Thirty-Three

 

 

A delighted squeal had Trent smiling before he’d even opened his eyes.  “A sleepover!  You guys had a sleepover!  Yay!”

The patter of her tiny footsteps as she ran was the only indication they had that she’d left the room.

“So much for sleeping in with morning cuddles.”

“Cuddles!  I want cuddles!” Lily squealed.

“How does she do that?” Trent said with a chuckle.

“Do what?” Liam said, smiling despite his eyes still being closed.

“Leave a room louder than a herd of elephants but sneak in quiet as a church mouse.”

Liam chuckled, “Welcome to my life, guys.”

“Oof,” Trent said when forty pounds of little girl thumped down on his stomach as she scrambled to climb over him to settle in next to Liam.  “Warn a guy, angelcakes, okay?”

“Ewww,” she said as she scrunched up her nose.

“Eww, what?” Trent asked.

“Who would want to eat cakes made out of angels?  That’s just gross.”

Oh my gosh, could she be any cuter?

Trent had to lean over her head to press his lips onto Liam’s shoulder to keep from laughing.  He didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

“Good morning Lily Lamb,” Liam said as he kissed the top of her head. 

“Morning, Daddy.  Did you have fun with your sleepover?”

Liam’s eyes lit up as he looked over at Trent, “We did, baby girl.  Did you sleep well?”

“Uh-huh.  I like this house Daddy.  I want to live here forever and ever!”

“We’ll see, Lily,” he said as he pulled her close again.

She pressed against his ribcage to push away.

“Uh, Daddy?” she whispered.

Liam frowned, “What’s wrong, Lily Lamb?”

“You, um, you smell.  You forgot your bath, didn’t you?”

“Oh, I think you’re right.”

“You can use my bubbles if you want.  They smell like strawberries!  You should smell like strawberries, Daddy!”

“We’ll see, baby girl, we’ll see.”

Kendry poked his head into the room, “You up for a checkup?”

“Yeah, and maybe a shower or something?”

Kendry frowned, “You really shouldn’t get your incision wet.  Maybe a sponge bath in the tub?”

“I’ll do it,” both Aleksy and Trent said at the same time.

“Well, that wasn’t awkward at all,” Kendry said, grinning as he stepped into the room.

“Hey Lily, want to help me make crepes?” Aleksy said.

“What’re crapes?”

“They’re like really thin pancakes.  You stuff them full of fruit and other yummy things and then you roll them up and pour butter and syrup on them,” he said as he climbed out of the bed, slid his sweats on over his briefs and then held his hand out to Lily.

“Piggyback!” she squealed as she bounced on the bed.

Aleksy chuckled as he grabbed his t-shirt from the floor and tugged it over his head.  “Well of course,” he said as he sat on the end of the bed and waited for her to crawl over.  His shoulders were so broad and his neck so big that her little arms barely reached around to clamp together in front of his adams apple. 

“You ready, princess?”

“Uh-huh.”

When he rose to his feet, she inhaled a sharp breath.

“You okay?” he said.

“You’re taller than daddy,” she said with awe, “I feel like I’m on a giant.”

Trent snorted a laugh behind them.

Aleksy turned to glare at him, “Behave yourself, Dragon.”

Lily’s head turned, “Dragon! That’s right!  You called him dragon.  Is he a dragon?”

“Kind of, princess.  Dragon is his last name.”

“Oh, so he really is a dragon, That’s so neat.  I want to ride on the dragon after breakfast, k?”

Trent saluted her, “You got it, baby girl.”

As Aleksy headed down the hall, Trent’s fingers fidgeted with the sheet until Liam’s hand closed over to still them, “Talk to me.”

“It’s stupid,” Trent mumbled.

“No, it’s not.  If it’s upsetting you, it’s never stupid.”

Trent lifted a shoulder, “I just,” he began and then he blew out a frustrated breath.

“You just what?”

“Do you want me to wait outside?” Kendry said.

Trent’s head popped up like he’d forgotten the man was even in the room.  “No, you’re fine.  I should, I should go so you can do your exam.”

When he started to shift away from Liam, he felt his hand gripped in a tight, warm vice.

“Trent,” Liam whispered.

Trent froze, his eyes closed with this beautiful look of serenity on his face, like hearing his name coming from Liam’s lips was his nirvana.

“Babe, Kendry can wait a few minutes.  This can’t.  If we’re going to even entertain this idea of a triad, we have to talk to each other.  If one of us holds back, we’ll crumble.”

“I just didn’t like the way it felt when he walked out the door.  I wanted to go with him but I also wanted to stay here with you.”

“I felt the same way after Lily was born whenever Luke left to go on a mission.  We both made the decision that I would retire to stay home and take care of her.  He was planning on retiring but not until he got to his twenty.  I never realized how hard it was going to be every time he had to go.  It felt like my heart was being ripped in two.”

Trent nodded, “That’s how I just felt and he was just going out to the damn kitchen.  How is it going to feel whenever he has to be gone on a case?  Or every time I have to leave for an op?”

“It’s going to suck.  But you have to remember something.”

“What?”

“Every time he leaves, he’s giving us a piece of his heart to keep it safe.  And every time you leave you’re doing the same thing.  There won’t be a second that goes by that we’re not thinking of him, or of you if you’re the one who’s gone, including when we take comfort in each other’s arms.  This can’t be a competition or it will never work.  We can’t be tallying up orgasms or blow jobs or who’s fucking who.”

“No, I know that.  That’s not what I’m feeling, I’m feeling….”

“Incomplete?” Liam said.

Trent nodded, “Yeah, that.”

“Me too.  Do you know what that tells me?”

Trent finally turned back to look at Liam, “What?”

“That we’ve got a shot, that this just might be what we need, all of us.”

Trent pulled their joined hands up to his lips and pressed a kiss to Liam’s knuckles.

“Go, Trent,  Help them with breakfast.”

Trent nodded, “We’ll bring it in here for you.”

“Sounds good.  Thank you.”

“No, thank you,” Liam said as he leaned down to press a gentle kiss to Liam’s lips.