Chapter 31
thirty-one
GREER
“We’re certainly having a lot of these family meetings lately, aren’t we?” Ivy said as she slid into the chair next to Greer.
It had been a few days, that was it, but Greer didn’t care. She’d been the one to call this meeting, and she hadn’t even told them why she wanted to have it. But after her afternoon with Nathalie and the fact that they had all seemed to just go back to the way things were before without talking, she knew they needed this.
And she wasn’t going to hold back this time, either.
They needed to hear what she had to say.
“Since you called this meeting, Greer, what are we here for?” Nathalie looked at her, but this time it seemed like a much softer look than she would typically give. Greer stared right back at her, holding her breath.
This would hopefully be a turning point for them. She twisted her hands together under the table so they couldn’t see just how nervous she was. This was either going to work out for everyone or it was going to cause some serious tension, and Greer wasn’t sure that she was ready for that. Not yet anyway. She’d only just begun to find the calm in the midst of the storm, and she still had spring break and midterms to contend with.
“Greer?” Lachlan asked, her lips curling upward in a smile. “Don’t be so nervous.”
So much for hiding that. Greer wrinkled her nose and pushed her lips upward into a smile. “What makes you think I’m nervous?”
“Really?” Ivy rolled her eyes. “You can barely sit still.”
“Oh.” Greer hadn’t realized how bad she’d been shifting to try and keep her body tense and absolutely failing. This was why she couldn’t be a businessperson. She wasn’t good at those types of conversations where she had to have a poker face like Nathalie. “Yeah, I guess I’m a bit nervous.”
“Why?” Ivy reached over and snagged Greer’s hand, and that was the comfort and strength that she needed.
“Because I need to lay it out straight for you, and I’m not sure you’re going to like what I have to say.”
“Oh?” Nathalie asked. “Then say it.”
Greer scrunched her nose. “You all are a family. The kids treat each other like siblings?—”
“They are siblings,” Nathalie interjected.
Frowning, Greer gave her a curious look. “You treat them like siblings, kind of.”
Ivy squeezed Greer’s hand again. “No, the boys are all siblings. We used the same donor, so they’re all biologically related.”
“You… used the same donor.” The light came on in Greer’s head that really should have gone off before. That was why if something happened to Nathalie, Alaric would go to Ivy instead of to Lachlan. And Lachlan hadn’t needed a donor, so it made natural sense.
“Same with this one.” Nathalie touched her belly lightly before putting her hands back on the table.
“That makes sense.” And it really only proved Greer’s point even more. “So the kids are siblings, all of them together. I thought when I first started working for you all that it was much more akin to cousins, but that’s not how I see it now. They are siblings.”
“They are,” Lachlan agreed, but she sent Greer a look that said she was trying to figure out where this was going. This might be old information to them, but it was new to Greer. And she hoped some of this was new in how she was presenting it.
“I think Greer’s saying that the kids are a family unit,” Nathalie said.
“Yes.” Greer pointed at Nathalie. “But not just them. You all are a family unit. Don’t you see that? You work and function as a family unit together.”
“We are,” Lachlan agreed nodding slowly. “You’re right. And we’re becoming more like that as time goes on.” Lachlan looked purposely at Ivy and at Nathalie. “Aren’t we?”
“I guess.” Nathalie frowned slightly, though, as if she didn’t quite agree with what Greer had said.
Greer shifted uncomfortably in the chair, still not exactly sure that they were understanding her. “One of the major struggles of working for you three is that you all function separately but kind of together. You three communicate super well, but you don’t communicate well with me.” Greer swallowed hard, her heart in her throat making it difficult to speak clearly. “I can see why other nannies that you’ve hired have gotten frustrated and quit. Luckily, I’m a good magnet for chaos, so I’m quite adept at dealing with a lot of it.”
“Yes, you are.” Ivy winked at her playfully. “And for having your hands in a lot of pots at the same time.”
Greer faltered, that flirty tone coming from Ivy challenging her ability to get through what she was saying.
“Riiiight,” Greer said, focusing on Lachlan instead. She didn’t have that flirtatious tone thus far and was probably the safest one to focus on. “But my point is that up until Nathalie was sick, you all didn’t really include me in decisions or anything, which is fine, but you got a whole lot better about communicating to me what those decisions were.”
Lachlan frowned. “We didn’t treat you as part of the unit.”
“I-I’m not part of the unit,” Greer countered. “Like I said, you all communicate beautifully together, and you spend so much time together as a family. But I don’t think that you think of yourselves like a family.”
“We don’t,” Nathalie agreed. “Not in the way you’re talking about.”
Finally, someone was hearing what she was saying. Greer focused on Nathalie now, keeping her hopes up that this information was sinking in. “Right, so you need to start thinking more like a family unit. I think it’ll benefit the kids and bring them even closer than they already are, and I think it’ll benefit each of you, too.”
“Close in the ranks, in other words.” Nathalie looked at her directly.
“Well, yes, but just for function’s sake, really.” Greer sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to make this more complicated than it already is, trust me. No one needs that. What I’m trying to say is that it’ll be easier if you start to work together as one single unit than if you each keep working separately.”
“All right.” Nathalie nodded her agreement. “I hear you.”
“Good.” Greer smiled at her. “Did I explain that well? I can’t really tell you what it looks like to work as a family unit because this is all you working together to figure that out. And whatever it looks like for you isn’t going to be what it looks like for anyone else.”
“That’s like any family,” Lachlan responded.
“Yes, it is. But especially with the complications that this one comes with.” Greer slid her gaze to Ivy. “With Penny. And she’ll push buttons no matter what, even after you’re divorced.”
“I know she will.” Ivy nodded. “I have to face the consequences of my decisions, don’t I?”
“These ones aren’t deserved.” Greer crossed her arms. “So, I’m going to leave you three to figure this out.”
“What?” Ivy snapped. “You’re just dropping this bomb on us and then walking out?”
Greer shrugged. “Seems fitting, since you’re the ones who have to figure this out.”
Ivy’s jaw dropped. Lachlan started to stand up, but Nathalie put her hand up to stop her. Lachlan sat back down, but she kept her hands on the edge of the table like she was ready to spring into action the moment she had a chance or was given permission.
“So that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, and if that’s everything…” Greer looked at each one of them for confirmation but none of them said anything. “Then I’ll go hang out with the kids while you three discuss.”
Greer grinned, so pleased with herself. She hadn’t expected this to go as well as it did, but she was ready for it to be over now. The high of the tension and nerves had dissipated, and she felt like she was going to crash for a little bit. At least she’d have the joy of playing with the kids while she did crash. That’d help take her mind off what they were talking about in here instead of wanting to sneak in and listen.
Standing up, Greer stepped to the side of the kitchen table, but Nathalie snagged her hand sharply. “Before you go…” Nathalie started, her lips quirking up in that way that meant she had something up her sleeve.
Nathalie stood up sharply and swiftly, and she pushed Greer back into the edge of the kitchen table, standing right in front of her. That same mischievous look was on her face as she moved in and captured Greer’s lips. Greer gasped in surprise, her lips parting as Nathalie moved in even quicker. Her tongue tangled with Greer’s, hands against Greer’s back and ass as she tugged Greer even closer.
Greer’s heart pattered rapidly as she reached up to cup Nathalie’s cheeks and held onto her firmly. Greer lost herself in the kiss, in the way that Nathalie bent her backward slightly, holding onto her firmly, sliding her hands down Greer’s chest and over her breasts. Nathalie hadn’t touched her so openly, not in front of anyone yet, not where the kids could see.
They’d been so damn careful, each of them, to avoid that. Greer moaned, sliding her hand behind Nathalie’s neck and holding onto Nathalie tightly as their lips continued to press against each other. Nathalie nipped Greer’s lower lip and then leaned in against Greer’s ear and whispered, “Thank you.”
Greer was about to ask a question when Ivy interrupted her thoughts. “Hey, hot stuff, it’s my turn.”
“What?” Greer frowned, but Nathalie backed away, and Ivy stepped right into her place.
Ivy’s kisses were quick and feverish. She kissed Greer hard, sliding her hands underneath Greer’s shirt and up over her breasts, tweaking her nipples lightly. Greer grunted in pleasure as Ivy scraped her nails lightly against her ribcage and down her sides to her hips. She bit Greer’s lip right where Nathalie had nipped her and then scraped her teeth down Greer’s neck before moving back up to kiss her again.
“You have no idea how amazing this is to watch,” Nathalie murmured, a hand on Greer’s back to help keep her upright. “Lachlan, come watch them.”
Greer couldn’t see anything. She was so overwhelmed with sensations and surprise. But she felt Lachlan’s hand against her back on the opposite side of Nathalie. Ivy was still pushed against her in the middle, heatedly teasing Greer’s tongue and deepening every kiss she possibly could. Greer moaned, grasping onto Ivy’s back and holding as tightly as she could. She didn’t want to topple over. She didn’t want to move an inch.
Ivy pulled back sharply. “Sweet stuff, it’s your turn, because if I keep going, I’m not going to want to stop.”
Greer was just about to ask a question when Lachlan used the palm of her hand to gently coax Greer to turn toward her. Before she knew what was happening, their mouths were locked together. Lachlan had far less heat than the other two. Everything about Lachlan was warmth and comfort, just like it always had been from the moment Greer had met them. Nathalie was hard and firm, Ivy all play, and Lachlan the perfect peace to calm them all and keep them locked together.
Lachlan kissed her slowly, sliding their tongues together, wet and sweet, just like Ivy had called her. Greer stayed planted between the three of them, hoping that this would never end. It felt amazing to have all of them focused on her even if it confused her slightly.
“Mama?” Alaric’s sweet voice reached Greer’s ears, and Lachlan broke the kiss immediately, looking down between their bodies.
“Yeah, bud?” Nathalie walked away from Greer and toward Alaric. “What do you need?”
“Is it dinnertime yet? I’m hungry.”
Greer smiled. That kid seemed to always be hungry. She held her breath as she glanced to Nathalie who looked over each of them. “Yeah, we’ll work on that in a minute.”
“Okay. Umm… Shepherd’s got a dirty butt.” Alaric looked over each of them, his eyes landing on Greer. She could see the curiosity in his gaze, wondering what exactly was happening, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he turned on his toes and walked out of the room.
“That was close,” Greer breathed a sigh of relief, and she hopped off the edge of the table and pushed her way through the two women still standing next to her. She broke free from the triangle they’d created around her and walked in the same direction as Alaric. “We’ll uh… not be so careless again. Okay?” She turned around and backed away, looking at each of them.
“Greer…” Lachlan said, her voice dropping as if she didn’t know what to add to that.
“I’ll let you all talk now.” Greer put her hands up and walked away.
She needed to breathe. That had been intense. Her heart was still beating rapidly, her entire body was telling her to walk back in there and let them each have their way with her, but she couldn’t do that. The kids were awake, and it wasn’t what any of them wanted, right? God, Greer pressed a hand to her heart as she stepped into the playroom.
“Hey babies! What are you all playing?”
Alaric and Leon jumped up to meet her, giving her hugs before racing back to whatever they were doing. Shepherd toddled over to her and put his hand on her, and she instantly smelled his dirty diaper. Right. That’s what she was here for. Not making out with three incredibly hot and sexy women in the kitchen.
“Come on, stinker butt. Let’s get you changed.” Greer held her arms out and Shepherd immediately toddled up to her.