Epilogue
“Uncle Jack.” Maddox and Emmanuel’s three-year-old twins, Aiden and Ashley, raced over the second he and Henry walked into the beautiful Christmas wonderland that was his best friend’s living room.
Jackson set down the presents he was holding then scooped up both children, one twin in each arm. They hugged him tightly.
“Ja-Ja.” Justin and William’s sixteen-month-old, Olivia, toddled over as well, wrapping her arms around Jackson’s leg.
Henry smiled warmly at the children’s adoration of his husband.
Every child in their family considered him their favorite.
“Re-Re.” Henry put his gift bags down to pick up Olivia when she came over to him.
“Hey, sweetheart.” He kissed her cheek.
“Let me grab these for you.” Emmanuel picked up everything Henry had set down to put it under the Christmas tree. Maddox helped with the rest.
“Merry Christmas, guys,” William said as Henry, Jackson, and all three children sat on the couch.
“Merry Christmas,” Jackson returned.
“These little munchkins have been going crazy waiting for you two.” Maddox laughed.
“Presents now, Daddy?” Ashley asked.
“See.” Emmanuel chuckled.
“I’m on it.” Justin walked over to the tree, picked up a brightly wrapped package, then handed it to Aiden. He repeated the process with Ashley and then Olivia.
As the children’s merry peels of excitement filled the room, Henry looked around at his second family and smiled. He couldn’t believe how well things had turned out. Not only for him but for his best friends, who he considered to be his brothers, as well.
Maddox and Emmanuel had decided on surrogacy shortly after their first anniversary.
Henry would never forget the day they found out it would be twins.
His friends had been insanely overwhelmed.
He smiled thinking about how Jackson had taken control of the entire situation.
He’d made sure their house was completely in order, that they had everything they needed, and that they knew their family was always there for them.
Ashley Marie and Aiden Michael brightened their lives from the second they came into the world, somehow turning Jackson into a baby whisperer.
He was incredible with them. Olivia’s birth solidified that position.
Justin and William’s wedding had been just as magical as Maddox and Emmanuel’s; he’d made sure of it.
As a wedding present, William’s parents had signed their entire estate over to the couple.
Not long after, William was working on a story about safety regulations in the amateur hockey leagues.
He was introduced to a young superstar and his girlfriend, who were in a complicated situation.
The baby they had on the way was only adding to the stress they were under, and they were considering adoption.
It seemed like fate to his friends who, two weeks prior, had finally admitted to each other that they wanted to start a family.
His own wedding was the most beautiful and meaningful experience of his life.
He wasn’t sure anything would ever make him feel the incredible serenity that washed over him when he saw Jackson waiting for him at the altar.
The man’s smile as he took Henry’s hand from his father was swoon worthy.
And the way Jackson had wrapped his teary-eyed dad in a tight hug, made his heart throb.
Thankfully, there had been a relatively low amount of family drama.
At the time of the wedding, Henry’s mother was still stalling the divorce, hoping to win his father back, so she had been on her best behavior.
She’d made the predictable fuss about Keith not being invited but stopped when Jackson threatened to disinvite her as well.
His parents’ divorce became final six months later.
Henry set up a trust for his mother, giving her five thousand dollars a month.
And while he hadn’t tried to cut her out of his life, as a result of him no longer being willing to let her use him, it happened anyway.
Once she realized that, the calls and visits got fewer and fewer, until they stopped altogether.
When they returned from their honeymoon, they sold Jackson’s house, gave Henry’s to his father, then moved into the same neighborhood as their friends.
Maddox and Emmanuel lived two blocks from Justin and William.
They still got together every Thursday, only now it was the three of them taking turns hosting a family dinner.
“My goodness.” Emmanuel’s laugh pulled his thoughts to the present. “I am definitely going to have to playroom purge just to make room for all this stuff.”
“Tell me about it.” William shook his head with a grin.
“I blame Henry and Jackson,” Maddox decided.
“Why us?” Jackson laughed.
“Maybe because you guys bought five gifts per kid,” Maddox reminded.
“Yeah, and it’s not like we can get you back by returning the favor,” Justin put in.
Henry looked over at Jackson and smiled. “Yet,” he told his friends.
“What do you mean yet?” Justin asked, as everyone focused on them.
Henry pulled out his phone, quickly scrolling through to find the photo he was looking for.
He held it in a way that they could all see.
“This is Elijah. He’s ten.” He was incredibly slender, with thick short brown hair and haunted gray eyes hidden behind his rectangular-shaped glasses.
“Axel is eight.” Axel was, according to the pediatrician, in a higher percentile for his weight.
He wore his dirty-blond hair a little longer, almost covering eyes that were just as hopeless as his brother’s.
“And Lavender is four.” Everything about the girl was petite, and she had the most delicate features, including wide blue eyes and strawberry-blonde hair.
“These poor babies have had it rough, pretty much from the start.”
“Yeah. They all have the same mom but different fathers. Mom was a wild child, drinking, drugs, the whole nine yards. She got pregnant with Elijah when she was sixteen, but she wasn’t sure who the father was,” Jackson continued.
“Axel came two years later. She was with his dad for a while, but he disappeared when Axel was three. No one has been able to find him since. Then Lavender.” Jackson shook his head.
“Well, she’s the result of a series of one-night stands, so her father is unknown. ”
“They’ve suffered severe neglect and abuse.” Henry pulled the phone back. Looking down at it himself caused nervousness and excitement to course through him. Jackson wrapped his arm around him.
“Are you guys going to be foster parents?” Emmanuel asked happily.
“It’s way more permanent than that,” Jackson answered.
“We’re adopting them,” Henry told his friends. “We didn’t tell you because we didn’t want to get everyone’s hopes up in case something went wrong. But they come home next week.”
“Seriously?” Henry had always found the way Justin’s voice got a higher pitch when he was excited, to be adorable. He nodded. “Damn, Henry. That’s amazing.” He crossed to the sofa to pull Henry into a hug.
“Nervous?” Maddox asked him, coming to take Justin’s place.
“Petrified,” Henry confirmed.
“Don’t be. You two are going to be great parents,” Maddox assured him.
“How can you be so sure?” Henry wondered. “What if I mess this up?”
“Relax, man.” Justin threw an arm around his shoulders. “You have the best support system in the entire world.”
“None of us could do this parenthood thing without each other. You guys were there for us every step of the way; we all plan on returning the favor,” William said as he sat next to Jackson, hand on his shoulder.
“It’s our village,” Emmanuel concluded.
There was so much love in this room. This family was exactly what his kids needed, and he couldn’t wait to bring them home. Henry looked back at his husband, who had pure devotion and joy shining in his eyes, and realized he was one of the luckiest men in the world.