Page 74 of Christmas with my Three Best Friends

“None of us planned for any of it, but Marius is right. We’re in this together. The four of us,” I tell her. “You’ll never be alone again. I…Wewon’t leave you. Why would we, Shay? You’re the woman of our dreams. And we’re gonna be dads. I doubt there’s a greater reward.”

“I obviously don’t know who the father is,” Shay replies, giving me a worried look.

Marius leans in and plants a kiss on her cheek. “It doesn’t matter,” he says. “This kid is the luckiest in the world to have you as a mother. And he or she will have three dads who will love them with everything we have.”

“Are you serious?” she asks, hope in her eyes.

“I am,” Marius replies.

“Me too,” Jax adds.

“Me three,” I put in.

We laugh wholeheartedly, arms stretched out as we hold each other, as we kiss Shay and Shay kisses us. I can feel the love flowing through my veins. I can feel the strength of an entire sun energizing me and making me believe I can do absolutely anything. For Shay, for my friends, for our child. For our family. I will move mountains.

It doesn’t matter who the father is. It’s our child. That’s what family is about. That’s what home is about. And home is right here, with Shay. Whatever the future decides to toss our way, I know we’ve got the chops to crack it and sail smoothly through any kind of weather.

Epilogue:Shay

One year can go by in the blink of an eye when you’re experiencing true happiness. When every day is loaded with the kind of energy that makes you feel like you can do anything. That’s the thing with true love. It comes up unexpectedly, and it comes in ways I never even thought possible. It’s an honest feeling that lives in the company of tranquility, of peace, of harmony and the simplest of ideas: anything is possible with the right people beside you.

And I got lucky. Oh, so lucky.

I didn’t fall in love with one great man, but three. Each of them serves a purpose in my life, yet all three complete me to perfection. Marius is the kindness I’ve always needed, the laughter and hopefulness, the ambition and the drive I thrive on. Jax is the protector, the strongman with an ironclad determination and just enough darkness to make me feel safe at any given moment. Richard is the provider, the stability and the comfort I require in order to build myself and my family from the ground up. With them, I’ve blossomed. I’ve become a better woman in every possible sense.

And while the pregnancy was a surprise and one hell of a thrill ride, it concluded with the birth of a healthy baby boy. We named him Logan. His hair is black and curly. His eyes are brown and sweet. We know Marius had a role in his creation, but Logan has three loving dads who dote upon him and make sure he has everything he needs. They take turns looking after him, too, thus giving me the time I need to rest and replenish, to keep my career on track and to never lose sight of myself. I’d worried that three men in my life would be a crowd, but it turns out it was the best decision I ever made.

Nobody except Cassandra knows we live together. To everyone else, it’s just me and Marius as the official couple, with Richard and Jax as our closest friends and Godfathers to our son. The world doesn’t need to know. I doubt people would understand. Besides, I’m way too happy to worry about this kind of stuff.

Logan sleeps soundly in his carrier as I carry him into the gym. West Key has grown beautifully since we implemented my pre-coaching marketing plan. Our clientele is incredibly diverse. Cassandra has joined our team as a psychologist, so she and I work together to offer a psychological and nutritional approach to customers who would otherwise be too wary of even setting foot inside a gym. We’re doing really well and walking into this place every morning is literally one of my favorite reasons to wake up —aside from my three handsome guys and our gorgeous son.

“Good morning, Sarah,” I say to the receptionist as I set Logan’s carrier onto one of the sofas. “How are we doing today?”

“Good morning, Shay!” the perky brunette says as she stands up behind the reception desk.

A couple of clients come in for locker room keys. She quickly scans their passes and welcomes them into the gym, while a flock of college girls flutter past us, rushing into the weights room for their morning training. It’s more crowded these days—not that I mind.

“We’re great,” Sarah adds with a broad smile. “Everything is running smoothly, and the new coffee machine was definitely worth its pretty penny.”

“Let me guess, Marius hogs it at the break of dawn,” I chuckle softly.

“Yeah, pretty much. It’s strong stuff, too. I don’t know how his heart doesn’t give out from all those espressos,” Sarah replies.

Marius overhears the conversation as he steps out of the weights room, lighting up like the sun when he sees Logan and me. “Hey, my heart is strong! It’s accustomed to this kind of abuse,” he says, then comes over and kisses me deeply. “Morning, my love.”

“Mhm, morning,” I mumble against his lips. “You left early.”

“Had a couple of clients who are going away for the week,” he says. “They wanted to get one last session in before their holiday. How’s our little man?”

Marius sits next to Logan’s carrier, careful not to wake him. At only six months, the kid still sleeps soundly through pretty much anything. I dare hope he’ll be like this until he grows up, because I’ve heard horror stories about sleepless nights and all that jazz—but Logan’s been a wonderful baby thus far. Maybe we got lucky, I don’t know. I do know that I love how the purest love shines from Marius’s eyes when he glances down at his son. Our son.

“He’s great,” I reply, unable to stop myself from smiling as I watch them both. “Slept through most of the night. Had a quick breakfast, and now… well, you can see for yourself.”

“This boy will sleep through his entire childhood,” Marius snorts a dry laugh.

Richard comes out of his office, accompanied by Jax. They both smile as they say good morning. We do make one hell of a team, I’ll admit. West Key wouldn’t have made it this far without each and every one of us.

“Sorry we left so early in the morning,” Richard whispers. “I had something I needed to take care of. I hope you don’t mind.”

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