Daisy
When I had first fallen pregnant, I had been so scared of doing everything on my own. I had assumed that I would be getting next to no sleep and would be a complete mess. I’d frankly anticipated failing at motherhood.
The reality was vastly different.
My alphas were encouraging me to sleep at every opportunity. They had all taken several weeks of paternity leave and were making the most of every minute.
Stretching lazily, I looked to the side of my bed where the crib stood. Once again, it was empty. It was becoming something of a routine that I would fall asleep to have a quick nap while the babies slept next to me, and by the time I woke up they had been scooped up by their daddies.
“Poppy had a blowout!” Devon declared, coming out of the bathroom, a freshly bathed baby in his arms. He handed her to me. “She’s all clean now, and ready for her lunch.”
“That’ll be my job.” I adjusted the wriggling baby in my lap and released the strap of my nursing bra.
“Would have happily helped, but unfortunately I don’t have the right parts. That didn’t stop her from trying to feed off me, though.” He laughed.
“Oh no,” I cooed. “Daddy’s chest is far too hairy to feed from, isn’t it?”
“There’s also a distinct lack of milk.” Devon grinned.
I had been trying to pump so the guys could feed the babies, but my attempts had been pitiful because the girls were so voracious they had been draining me of every drop. In the three days we had been home, I had basically been a walking buffet for the girls.
Not that my alphas allowed me to walk anywhere.
It took a few days, but we fell into a routine. A blissful, calm routine. The girls were well behaved and didn’t cry much—though that might have been because the moment they made even the smallest fussing noises, one of the alphas was scooping them up and giving them cuddles.
Most of my time was spent in the nest, but occasionally I did venture out. While Devon and Nate changed all the bedding in the nest, I took up a spot on the living room floor with my girls on their play mat and put on videos of dancing fruit for them to watch. They were too young to really enjoy the videos, but I did find them oddly hypnotic.
“We really need to stop letting the mail pile up,” Jeremy said as he rummaged through the stack of envelopes. He was cooking my favorite: Korean rice cakes. The dish that started it all.
“It’s mainly stuff for Nate’s work. Make him go through it.” My eyes never left Poppy as her chubby little hand clenched around my finger.
“There’s one here for you,” he said, singling out a large brown envelope.
“Open it for me? I don’t want to put Poppy down when she’s clinging on tightly.” I nodded to the baby in my lap. Petunia’s hands were outstretched toward the mobile of little stuffed animals above her.
Jeremy ripped open the envelope, pulling out a stack of papers. His brow furrowed while he read.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Legal papers.”
“Again? I thought Cole has no claim on the girls?”
Jeremy shook his head. “He doesn’t… he’s actually seeking to have his parental rights terminated.”
“But… he has no rights.”
“They don’t know we’re bonded, do they?” Jeremy asked, flicking over the pages and whistling in shock. “I can’t fucking believe this. The idiot’s parents are offering a one-off financial settlement. They want to pay you to agree to terminate his rights so he can have nothing to do with the girls. They said they tried to deliver the papers in person, but, as you were unavailable, they had to do it via mail.”
“In person?” I reached for the papers and Jeremy moved closer so I could read. When on earth had they been near my house? Had they gone to my old apartment?
“Oh shit! They came here,” Jeremy said, turning to me with an apologetic smile. “They rang the doorbell while you were in labor—we saw it on the cameras. We planned to tell you after you gave birth but well…”
“The girls were very distracting.” I nodded.
“They are, in the best way. The whole Hanover family seem like dicks.”
“They own a pharmaceutical company, so morals aren’t exactly something they possess.” I chuckled lightly. “Shall we do anything about this?”