Faith

I woke up early in the morning when the sun was just rising. Our electricity had been turned back on sometime in the middle the night when the guys and I were asleep. Even though I was mad at Tyler—actually, all three of them—for having some stupid pact about being careful with me during sex because of the baby, it was sweet, but I wished they had talked to me first. I padded down the stairs in my fuzzy socks and glared at the ugly kitchen across the hall and went left, toward the front family room with the TV.

Glancing at our meager furniture, I was grateful it was going to be replaced soon. Granny Manto was crazy, but she was also crazy sweet sometimes. For a price. I sighed.

Even though I knew that, I wanted my house to be a home. Kayden had said that the people in the house make it a home. While that's true, I wanted it to feel like home and for it to not be so empty and lonely.

I chuckled as I sat down on the hand-me-down couch and curled my legs against my body, hugging my arms around them. I guess I couldn't be too lonely with three men in the house.

After a moment of being cold, I decided maybe it was time to get up and get my blood flowing. Heading to the kitchen, I took in the rough, aged countertops and peeling cabinets, wondering what I could do to update them. Moving over to the kitchen sink, I told myself to cheer up. It was appliance shopping day.

I rolled up my sleeves to wash dishes. After cleaning the few dishes we had, I set them on the counter next to the sink to dry. From there, I took my rag and wiped down all the countertops, groaning at how ugly they were but grateful that we actually had a kitchen. Then I swept up the little pizza crumbs that were left. Tidying done, I left the kitchen for the empty family room in the back of the house with the fireplace and sighed. My home was empty and cold.  Granny Manto was right; I did need curtains. Stepping up to one of the three windows along the back wall, I looked out. The view outside was impressive. Our back porch was piled high with pure white snow, and beyond that was a field of snow perfect for sledding. With the trees further out draped in white, the setting was like a winter wonderland. Even though it was cold, the scene outside looked cozy. A wonderful place to raise kids.

That's where Kayden found me, hugging myself and staring outside.

His arms wrapped around me, and he kissed the top of my head. “You know that tree analogy Tyler always talks about? How roots have to be strong? This is one of the ways we make them stronger, by forgiving.”

“How can you forgive so easily?” I asked, not truly angry anymore but curious nonetheless.

He chuckled. “Honestly? Guys are stupid, but we forgive each other quicker than girls.”

I snorted. “And why is that? That you can be so quick to forgive?”

“We don't piss around,” he said bluntly. “We forgive and move on. If it happens again”—I felt him shrug—“we drop the person.”

“So...” I asked, turning around in his arms and tipping my head to look up at him. “If I keep making mistakes, you're going to drop me?”

Kayden smirked and curled a lock of my hair around his finger and lightly tugged. “Let's just say, you wouldn't fall far.”

I smacked his chest and he caught my hand, holding it so I could feel the beat of his heart. “Listen, we might get upset, but we’re still learning. We’ll make mistakes, but we’ll learn from them too. Let's just make sure were not learning the same mistakes over and over. Some of us want to get to the good stuff.” He still had that smirk and wiggled his eyebrows. I was trying hard not to smile, but he knew I was caving.  Before my lips could curve up at the corners, I tipped up on my toes and kissed his lips.

He took control of the kiss. It was sweet and tender, and when we pulled apart, he had a goofy smile. “You totally caved.”

I grinned. “Wouldn't you like to know.”

“Anytime you want to distract me with a kiss, I give you permission.” I chuckled. “Now, you ready to go appliance shopping?”

I grinned and stepped back from him. “Yes, I want to get a dishwasher first.”

“Okay,” he agreed easily. “But the washer and dryer are next.”

I pushed past him and headed up the stairs. “Let's go wake the others!”

***

We went to the home improvement store, but as we shopped, a twinge grew in my stomach.

We picked out a shiny new refrigerator that might or might not fit in the space where the old one was located, but Lincoln assured me he could fix that issue.

As we went on, the twinge kept coming back and worse each time. My thoughts were consumed with worry that something was wrong and not on what we were buying.

Tyler was the first to notice that something was off. His eyebrows drew downward and he caught my hand, stopping the two of us as Kayden and Lincoln kept looking for a dishwasher.

“You okay?”

I shrugged, folding my arms over my middle. “I'm just a little... I don't know. Crampy? I'm not sure why, though.”

Tyler's eyes widened, and he drew me into a hug. His masculine scent gave me comfort while he rubbed my back. “That's not a good thing, honey.”

I clutched his shoulders, sinking into his strength. “I know. Let's get through shopping and see how I am.”

He gave me a squeeze and drew away, his midnight gaze deep with concern. “Stay here. I'm going to get you one of those riding granny carts–” He stopped me with a raised brow and hand when I would have interrupted him. “–and you will use it.” His mouth was pressed into a thin line that told me there was no wiggle room for compromise.

I relented. He was right. I should sit down. “Okay.”

He gave a nod, kissed my forehead, and said he'd be right back.

Kayden came out of the maze of appliances, looking for us. “Hey, what’s going on?”

I was honest and told him I wasn't feeling well. Tyler would have told him anyway.

Kayden's gaze grew sharp with worry, and he gently drew me to him. Not in a hug, but just close. “What kind of feeling? Like you're going to throw up?”

I shook my head. “No. Different. Not necessarily hurting, just uncomfortable.”

Kayden's hold on my elbows tightened as his concern increased. “Maybe we should take you home.”

Patting his side from where I held him, I gave him what I thought was a reassuring smile. “Tyler went to get me a granny cart. I think I'll be good with that.”

He chuckled and gave a nod. “Okay. If Tyler’s not going crazy about this, I won't either.”

A moment later Tyler showed up riding the awful cart. Kayden, being Kayden, whipped out his phone and snapped a shot of Tyler before he could say no.

I had to laugh as I peeked over Kayden’s arm to see the result. Tyler was glaring at him in the photo. It was perfect.

“Hey, you go sit down on his lap and I'll take a quick pic,” Kayden suggested, readying his phone for the shot.

Tyler, who had already got up, rolled his eyes and sat back down, beckoning me to him. “Fine, only one.”

Amused and no longer feeling sick, I sat on Tyler’s lap, looping my arms around his neck as he laid a palm on my stomach. I kissed him while Kayden took the photo.

“Aww, I want one with her like that,” Lincoln stated as he came around the corner, sounding disappointed.

I got up off of Tyler, telling Lincoln next time, and let Tyler move. When he was up, I sat back down and peered at the controls.

Lincoln tilted his head, looking at me then at the cart. He gestured to it with one hand as his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why does it feel like I'm missing something?”

Kayden gave him a playful punch to the arm. “Because you are.” Then he walked away.

I drove the cart past Tyler, who was explaining to Lincoln why I was riding a granny mobile, and followed Kayden back to the aisle with the dishwashers.

He pointed out a few until I settled on a simple black one.

“It would be easier to keep clean and black can have a certain charm in the kitchen.”

Kayden gave me a goofy grin. “What you mean is that it will hide little handprints from our kids.”

I rolled my eyes and scooted past him. “If that's how you want to look at it.”

I moved to the stoves. We had a gas one, so I searched until I found one. The turn knobs were on the front, just below the stove. I didn't like that. This time my thoughts did go to our future kids. It was dangerous having them so low and in reach of curious hands. What could we do?

“What has you thinking so hard?” Tyler asked, sliding up to my side. His hands were in his jeans pockets, and he was looking from me to the black and stainless steel and back again. “Is this the one you want?”

Being honest, I said, “The knobs are too low. What if McGuire Jr reached up and turned it on when he got older? How would we prevent that?”

Tyler's eyes grew wide, as if the thought had never crossed his mind. “I'm not–”

Lincoln stepped in between us and reached for a knob on the display stove. “Like this,” he stated, sliding off the dial knob until there was only a metal spoke left. He tossed the knob to his older brother and winked at me. “No kid of mine is going to start fires.”

Kayden, coming in at the end of that conversation, fired back, “Not unless it's camp fires. We gotta teach them that.”

I soft smile played on my lips as I enjoyed listening to the three of them talk about our future kids.

“So, are we good with this one?” Lincoln directed the question to me with a raised brow.

I nodded. “Now that I know that trick, I like it.”

“Good,” Kayden spoke, patting my head. “Now turn your cart toward the washer and dryers like a good girl, and we'll be done in no time.”

A blush stole up my cheeks as I moved my cart forward. The sound of Lincoln growling from behind me was followed by a smack.

“Ow, what was that for?” Kayden whined.

I kept going and left it up to Lincoln to explain—if he even would.

After we looked at the washer and dryers and picked a set that would be perfect in our space, I moved over to the showroom where mock kitchen areas were set up to display their cabinets.

I got up off my cart and walked around a display island, lusting after the smooth granite countertops and trendy cabinets.

The slight ache settled back in my stomach. My hand gripped my stomach and I moved to sit back down.

This time I was worried.

My husbands strode over to me. Tyler was there first, his easy smile dropping when he saw me bent over in pain.

“Guys? I think I need to go get checked out. I'm not feeling so great.”

Tyler lifted me from the cart and started to carry me out of the store. “I'm taking her to the emergency room,” he called back to his brothers. “Finish up and have Mom pick you guys up.”

He leaned in a kissed my forehead. “Don't worry, you'll be okay.” He lifted his head and tightened his grip on me. “You'll be okay.”