Chris

“Does that mean …”

“It means I’m pregnant!” Jason yelled, running over to me and throwing his arms around my neck. “We’re pregnant.” Jason said as he turned to Rafe. “All three of us. We’re gonna have a baby.”

“Well,” I said, my excitement fading a bit, “I didn’t really have anything to do with it.” I was so incredibly happy for Jason. I could see the glow throughout his entire body when we woke up, but I was still so overwhelmed by everything that had happened I could barely form a coherent thought, so I didn't say anything.

It wasn’t only the sex making my head swim, though. That was definitely part of it, but what I really couldn’t believe was the feelings coming up for me. We’d just met Rafe, but I somehow felt like we’d known him for our entire lives. I couldn’t understand what was going on, but the more he talked about this town and how it brought people together, the more I couldn’t help but start to believe him a little.

And now, looking at how happy Jason was, I was thrilled for him. Jason finally had what he wanted, but I had to admit I was a little bummed I wasn’t the one who could give it to him.

“You were there,” Rafe said with a glimmer in his eye. “Your energy was in the room. The whole experience wouldn’t have been the same without you. It doesn’t matter where the sperm came from. If Jason had been inseminated in at the clinic, you would still be one of the fathers, wouldn’t you?”

I hadn’t really thought about it that way, but it was true. “Yeah,” I said, feeling a little more convinced. He really had a way about him—of making sense out of things that seemed almost impossible to comprehend.

“I have a feeling you make an excellent daddy.”

Grace was beyond excited when the three of us told her Jason and I were staying. But none of us mentioned Jason was pregnant. Grace figured that out all on her own. She really was a very perceptive little girl.

“Does that mean you’re going to be my daddies too?” Grace asked when we all sat down to dinner that night.

I looked over at Rafe, waiting for him to say something, but all he did was laugh. “Well, sweet pea, this is something the three of us haven’t discussed yet. We might be going a little fast here.”

“I think we’ve been on fast-forward since yesterday,” I said.

“Or since we found Vale Valley,” Jason said. “Everything’s felt like a whirlwind since then. But to answer your question, Grace, I would love to be one of your daddies.”

“Me too,” I said, a little dumbfounded by what was coming out of my mouth. “I’ve never felt more at home anywhere than here.” I looked at Jason, and he smiled at me with a glaze of tears in his eyes. “I do feel like we belong here.”

“Well, Grace,” Rafe said with a laugh. “It looks like you’ve got three daddies now.”

“And a baby brother or sister!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, and a baby brother or sister.”

“Yay!” Grace yelled while she clapped her hands. “Is there going to be a wedding, like when Jenna’s aunt and uncle got married?”

“Well, we haven’t gotten quite that far yet, sweetie,” Rafe said. “You’re getting a little bit ahead of us. But that’s what I’m hoping.” Rafe looked over at Jason then at me.

“I was thinking maybe in the summer. We could have the wedding in the house and the reception out on the back lawn.”

“So,” I said, clearing my throat and glancing at Jason, then looking back at Rafe. “Are you proposing … to both of us?”

“I suppose this wasn’t the most romantic way to do it, but yes.”

“And there’s someone here who will perform a marriage ceremony between three men?” Jason asked.

“Yes, this is a very open-minded community. Father Lance Mulroney has performed the marriage ceremony for quite a few triads here in Vale Valley.”

Jason looked at me and grabbed my hand but didn’t even wait for me to say anything before he blurted out his answer. “Yes,” he said, his eyes moving from mine to Rafe’s, then back to mine. “I want to marry both of you. I mean, this is happening really fast, but I feel the same way you do, Chris. I’ve never been happier in my life.” Jason held his teary eyes on mine. “This is everything I’ve always wanted … that we’ve both always wanted.”

“It is,” I said, squeezing Jason’s hand. “This town and house and Rafe and Grace … I almost feel like I’m in some kind of a dream. That I’ll wake up and we’ll be back in our rundown apartment in New York City.”

“You’re not dreaming,” Jason said. “Because if you were, we’d be in the same dream. This is real, and it really is perfect. Just because it’s been fast doesn’t mean it isn’t love. I think love can come in an instant, when you find the right people and you know you’re home.”

“You’re so perceptive, Jason,” Rafe said. “I love the way you think. You’re a lot like Grace.”

“And Chris is a lot like you,” Jason said with a big smile.

“Really?” I asked. “You think so?”

“Oh, yes,” Rafe said, a deep laugh melting from his throat. “I’ve thought that since I found you two on the side of the road. I have a feeling Jason balances you out and makes you see things in a different way, like Grace does for me.”

“That’s true. I’ve always felt like Jason and I fit together perfectly. We each have our own strengths and help each other with different things.”

“Yeah, and with four of us,” Jason said, the excitement evident in his voice and eyes, “Wait, what am I thinking? With five of us … this really is just so perfect. Our special family.”

“Well, it would be perfect,” Rafe said, looking up at us with a hint of disappointment in his eyes. “Except I don’t have any rings. Rings would’ve made it perfect.”

“I’m not worried about that,” Jason said. “We have plenty of time.”

“But what are we going to do about our stuff?” I asked. “It’s all in New York and the car is dead, and we don’t have any—”

“I’ll take care of everything,” Rafe said. “And I don’t want either of you to worry about money. I’ll make sure you have everything you need.”

“But what about school?” I asked. “I still have a couple years left on my master’s”

“Well, that’s up to you. If you’d like to go back to New York to finish out your degree, that would be fine. Or you could see if you could complete your degree at one of the colleges in Pennsylvania. That way you could just commute back and forth every day.”

“That would be amazing. I mean, I’d want to be with Jason through the pregnancy, but I don’t know how—”

“We’ll make it happen, Chris. I promise you, you have nothing to worry about. Just take as long as you need, and whatever you decide on, I’ll make it happen.”

“Daddy?” Grace asked.

“Yes, sweetie.”

“Will we all get rings, like the blue amulets that Jenna’s family have?”

“No, Grace,” Rafe said. “The tradition for humans is that just the people getting married exchange rings.”

“But we’re all becoming a family, aren’t we?” she asked. It kind of broke my heart to hear the disappointment in her voice.

“We’ll find something special just for you,” I said.

“Yeah, maybe a tiara or something,” Jason said. I looked at him and couldn’t help but smile. He really was just so genuinely sweet and kind and I felt so incredibly lucky to have him in my life. I just wondered what it was going to be like to have another partner. I was excited to find out, but also a little nervous.

Things happened so fast after that. Before I knew it Rafe had booked some movers who packed all of our belongings up into boxes and brought our entire lives to the Montgomery estate. It wasn’t like we had much to pack, though.

When we saw all our old stuff we realized we didn’t really want most of it, so we had the movers take all of our old furniture to the nearest thrift store, and the rest Jason and I unpacked in our own rooms. Rafe said he wanted us to have all the space we needed and had us each choose one of the many on the second floor. But every night the three of us slept together in Rafe’s enormous bed.

Jason and I spent the next couple weeks getting adjusted to our new home. I spent most of my time looking at colleges and Jason started nesting. I really had no idea how strong the desire was in omegas to have a baby until I saw how he was now. It was like he had finally found his purpose. Not that omega’s only purpose was to procreate, but I could tell it was incredibly important to Jason.

He found a room between Grace’s bedroom and the room where we all slept, and he started talking about redecorating it as a nursery. Grace said she wanted to help pick out patterns for the walls and curtains, and fluffy blankets for the baby and anyone who wanted to curl up in the room. That was the thing both Jason and Grace liked most about the room. There was a corner seat that was right up against two huge windows overlooking the forest, and they both thought it would be the perfect place to nurse and rock a baby to sleep.

“Can you believe this?” Jason was sitting in his room by himself when I walked in. As I got closer I realized he was looking at wallpaper on the new laptop Rafe had bought him. He turned around when he heard my voice and smiled.

“Believe what?”

I put my hands on his shoulders and stood behind him, taking in the incredibly cute patterns with smiling bears and cats that he was looking at. “What’s happening … all of this.”

“Yeah, I can believe it.” Jason turned around in his chair, then got up and put his hands around my waist, pulling my body against his. “What’s not to believe?”

“Well, don’t you think this has all been happening really fast? I mean, tonight is Christmas Eve. We haven’t even been here a month and you’re looking at wallpaper to decorate the nursery.”

“Well, it has to be done sometime.” Over the course of the last couple weeks, Jason had somehow become the calm and collected one. He was still his goofy self, but now he had this self-assured vibe that I could practically feel coming off him in waves.

“But you don’t think we’re being too impulsive? Giving up our lives in New York and moving in with this guy?”

“What did we have in New York that’s so special?” Jason asked. “A crappy apartment and hardly any food. That’s what we had.”

“And how we have everything we could have ever wanted. It just seems too perfect.”

“So, you’re not happy because you’re getting everything you want? Seriously?”

“No,” I said, stepping back and out of Jason’s arms, then turning to look at the future nursery. “It’s just that … what if things go wrong? What this whole town turns out to not be as great as we thought it was?”

“You’re worried about the town?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know. Not really. But what if …”

“What if what?” he asked when I stopped talking.

“What if one of us develops stronger feelings for Rafe than the other? Or one of us stops loving the other one?” I stayed with my back to Jason. I didn’t want to see his face after spilling my deepest secret like that.

“Is that what you’re afraid of?” Jason asked. “That I’ll fall out of love with you?” I could feel him behind me and didn’t make a move to turn around until I felt his hand pull on one of my arms.

“Well, the thought has crossed my mind.” I was starting to feel a little silly, especially when I looked into Jason’s eyes and saw the kindness that I’d seen in them the very first time we met. “But it’s more than that. What if Rafe isn’t as perfect as we think he is?”

Jason paused for a moment, like he was trying to figure what to say. When he finally responded it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. “There are no guarantees in life, Chris. No one can be assured that things are going to work out. But I do know this. I love you, and I will always love you. And finding a space in my heart for one more person, or two, or three,” he said, laying his hand on his stomach, “doesn’t mean there’s less room for my love for you. I know this has all happened really fast, and I know it’s a little strange to suddenly have everything we want, but I do believe it. I believe that good things happen to people, and I believe that it is possible to get what you want. I believe that there is enough love in the world for everyone, and that it doesn’t matter what it looks like to anyone else. It just matters what it feels like to you, in here,” he said, laying his hand on my heart.

“How the hell did you get so smart,” I said, trying to hide the fact that I was tearing up.

“I don’t know. It’s this place, Chris, I swear. I just feel so happy now. Like, all the time. Don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do. I’m amazing. Everything is falling into place. Rafe contacted a friend about one of my college applications, he got us a new car, you’re pregnant. It seems like everything really is perfect here. I guess that’s what has me so worried.”

Jason laughed out loud. “Oh, my God, you’re hilarious. Well, I’m sure it’s not always going to be perfect. Eventually, someone will break a glass or stub their toe. So, you have that to look forward too.”

“Ha ha.” I grabbed Jason’s hips and pulled him against me. “I can’t wait.”

Jason smiled and kissed me. “Things are finally working out for us, just accept it. We are going to have an amazing life … all five of us. Believe it.”

“I will. It’s just going to take me a little while to get used to things going my way. I’m older than you, remember? I’ve had more time to become cynical.”

We kissed one more time, our lips and bodies melting into each other. When Jason pulled his head back and I looked into his eyes I could feel myself become a little more calm.

“Let’s go downstairs.” The mischievous look was back now. “I want to see if there are any mince pies left.”

When we got to the dining room we looked over the table. It was decorated and had a few platters of food scattered around, but dinner wasn’t for another hour so the main dishes weren’t out.

“Oooh! Found ‘em!” Jason grabbed one of the last pies and took a big bite.

“You’re going to ruin your appetite,” I said.

“No way! I’m starving. Besides, I’m eating for two now.” Jason shoved the rest of the pie in his mouth and smiled. “I wonder where Rafe and Grace are.”

I followed Jason through the antique store and into the study, where we found the two of them sitting in front of the fire.

“There you two are,” Rafe said. “We were just talking about you.”

“Oh yeah?” Jason asked. “What were you saying?”

“I was asking Daddy what we were going to do for Christmas Eve. Jenna’s family is having all their family over for a big tree-lighting ceremony. Are any of your family coming over?” Grace asked.

“No, my parents both live out on the West coast,” I said. “Both of our parents do. We talked to them earlier, but no one was feeling particularly festive this year and they said they didn’t mind if we didn’t come out.”

“Yeah, it’s a hassle flying at this time of year,” Jason agreed.

“Well, next year we’ll have to make plans to have everyone come here, just like Jenna’s family,” Rafe said. “We can make it our family tradition.

“Yay,” Grace yelled. “And maybe by then we can have something special for everyone, like the amulets or the rings!”

“That reminds me. I did find something very interesting in the back room the other day.” Rafe got up and went over to his desk, then pulled out a drawer and removed a dark velvet box. “I was sure I’d seen some rings back there at one point, so I thought I’d see what else I could find. When I went in to look this box was sitting right on top of everything.”

Rafe brought the box over to where we were now sitting around the fire. He held it in front of Grace and opened the hinged lid.

“Oh, Daddy! Five rings! Are they for us?” she asked. “All of us?”

“I don’t know who else they would be for,” he said with a big smile. “It’s funny. This is exactly what I’d pictured in my head when we were talking about wedding rings. And here they are.”

“But why are there five?” I asked.

“One for the baby!” Grace said, jumping up and running to Jason. “The baby gets a ring too! Just like in Jenna’s family!”

“But how …” I started, but wasn’t even sure what to ask. Was it Rafe? The house? This town? I didn’t understand where the magic came from.

“You just have to believe, Chris. That’s all there is to it,” Rafe said with a smile. “If you believe in your limitations, then that’s what you get. But if you believe in your heart that anything is possible …”

“I do!” Grace said as she took one of the rings from the box and tried it on. It slid onto the middle finger of her right hand perfectly. “I believe that anything’s possible!”

“I do too,” Rafe said, pulling Grace onto his lap. “I wasn’t sure what it was that I wanted anymore. But having you all around makes me realize that this was it all along. I wanted a family.”

I didn’t know what else to do but sit there and smile and watch the people I loved as they put on the rings from the velvet box. They all fit, of course. How could they not, in a place as perfect as this.

Rafe kissed Jason, then he kissed me, then he picked his daughter up and danced around the room with her to the Christmas music that was playing on an old-fashioned, antique record player.

I still didn’t really understand any of this, but I decided right then that it didn’t matter. What really mattered was that we were all so incredibly happy. This really was my live now. And as crazy as it all seemed, and felt, the logical part of my brain was was really starting to believe that anything was possible.

Because I could feel it in my heart.

If you’d like to find out more about Rafe, Jason, Chris, and Grace … and their baby … be sure to check out the 12th book of the Vale Valley winter romance series for a special epilogue.