Epilogue
Six Months Later
“We’re going to be late!” I yelled over my shoulder. “Are your shoes on yet?”
“Putting them on now,” Lucas called back from Bran’s room.
I finished the sandwich I was making, then put it in a reusable container and added it to the rest of the snacks in Bran’s lunch bag. I loved that he spent his entire day at school, rather than just the mornings like when he was in Kindergarten. But that meant packing a lunch for him, which added a few extra minutes of work in my already-too-busy mornings.
We were getting to get to the point where I could afford to let him buy lunch at school, but I was still reluctant to spend money on luxuries. Especially when I could make his lunch for him and save twenty-five dollars a week. That kind of money added up.
“Ta-da!” Lucas said, emerging from the bedroom with our son. “The little man himself, all ready to go.”
Even though Bran had been going to Worthington for a month now, I still felt a proud twist in my chest when I saw him dressed in his cute little uniform. He wasn’t even six years old yet, but he was already growing up so fast. I knew that one day I might blink, and he would be taller than me.
“Something wrong?” Lucas asked.
“Nothing.” I turned back to the lunch bag and pretended to fiddle with something. “I’m just amazed at how handsome of a boy you’re turning out to be. You look so nice in your suit.”
“Thanks,” Lucas said, kissing the back of my neck. “I really like this tie.”
“I was talking about Bran.”
“Sure you were.” He rubbed my back, then turned to Bran. “You sure you don’t want me to take him today?”
“The school is on my way to this open house,” I replied. “You can take him tomorrow.”
“You’ve got a deal.” He leaned in close to whisper. “I was thinking of taking a half day tomorrow.”
“Oh?” I replied.
His hand cupped my ass. “You’ve got showings in the morning, right?”
“Mmm, I do, but I’ll be done by eleven.”
“Good.” He gave my ass a squeeze. “Maybe I’ll see you back here.”
I grinned at him. “Maybe.”
He kissed me, but it was quickly interrupted by Bran groaning loudly. “You two are gross . I thought you said we were going to be late.”
“Let me give you an important piece of advice, little man,” Lucas said. “There’s always time for kisses.”
Lucas lifted Bran into the air and bombarded him with kisses on his cheeks. Bran squealed and complained, but was laughing by the time his father put him back down.
“See you tonight,” Lucas told us.
I drove Bran to the Worthington Academy. Most of the cars dropping off kids were luxury SUVs, which made my minivan look downright quaint by comparison. But I didn’t feel bad. I didn’t care if I couldn’t afford a car that was more expensive than most mortgages. Bran was going to the best school in the state, and it was going to give him a huge head start on life.
I could suffer a few pitying looks from the other parents. Being a mom meant doing anything for my child.
My morning was indeed busy with showings for two different clients, running all over town. But I was still able to return home by two in the afternoon to help Sara with the twins.
“I love you so much,” Sara said, handing me one of the babies. “She won’t settle down, and I desperately need a nap. You don’t mind? You’re sure?”
“Go to sleep,” I lectured her. “I owe you dozens of these favors, remember?”
“Just making sure.” Sara gave me a weak hug, then dragged herself into the bedroom to catch what sleep she could.
I rocked the baby and smiled to myself. I remembered these days when I was pregnant. Waking up in the middle of the night to breastfeed. Cat napping throughout the day whenever there were a few moments of peace. Wondering how any mother in human history managed to find the energy to raise a child.
And I only had one to deal with. Twins were proving to be so much more difficult. When one of them slept, the other was fussy—and vice versa.
Sara and Harper were getting through it, though. Not to pat myself on the back too much, but my assistance was certainly invaluable to them.
It helped that I had lots of backup. Half an hour later, I heard the scratch of a key in the deadbolt on the front door, and then Shay quietly tip-toed inside.
“How are they doing?” he whispered to me.
“I just put Ariel down,” I replied. “It took a while to get her to stop crying.”
Suddenly, the baby monitor crackled to life with the wail of a baby. Three seconds later, the other baby began shrieking.
“I swear I didn’t cause that,” Shay insisted, holding up his hands. “I was silent .”
“It’s not your fault.” I sighed and stood up. “They’ve been like this the past two days.”
Shay put his suit jacket on the back of the chair and began rolling up his sleeves. “I’ll take Conner.”
I’d done a lot of filthy things with my three boyfriends over the past six months. Especially with Shay, fooling around in a dozen or so house showings. The four of us had hooked up in every combination imaginable, in twos and threes and sometimes all four of us at the same time. We’d done things that gave me goosebumps to even think about.
But there was nothing sexier to me than the way Shay tossed a spit-up towel over his shoulder, raised Conner out of the crib, and began rocking him in his arms.
Yeah. I was a sucker for a guy who knew how to take care of a baby. And lucky enough for me, I had three of them.
Shay and I watched the twins until Harper came home and took over at five. “We can stay and help longer,” I told him. “Give you a chance to change and take a breather.”
“I’m good,” he replied while taking Ariel from my arms. “Besides, don’t you two have that showing to look at?”
“I told them a time range we would stop by,” I replied. “It can wait a little longer.”
Shay glanced at his watch. “That is true, but I want to make sure we finish the showing in time to go to Bran’s baseball practice. Jordan said he’s going to practice pitching tonight.”
“Oh, right!” I said. “Let’s go.”
Halfway to the showing, I glanced over at Shay. “Do you really care about baseball practice, or did you want to make sure we had plenty of time at the showing for another reason?”
“I don’t know what you’re implying,” Shay replied, deadpan. “I’m interested in purchasing this house. I don’t want to feel rushed while we’re checking it out.”
“Of course. It has nothing to do with the fact that the last home we looked at, you shoved me into the master closet, hiked up my skirt, and made me come so hard I cracked one of the shelves.”
“I don’t see how that’s relevant, your honor,” Shay said.
“And how the showing before that , at the cute little ranch-style house, you pushed me onto my knees and came down my throat.”
A tiny smile touched his lips. “You’re the one who got down on your knees and pulled my dick out, if I recall.”
“Regardless of intentions,” I said, “I think you’re going to like this one.”
“What makes you say that?” Shay asked.
Shay had changed his priorities over the past month—instead of looking at condos, he was searching for a single-family house to buy and rent out. It was more profitable when you didn’t have a monthly building fee to pay, he had told me. Secretly, I suspected he just wanted to fuck me in a different variety of houses.
I didn’t mind.
“The location is great.” I pointed out my window as we drove by a park. “It’s within two blocks of this park, and another one to the west. The interior is fantastic —an open layout that allows the kitchen to flow right into the living room. It has a second-story balcony off the primary bedroom, overlooking the backyard. There’s so much space, it makes me wish I could buy it, though I obviously don’t need four bedrooms. This neighborhood isn’t in a great school district, but that means it’s priced to move. That school district might limit your pool of potential renters, but I still don’t think you’ll have trouble finding a tenant.”
I pulled up in front of the house. With the flawlessly-manicured lawn and white picket fence, it really was perfect. A gem of a home in the current market.
“That’s good to hear,” Shay replied. “But I don’t think I’m going to rent this one out.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as we got out of my minivan.
That’s when I noticed the car across the street. It looked just like Lucas’s Nissan. And the truck behind it…
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Are Jordan and Lucas here?”
I heard a shout coming from the back of the house, familiar in so many ways. I hurried through the fence gate and went around the side of the house to the backyard. Jordan and Bran were standing thirty feet apart, tossing a baseball back and forth.
“You have to wait until you’re older,” Jordan was telling my son.
“But I want to learn now .”
“It’ll mess up your arm. Trust me.”
“You promise to teach me when I’m older?” Bran asked.
Jordan nodded. “When you’re old enough, I’ll teach you how to throw a curveball, and a cutter.”
“Excuse me?” I interrupted. “What are you two doing here?”
“What’s it look like?” Jordan replied. “We’re playing catch.”
“Yeah. We’re playing catch.” He threw the ball back to Jordan. “What’s a cutter?”
“It’s a cut fastball. Like a regular fastball, but it moves a little more. Like a sneak attack!”
I turned back to Shay. “I don’t understand what’s happening right now.”
The sound of a toy speaker filled the air, along with Lucas’s distorted voice. “We’re making another grand gesture to you.”
Lucas was above us, on the balcony that overlooked the backyard. He was holding Bran’s toy speaker in one hand, and the corded microphone to his mouth with the other.
“Oh my God,” I groaned.
“Hales.” Lucas’s voice drifted out of the toy speaker. “The three of us have been talking. And we want to move in with you.”
I closed my eyes and laughed. “Just because you did this once and it worked, doesn’t mean it’s going to work again.”
“It’s not going to work because of the toy,” Lucas replied. “It’s going to work because it’s something we all want. You can’t keep living in your sister’s apartment. You and Bran need more space.”
“Bran and I have plenty of space,” I called up to him. “It’s only crowded thanks to you three.”
“Exactly,” Shay said behind me. “We want a space for all of us.”
“This place is sick ,” Jordan said, tossing the ball to Bran. “Have you seen the living room? And the kitchen?”
“I know it’s great!” I insisted. “I’m literally the real estate agent in charge of selling it!”
“Let’s buy it,” Lucas said. “All of us. Together.”
I stopped protesting and allowed myself to actually consider what they were suggesting. The four of us—five, including Bran—under one roof. We would each have our own space, rather than constantly arguing over who got to sleep in my bed and who had to crash on the couch. Not to mention the yard, and how close it was to the neighborhood parks…
“You already did a good job selling me on the house,” Shay pointed out. “All the reasons it’s perfect.”
“Except for the school district,” I said.
“Which doesn’t matter since Bran goes to Worthington.”
“What about any future children?” I found myself asking. “Will they all go to Worthington? What if they don’t get accepted? I don’t want to get stuck in a bad situation regarding their education.”
Shay’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. “Future children?”
I threaded my fingers into his. “We haven’t talked about it. But I think I might want more. At some point. And I think you do, too.”
Shay stared deep into my eyes for a long moment before nodding. “The thought has crossed my mind.”
“Same!” Jordan shouted while continuing to play catch with Bran.
“We can cross that bridge when we come to it,” Shay insisted. “For now, this is the perfect move for all of us. A chance for us to become one family. If that’s what you want.”
I didn’t need to think before answering. “I want that very much.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Lucas demanded. “I can’t hear you from up here.”
“You sound ridiculous talking through that toy,” Jordan shouted. “That’s what we’re discussing.”
“You’re lucky Bran is around, or you’d be hearing a variety of curse words through this ridiculous toy,” Lucas replied.
I cupped my hands over my mouth and shouted, “I’m in! Let’s do it!”
“YEAH!” In a burst of energy, Lucas tossed the toy out to the side. It hung in the air for a frozen moment in time, then plummeted, smashing on the back deck below.
“Oops,” Lucas said. “I’ll replace that, Bran.”
“Do you want to live here?” I asked Bran. “I’m surprised you didn’t speak up.” Bran had reached the age where he gave everyone his opinion on everything. When he wanted something, he would speak at great length to try to convince me. Shay’s attorney oratory skills were rubbing off on him.
“I know we’re going to live here,” Bran said, “because Jordan said we’re buying the place.”
“Jordan says a lot of things,” I replied.
Shay cleared his throat. “I actually already put in an offer. I called your office to keep it a surprise.”
I gasped. “You went behind my back?”
“Are you mad?” Jordan asked, pausing his throwing. “I thought you loved this place.”
“I do,” I replied. “I just want to make sure I get the commission on the sale!”
Lucas came downstairs and we all hugged. Then Bran loudly said, “I’ve already picked out my room! Let me show you!”
He sprinted inside without waiting for us.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked my three boyfriends when we were alone. “All of you moving in together? With me?”
“We already spend most of our time together,” Shay said.
“It’s closer to Worthington and the baseball field,” Jordan added. “And we’re still just two miles from Sara and Harper, so we can all keep pitching in with the twins.”
I turned to Lucas. “You’re good with this? You’re sure?”
He knew what I was asking. All three men had become father figures to Bran, but Lucas was his actual biological father. That was an easy line to draw in our various relationships, but the line would get blurred if we all moved in together.
But Lucas grinned widely. “Living with the mother of my child and my two best friends? Are you kidding? This is a dream come true.”
I hugged him, clenching my eyes shut to keep from crying. It was a dream come true for me, too.
“It does extend my daily commute, though,” Lucas added.
“Oh, shut up,” Jordan said, throwing his weight into us as he hugged us from behind.
Shay’s arms folded around us, too. “My commute is slightly longer as well, but you don’t hear me complaining.”
“I’m just saying, I’m making quite the sacrifice here, and I want to make sure we all acknowledge it,” Lucas insisted.
“Your five-minute commute just became a seven-minute-commute,” Jordan said dryly. “Bran isn’t here, which means I can tell you to fuck all the way off.”
They continued arguing, but it was good-natured. Their arms remained wrapped around me and each other, a tight four-person unit that was growing stronger every day.
I may have had to raise Bran as a single parent for the first five years of his life, but I would never have that problem again.
For the rest of Bran’s life—and mine—I knew I would have all the help I ever needed.