Chapter 14
Fourteen
Aria
Two Months In
I felt like one of those silly, head-over-heels businesswomen from a holiday Hallmark movie.
The streets of Dallas were starting to light up in anticipation of Christmas, and I was walking down the road, a gaggle of cute children about me, shopping for presents for their fathers.
Anything that played music was joyously playing holiday songs, and Dallas had even been lucky enough to get a light blanket of snow. I was on cloud nine.
I had six wonderful, beautiful men who all adored me, and the kids, though a handful at times, made my life feel fulfilled and full of wonder.
Confirmed: I was a walking Christmas movie.
The kids would be taking holiday breaks from school soon, and their fathers had all bent over backwards getting the time off to spend with them, so I was a little uncertain about what role I would play during family holidays, but for the moment I was just enjoying being with them.
They were having a blast getting to shop for their parents, and I even took them to visit Santa too.
“Aria,” one of the twins, Oliver, started while we were in line to meet the big guy.
“Do you know what happened to my mum?” My heart thudded. He and Theo were old enough to remember their mum, and I could see Oliver’s eyes were trained on a mum singing to her child a few families in front of us.
I knelt down in front of Oliver, noticing that Theo was watching me intently as well.
“No, honey, I don’t know what happened to her, but I do know that she loved you very much, and your dad loves you even more.
” I reached out and pulled them both into a tight hug, tickling their sides as I did.
“And I love you the most!” My Child Development degree kicked in and reminded me that, above anything else, children just want to be loved.
All of the kids started laughing as I tickled the twins.
They seemed to accept my explanation for the time being, but the entire time we were in line, Oliver stayed focused on the woman in that family.
I wondered if she bore a resemblance to the mother he remembered.
When that family had finally seen Santa and left, his mood lightened significantly, and we were able to get through the rest of our shopping trip without many other hiccups.
I took the kids back to my apartment for a hysterical, albeit messy, workshop on how to wrap presents, and then it was time to take them back home.
I switched around the order I decided to drop the kids off in so that I could chat with Noah about what had happened with Oliver.
“He asked you about their mother?” he said in complete shock.
“Neither of them has ever mentioned her to me, not even once.”
“They’re probably afraid of what you’d say,” I told him.
“Or that it would make you sad to remember.” I hugged him once I realised I’d bummed him out thinking he hadn’t done well for the boys.
“You’re a wonderful dad, but you should talk to them about her, and make sure they know just how much you love them. I can only comfort them so much; the true assurance has to come from you.”
Noah hugged me back.
“Thank you.” I winced a little as Noah squeezed the part of my back he’d most caused pleasurable pain to the night before. He looked down at me with a raised eyebrow.
“Are you sure I wasn’t too rough with you last night?”
I shook my head. He hadn’t been. If anything, my back was sore because I kept him going like the Energizer Bunny. When it came to Noah, I couldn’t get enough.
“No, not at all, in fact…” I looked around to make sure the boys within eye or ear shot and then I leaned up to whisper into Noah’s ear. “I’m going over to Ethan’s tonight. Leo is going to Ronan’s for a sleepover with Finn. I’d love to have you there for a threesome.”
Noah smiled devilishly at me. “Just try and keep me away.”
I gave him a kiss, trying not to get too feisty because we’d have all the time we’d need that night at Ethan’s, and I grabbed my things and prepared to leave. I was just barely out the door when I heard Noah’s voice from the bedroom upstairs.
“Boys, come here, I want to talk to you about something.” I quietly tiptoed my way upstairs and stood in the frame of Oliver’s door, where Noah had gathered both of the kids and was sitting on the bed with them on his lap.
“Your mother was a wonderful woman. She was smart, and kind, and funny, and she looked a lot like both of you.”
“She was a twin too?” Theo asked.
Noah smiled.
“Kind of. You got your looks from her, which is why you’re both so cute.” He wiggled his fingers along their torsos, tickling them as he did so.
“But sometimes, when two grownups stop loving each other, they start being really bad to one another. Your mummy and I, we weren’t getting along anymore, so she left because she loved you so much that she didn’t want you to have to deal with the hard stuff.
” Oliver started to cry, and I could even see a few tears welling up in Noah’s eyes.
Theo remained sober, but sombre. It wasn’t a fun topic for any of them.
“But the last thing she told me is that she wanted me to tell you both every single day that she loved you so much, and I haven’t done that because I was mad at her, so I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Daddy,” Theo said, grabbing Noah’s face sweetly and giving him a calm peck on the cheek. “
We have a great Daddy, so we’re okay.”
Even I couldn’t hold back my emotions. Being a single parent was hard; I had no idea how all of the guys did it, with or without a nanny.
Oliver sniffled in.
“Do you think we’ll ever have a mummy again, Daddy?”
“It may take a little time…” Noah looked up and his eyes locked in mine immediately. I wasn’t sure if he knew I was there the whole time, or if it was just something he sensed.
My body fizzled as I took in the desperate, forlorn expression on Noah’s face. We were crossing a bridge that neither of us had realised we’d gotten to.
“…but I’m sure you will get another mummy again soon.”
Liam
The house was quiet except for the soft hum of the dishwasher and the occasional creak of the old floors. Chloe had gone down easy tonight, exhausted from her dance practice, and Aria had stayed to help me clean up after dinner.
"You didn't have to do all this," I said, watching her dry the last of the wine glasses.
"You're off the clock.”
Aria smiled at me over her shoulder.
"I know. I wanted to."
There was something different about tonight.
Maybe it was the wine, or the way the kitchen light caught in her hair, or the fact that we'd spent the last two hours just talking—really talking—about everything and nothing.
About Chloe's progress in ballet, about my ex-wife, about Aria's dreams before she became a nanny.
She set the glass down and turned to face me, leaning against the counter. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything," I replied.
"Do you ever regret it? The arrangement with the guys, I mean. Sharing everything."
I thought about it for a moment.
"Before you? No, never. It made sense. We all wanted the same things—to be good fathers, to have help, to not be alone." I stepped closer to her. "But now?"
"Now?" she echoed, her voice softer.
"Now I find myself wanting you all to myself sometimes." The confession came out easier than I expected.
"I know that's not the deal. I know we all agreed to share. But when I'm with you like this, when it's just us…”
Aria's eyes searched mine. "I feel it too."
My heart hammered in my chest. "Yeah?"
She nodded. "With all of you. It's different with each of you, but it's real. And that terrifies me."
I closed the distance between us, my hands finding her waist. "Why does it terrify you?"
"Because I could lose it," she whispered. "Because this isn't normal. Because I don't know how to love six men at once, but I think I'm doing it anyway."
The word hung in the air between us. Love.
"Aria—"
"I know we haven't talked about it," she said quickly. "I know it's too soon, or maybe it's crazy, but—"
I kissed her. Not the hungry, desperate kisses we'd shared before, but something slower. Something that said everything I couldn't put into words.
When I pulled back, her eyes were glassy. "Liam."
"I'm falling in love with you," I said.
"I think I have been since that night in the kitchen. Maybe even before that."
A tear slipped down her cheek and I caught it with my thumb. "I'm scared," she admitted.
"Me too." I pressed my forehead to hers. "But I've never been more sure of anything.”
She kissed me then, her hands sliding up into my hair, and I lifted her onto the counter.
This time felt different from before—less frantic, more intentional. Like we were making a promise with our bodies that our words couldn't quite capture.
I pulled her shirt over her head and she worked at the buttons of mine, our mouths never breaking contact for long.
When her bra came off, I took my time, kissing down her neck, across her collarbone, taking each breast into my mouth with reverence.
"Bedroom," she breathed.
I carried her down the hall, grateful that Chloe's room was on the opposite end of the house. My bedroom door clicked shut behind us, and I laid Aria on the bed, taking a moment just to look at her.
"You're staring," she said with a shy smile.
"I want to remember this." I climbed over her, settling between her legs. "Every detail.”
She reached up and cupped my face. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
I kissed her again as I slid her pants down her legs, followed by her underwear. She was already wet, and when I ran my fingers through her folds, she gasped into my mouth.
"I need you," she said.
"Not just sex. I need you."
I understood what she meant. This wasn't about getting off or satisfying an urge. This was about connection. About claiming each other in a way that went beyond the physical.
I stripped off the rest of my clothes and positioned myself at her entrance.
"Look at me," I said.
Her eyes locked on mine as I pushed inside, slow and deep. She was so warm, so perfect, and the way she wrapped around me felt like coming home.
"Fuck," I breathed. "Aria."
"I love you," she said, the words tumbling out like she couldn't hold them back anymore.
"I love you, Liam."
My chest tightened, and I had to close my eyes for a second to compose myself. When I opened them again, she was still looking at me with that same open, vulnerable expression.
"I love you too," I said, and started to move.
It wasn't fast or rough. I took my time, pulling almost all the way out before sliding back in, making sure she felt every inch of me. Her legs wrapped around my waist, and her hands roamed my back, my shoulders, my hair.
"You feel so good," she moaned. "So perfect."
I dipped my head to kiss her neck, her jaw, her lips. "You're perfect. You're everything."
Her breathing quickened, and I could feel her starting to tighten around me. I reached between us and found her clit, rubbing slow circles that matched the rhythm of my thrusts.
"Oh god," she whimpered. "Liam, I'm—"
"I know, baby. Let go. I've got you.”
She came with my name on her lips, her whole body shuddering beneath me. The feeling of her pulsing around my cock was almost too much, and I followed her over the edge moments later, burying myself as deep as I could go.
We stayed like that for a long moment, connected and breathing hard. I pressed kisses to her forehead, her cheeks, her lips.
"Stay tonight," I said.
"Please."
Aria smiled up at me, her eyes soft and full of something that looked a lot like love.
"Okay."
I rolled to the side and pulled her against my chest, her head tucked under my chin.
My hand traced lazy patterns on her back as our breathing slowly returned to normal.
"Liam?" she said after a while.
“Yeah?"
"Thank you for being honest with me. About your feelings."
I kissed the top of her head.
"Thank you for not running away when I told you."
She laughed softly.
"Where would I go? You guys have ruined me for anyone else."
"Good," I said, and I meant it. "Because I don't plan on letting you go.”
She tilted her head up to look at me.
"Even though you have to share me?"
"Even though." I brushed a strand of hair from her face.
"You're worth it. This is worth it."
She kissed me once more, sweet and lingering, before settling back against my chest. Within minutes, her breathing had evened out and she was asleep in my arms.
I lay there in the dark, holding the woman I loved, and for the first time in years, I felt completely at peace.
Whatever complications lay ahead, whatever challenges we'd face with this unconventional arrangement, I knew one thing for certain:
I was in this for the long haul. And I was pretty sure she was too.