20. Nora #2
The sign barely finishes before he’s already racing toward the front door. I would stop him, but I know he’s excited it’s been so long.
The knowledge that Viper is back makes something in my chest loosens so fast it almost makes me angry.
I wipe my hands quickly on a napkin while trying very hard not to react visibly. Blade notices anyway, because of course he does, but thankfully says nothing, while Stryker follows Paxton to the door as cold evening air rushes inside alongside Viper.
He looks exhausted as he enters. Dark blond hair slightly disheveled, wrinkled black button-up untucked beneath a heavy jacket, and faint bruising near one knuckle I immediately notice despite myself.
There’s stubble along his jaw, like he’s skipped shaving for at least two days, and tiredness sits deeper around his eyes than I’ve seen before.
Still, the second Paxton barrels into him, his entire face changes. Paxton grins wildly as Viper crouches enough to pull him into a hug, before kissing the top of his head automatically.
He pulls away to sign, Well there’s my favorite tiny man.
Then Lena marches forward dramatically with narrowed eyes.
“You look homeless.”
Viper blinks once before laughing quietly. “That’s aggressive.”
“You’re wrinkly and hairy.”
“I’ve been emotionally attacked by a third grader as soon as I stepped through the door.”
“She’s technically just being very observant,” Blade says mildly.
Lena crosses her arms proudly and glares at him.
Viper sighs theatrically before pulling her into a hug too. “Missed you too, my little menace.”
She giggles and melts into the hug squeezing him around the neck before they break apart. Then, finally, his attention lands on me.
Just like that the kitchen feels smaller somehow.
“Nora.”
“Viper.”
“You look happy to see me.”
“I was enjoying the peace and quiet actually.”
“Lying already.” He drops a bag near the doorway before crossing fully into the kitchen. “That’s not healthy communication, sweetheart.”
Heat crawls straight into my face before I can stop it.
Stryker outright looks away to hide his amusement, while Blade suddenly becomes deeply invested in rearranging casserole dishes.
Traitors.
Viper steps beside me like he never left, before leaning down enough to press a quick kiss against the top of my head. The gesture hits me hard enough that I forget how to respond for a second. Then he reaches for a roll from the tray immediately afterward like nothing happened.
“I assume you cooked enough for me because you love me.”
“I never cook enough because you people eat like farm animals.” The truth is, I always make an extra serving, hoping he’d surprise us and come back one night early.
“So yes?”
“Wash your hands and sit down, Viper,” I respond with a roll of my eyes and a huff, making my way back to the table.
Dinner settles around the table afterward with an ease that honestly should concern me more than it does.
Paxton sits between Lena and Viper, constantly trying to sign stories fast enough for everyone to follow while Blade helps translate whenever fingerspelling turns into chaos.
Several times during dinner I catch myself just watching them operate together inside my house.
Blade clearing plates automatically. Stryker fixing one of the loose dining chairs, mid-conversation, without interrupting anything.
Viper teasing Lena while simultaneously helping Paxton understand a joke through painfully slow signing attempts.
They look practiced, and somewhere in the middle of dinner, it hits me with a sudden, uncomfortable clarity.
They look like a family.
My stomach twists immediately after that thought arrives because apparently I’ve completely lost control of my own brain now.
After dinner the adults clean while the kids disappear into the living room with blankets and a movie.
I catch glimpses of them periodically while washing dishes beside Blade.
Lena signs portions of dialogue dramatically for Paxton whenever characters talk too fast onscreen, while he leans half across her shoulder, watching both her hands and the television.
At one point she falls sideways against him laughing silently and he nearly drops his juice trying to sign back too quickly.
The sight roots me in place for a second. Paxton looks… safe, happy. Comfortable in a way I haven’t seen consistently before.
“You’re staring,” Viper murmurs beside me quietly.
I startle slightly, but deny it immediately. “I’m not.”
“You absolutely are.”
I rinse another plate unnecessarily slowly. “They’re cute together.”
“They are.”
The softness in his voice catches me off guard enough that I glance toward him automatically. He’s watching the children now too, expression quieter than usual. He’s lacking the usual humor he keeps around him, and it’s replaced my genuine affection.
Which somehow affects me worse.
Later the movie ends without either child making it more than halfway through. Lena falls asleep first, stretched across one end of the couch, while Paxton slowly slumps sideways against her shoulder beneath the blanket pile.
The sight feels emotional in a way I can’t fully unpack. Behind me the men go quiet too. Then eventually Stryker speaks.
“We should probably talk.”
Every muscle in my body tightens immediately. I turn slowly toward them as Blade lowers the television volume completely. Viper leans against the kitchen doorway watching me carefully and Stryker gestures toward the dining table.
I sit first, mostly because my knees suddenly feel unreliable.
The men settle around me naturally afterward. Blade beside me. Viper across from me. Stryker at the head of the table like he always unconsciously ends up positioned. For a few seconds nobody speaks. Then, once again, Stryker finally does.
“You know this has stopped being casual already.”
Direct.
Typical of him.
I exhale slowly once. “Yeah, I figured.”
“We’re trying not to push you,” Blade jumps in gently. “But pretending this is temporary doesn’t really make sense anymore either.”
Viper watches me steadily across the table. “But you know that if this is going to work, we’re not approaching you separately, sweetheart.”
I look down at my hands briefly before forcing myself back up again. “And what exactly does that mean?”
In typical Stryker fashion, he answers first. “It means if you want this, you get all of us.”
“No hiding,” Viper adds quieter now. “No pretending parts matter less.”
Blade stays calm beside me. “We’re willing to move at your pace. But we’re serious about you.”
I stare down at the table for several long seconds trying to organize thoughts that refuse to line up properly. Finally practicality surfaces first because apparently my brain protects itself through logistics.
“This is insane,” I mutter.
Viper huffs a quiet laugh. “Little bit.”
“I have a child.”
“We know.”
“You have a child,” I shoot back immediately.
Stryker nods once. “Yeah.”
“This is fast.”
“Probably,” Blade agrees.
I rub one hand across my forehead slowly. “And what exactly would people in this town think eventually? About all of this?”
Viper leans back slightly in his chair. “Black Rock already thinks we’re weird.”
“And since when did i give a fuck what other people thought about me and my choice,” Stryker adds with an almost cocky arch of his brow.
“That is not reassuring.”
“It’s accurate though.”
Despite myself, I almost smile. Almost. Then reality settles back in hard enough to wipe it away again.
“I don’t know how this works,” I admit quietly. “I don’t know if this is stable for a kid long term. I don’t know if I’m making smart decisions anymore.”
None of them interrupt or dismiss the concern, and that somehow matters more than reassurance would.
Stryker folds his forearms across the table slowly. “You don’t need to decide tonight.”
“Nothing changes between now and tomorrow or next week or whenever if you need time,” Blade adds.
Viper stays quiet the longest, before finally speaking, softer than usual. “But we’re already too emotionally deep in this for it to be casual anymore, so we want you to know that we are doing this seriously, regardless of if it’s slow or fast.”
Eventually I shake my head slowly. “Okay, I just need time to think.”
Stryker nods immediately. “Alright.”
A soft movement from the couch breaks the moment when Lena shifts sleepily beneath the blankets. Blade rises first before crossing the living room quietly. Viper moves to stands beside the couch near Paxton. For a second he just looks down at him sleeping there curled against Lena’s side.
Then, very carefully, he slides his arms beneath him and lifts him against his chest with a practiced gentleness that makes my throat tighten unexpectedly. Paxton barely stirs.
“I’ll put him in the bed.” Viper gestures with his head. “Lead the way, sweetheart.”
I lead him upstairs silently. Once upstairs, Viper settles Paxton carefully into my bed before pulling the covers higher around him. For one quiet second he brushes hair away from Paxton’s forehead absentmindedly before stepping back again.
We turn around together, without words, and head back downstairs. Before we get there the words spill out.
“I don’t regret anything I’ve done,” I say, not able to look at him directly, but stopping just outside of the living room for a semblance of privacy. “Sometimes things with the three of you feel too real, and I get scared. But I don’t regret the steps we take forward. They just scare me.”
Fingers hook under my chin and he lifts my head to force me to look at him. “I’m not upset with you. I’m grateful for any steps we take forward and I will go at whatever pace is least scary for you, sweetheart.”
I gulp trying not to lose myself in his eyes before I whisper, “And one day, if things keep going well like this, I’d be open to you doing a DNA test just to confirm. I wouldn’t want it to change anything, but if it matters to you, I can think about it for the future.”
An expression somewhere between shock and joy crosses his face, like I just handed him something dangerously important without fully realizing it. For once Viper doesn’t joke immediately.
His thumb brushes lightly across my jaw before he leans down enough that his forehead rests briefly against mine. “You have no idea what that means to me.”
Warmth creeps up my neck instantly. Emotion catches me so hard and unexpectedly I can’t answer right away.
He exhales slowly before kissing my forehead once. “C’mon before one of them assumes I kidnapped you.”
A laugh slips out of me quietly despite everything, and he grins immediately, like dragging that sound out of me personally fixed something inside him.
Inside, Lena’s fully asleep against Blade now, cheek tucked near his shoulder. He stands by the door waiting while Stryker grabs her backpack, jacket, and shoes, all scattered around the place. They gather near the doorway afterward, slowly, like none of them actually want to leave yet.
“Goodnight, Nora,” Blade says, pressing a kiss gently against my forehead.
Stryker follows immediately after, rough warm hand briefly touching my waist before his mouth brushes my forehead too. “Lock the door after us.”
Then Viper steps close enough that familiar warmth curls around me again and presses a kiss to the same spot. “Night, sweetheart.”
Then they’re gone, and SUV headlights disappear slowly down the road, carrying all four of them away while I stand in the doorway far longer than necessary.
Immediately, the house feels too quiet. I lock the front door carefully before checking windows out of habit. Upstairs Paxton sleeps sprawled sideways across my bed, exactly where Viper left him, blanket tangled around his legs as moonlight spills softly across the room.
I stand there watching him for a long moment. Then eventually the truth settles heavy and unavoidable somewhere deep inside me. At some point, without realizing it, those three men stopped feeling like danger standing outside my home.
And started feeling dangerously close to my home instead.