The More the Merrier

by Sean Michael

“You noticed that. Are you happy to be here?” With me?

  “I really am. Have I said thank you? Because thank you. I know that’s not really adequate, but it’s all I’ve got.” Dirk stepped into his space and kissed the corner of his mouth, then hugged him tight. “Thank you.”

  He leaned for a second, soaking up Dirk’s warmth, the solid, strong body. Dirk rested his head against Logan’s shoulder, not seeming to be in a hurry to let go.

  “Melly looks so happy. Like a princess in her bed with her friend.” Dirk sighed. “This is perfect.”

  He didn’t know what to say, so he just held on and enjoyed the feel of Dirk against him. They needed to go visit with the guys, pay for the pizza, check on the other little ones, but….

  “You feel so good,” Dirk whispered.

  He blinked, then the fact that a portion of Dirk’s body was stiffening against him sank in. Oh. Oh hell yes. He leaned, resting against that erect cock, feeling it. If Zack were to ask a certain question now, he’d have a different answer to it, wouldn’t he?

  “I… I’m sorry,” Dirk said. Still, he didn’t pull away.

  “I’m not.” Logan leaned in and brushed their lips together.

  “Oh.” The word was mostly sound, air sliding from Dirk’s mouth to waft across Logan’s lips. Then Dirk kissed him back, just as softly, their skin barely connecting. For all it was hardly a kiss, it warmed Logan through.

  He couldn’t quite believe this was happening to him. With Dirk.

  One of the triplets started crying, which set off the other two, and Dirk rested their foreheads together, then gave him a quick peck. “Duty calls. Or should I say wails?”

  “You need a piece of pizza anyway, hmm?”

  Was this real? Really? How… magical. Dirk was so good with the babies, and now he was here, and he was sexy and seemed to be into Logan, and it was so much better than he had imagined having Dirk here would be. And he’d imagined it being darned good.

  “Yeah, I could probably eat.” They headed back downstairs to where the babies were. The wailing had stopped, which meant one of the guys was dealing with them. Which made it super tempting to duck into his room and explore a little more. They didn’t, though. They were good and joined the others gathered in the living room.

  Zack’s twins and Sarah were in the media center watching Coco, and for the moment, each of the grown-ups could have a baby, hold it, rock it. He knew it was a short respite. Soon everyone would be gone and it would just be him and Dirk. Funny how not that long ago he wouldn’t have been looking forward to that, but now he was. Not that he would have hated it, but it just would have been what it was. Now it was… something different.

  “We’ll start having meetings here,” he suggested. Because then he wouldn’t have to figure out how to get everything to the Roasty Bean.

  Zack snorted at him. “Coffee’s better at mine.”

  Dirk touched his back gently. “I bet once you’re used to transporting them, being able to get out of the house for a while will be an important sanity break. And besides, Zack is right—the coffee is better at his.”

  “Traitor,” he teased.

  “Sorry, but I can’t lie about stuff like coffee. There’s a special place in hell for people who do that—a place where they don’t have coffee.”

  “I like him,” Zack pronounced.

  So did Logan, but he only pretended to be offended for another moment before laughing.

  Dirk gave a little bow. “Now, is the pizza here yet? Because I am starving, and I’d hate to have my stomach tear out of my torso and eat everyone.”

  “They said about forty-five minutes. Where are we on that?”

  Zack looked at his watch. “Another fifteen minutes or so if they’re on time.”

  “So we can relax for a bit.” Dirk sat on the sofa and patted the spot next to him “Take a load off, Logan. I know those babies had you up most of the night.”

  “Suzy is not a sleeper. Not at all.”

  “I think she’s the smartest of the bunch—she’s learned that if she’s awake when no one else is, she gets your full attention.” Dirk’s shoulder touched his briefly. “I’ll have to remember that myself.”

  Aiden’s eyebrow arched, and Logan did his best not to respond to his best friend’s expression. “We’ll have a lot of things to discover… together.”

  Dirk’s warm smile was more than worth any looks Logan was getting from the others.

  The front doorbell rang, and Logan levered himself up off the sofa, glad it had arrived early. “Pizza ahoy!”

  “Saved by the bell,” Aiden called out after him.

  “You need any help?” Dirk asked.

  “I got it.” He’d ordered six pies—from fully loaded to cheese only and everything in between.

  He gave the kid delivering them a nice tip, then carried the boxes into the living room and set them on the table. “Okay, everyone grab what you want. I promised Mel and Linds that I’d bring theirs up to them. Zack, can you bring Sarah a couple of pieces of pepperoni when you deliver whatever it is your girls want?”

  “Of course. They want what Sarah wants, right?”

  Dirk chuckled. “What if she wanted something they didn’t like?”

  “Oh, right now they would eat dirt if Sarah liked dirt. Those girls idolize her.”

  They all laughed, and Logan knew Mel was the same way. She was only in her room with Moana instead of in the living room with Sarah because she was tired and because she had Linds to share with.

  “It would be cheaper to feed all of them dirt,” Dirk noted.

  “True, but I do love knowing that they’ll all remember this—slumber parties and pizza and movies.” In fact, this was what he wanted—kids and friends, a house filled with noise and laughter. This was what he’d always dreamed of.

  “They will. They’ll remember this amazing place full of people and good times.” Dirk and Zack organized pizza for the crew in the media center while Logan gathered slices of cheese pizza onto plastic plates for Mel and Linds.

  Both little girls were coloring and singing along with Moana. He set them up at the little table and chairs in the room. He was going to have to make sure that Mel didn’t get used to food in the bedroom. He knew how quickly that could turn into a mess and bugs if dirty dishes got left in bedrooms.

  By the time he got back to the living room, everyone was chowing down, concentrating on eating.

  Dirk had one of the triplets over his thighs and another one on his shoulder as he noshed away on a piece of pizza. There was a space on the couch next to him, and Logan picked up Suzy from her bouncy chair and sat there, grabbing a slice of meatlovers. Dirk gave him a smile between bites.

  “I do love a good greasy piece of pizza, don’t you?” Dirk asked.

  Was that a double entendre? Now that he knew Dirk wanted him, Logan was seeing them everywhere and trying to figure out why he hadn’t noticed earlier.

  Dirk grabbed a bottle. “Of course, it always tastes better if you have a cold beer with it.”

  “Moving deserves beer and pizza, right?” Dev grinned at Dirk.

  “You know it. I think it might be a law or something.” Dirk rubbed Sam’s back with his free hand.

  “This is a great place. I’m so glad you’re making use of all this room, Logan.” Aiden winked.

  “So am I!” Dirk chimed in. “This place is so much nicer than where I was. Hell, I think I could put my whole apartment in this one room. Plus, you’ve got hot and cold running babies.”

  “And the kitchen. I love Logan’s kitchen.” Zack was rhapsodizing.

  “That’s because you cook,” Dirk pointed out. Logan knew that Dirk wasn’t hopeless in the kitchen, though everything the guy had made so far had been one-dish casseroles, cereal, or sandwiches.

  Logan wasn’t worthless. In fact, he did okay. He made one hell of a pancake. Between them, nobody starved.

  The guys livened up once they’d all had a few slices, talking about the move, about
their weeks like they hadn’t just seen each other yesterday at the Roasty Bean. Logan let the conversation pour over him as he rocked and nibbled.

  “So are we going to play a game of Monopoly or Risk or something?” Zack asked.

  That reminded Logan of something he’d been pondering. “I think we should think about turning the basement into a huge game room. Playstation, pool table.”

  The entire room voiced their approval for that idea.

  “We can all put in bits; it can be our playroom.” Zack looked pleased as punch.

  “An adult playroom. I like that. Although I guess we’re all just big kids at heart.” Dirk grabbed another slice. Four. Not that Logan was counting, but he did wonder where the guy put it all. The man was lean, fine.

  He’d have to remember that. More than one steak for supper. Two burgers. Three, maybe four hot dogs. There had definitely not been any leftover chicken when they’d ordered it.

  When Dirk finished, he got up and went to the kitchen. A few moments later, he came back out with three bottles and set them on the table, ready for the triplets.

  “He’s good,” Dev said, and they all chuckled.

  “They’re on a schedule. Sam, Seb, Suzy.” And it was working. He wasn’t going to upset that apple cart for anything.

  Dirk nodded. “And we’re working hard to keep them on it. They’re happier that way, and so are we.”

  Little Seb began to wiggle on Logan’s shoulder, and he offered the sweet boy to his… Dirk. The exchange went smoothly, and Dirk popped the bottle in Seb’s mouth. Seb latched on and began pulling at the milk. Zack reached for Sam, and that let Logan spend a little one-on-one time with his perfect baby girl.

  The house was full, he had his babies and his daughter, and there was something interesting to explore with his new roommate. Things had really turned around in the last week. He hoped it just kept getting better.

  Chapter Six

  ONE of the good things about having friends with kids was that they got tired early too. All the girls had been settled, so they’d offered to have Zack’s girls and Lindsay overnight. The triplets were settled too, and now it was just him and Logan awake. They were hunkered down under a blanket on the love seat in Logan’s room, watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was the best way he could think of to end his first official day moved in.

  “Are you happy? Glad to be home?” Logan hummed softly, the man so lovely in his sweats and his heavy socks. Which he knew sounded weird, but it was true. Maybe part of it was because Logan wasn’t standing on ceremony for him, like he would with a guest. Logan was letting it all hang out.

  “I am,” Dirk told Logan. “Have I thanked you recently for letting me and Melly move in?”

  “Once or twice. I love how she’s just come home.”

  “Yeah, it’s like she’s been waiting for this place to happen. She’s blossoming right before my eyes. It’s more than just the place, though. It’s her Unca Logan, the triplets.” He and Melly were both really happy here, and it had far more to do with the other people who lived here than the furniture and whatnot.

  “And Sarah,” Logan added. “And I do love how Melly loves ‘her babies.’”

  “Yeah. I thought it would fade when she realized they don’t actually do anything yet, but she still adores them more than anything. And yes, Sarah without question. She’s always loved Sarah. I don’t think she understands why Sarah isn’t with us all the time, though,” Dirk admitted.

  “No? I miss her, but she’s her mother’s daughter, all the way.”

  “Yeah, I can see that. I just think Melly wants her to be here all the time. She’s a great kid. She seems to be taking the invasion of not only babies, but me and Melly too, pretty well.”

  Logan smiled at him, then reached over and stroked his arm. The touch made him tingle. It made his skin stand up and take notice. He returned Logan’s smile, knowing his was rather goofy.

  “Hey,” he said softly.

  “I didn’t know you were interested,” Logan told him.

  “No? I have been since we met. I guess I didn’t know how to say so. I mean, you don’t just come out and say it, do you? Maybe I should have.”

  “I think the way you did it was… perfect.” Logan moved closer. “Kiss me, please?”

  He smiled. Logan always knew exactly what to say. He met Logan halfway, pressing their lips together. The kiss was quiet, simple, and he had to moan. Oh. Oh, this was lovely. He let his eyes close as their lips continued to press together, moving slightly. How could anything so gentle and sweet make his balls ache so hard?

  This was something he’d been praying for, for months.

  He shifted a little closer and slid his hand along Logan’s head until he was cupping the back of it. Then he touched his tongue to Logan’s lips, wetting them. Logan leaned in, opening up and letting him in. He slid his tongue between Logan’s lips, delving into Logan’s mouth. Logan tasted a bit like pizza, but mostly like Logan. It was a good flavor.

  Logan reached for him and wrapped one hand around his waist, the touch warm and heavy. He moaned into the kiss and shifted even closer, making it easier for them both to touch each other. With that in mind, he ran his free hand along the collar of Logan’s shirt.

  It felt so forbidden, so erotic, this little touch.

  He’d been so good for weeks, and now he had free rein to explore, to learn Logan’s body. They had a bunch of kids here; this wasn’t going to be hot and heavy, but they could touch. Get to know each other.

  For now he wanted to really appreciate each kiss, to feel how warm and wonderful each one made him feel. He was losing himself in it, moaning more and more, when the quiet night was broken by the wail of one of the triplets. Groaning, he rested their foreheads together.

  “This is going to be our life, isn’t it?” Logan chuckled hoarsely. “Let me grab her before she wakes the rest up.”

  “Yeah, for the next eighteen years or so.” Dirk lay back, admiring Logan’s ass until it was out of view. He didn’t bother watching the movie—he just stared at nothing, enjoying the gently aroused feeling he had going.

  He heard the baby hiccupping and whimpering, the sound easing. Suzy did love her alone time with Logan in the middle of the night. She was patient enough, but Dirk thought Suzy would be the one crawling into their bed in the middle of the night. That was okay, he already wore pajamas as he had Melly. She tended not to wake up needing comfort that often, but it was known to happen.

  Logan came back to sit with him, the tiny baby on his shoulder. “Can we sit with you, Uncle Dirk?”

  “Uh-huh.” He leaned in and gave both daddy and baby a kiss on the cheek. She smelled so good. “Love that new baby smell.”

  “She’s so funny—she’s so standoffish when the boys are up, but like this? She’s a cuddlebug.”

  “Would it be awful to suggest we take her to bed and cuddle her between us?” He wasn’t sure what Suzy would think of that. She maybe wanted just her daddy.

  “That would be good. She loves the attention, and I miss my bed.”

  “I can’t think of anything I’d like better. Honestly.” He got up and went to Logan’s bed, tugged the covers down. He’d spent half the nights of his first week here, but they’d only slept. Not that they’d be doing anything but sleep this time, but now they both knew they wanted to, and that made it their bed instead of Logan’s alone. Funny how he hadn’t even chosen a room to be his yet, and now he didn’t need to.

  Suzy fussed as Logan laid her down, but hushed as soon as Dirk reached for her.

  “Little cuddlebug. I like that. Suits you to a T when you’re away from your brothers, hmm?”

  Her eyes were bright blue, focused on him like lasers. He wasn’t sure she really could see clearly, but she heard him; she was paying attention. And she definitely knew who he was—could tell him apart from Logan. Dirk was convinced of that.

  “You and your brothers are so wanted and so loved. You’re a lucky little girl, aren’t you?
But you know who’s even luckier? That’s us—we got you and your brothers. So beautiful and adorable.” He nattered on quietly.

  “Three little girls and two little boys. Can you believe it?” Logan asked.

  “No, not really. Yesterday I only had a little girl of my own. Now there’s five little ones.” The thought was wonderful and overwhelming, all at once.

  Logan chuckled. “I know that look. I’m pretty sure I’ve been wearing it ever since I got the triplets.”

  “I know, right? It’s like a miracle.” He could agree with Logan on that. Except not only had he gained three babies and a wonderful little girl, but Logan as well. Okay, maybe he was making some assumptions, but Logan had asked him to move in, and there was something good happening between them he knew wasn’t one-sided.

  Logan nodded, one long hand on Suzy’s belly. “It is. They are.”

  “Are you sure you don’t mind that I’ve come in and appropriated your new family, your home, you?” Dirk asked. It felt like all his wishes were being granted, and he needed to make sure he wasn’t making that happen at Logan’s expense.

  “I was lonely and overwhelmed. A little scared. I needed a friend, a partner.”

  “I’m glad to be here for you. For more than just the babies, eh?” He needed Logan to get that.

  “And I’m glad you’re here—for more than just the babies.”

  God, they were such dorks. He laughed softly at them both. Then he leaned in to give Logan a quick kiss. Logan returned it, at least until little Suzy slammed a tiny fist between them.

  That had him laughing again. “She takes her daddy-and-me time very seriously.”

  “Indeed. Damn. She’s a fighter.”

  “That’s a good thing. Girls need to be able to stand up for themselves.” He took her little hand and held it. So tiny.

  She grabbed his finger and held on. Strong, too, for such a little thing. God, he loved her. That was the magic of babies. They made you fall in love just like that.

  “She’s keeping me,” Dirk told Logan. “See?” He raised his finger slightly, her hand going up too. She definitely had a grip on him.