A Bundle of Mannies

by Lorelei M. Hart

  “He’s his dad.” Linc squeezed my other hand.

  A few minutes later, the nurse settled him on my chest where he immediately decided it was time to eat, his eyes closing as he latched on—his eyes bright blue.

  Just like Pace.

  Not that I would get my hopes up for him. Lots of babes are born with blue eyes that changed within a year. And at the end of the day, baby Pace was ours—the three of ours—and biology didn’t make any difference whatsoever.

  Years later, when his eyes were still blue, it never came up, not even at medical appointments. We were all fathers together, stronger with each day, each milestone, each birthday. Baby Pace was ours. We were the luckiest men alive.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Pace

  I stood outside Adam’s room, listening to my mates bustling around getting him ready to go home. They laughed together and something dropped, then silence, and a peek through the curtain blocking the doorway showed the kind of kiss that warmed me to my toes. Our son lay in his little bed, wrapped and wearing his going-home pj’s, eyes closed and fists on either side of his head. There was a time when this scene might have made me feel left out. All the years I’d mourned my inability to bear children, but now I took a mental snapshot so I’d never forget how this looked. This was not just a family I was temporarily helping; this was my family.

  I pushed the curtain open and stepped inside, ready to be part of the picture. “Everyone ready?”

  They turned to face me with such welcoming expressions my heart beat extra fast. “I think so,” Linc told me, holding out an arm to bring me in for a hug and kiss on the cheek.

  Adam still stood at his other side, arm around his waist. “How is your dad?”

  My eyes welled up. “He’s great. I was so prepared to lose him only a few months ago, was already starting to mourn, but thanks to Linc and the amazing medical team he brought in, they say with good care he may fully recover.”

  Linc gave a brisk nod. “That’s why we built onto the house. He’ll get the best care living with us, and the kids are beyond excited.” He winked toward the bassinet. “Well, the two who are old enough to know what it means to have Grandpa come to stay. They love him, you know.”

  “I know.” I sniffed back the tears. “And they are a big part of what made him want to go on. I always felt terrible not to give him grandchildren and then I was so far away, but I think Penny and Beau and now baby Pace gave him the will to actually agree to the surgery. It was risky, and his age was a factor for those other doctors, but now he’s super excited to come home with us and settle in. He’s even talking about Uncle Ned visiting.” My aunt, despite all his care, was living in a very good care facility now, and although he visited her every day, he could take a couple to visit us.

  “Okay, let’s get our family home. How are we doing this?” Adam asked, picking up the baby and cuddling him close.

  “The nurses are bringing him down because we don’t want to take our little guy into any other parts of the hospital. Germs! So I am supposed to let them know when Linc pulls the car up and we’re all ready.”

  “Actually,” our alpha said, grinning, I’m already in the spot designated for babies going home. “We’re the only ones leaving today, so the staff suggested I go move there while you were still with your dad.”

  “I’ll let them know, then!” I sent a quick text to Dad’s nurse, whose cell phone number I’d had for the past two weeks, and we settled Adam in the wheelchair, baby on lap, hung bags and balloons all over it, a couple of the nurses we’d gotten to know joined us, and our parade started out. The elevator stopped on the second floor where Dad was wheeled in by Nurse Nancy, and we rode together to the main floor.

  People entering the hospital lobby stopped to stare as we went by. Probably very few families brought their oldest and youngest members home on the same day, but when we arrived home and installed them in their rooms, I felt like the luckiest omega ever born.

  There was not one person under this roof I didn’t love with my heart and soul. And when, fifteen minutes later, I returned to the nursery alcove added to our bedroom to find Dad sitting in the glider with baby Pace on his lap and Beau and Penny listening to him tell one of his patented “good old days” stories about his glory days in minor league baseball, I thought my heart would burst with joy. Adam was propped up in bed, watching with a bemused smile.

  “They look good together, don’t they?” Linc’s voice came from behind me, his hand landing on my shoulder.”

  “They do.” I forced past the lump in my throat. “I’m so grateful for you going to so much expense and trouble to add on the suite with the outside door for Dad. He will be able to come and go on his own as soon as his doctor releases him to drive. Imagine, he’ll be driving! He has so many plans.”

  “He wasn’t ready to die, you know. He was sure he had life left to live, but he didn’t want to upset you when the doctors all gave him no hope.”

  “What about all the people his age who don’t have advocates like you?” I hated the thought they might be not getting help that was available just due to their years. Age didn’t make a person less valuable.

  “There’s a new board at the hospital that’s set up just to deal with the issue. Your dad is going to sit on it you know.”

  I spun to look at Linc. “He is? That’s amazing.”

  “He’s quality people, Pace. Look at the son he raised.”

  I buried my face in his chest, letting my tears of happiness and relief soak his shirt. He patted my back until Adam said, “Hey, isn’t anyone going to get me a snack?”

  I chuckled and turned to face him. “I have some veggies and yogurt dip in the kitchen for you. I’ll get them.”

  “No, not yogurt!” His pout was almost as cute as the baby’s.

  As a manny, I’d spent years taking care of other people’s children. As an associate for Manny’s Mannies, I’d put my Royal Academy training to good use helping match other mannies and their new families. I’d be working from home most of the time, except when conducting training for some of the new hires and refreshers for others. After all, a manny was an amazing asset for a family.

  And sometimes, although I’d never said that to those I would train, they became part of the family.

  But only in the very best cases.

  Epilogue

  Lincoln

  “Good Lord, how much oatmeal are you making?” I asked Pace.

  He kissed my cheek and smiled. “Porridge. Oatmeal sounds repulsive. And tons. Beau is having a growth spurt, and Dad says it is good for fiber. Adam is a fan and, also, we have a big family. It’s cheap, cheerful, and filling. My mum always made porridge.”

  “I want mine with peanut butter and jelly,” Penny said, rooting around in the cabinets and pulling out her ingredients. She must’ve seen my face. “Hey, it’s good.”

  “Okay. Sounds yucky to me, but okay,” I said.

  Adam came in, baby Pace swaddled against his chest. Our son had been the easiest baby to date in terms of sleeping and eating from his papa. We all got a full hour of sleep every night and had since he turned around four months old. We took turns rocking him to sleep, but Adam was the only one who could feed him. We did our best to provide for him during those times and do the tasks like changing his diaper and rocking him back to sleep so Adam could return to bed as soon as possible.

  We made one hell of a Daddy team.

  “Sounds good to me, too. I’m in,” Adam said, sitting down at the table while cradling our babe’s head, careful not to bump him on the table. He patted Pace’s dad’s hand and told him good morning. We all got along so well, like we were made to be in each other’s lives.

  I picked up Penny and all her toppings and brought her to the table. Beau was already halfway through a banana, and by halfway through, I meant half of it was on the floor. I kissed the top of his head and mussed his hair.

  The time was right.

  I’d been thinking about someth
ing all night and intended to make it happen. There were no sports for Penny this weekend, and I knew Adam had caught up on all things. And secretly, I’d requested to be left alone until Monday. I helped Pace serve up heaping bowls of porridge to everyone along with every topping imaginable.

  “What are we doing today, Daddies? It’s Saturday. No school. No rules.”

  Daddies. It melted my heart.

  “Well,” I said, pushing my bowl away. The gloopy stuff wasn’t my favorite, but I’d eaten it anyway. “I’m glad you brought that up, Penny. I was thinking you could go get your favorite dress on and everyone else can dress up for something special. We can even get ice cream later if you want.”

  “Gross. I hate dresses. But what are we doing? You can’t wear a fancy dress to the park or the mall or the playground or the museum…well, I guess you could. I’m not sure.”

  I looked at both Pace and Adam. “I thought maybe we’d all go to the courthouse and make Pace our husband today. Be all legal and stuff.”

  Three spoons dropped on the table all at once. Pace’s, Adam’s, and Pace’s dad’s.

  I didn’t think it would be that big of a surprise. We’d been discussing it for months but never got around to it. It was high time this man was officially ours.

  We all loved each other. Shared a bed, and now a child. They acted as if I’d asked them to move to New Zealand the next day.

  “We don’t have a ring for him,” Adam said, but his eyebrows rose, looking like he hoped, somehow, we did.

  “Yes, we do.” I pulled a ring matching ours out of my pocket and put it right on top of the peanut butter jar. Inside, it was engraved with all of our initials with hearts in between each person.

  “A marriage license?” Pace was poised, hands on the table, half out of his seat, ready to go. I got up and pulled said license from a drawer in the kitchen. They’d been feet from it all morning and hadn’t noticed.

  Pace blushed but his mouth was wide open. “Are you serious?”

  I nodded then took his hand in mine across the table. “Do you doubt me? Doubt us?”

  He shook his head. “Never ever.”

  “Then I suggest everyone get dressed up. We’ve got a wedding to attend.”

  “Gods, I love you,” Pace said. “Both of you, with my whole heart.”

  “Good,” I replied, standing up and kissing his lips hard. “Then go get dressed.”

  To be a manny who swoops in, saves the day, and then swoops out before dealings grow too deep…or at least that had always been his plan…

  Omega manny Sebastian loves his job. He helps the families who need him most, from sets of triplets to suddenly single parents to micro-preemies. His training as a nurse gives him skills most mannies don’t have, making him one of Manny’s top employees. He goes in during times of great need and moves on when they no longer need his help. It works for everyone.

  That is, until now.

  Alpha Walker is struggling. He never planned to be a single father. Who plans for their mate to die in childbirth? Walker is strong—stronger than he knows. Only he doesn’t feel strong. His son is about to have surgery, surgery that could be life-altering, surgery that could be the difference between life with a walker and in a chair or one on two feet. His recovery will require more care than Walker can give. While in-home health care will be an option, Walker wants better for his son than rotating nurses, so when he sees an ad for Manny’s Mannies, he calls on a whim.

  Manny’s got him covered. He has an employee with the perfect background and skills. He neglected to mention that he was hot, sweet, and lickable—not that Walker would lick him. That wouldn’t be right. Unless he asked. Then he could be persuaded.

  And Sebastian so very much wants to ask. He has always been able to keep his heart sheltered and his emotions intact while working, but, with Walker, it grows exponentially more difficult with each passing day. Walker is everything Sebastian didn’t even know he wanted in an alpha and so much more. But work was work…or was it?

  His Miracle Manny is the sixth book in the popular Manny’s Mannies series and is a super-sweet with knotty heat M/M non-shifter Mpreg romance that can stand alone. It features a hot manny with skillful hands, a widowed alpha who deserves to love again, and a little boy who refuses to give up and only hears the positive.

  His Miracle Manny

  Manny’s Mannies Book 6

  By

  Lorelei M. Hart

  Chapter One

  Sebastian

  “Where did my little flowers run off to?” I called out after having counted to ten. Daisy, Lavender, Rose, and Jasmine all hid behind the playhouse. They always did, but I still made a huge deal of finding them. Extra huge today, given it was finally time for me to move on.

  This was the most challenging part of being a manny—leaving a family behind. I knew going in this was a short-term gig. I was to come in and help with their new triplets until the dads were able to settle into their roles as parents of four—then came Jasmine and an extension of my time. I loved them all to bits, but it was time for me to move on.

  I made ginormous loud steps, pretending to look behind each and every blade of grass and tree in their yard. “Not here. I wonder where ever could my flowers be?” Stomp, stomp, stomp.

  And giggles. So many giggles. The triplets had just turned four, and Jasmine was close to two, and the number of giggles the four produced were astronomical. I was so going to miss the glorious sound.

  “I guess they ran off with the fairies.” I plopped down on the ground in a fake huff.

  “Bastion?” RJ called from the patio where he was constructing some kind of plastic brick robot. He’d grown up so much since I arrived and was on the cusp of puberty and already thinking ahead to college. They grow up so fast.

  “Yes, RJ?”

  “I think I saw a fairy fly behind the playhouse.” He was such an amazing big brother. Most kids his age would be put out by having four little sisters clamoring for his attention 90 percent of the time, but he took it in stride, using their preoccupied moments such as this to focus on his own hobbies, while never ignoring them. One day, he would make a great father—very, very far into the future.

  “Ohhhh, I better go check.” I ran to the playhouse and caught my little flowers. “Gotcha.” The giggles turned to full-on laughs as the back door swung open.

  “Lunch,” was all Ms. Rose said.

  I still couldn’t figure out why they all still called her that. She had been the only grandmother type the girls ever knew, and her relationship with RJ was grandmotherly as well. But they all seemed to be fine with it.

  “Coming, Ms. Rose,” I called back and gathered my little charges. “Off we go to wash our hands.” The comment earned me a groan until I reminded them there would be cake.

  “That was amazing.” I leaned back rubbing my belly at the sight of the lasagna Ms. Rose had made, knowing it was my favorite. “You spoil me.”

  “As it should be. Can you imagine these two the first month without you?” She pointed to Enzo and Charlie who just shrugged.

  They’d have been fine. Triplets were hard. There was no way around it. Even with me, it was hard before they could do things like feed themselves and walk. And adding a fourth baby before the first three were super mobile—yeah, extra hands were needed. They had another on the way; their van was going to need an upsize soon. But unlike last time, this time they were ready. Four of their five kids were out of diapers and all were mobile. And since Enzo had figured out a way to be completely hands-off of his empire, or so I liked to call his company, they had two full-time dads and two full-time grandparents. No kids had ever been more loved.

  “You are just buttering me up, Ms. Rose.” She blushed, and I couldn’t tell if it was from my compliment or whatever Ray just whispered in her ear. Those two were adorably in love.

  “Guilty as charged.” She slid an envelope over to me. “This is for when you get to missing Maine. A voucher to stay at our cabins for as lo
ng as you want, whenever you want.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “We’ll give someone the boot if we have to.”

  She wouldn’t have to. They always left two cabins open. One for family and one for friends. It was adorable really. With business booming and the new cabins added on the island always full while in season, they left those empty—just in case.

  “Cake?” little Jasmine asked and was soon joined by choruses of her sisters and brother singing some song about cake being a breakfast food. I had my suspicions Ray had a part in teaching them the little ditty. And really, it made some strong points.

  “Fine.” Charlie stood and cut and served the cake. It wasn’t fancy. In fact, it was quite the opposite, which made it all the more special. Enzo and RJ had made it, and neither of them should work in a bakery ever. I loved it.

  “You guys didn’t need to go through all of this.” I was sad enough to be leaving. And excited. And nervous. My emotions pretty much ran the gamut.

  “You are moving to California. We needed to do this. If you would give in and try lobster, we’d have gone all out.” Charlie winked at me. No way I was eating a bug, even one from the sea. Just no.

  “I’m gonna miss you.” RJ punched my arm. “Now I gotta deal with these four on my own.”

  And, of course, they giggled.

  “Possibly five.” I pointed to his dad, who was too early to know if they were having a brother or a sister.

  “You’re welcome to stay.” Enzo spoke with sincerity. “I know your offer is good, and this was the deal when Jasmine was on her way, but just putting it out there.”

  As tempting as it was, it was time to move on. The old adage stating mannies only stay until they were no longer needed was true. This family was fine without me. Better than. And it was time for me to head to California for a family who needed me. From what Manny of Manny’s Mannies said, they more than needed me, they needed a miracle. It was a good thing I believed in those.