Chapter 3
Three
Ronan
The call from Noah came while I was reviewing blueprints for a client's renovation—something about reinforced load-bearing walls that required my full attention. But the moment I heard his voice, tight with barely contained excitement, I knew the blueprints could wait.
"We need to meet tonight. Tonight. I think we've found her."
Twenty minutes later, I was pulling up to Gabriel's place, watching him stride out in jeans and a dark henley, his usual intensity dialed up a notch. He slid into the passenger seat while Liam climbed in back, and I could feel the anticipation radiating off both of them.
“Noah, say anything else?" Gabriel asked, buckling in.
"Just that we needed to get there. He interviewed someone today."
"Please let this one work out," Liam muttered from the back seat. "Mila asks about the last nanny constantly. She doesn't understand why people keep leaving."
I glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
Liam was the youngest of our group, still finding his footing in this unconventional arrangement we'd built.
The last nanny situation had shaken him—had shaken all of us, really.
When personal feelings got tangled up with professional responsibilities, everything fell apart.
"The kids deserve stability," Gabriel said, his jaw tight. "Caleb's been acting out at school again. His teacher thinks it's because of all the changes."
I heard what he wasn't saying: that Gabriel blamed himself, that the revolving door of caregivers was wearing on all of them.
For all his intensity, Gabriel was a devoted father.
That's what had brought us together in the first place—six single dads trying to figure out how to give our kids the stability we couldn't provide alone.
"We'll be more careful this time," I said, keeping my eyes on the road. "No rushing into anything."
Gabriel shot me a look. "You sound like you're trying to convince yourself."
Maybe I was. The truth was, I wanted this to work as much as any of them. Finn needed consistency, needed a woman's presence in his life. But I also knew how quickly things could go wrong when emotions got involved.
Noah's house was lit up when we arrived, warm light spilling from the windows. We let ourselves in—one of Noah's rules for what he'd dubbed "The Dad Squad" was that we all had keys to each other's homes. Practical for coordinating kid care, but also symbolic of the trust we'd built.
"In the den," Noah called out.
We found him with a bottle of whisky already open, glasses poured. That was either a very good sign or a very bad one.
"So," I said, settling into one of the leather chairs. "Tell us about her."
Noah passed a folder to Liam, but his eyes were bright with something I rarely saw in him—hope. "Her name is Aria Kent. Bachelor's in Child Psychology, associate's in Early Childhood Development. She's twenty-six, local, and she interviewed incredibly well."
"Education's important," I said, and I meant it. Anyone taking care of our kids needed to understand child development, needed to be equipped for the challenges seven children would present.
Gabriel made an impatient sound. "What about the rest of it?"
"We didn't get that far," Noah said carefully. "I wanted to make sure she was right for the kids first. That's what matters."
Liam passed the folder to me, and I opened it to a professional headshot clipped to her resume.
My breath caught.
Long blonde hair, delicate features, eyes that seemed to look right through the camera. She was beautiful—objectively, undeniably beautiful. But that wasn't what made my chest tighten.
She looked like Eva.
Not exactly, but enough. The same colouring, the same ethereal quality. The same type that had always drawn me in, that had made me fall in love with my wife before everything went wrong.
"Ronan?" Liam's voice seemed to come from far away. "You okay?"
I realised I'd been staring at the photo, my thumb pressed against the edge of the paper hard enough to crease it. I closed the folder and passed it to Gabriel, forcing my expression neutral.
"I'm fine."
Gabriel let out a low whistle as he looked at the photo. "She's gorgeous."
"What do you two think?" Noah asked, his gaze moving between Liam and me. "About her qualifications, I mean."
Liam nodded slowly. "Her credentials are impressive. And you're right—the kids need a woman around. Someone stable, someone who understands what they're going through."
Gabriel tossed the folder onto the coffee table. "Are we really going to pretend we're only thinking about her college degree? What did she say about the other arrangement?"
"We didn't discuss it," Noah said firmly. "And we're not going to rush into that conversation. Remember why we started this in the first place—to find quality care for our children. Everything else is secondary."
"Secondary," Gabriel repeated, his frustration evident. "Noah, it's been months since—"
"Since the last situation imploded because we moved too fast," I cut in, my voice quiet but firm. All three of them turned to look at me. "We will not make that mistake again."
Gabriel's eyes flashed, but I held his gaze.
"I know you're frustrated. We all are. But we're not using this woman like a solution to our personal problems. If she's good for the kids, that's what matters. We get to know her first, make sure she's the right fit professionally, and then—maybe—we see if there's potential for more."
The room fell silent. I rarely spoke up like this, preferring to observe and listen, but this mattered too much to stay quiet.
"He's right," Liam said finally. "If we mess this up because we can't keep it in our pants, we're the ones who lose. And more importantly, our kids lose."
Gabriel sat back, his jaw working. "Fine. But now that I've seen her, it's going to be hard to think about anything else."
"You're not the only one," Noah admitted, then looked at each of us in turn. "But we agreed to be thorough this time. Careful. So no one makes a move until she's comfortable with the kids and we've had a chance to see if she's even interested in... more. Agreed?"
"Agreed," Liam and I said together.
Noah's gaze fixed on Gabriel. "Oli?"
Gabriel crossed his arms but nodded. "Agreed."
"Good." Noah leaned back, a slight smile playing at his lips. "Besides, if we let the tension build for now, it'll be that much better when we finally..."
He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to.
I took a long drink of whisky, trying to ignore the way my pulse had kicked up when I'd seen Aria's photo. Trying not to think about how she'd looked at the camera with those clear eyes, or how something in my chest had twisted at the sight of her.
She reminded me of Eva, yes. But she wasn't Eva. And maybe that was exactly what I needed—someone who could make me feel something again without being haunted by the past.
Or maybe she'd be the one thing that finally broke me.
I'd find out soon enough. We all would.
"When does she start?" I asked.
"Monday," Noah said. "I told her we'd all be there to meet her. Thought it would be easier to do introductions all at once."
Gabriel groaned. "You're really going to make us wait until Monday?"
"I'm really going to make you wait until she's ready," Noah corrected. "However long that takes."
I nodded, setting down my glass. It was the right call, even if every instinct I had was telling me to see her again, to find out if she was real or just another disappointment waiting to happen.
"Then we wait," I said. "And we do this right."
For the kids, I told myself. For Finn, who deserved stability and care and maybe, finally, a chance at something like a normal family.
But as I drove home that night, Aria's face stayed with me—those eyes, that smile, the way she'd looked both confident and gentle in that single photograph.
I'd spent years building walls, keeping people at a distance, protecting Finn and myself from any more loss. But something about Aria Kent had slipped past my defences before I'd even met her.
And that terrified me more than I wanted to admit.