Page 101 of Six of Hearts
After dinner, it was time for the bedtime routine—the organised chaos of baths and teeth-brushing and pajamas andstories. I'd helped before, but this time felt different. This time, I wasn't a guest or an employee. I was family.
I helped Mila pick out pyjamas and braided her hair so it wouldn't tangle overnight. I read to Wyatt and Mason, doing all the voices until they giggled themselves silly. I sat with Leo while he told me about the Lego set he was building, listening with genuine interest as he explained the engineering.
But it was Theo and Oliver who got to me.
When I came to say goodnight, they were both in Theo's bed, curled up together like they used to do when they were smaller.
"Can you stay?" Theo asked, his voice small. "Just until we fall asleep?"
"Of course," I said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Oliver reached for my hand. "You're really not leaving?"
"I'm really not leaving," I promised. "I live here now. This is my home too."
"But what if you get scared again?" Theo asked. "What if something bad happens?"
My throat tightened. These sweet boys, who'd lost their mother, who'd watched me leave once already—of course they were worried.
"I might get scared sometimes," I said honestly. "Everyone gets scared. But the difference is, now I know that when I'm scared, I don't have to run away. I can stay and talk to your dad, and to all the other dads, and we can figure it out together. That's what families do."
"Promise?" Oliver whispered.
"I promise." I squeezed his hand. "I love you guys. Both of you. And I'm not going anywhere."
They seemed satisfied with that, their eyes already drooping. I stayed until their breathing evened out, until I was sure they were asleep. When I finally stood to leave, Noah was in the doorway, watching.
"Thank you," he said quietly as we walked down the hall. "For understanding what they needed to hear."
"They're scared," I said. "I don't blame them."
"They love you." He stopped, turning to face me. "We all do. But those two... you're the first person since Rachel who they've let in like this. The first person they've trusted."
"I won't let them down," I said.
"I know." He cupped my face in his hands. "That's why I love you."
We checked on the other kids—all asleep or close to it—before heading back downstairs. The other dads were in the living room, sprawled across the furniture in various states of exhaustion.
"She lives!" Gabriel announced when he saw me. "We were beginning to think the kids had kidnapped you."
"Close," I said, collapsing onto the couch next to him. "But I escaped."
"Barely," Ronan added. He was on the floor, Buddy's head in his lap. "Finn made me promise you'd be there when he wakes up."
"I will be," I said. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Good," Ethan said. He was in the armchair, his long legs stretched out. "Because I'm too tired to move you back."
We sat in comfortable silence for a while, the kind that only comes when you're completely at ease with the people around you. I looked around at these men—these incredible, complicated, wonderful men who'd somehow become mine—and felt a wave of gratitude so strong it almost hurt.
"Thank you," I said quietly. "For this. For all of it. For not giving up on me when I ran, for fighting to bring me back, for making space in your lives for me. I know it's not conventional, and I know it's complicated, but—"
"But it's ours," Liam interrupted. "And it's perfect."
"It really is," Julian agreed.
"Even with seven kids and a puppy and enough chaos to drive a normal person insane," Gabriel added.
