I stare down at Archie’s beautiful rosy cheeks as he lies snuggled in my arms. His long dark lashes flutter occasionally and he makes the cutest little grunts that turn my insides to melted chocolate. I’m going to be sad to see him go home with Aoife and Noel. It has been over a week since our wedding and I have had the absolute best time, not only on my weekend honeymoon with my four hot husbands, but with the extended Ryan family afterward too.
“We really need to go,” Noel laughs as he walks toward me. “I know he’s kind of hard to stop staring at though, isn’t he?” He looks down at his son with such love and pride on his face that it brings a tear to my eye.
“He is,” I say as I hand Archie over to his father who takes him to his car seat and straps him in. “You will come back and visit us soon, won’t you?” I look to Aoife and Em now, who I am also going to miss dearly.
“What?” Aoife flashes her eyebrows at me. “Now that Shane has bought that incredible plane, you try and stop me. You’ll be fed up of us dropping by.”
I wrap my arms around her as she reaches me and we hug tightly. “I’m going to miss you,” she whispers in my ear. “It’s been so much fun.”
Em comes up behind her and wraps her arms around us both. “Me too.”
“We really need to go if we’re going to catch our flight. I know it’s their plane, but they still have to take off on time,” Noel reminds them.
“We know,” Aoife says as she breaks our hug and wipes the tears from her eyes.
The brothers hug their aunt and cousin too, and Noel shakes their hands before giving me a brief kiss on the cheek and we wave them into the elevator.
“You okay, Red?” Mikey says as he wraps an arm around me as we walk back to the kitchen.
“Yeah,” I say with a sigh, “but it was nice having them here, wasn’t it?”
“They’ll visit,” Conor says as he walks beside me, placing his arm around me too and kissing the top of my head.
We all walk to the kitchen and Conor and Mikey make a start on dinner. I’m about to help when Shane pulls me to one side. “I feel like someone else stole your heart this week,” he says with a smile.
“Archie?” I smile back.
“Yeah.”
“Hmm. Kind of. I mean he is super cute. And such a good baby.”
“Yeah,” Shane says with a nod as he stuffs his hands into his trouser pockets. “Is that what you want, Jessie?” His face is suddenly serious as he narrows his eyes at me.
“What?” I say, aware that all of the brothers’ eyes are on me now. “No. We talked about that. No kids. Remember?”
“Hmm.” Shane rubs a hand over his jaw. “I swore I’d never have kids.”
“Exactly.”
“Because I’m worried I’d be a terrible father. Just like mine was.”
“I know,” I say softly as I place my hand on his arm. “You don’t have to explain.”
“But mostly, I was worried that I might hate the kid. Like our dad did us.”
“I know.”
He stares at me. “But I looked at my cousin’s kid, and fuck I would protect that chubby little fucker with my life, and he’s not even mine.”
I swallow hard as I stare at him. Glancing around the room, I see that Conor and the twins are staring, too.
“Imagine how much I’d love a kid that was part of you, Jessie? Or any of us?” he goes on.
“What are you saying, Shane?” I stammer, because my heart can’t take this if he doesn’t mean what I think he does.
“I’m saying that if that’s what you want, then I’m happy to give you it, is all.” His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat as he swallows.
“You’d have children?”
“With you? Yes.”
“We’re making babies?” Mikey shouts as his face breaks into a grin.
I look up at him and Conor and Liam and the three of them stand there smiling.
“I already spoke to them about it,” Shane says and I look back at him. “But we’re all okay with not having kids if that’s what you want too, sweetheart.”
“What?” I stammer, opening and closing my mouth like a goldfish, because of all the things I ever expected Shane Ryan to say to me, that he would be willing to have a child was the absolute bottom of the list.
“You don’t have to decide right now.”
“If we did do this, how would it work? How would we know…?”
“We wouldn’t,” Conor answers as he walks toward me. “That’s the only way we could see this working. We’re all the baby’s father.”
“I love that idea,” I smile. “You know that twins run in both of our families though, right?”
“Yeah, but you got four dads to share the night feeds and diaper changing with,” Liam says as he walks over to join us too.
“I know Shane just said you don’t have to decide right now, but I kinda need to know, Red,” Mikey says with a shrug. “Am I gonna be a baby daddy, or what?”
I can’t help but laugh as he stands there with his ‘Kiss the Chef’ apron on and his hand on his hip.
“Yes!” I say with a smile and suddenly I am in the middle of a giant group hug, being smothered in kisses.
