed Remy in clean clothes and the two of them walked out of the bathroom to find Janelle with Chloe on her lap. They were playing a game on Jax’s phone, which was fine. Janelle had become a good friend to the family, and she was never shy about helping him with the twins.
“Thanks, Janelle. I hope she wasn’t any trouble.” He held Remy on his hip. The beautiful little boy had his arm around Jax’s neck, and his head rested on Jax’s shoulder. It was the best feeling in the world for Jax, holding his kids in his arms.
“Never. Your husband called. They’re coming for lunch. Apparently, the big blond has something on his mind.” Janelle moved out of the desk chair and put Chloe in it.
“Thanks,” he told her as he walked around the desk and picked up his daughter, placing her on his lap next to her brother. When the door closed, he hardly noticed.
“So, Daddy and Poppa are coming for lunch. What do you want to drink?” Jax asked. Looking at the amber eyes of Chloe and the light brown hair would lead one to believe she was Cade’s, but she had the same skin coloring as Ford, so he preferred to think they’d pulled off a medical miracle of some sort. The fact they even had children was really a miracle. One Jax thanked heaven for every day.
Ford packed the new picnic hamper he’d purchased, finding their old one too small for the larger family. “You sure it’s good? It doesn’t need more salt?”
Connor laughed at his badgering.
“It doesn’t need anything, Ford. Get out of here. I have a plane to catch, you know. Ash is supposed to pick me up at Logan,” the young chef said.
Cade didn’t like the fact his little brother and their chef had developed a relationship, but Ashton was attending MIT, and Connor had accepted a job at a four-star restaurant in Boston. Ford’s husbands didn’t know that either, but his news would put all that information to shame.
Ford hugged Connor. “Thank you for feeding us all these years. Please make sure Ash comes back to visit. Cade will be pissed about this, but let it remain between the brothers. We’re still family, Connor.”
He kissed Connor’s cheek before taking the hamper into his arms. He heard a sniff, but he didn’t look back. He wasn’t going to be a crybaby about another member of the family leaving. They always came back.
Forty minutes and a lot of traffic later, Ford finally arrived at the Center. He carried in the hamper, seeing the new receptionist, Pepper, at the desk. “Hi, Mr. Delacroix. You need any help?”
The woman was far too bubbly for Ford’s taste, but Jax liked her, and she seemed to be able to relate to the clientele, so Ford kept his mouth shut. “Hi, Pepper. Busy?” he asked as he stopped at the desk to be courteous.
“As always, Mr. D. They’re in the office already.” She turned to answer the phone. Apparently, everyone knew of his imminent arrival at the Center. He was a little embarrassed that so much was shared with the employees, but it was unusual the three Delacroix men had lunch together during work hours.
He opened the door and immediately felt his legs circled by two little cherubs. “Poppa!” That sound made his heart sing.
Ford handed off the hamper to Jax, after receiving a kiss on the cheek, and he knelt to pick up the twins. They were more than he ever thought he deserved. Cade walked over, tie loose around his neck, but he had that bright smile on his face that Ford remembered from the first time he’d seen the young brunet when he was moving into the apartment building where they all used to live.
They made a picnic in the floor, Jax bitching about it the whole time. Ford handed out the boxes to each member of this family with a smile.
For his husbands, Ford made salads and grilled vegetable sandwiches. For the twins, he’d made “smacaroni and cheese” as Chloe called it. There was ground broccoli and cauliflower in the cheese sauce because Connor had shown him how to hide vegetables in various dishes to ensure the twins were eating healthily.
“Ah! God bless Connor.” Jax picked up his large sandwich. Cade opened the container with salad, and he smiled. It was working out perfectly.
Ford took the containers for the twins and began feeding them, seeing neither of them turning their faces away from the food just as if Connor had cooked it for them at home. “Mm-mm.” Chloe approved. It was beautiful to hear.
“Good, Poppa,” Remy said.
None of them really talked as they ate, but once they were finished, the adults looked at him. “I have applesauce and raisin cookies,” he told the twins. They loved them, though Jax and Cade didn’t.
Ford saw the sour looks. “I have cookies for you two as well.” He handed them the two small bags with the chocolate chip cookies Connor had taught him to make. It was Miss Winnie’s recipe, and the three men loved them.
After everyone was full, the twins wandered over to the play yard Jax had in the corner of the office while the three men sipped coffee. “So, Bix, what’s on your mind?” Cade asked.
Ford turned to Jax and saw him nodding his head as well. “Yeah, babe, something wrong?”
Trying to articulate his epiphany wasn’t something easily done, but he owed them an explanation. It wasn’t a decision he’d reached lightly. He’d researched it up and down, and he believed for all parties concerned, it was the best decision he could make for himself and his family.
“How’d you like the food?” he asked, easing into it.
“It was great. Connor’s a great chef.” Jax sipped his coffee, stretching his long legs in front of him.
“Yeah, um, well… Connor’s leaving us. In fact, today was his last day. He’s on a flight to, um, to Logan as we speak. He and Ash, well…” He trailed off.
Cade started to jump up, but Ford grabbed his hand. “He’s almost twenty, Kincade. You can’t do anything about it.” Ford pulled him back down.
“Crap. We’re gonna need a new cook.” Jax’s realization was just the opening Ford had prayed to get.
“Actually, no, we don’t. I made lunch today.” Ford stared at the two men he loved, seeing exactly what he expected—shock.
“Look, Connor’s been teaching me to cook. He has a new job in Boston, and he was anxious to be with the man he loves, so I didn’t give him shit about leaving us if he agreed to stay for two extra weeks to teach me how to cook all your favorites. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last two weeks, learning to feed my family. It was pretty good, right? I’ve basically been doing the cooking at home for a week now with his supervision, and I don’t think you’ve gone hungry, have you?” Once again, his gaze bounced from one to the other.
“It was fantastic, babe,” Jax said. Cade nodded in agreement.
Ford took a deep breath. “Thank you. Look, I’ve been thinking about this for at least a year, and I hope you’ll hear me out and not freak or panic or interrupt me so I can get it out the way I’ve been practicing.
“I love you both, and I love our children. I just don’t find any fulfillment working at the club anymore, which is why I handed everything over to Cade and Cleve. I feel like it’s time for me to move on to something I can be excited about. Something that will give me more happiness and sense of purpose than anything I’ve done previously.”
Cade and Jax looked at each other with concern. “Um, when you say move on you don’t mean…” Cade’s voice was an octave higher than usual.
“ Oh no! No, I’m not going anywhere. In fact, I want to stay home. I want to be a stay-at-home dad and take care of the twins. I’ve learned to cook, and we’ll still have the cleaning service, but I want to be home with our babies. They’re growing up so fast, and I didn’t have anyone but the cook and the nanny when I was growing up. I don’t want it for our kids, and I know you both love spending time with them, but I’d like to be home with them while they’re little.” There. He’d presented his case as best he could.
Ford watched as Jax and Cade both smiled. “That sounds just about perfect, Bix.” Cade took his hand.
“Yeah, it would make it a lot easier around here for me. You’ll bring them in from time to time, right?” Jax took Ford’s other hand to hold.
“As often as you’d like. I’d like to work out more, so we’ll come in and you can play with them while I work out, and then when you two get home from work, I’ll have the home fires burning. How’s that sound?” Ford asked.
He never thought himself to be the type of man who’d want to stay home and be the one who held the family together, but it was exactly what he wanted. Their babies were growing up so fast, and with two successful businesses, he didn’t want them to get lost in the mix.
Ford had grown up in a family where family wasn’t exactly valued, but he wanted to make things right for his—their—children. It didn’t matter how many parents one had. If they were all too busy with their own lives, who was left to cherish the simple times as a family? Family pictures. Holidays. Playing in the pool.
Ford knew Jax and Cade would support their family, but he wanted the hands-on feeling of giving his children something he hadn’t had when he was younger. He wanted to give his children a happy-ever-after, and he wanted one for himself.
With his husbands, Jackson and Kincade, Ford knew they had a promising future. Their lives had been eventful, what with their whirlwind romance, the breakup, the reconciliation, their marriage, and most importantly, their babies. The ups and downs were easier to get through when one had love in their life. That was an important lesson they’d all learned together.
Their love was tripled, and it provided them all with a wonderful place to grow. The phases of their love would always paint their happy-ever-after picture. It would be one that the Delacroix family would cherish forever.
Thank you for reading the “Luv by Numbers” series.