The More the Merrier

by Sean Michael

  “I’ve been living here on and off since I was a little boy.” The family home was just that, his great-great—or something like that—grandfather having built it for his family of twelve. It was hard to believe that out of all those relatives only he and Sarah were left, but most of those twelve had died childless.

  Dirk interrupted his thoughts. “That’s really cool. I like a place with some history.”

  “Yeah? Me too. Although I get a little rattle-y in here all by myself,” he admitted. “It’s so empty, but it’s mine.”

  Dirk grinned at him, looking delighted. “It’s not going to be empty anymore. You’ve got those babies to help you fill the spaces.”

  “You know it. Why have all this wonderful space if you can’t share it?” He hoped his kids would make wonderful memories here.

  Dirk moved in for a hug. He smelled good. “Thanks for letting us stay. Are you going to be able to get any sleep tonight?”

  “I don’t know. I really appreciate you hanging out with me, though. I’m wired for sound.” And that was the truth. Logan hugged Dirk tight, loath to let go.

  “I’ve got your back, man.” Dirk petted his back as if to illustrate his words, the touch gentle.

  “Come have a cup of cocoa? We can take it to the master, if you want. There’s a sitting area with a fireplace. And a large television.” He spent a lot of time there when he couldn’t sleep. He supposed now he wouldn’t have to worry about what to do in the middle of the night—there were three mouths that were sure to need filling and three little bottoms with diapers in frequent need of changing.

  “That sounds amazing, actually. Let me get Melly up into bed in the princess bedroom, and then I’m all yours.”

  “I’ll make the cocoa.” Logan followed Dirk downstairs, breaking off to go to the kitchen while Dirk headed toward the den. Look at him, not even checking on the babies, proving both they and he could be all right even if he wasn’t watching over them every single second.

  Logan hummed as he heated some milk on the stove, then added some hot-chocolate mix to it. He found an unopened package of mini marshmallows in the cupboard next to the fridge and added a half dozen to both mugs. He grabbed a small plate when he found a lovely stash of cookies on a tray from the party and put a couple of each onto the plate, filling it up. Perfect.

  He was pouring the hot drink into the prepared mugs when Dirk joined him in the kitchen.

  “She didn’t even wake up.” Dirk sounded pleased about that.

  “Oh, that’s good. Those babies sure did fascinate her.”

  “They did. I think we’re going to be here a lot because if not, she’s going to talk me into getting triplets of our own.” Dirk shook his head, but he was smiling.

  “Oh lord. You can share with me, huh?” The more he said it, the more he liked the idea of not being on his own for this journey.

  “That works for me. I do not have room for triplets. Hell, I don’t think I have room for one more.” Dirk chuckled. “You, on the other hand, have a gloomy old mansion.”

  “Gloomy?” Was it gloomy in here?

  “Well, gloomy was a bit dark, maybe. Empty? Either way probably not much longer. Those babies will turn it into a home, eh?” Dirk took his cocoa. “Oh, you found the cookies. Cool.”

  “I did. Everyone was so generous. You should see what Sarah’s done to the garret. It’s an explosion of tween joy.” Purple and glitter and flowers and ribbons and banners. Posters. It suited Sarah down to the bone.

  “Maybe she’ll show it to me next time we’re both here,” Dirk suggested.

  Logan appreciated that, Dirk not assuming that they could go look now but waiting for it to be Sarah to show him. The guy had great instincts when it came to kids. “I’m sure she will. She’s very proud of it.”

  “Cool.” Dirk followed him up the stairs. “Though I have to admit, I’m looking more forward to seeing your room than Sarah’s.”

  “Well, come on. It’s where I live.” He led Dirk down the hallway. Both doors to the kids’ rooms were open, and he peeked in. Everyone was still asleep—babies and little girl. He had a monitor for the babies, but he’d bet with all the doors open, they’d hear the triplets and Mel if any of them woke up.

  They made their way to his bedroom, which was huge. It was the original master suite and was furnished as a bedroom at one end and a sitting room at the other. A pair of love seats faced the fireplace, with the television mounted above it, while the heavy four-poster bed and accompanying bedside tables were at the back of the room, the doors to the closet and the en suite there as well. He’d painted the room white years ago to lighten it up. Maybe gloomy wasn’t the worst adjective for the place, given all the dark wood and wallpaper in other rooms. He was trying to turn that around. There was just too much to do to tackle more than one room at a time as he needed them.

  “Oh wow. You really can just live up here, can’t you? Aside from forays to the kitchen, of course. It’s really warm and inviting.” Dirk looked around, smiling.

  “It is. It’s a good space. My office is downstairs, and it’s been redone as well.” It was next to the den, which would work out well as the kids got older. He could keep their toys there. The TV and all the kiddie movies were already down there, along with the Apple TV so they could stream stuff from Netflix and the like.

  “Very cool. Is the fire gas or the old-fashioned wood and flame variety?” Dirk moved to sit on one of the love seats.

  “This one is gas. It’s easier to quench. The huge one in the ballroom is wood.”

  “So, it’s not a problem to have this one on tonight?” Dirk looked yearningly at the fire. “I do love watching the flames.”

  “Of course not. It helps take the chill off too.” Logan grabbed the remote and turned it on.

  “Oh, that’s nice.” Dirk shifted, leaning against the back of the love seat, and took a sip of his cocoa. “Mmm. Perfect. What a lovely spot to unwind.”

  “Isn’t it? We have music, movies, whatever. And, of course, the fire and comfy seats.” He loved it in here. It was home.

  “This feels lived-in, comfy and cozy. I can see why you focused on this space given how big the rest of the place is. I hope you have someone come in every now and then and dust all those rooms. I’d hate to have to do a place this big all by myself.”

  “Once a week. I’m not all into having a staff per se.” He wanted his kids to have a relatively normal life, but who wanted to spend hours to keep the place tidy? Not him. Sarah was in charge of her own room, but for the rest of the place, a maid just made sense.

  “Yeah, well, this place is so huge you’d be cleaning constantly if you didn’t have someone come in once in a while.”

  He laughed at how Dirk’s thoughts had gone in the same direction as his own. “Exactly. I need someone to do the floors.”

  Dirk chuckled, seeming somehow tickled by his words.

  “I can’t believe this happened. I thought I’d have a few older kids coming for a short stay, then leaving again,” Logan admitted.

  “Would you have preferred that?” Dirk asked.

  “No. No, I was hoping for a family. I mean, I have Sarah, don’t misunderstand me, but I don’t get to see her often enough. They’d just warned me things didn’t usually move very fast in the adoption world and that often older kids need a place to stay on a temporary basis while their home situation is being figured out.”

  “Yeah, I’ve always thought not having Sarah around more often had to suck for you. Well, I’m glad you got the family you were hoping for instead of the come-and-go kids like you were expecting.”

  “I am too. I always wanted a big family, a husband, the whole thing. I thought it would come easy. I was wrong.” He just had to work at it. No big deal. He was smart. And fate certainly seemed to be on his side now too. Maybe he’d needed to do something like the adoption process in order to let the universe know he was truly ready.

  “Everything looks easy when you’re nineteen, doesn’
t it?” Dirk chuckled. “It seems less easy the older you get.”

  “You know it. At nineteen the world is brand-new. By now, it’s a little dusty.”

  “Yeah, but at nineteen we wouldn’t have appreciated the things the dust has settled on.” Dirk crossed his eyes. “I think I’m torturing this metaphor to death, but hopefully you got what I meant.”

  Logan began to laugh, tickled pink.

  Sitting back, Dirk laughed too, then drank some more of his hot cocoa. “This was just what the doctor ordered.”

  “It i—”

  One baby began to wail, and then there were immediate answers from the other two.

  Dirk offered him a smile and said, “I’ll give you a hand?”

  “Please?” He put down his mug and all but ran to the nursery where he fell in love all over again with three bright red, angry little bundles. “Hey. Hey, guys. It’s okay. Daddy’s here.” He rubbed their bellies, all of them calming a little at his touch. And wasn’t that the most amazing thing ever?

  Dirk was along in moments, carrying three bottles with him. He passed two of them over to Logan as Dirk grabbed little Suzy, cradling her and putting the bottle to her lips. “Oh, look at her. Such a hungry little girl.”

  Logan let the other two eat in their cribs, holding a bottle in each hand. He was going to have to figure this out. Somehow.

  Dirk was singing and cooing at the baby girl in his arms, the smile on his face stunning. He looked about as happy as Logan had ever seen him.

  “You’re good with babies,” Logan murmured.

  “I like little kids. They don’t judge, you know?” Dirk might have been answering him, but all his attention was on Suzy, tone of voice soft and easy.

  “No. No, they just need the basics—warm, dry, fed, and loved.”

  “Yeah.” Dirk turned her over carefully so she was belly down along his arm and rubbed her back until a huge burp came out of her, making Dirk giggle softly. Then he sat back with her and rocked in the glider.

  Logan picked both his boys up once they’d fed and sat next to Dirk. He burped one on each knee, cleaning up the spit-up from one.

  “You’re going to be a dab hand at that in no time. Actually, you’re already doing pretty good,” Dirk noted. “The real trick will be if you can you do it with all three of them. You think that’s possible?”

  “No. No, I imagine I’ll need to hire full-time help, and soon.” He wasn’t sure he wanted to—his initial plan had been to hire help in six months or so when he started to work again—but that wasn’t an option now. He’d known three would be a lot of work, but he was pretty sure they were going to be enough work that he needed help now.

  “If I wasn’t working, I would totally help you out. I can’t imagine anything more rewarding than helping to bring these sweet little beauties up.” Dirk really did look happy and peaceful.

  “I’m sure I can find a nice nanny. Or two. Maybe three once I’m back to work.” Oh, he was going to throw up, the whole thing suddenly, and utterly, overwhelming, starting with having strangers dealing with his children while he wasn’t here.

  Dirk simply looked at Logan and blinked for a moment. Then Dirk shook his head. “How about you don’t worry about that for now? You’ve got me for the rest of the week, and that gives you time to get someone in and know for sure how much help you’re going to need. Right now you need to breathe before the babies pick up that you’re panicking.” Dirk had clearly read Logan’s mood on his face because he was bang on.

  “Right. Right. No panicking.” On cue, one of the boys began to scream, and he realized he wasn’t sure which one it was.

  Dirk handed Suzy over to him and plucked the unhappy baby out of his arms at the same time. Standing, Dirk danced slowly with the little one, bouncing him. “Shh. Shh. It’s okay, sweet baby boy. We’ll figure out what’s wrong. Is your tummy sore?” Shifting him, Dirk rubbed his tummy. “Sometimes they’re allergic to certain kinds of formula.”

  The baby quieted quickly, though, snuggling into Dirk’s arms, and Logan knew it was him. He was nervous, so they were nervous.

  “Not colic or allergies to the formula. Just a little fussy. Yeah. Dodged a bullet there.” Dirk kept bouncing and rubbing the baby’s belly.

  “I am going to be great when they start arguing.” He was a lawyer, after all. Of course that wasn’t going to be for ages. He needed to be good with them now.

  Dirk laughed softly, the sound gentle and comforting somehow.

  “I’m a little scared,” Logan admitted, his gut telling him Dirk wouldn’t judge him too harshly for it….

  “I think I’d worry more about you if you weren’t.” Dirk put his sweet baby boy in one of the cribs and came to sit next to him, arm going around his shoulders. “What can I do to help?”

  “You’re being more help than I can say. I’m being a twat.”

  “Nah, that’s not true. You’re totally allowed to be freaked-out. Three babies at once. I was pretty freaked-out with just one when I had Melly.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I was taken aback a little.” A lot. He’d tried very hard not to let the freaking out happen in his conscious mind, but reality was hitting him right now. He wasn’t sure what he’d have done if Dirk hadn’t been here with him.

  “You’re going to be fine. Just fine. Anytime you need to hear that you’ve got this, that you can do it, you give me a call and I’ll be happy to tell you.” Dirk squeezed his shoulder. “Every new parent goes through this. I know you’ve already got Sarah, but this is entirely different. Three babies at once. You can do it, but you’re going to need to make some adjustments, that’s all.” Was Dirk talking to him in that same calm, soft voice he’d used on the babies moments ago?

  It didn’t matter; the words were helping. He took a breath. “Right. Exactly.” He checked diapers and tucked babies back in to their cribs. They were so tiny in them, it made him wonder if he shouldn’t just start them out in one together. They might be happier together.

  “See? You’re doing great. We’re going to be able to go back to your room and watch a movie or something like originally planned. This was a need for feeding, nothing huge or terrible.”

  “I’d love that. Thank you so much, Dirk.” He grabbed his friend and held on. “Seriously.”

  Dirk wrapped his arms around Logan and gave him a warm, tight hug.

  God, that felt good. Logan let himself lean, hard. Dirk didn’t complain or back off. The guy simply let him lean and offered support. He thought again that he wasn’t sure how he’d be getting through this first day without Dirk here. Finally he backed away, and they headed back into his bedroom. Movies. Rest. Friendship. The good stuff.

  And if he leaned on Dirk during the entire movie, well, neither of them had a problem with that.

  Chapter Four

  DIRK packed for Melly and himself and got her settled in her car seat in his Yaris to head for Logan’s. He’d spent the better part of spring break hanging out with Logan and the babies, making the occasional outing with Melly. They’d seen a couple of movies and gone to the park a few times, but she’d been utterly fascinated with the babies and had been very patient with them. Which was just as well as that’s where they were headed now, for the weekend.

  He’d called Logan every day after work, the guy sounding more and more tired as the week passed. After talking to him today, Dirk had decided that he and Melly needed to go back to Logan’s for the weekend. He thought Logan could probably use a full night’s sleep or two and was more than willing to help him get it by taking care of the babies.

  He supposed he wasn’t surprised, really, that Logan was having trouble finding help. Three babies were a lot. Of course, he and Melly were perfectly happy to help, and they weren’t even getting paid. So maybe it was simply a matter of Logan needing to find the right person. Someone who loved babies and knew how to take care of them. If Logan got some sleep and some help, Dirk was pretty sure he wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed. Logan had mentioned someone star
ting today, so he hoped that was going well.

  After pulling up into the circular drive of Logan’s place, Dirk turned off the engine and looked in the back to smile at his girl. “You looking forward to spending the weekend with Uncle Logan and the babies?” He wasn’t sure if Sarah was going to be there or not—she hadn’t been last weekend, but that had been Rebecca’s weekend. This was technically Logan’s, but Dirk didn’t know if Logan was still having Sarah on weekends at the moment, or if Rebecca was keeping her until Logan had taking care of the triplets under control.

  “Yes! My babies!” Melly jumped around on the driveway as soon as he let her out of her car seat.

  Laughing, he took her backpack and helped her put it on. Then he grabbed his bag, and they headed up the front steps. He knocked gently—no reason to wake the babies if they were sleeping.

  Sarah opened the door, tears on her cheeks. “Daddy’s firing the nanny. She slapped me.”

  Holy shit, that was not on. He went down on one knee and opened his arms. She flew into them, crying on his shoulder. He hugged her while Melly patted her back. “That’s a terrible thing to do. If your daddy had known she would do that, he would never have hired her.” Jesus, and this was someone who had had references? Who worked with kids on a regular basis? Dirk knew Logan wouldn’t have hired her otherwise, and he was shocked this had happened.

  “I told Daddy I’d come and stay and help if he needed me to,” Sarah managed through her tears.

  “That’s because you’re a wonderful big sister.” He kissed the top of her head. “Come on. Let’s go to the kitchen and see what we can have as a snack while your daddy gets rid of the very bad nanny.” He couldn’t imagine what Sarah could have possibly done to warrant a slap. She was a good-hearted little girl, and Melly adored her. Hell, even if she’d been rotten to the nanny, it wouldn’t have warranted a slap.

  “Okay. Come on, Melly. You want a cup of milk?” Sarah took Melly’s hand and then took Dirk’s with her other. “I’m glad it was you at the door, Uncle Dirk.”