Page 63 of Three Stepbrothers Save Christmas

“No, that would be Travis. Ethan and I aren’t up for the whole daddy thing,” I admit as we all move to the side of the foyer as everyone else leaves.

“Yeah, I thought that too. But the moment I saw how much Jasmine needed all of us, I didn’t have to think; I knew it was a role I wanted to take; we all did,” Sean says as he leans against the wall.

“Is it bad I want to do all that but not complicate it with the whole daddy thing? Travis is perfect for the role, and I know Ethan has a different kind of dom-sub thing going on with her. But it feels different for what me and her have, you know?” I ask, looking between the two of them. I’m surprised when it’s Maximus that answers me.

“I get that completely. I guess out of all of us, I was always the one who struggled with the sharing and daddy thing. When we first started discussing it as an option, I wanted to refuse and take my Shorty away from them all,” he admits.

“What changed?” I ask as Maximus rubs his face whilst shrugging.

“As Sean said, when I stopped overthinking it, I realised it was just right, and the role of Daddy was something that happened without any of us really realising.”

“It was literally the night before that it was decided it wouldn’t just be Christian and Jason being her daddies. We saw how she’d been living and wanted to protect and shower her in love. Even at that point, we hadn’t realised how bad it had got for her,” Sean adds.

“Do you ever regret it now?” I ask.

“No,” both answer together.

“I can honestly say I never regret the decision to share our woman or for us all to be her Daddies. Yes, it can get confusing as she does call us all Daddy, but it's worked for us. She has every one of us wrapped around her little finger, and she knows it,” Maximus laughs.

“She acts differently with each of us, and we all have our own relationship with her. But we formed partnerships with her before we started the romantic relationship. I guess that’s harder for you guys as you weren’t that close before,” Sean adds. I realise he’s right.

Travis had a relationship with her before all of this; it had started after she was spiked. That’s probably why the daddy thing came so naturally to him. But Ethan and I had kept our distance, and neither of us ever really noticed that the other felt anything for her. Other than that one chat outside of her room when she cried herself to sleep, we never really discussed this as brothers to see where we stood with it all.

I realise now that’s something that we shouldn’t be putting off. We need to discuss this properly before things go too far and someone ends up getting hurt.

“You look deep in thought there. I hope we haven’t put you off the whole thing,” Maximus laughs. I shake my head.

“No, nothing to do with that. I have waited too long to call her mine, and I don’t plan on losing that privilege any time soon. But you have made me realise my brothers and I have a lot to discuss.”

“Yeah, talking is a major factor in this kind of relationship. I lost count of how many hours we spent putting everything together and coming to agreements about it all,” Sean answers.

“Which all went out the window once we realised Shorty was living the way she was, and we needed to step in and protect her,” Maximus laughs.

“Look, whatever happens, if you need to talk to anyone, give us a shout or catch us at the gym. You still boxing?” Sean asks.

“Kinda. I don’t have anyone but Ethan to go against. I could do with a challenge. Why you offering?” I chuckle.

“You know what? Yeah, I am. Fancy going a few rounds tomorrow afternoon?”

“Yeah, sounds good. The usual gym?” I ask, knowing Sean trains at the gym closest to home more than anywhere else.

“Yeah. I’ll meet you there at two. We have our last fitting for the wedding suits in the morning. But I can meet you after I’ve had a bite to eat.” He pulls a card from his wallet and holds it out to me.

“Any issues, give me a call, and we can rearrange. Or if you want to talk about any of the other stuff.”

“Yeah, cheers, mate, will do. I’ll keep it quiet from Travis, though,” I laugh.

“Nah, can’t see it being a problem anymore. Not after he called Christian for help the other day. Think they have finally started putting the past behind them, in a way at least,” Maximus shrugs from where he is standing.

“Travis called Christian? When?”

Sean and Maximus fill me in on the phone call Travis made to Christian and the chat he had with Jason, and soon, everything starts to make a little more sense. I make a note of speaking to him about it and seeing how he is doing with it all.

I’m just about to ask if they know anymore when the girls arrive, both smiling and looking happy.

“Ryan, have you met Jaz?” Verity asks as she reaches us. I shake my head and hold out my hand.

“No, but I’ve heard all about her. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name,” I say, shaking her hand.

---