by Ashlee Price
None of this makes any sense.
“Are you with someone?” Dr. Robinson asks.
I lift my head.
“I mean are you with someone here right now? Like, is there someone waiting outside for you?”
I shake my head.
“Do you want me to call someone, then?”
I shake my head again.
I don’t know who to call. Who would I call?
Cora? But she’s in Switzerland.
Reilly? Noah? Kaleb? Hector?
I place a hand over my mouth as a realization dawns on me.
Shit. I don’t even know who the father of this baby is.
“Danielle?” Dr. Robinson stands up and reaches for my shoulder. “Are you alright?”
“I’ll be fine,” I tell her as I stand up as well. “Thank you.”
I head out of her office. Outside, I sit on an empty chair to gather my thoughts.
Who’s the father?
I don’t know. I had sex with all of them, after all.
I bury my face in my hands. I feel like such a…
I shake my head, refusing to say the word or even think it.
Sure, I haven’t behaved as well as I should. Sure, I’ve let my emotions carry me away and acted rashly. Sure, I’ve made mistakes.
But I don’t regret them, not when I know myself better because of them.
Besides, now isn’t the time for remorse or for wallowing in self-pity or beating myself up. Now is the time for me to make a decision.
I glance at my stomach and press a hand against it. My hand can’t feel anything yet. No bump. No kicks. It’s too early. But if I close my eyes, I can feel something there.
Another life. Another person.
My baby.
And suddenly, it feels like everything else is falling into place, like I can see what matters and what doesn’t. I’ve found my purpose.
I rub my stomach and smile.
I’m still afraid. Very afraid. But for the first time in my life, I don’t feel alone.
I’m not alone.
With a fresh sense of exhilaration, I stand up.
My mind is already made. I just have to let everyone concerned know about it.
Everyone.
~
“You’re pregnant?” Reilly is the first of the four men sitting on the couch to speak up.
I’ve called all four of them to the house to talk to them and now they’re all here—Reilly, Hector, Kaleb and even Noah—all sitting across from me on one couch, all potentially the father of my child.
“Are you sure?” Hector asks me as he meets my gaze.
I nod. “I can show you the blood test results if you want. I also took a few home pregnancy tests just to be sure.”
“How far along are you?” Kaleb asks.
I shrug. “It’s hard to pinpoint exactly. That’s why all of you are here.”
Kaleb stands up. “You’re saying one of us is the father?”
I nod.
He glances at the other men. “But I thought…”
He stops, disappointment and confusion written all over his face.
“I’m sorry if you feel that I betrayed you, Kaleb,” I tell him. “But you know that I was just looking for something real. And I’m not sorry for what I did. Well, I was at first, but I’m going to be a mother. That means I have to be strong enough to put my past behind me.”
Kaleb sits down and falls silent.
“She’s right,” Hector says. “The past is insignificant. How we got here doesn’t matter. What matters is why we’re here.”
I nod. “Thank you, Hector. Now, as to why you’re here…” I take a deep breath. “I just wanted you all to know because I think you deserve to. And if it isn’t obvious already, I also want you to know that I’m keeping the child. That’s all. I’m not asking you for permission or for approval or for support…”
“I’ll support you,” Noah speaks up for the first time. “And the child. I don’t care if it’s not mine. I know what’s it like to be unwanted, and I don’t want the child to feel like that or go through any of the stuff I did.”
I smile. I was expecting Noah to say that, but it feels good to hear it just the same.
“Besides, if it’s yours, that’s enough for me,” Noah adds.
“Thank you, Noah.”
“So will I,” Hector says. “And not just financially.”
Now that I didn’t expect.
“I said I’d take care of you,” he reminds me.
I look down. “But that was when…”
“I said I’d take care of you,” Hector repeats. “And I will. I want to.”
Okay.
“So do I,” Reilly says as he stands up.
My eyebrows go up. Really?
“You don’t have to, Reilly. I know you’re focused on your career and all…”
“I made a mistake when I let you go before,” he tells me as he walks over to me. “I’m not going to let you go again.”
I say nothing. I don’t know what to say.
Kaleb, too, walks over to me. “Neither am I.”
To my surprise, he kneels in front of me. “I don’t care if I’m not the father. I don’t care if I’m not the only man in your life. My proposal still stands.” He takes my hand. “Marry me, Dani.”
I suck in a deep breath.
“I don’t mind,” Hector breaks the silence. “I actually think it’s a good idea since everyone thinks you’re still engaged.”
“But then everyone will think Kaleb is the father,” Noah says.
“They will, but we here in this room will know better,” Hector says. “It’ll be just a front. We’ll all still be a part of the child’s life, and of Dani’s.”
“You don’t mind that?” I ask Kaleb.
Kaleb nods. “As long as I get to be a part of your life, I don’t care who else is in it.”
“I don’t mind, either,” Reilly says. “I feel the same way.”
I let out a deep breath. “Do we have to sign a contract?”
Kaleb chuckles. “No contracts.”
“I don’t think one is necessary,” Hector says. “Except for the marriage contract you’ll inevitably have to sign, which is just a formality.”
“Marry me,” Kaleb repeats.
I look at him, then at Reilly and Noah and Hector.
I can’t believe they’re all okay with this.
Slowly, my lips curve into a smile. “Well, I do still have the ring.”
Epilogue One
Kaleb
Fifteen months later…
“Good night, sweetheart.” Dani blows a kiss at the screen of the laptop. “I love you.”
After that, the screen goes blank. Even then, she keeps staring at it longingly.
I go over to her and place my hand on her shoulder. “How’s Solstice?”
Dani turns to me. “Good. She doesn’t seem to miss me at all.”
“But you don’t like that, do you?” I ask her.
Even with a smile on, I can sense her sadness.
She shrugs.
I squeeze her shoulder. “She’s just turned six months old, Dani.”
“But I feel like I’ve had her forever.”
“I know. And she’s yours. That will never change no matter who she’s with.”
Dani stands up and falls against my chest. “Thank you.”
I wrap my arms around her. “You don’t have to worry about her too much, you know. She’s lucky to have you as her mother, as I am lucky to have you.”
She pulls away and looks at me. “I’m the lucky one.”
I stroke her cheek. “Besides, this is our long awaited, much needed and well deserved honeymoon,” I tell her. “We should enjoy this time together.”
“I know. I’m sorry I haven’t been giving you much attention.”
“Oh, you were pregnant and moody and bossy.”
Dani frowns. “I was not bossy.”
“Do you remember that time when y
ou sent me out in the middle of the night just to look for mangoes?”
She chuckles.
“And what about the time when you were yelling at me to get the doctor?”
“I was in labor,” she says. “And it wasn’t just you I was yelling at.”
I grin, remembering how Reilly, Noah and even Hector were scrambling all over the room just trying to figure out a way to make her feel better. In the end, the nurse got fed up with us and sent us all out, only bringing us back in when Solstice was born.
I remember that moment, too, when I first laid eyes on her. Her skin wasn’t as dark as mine, but I didn’t care. She was perfect. She was Dani’s. And she was mine.
“And then I got busy with Solstice,” Dani goes on as she traces circles on my shirt. “I still don’t know how I got through those first few weeks.”
“Well, you had four fathers to help,” I point out.
She frowns. “None of you knew how to change diapers, remember? And you and Hector didn’t even want to.”
“But I did.”
“Most of the time you were making things worse. Like that time when you gave her ice cream and she almost choked on that chunk of chocolate, or that time when Noah tried to give her a bath.”
I chuckle. “Sorry. I didn’t know fatherhood could be so complicated. I guess you wish you married someone else, huh?”
“That did cross my mind,” she admits.
I frown.
“But then I see you reading her stories and making her laugh, I hear Reilly singing her to sleep, I see Noah painting her and I see Hector just holding her while she sleeps and I think I’ve got four amazing fathers right here.”
I smile and plant a kiss on her forehead. “That’s good.” Then I lower my face. “But I think you should stop talking about the other guys now.”
I press my lips against hers, letting them stay there for a few moments.
“This is our time together,” I tell her, then kiss her again.
This time, I press my mouth harder against hers and she pushes back as she wraps her arms around me.
I carry her up to the loft of the treehouse where the bed is. Then I lay her down on top of the sheepskin blanket.
I take a moment to brush away the red locks that Solstice inherited from her face and look into her eyes, then I kiss her again.
Her lips part and I plunge my tongue into her mouth. Heat ripples through my veins.
It’s been a long time since I last held her. Too long.
And I’ve been patient. But not anymore.
No more.
I press my hand against her cheek as I move my mouth against hers and let our tongues mingle. I put my other hand on her thigh and slowly move it up beneath her blue silk chemise.
She pulls away to draw a deep breath. My fingers reach her underwear and she gasps.
I kiss her neck as I stroke her through the cotton, which grows damp beneath my fingers. She shivers and clings to my back.
Then her fingers find the hem of my shirt and she pulls. I pull it over my head.
Dani sits up and runs her fingers across my chest.
“For a moment there, I thought this would never come back,” she says as she traces a ridge of muscle.
“I told you that I had to lose some mass but I’d put it back on again.”
“I know. I just…” She meets my gaze. “You didn’t feel like you for a while back there.”
“Well, I wasn’t me. I was Trek.”
“And you were brilliant.” She touches my cheek. “Not as sexy as Kaleb, but brilliant. That’s why you got that Oscar.”
“Oh, really?” I narrow my eyes at her. “I thought they gave Oscars for hotness.”
She grips my chin. “Don’t you get cocky now, Mr. Wilson.”
I grin. “Yes, Mrs. Wilson.”
I kiss her again, then pull the chemise off her so that I can kiss her some more while I trace the curve of her breast. I find one stiff nipple and take it between my thumb and forefinger.
She moans into my mouth. Her hips arch against me and the front of her panties brushes against the bulge in my boxers.
I moan in return.
I slip my hand beneath her panties to stroke her, and my heart stops as my fingertips come in contact with her soaked, soft folds.
“You’ve missed me, too, haven’t you?” I tease before licking her ear.
“You know it.”
Dani reaches for my crotch and I shudder. Her fingers slip through the opening of my boxers to wrap around my cock and I gasp.
She’s missed me, alright.
I take off her underwear and she pushes off my boxers. Then she pushes me off and crouches above me.
My eyes narrow as they look right up into hers. “Getting impatient, are we?”
She says nothing. She just crawls away from me until she’s between my legs. Once there, she grabs my cock and licks the length of it.
I grab handfuls of the soft sheepskin blanket and let out a curse.
She takes her time licking, the tip of her tongue tracing every vein and grazing against every inch of dark skin. She takes so much time that I almost flip her over, but suddenly she lets my cock go and moves back up.
She sits on top of me as she looks into my eyes. I lift my head so I can look right into hers, though my eyes get drawn to something else as she lowers herself onto me.
My cock disappearing inside her inch by inch.
When it has disappeared from view, Dani stops to catch her breath, then leans back and starts moving her hips. Her hair sways behind her shoulders as she rubs against my cock. Her breasts jiggle slightly.
The sights takes my breath away.
Unable to resist, I sit up and take one breast in my mouth. As she watches me, I tug her nipple between my lips and lick it.
She opens her mouth to let out a moan even as her eyes fall halfway shut.
I dip her so I can plant a quick kiss on the curve of her belly, which is flat now.
“Look who’s talking,” I tell her. “Even you got big and small in just a short amount of time.”
She chuckles. “I guess I did. And I had a baby, too.”
I grin. “I know.”
I push her off me and turn her around so that she’s on her hands and knees on the mattress. Her hair flows down the sides of her face like fiery waterfalls. I grab her shoulders and enter her.
Dani throws her head back and lets out a cry.
After a few thrusts, I pull her to me so that she’s on my lap. I turn her head so I can kiss her while I play with her breasts. Then I play with that button of flesh in the valley between her curls as I start jerking my hips again.
She pulls her mouth away from mine and throws her head back. Her fingers make their way to my hair.
I kiss her neck as I keep stroking her and moving in and out of her. Her moans spill out one after the other, bouncing off the walls of the treehouse. Her breathing comes in shallow gasps.
“Enough, Kaleb,” she breathes out. “I want you.”
I know exactly what she means, so I push her off me and turn her around. With her back on the sheepskin blanket just like when we started, I spread her legs and enter her with one thrust. I keep thrusting as I kiss her.
Her nails rake across my back, then dig into the skin as she quivers. My cock, too, quivers inside her, and as she tightens around me, I let go.
My groans mingle with her moans as we tremble. I feel the tight passage become flooded with warmth.
As she gasps for air, I pull out and lie down beside her. She snuggles against me, and for a moment we lie still in that loft. Around us, the leaves rustle in the wind.
When I’ve caught my breath, I turn to her.
“Are you okay?” I ask her.
“Yeah,” Dani answers. “I admit I was a little afraid that sex would be different after having a baby, but it’s not. Well, it is, but only better.”
“Good to know.” I kiss her on the forehead. “And I’m glad to have you
back.”
“Me too.” She snuggles into the crook of my shoulder.
“You know, it’s weird,” I tell her as I stroke her arm. “I don’t get jealous of the other guys so much anymore, but I get jealous of Solstice. I guess that’s because I can tell how much you love her.”
“Don’t be silly.” Dani pinches my cheek playfully. “You don’t have to be jealous of anyone. I’m yours. I’m as much yours as I am Solstice’s and the other guys’.”
I lift my eyebrows. “Really?”
“Well, maybe I’m a bit more of Solstice’s,” she admits.
“I knew it.”
“But that’s because right now she needs me more than anyone.”
“I know.” I stroke her hair. “And I understand. I’ll just be right here watching over you both.”
She props herself up on an elbow. “Listen to you, sounding all grown up now.”
“Well, I have matured,” I tell her proudly. “Or so the magazines say.”
Dani grins.
“And it’s all thanks to you,” I tell her. “And Solstice, of course.”
“I always knew you were a good man, even when you stole that kiss from me.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Is that why you slapped me?”
Dani chuckles. “If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have come to your senses.”
I touch her cheek. “We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?”
“Yes. We have a kid now, and you have an Oscar.”
I snort.
“And you have me.” She grabs my hand and lets her fingers entwine with mine. “You’ll always have me.”
I kiss the ring on her finger. “I love you, Mrs. Wilson.”
She squeezes my hand and gives me a big smile that makes my heart well up until it seems to fill my chest.
“And I love you, Mr. Wilson.”
Epilogue Two
Reilly
Another six months later…
“So how is married life?” I ask Dani as I wipe the excess salt water off my face.
She shrugs. “It’s not bad.”
She pinches her nose and disappears completely below the water, then emerges a few moments later with her dripping hair covering her face like a huge banana peel.
Apart from that, she looks good, though. Her breasts seem to have grown larger, and they’re peeking out from the triangle-shaped cups of her bikini top.
I blush and look away.