Page 106 of Cross Check Daddies
I am glad I am not alone.
I blink hard and turn away before the tears can spill. My chest aches from holding too much, from being too much, and still wanting more.
Later, Jackson’s fast asleep, curled in a cocoon of blankets on the pull-out mattress, one tiny hand fisted near his mouth. The baby monitor glows steadily on the table beside me. I check it twice. His breathing is soft, even.
Outside, the bonfire crackles low. The air is cool, the night settling. It's the kind of quiet that only happens when all the worst parts have been survived.
The men are waiting—beers in hand, shoulders relaxed, that familiar stillness between them. Cam nods when I step into the circle, and I lower myself between them, stretching my legstoward the heat. Ace tosses another log on the fire, and the flames flare up, casting their faces in flickering amber.
Cam clears his throat, the sound deliberate. “We’ve been talking.”
Tanner’s eyes flick to mine, steady and open. “A lot, actually.”
Ace leans forward, forearms resting on his knees. “And we’ve come to something. Something we want to ask you.”
I go still. “Okay…”
Cam reaches for my hand, his fingers warm and sure. “We don’t want to make you choose.”
Tanner scoots closer, thigh brushing mine. “We know it’s not what people expect. But nothing about this has been normal.”
Ace watches me carefully. “So we’re saying—if you want all of us, we’re yours. Together. We’re all in.”
Tanner leans in, brushing his lips against my temple. “All in means no more hiding. No more pretending we’re just fucking around.”
“No more what-ifs,” Ace adds.
My heart knocks against my ribs. They don’t understand—this isn’t just about permission. It’s aboutbeing chosenwithout having to sacrifice anyone else. It’s about all of them looking at me like I’m not too much, like I’m not selfish or crazy or fragile. Like I’menough.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I whisper. “Any of you.”
“You won’t,” Cam says.
Tanner cups my jaw. “We already made our choice. This is it. You. Us.”
Ace shifts closer, his voice like gravel wrapped in velvet. “All in means we’ll share you. Support you. Be there when you’re throwing up in the mornings and cussing us out because your bra doesn’t fit. It means we raise the kids together. Love you together. No timelines. No rules except the ones we make for us.”
A tear slips out, hot and fast. “Even if we don’t know whose babies they are?”
Ace touches my belly. “Doesn’t change a thing.”
Cam adds, “They are our babies. Period.”
The fire pops again, a sharp spark leaping upward.
We’vehintedat this before. Danced around it in private, behind closed doors, in gasping kisses and whispered maybes. But this, this is different. They’re all here now. In front of me. Saying it out loud. No hedging. No hiding.
It’s not just a possibility anymore. It’s a choice. A promise. Awe.
I swallow against the tightness in my throat. “You mean that?”
Cam’s voice is quiet. “I’ve loved you since we were kids.”
Tanner’s hand brushes my hair back. “And I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you with your son. You were radiant.”
Ace’s thumb strokes slow circles on my knee. “And I’ve never been more certain of anything.”
The breath I draw in shakes my ribs. “You guys are ridiculous.”
