Page 106 of Agony of Our Regret

I couldn’t imagine.

It might not be something completely within our control, but I wanted to do everything we could to prevent it.

But Lemon would always be safe in me.

“Remember what the doctor said.” Gavin lowered until we were eye to eye. “If we wait and your water breaks, you could bleed out. Waiting puts you and the baby in jeopardy.”

I closed my eyes. He was right. I knew that, but knowing it in my head didn’t stop the anxiety and fear in my heart.

“Everything is going to be fine. With six of us, plus our parents, Lemon is likely to never be alone,” he quipped.

“There are so many people waiting to love on our baby. You’ve kept them safe and healthy for the last nine months, all by yourself. Now it’s our turn to help, okay?”

His words pierced the fog that descended over my brain with the doctor’s announcement. The safest place for the baby wasn’t inside me anymore. I knew that.

And I wasn’t alone in this. Lemon would never be alone. It was time for our family to take a turn holding them and loving them.

I nodded, and they both relaxed.

“Let’s go home.” Vince wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his side while Gavin opened the door and led us out.

The next threedays felt like a dream.

The C-section went as smoothly as possible without complications, and Lemon was healthy and beautiful and the most perfect baby girl. She didn’t need any time in the NICU. The nurses took her to the nursery each night, so I could rest and recover—not that there was much for me to do with five dads around vying to hold, feed, and change her.

If not for the determination of the lactation specialist to help me breastfeed, I might not have gotten much time with our sweet baby.

“We can only keep calling her Lemon for so long before it will become her official name,” Gavin said, staring down at her in Sky’s arms as he rocked her.

She was sleeping and wouldn’t have noticed if he stopped the movements, but it seemed to be natural for him now.

All of them were fantastic. Complete naturals despite three of them not having younger siblings. Maybe it was all the reading, classes, and videos. Maybe it was because they were meant to be fathers.

Either way, it made my life incredibly easy.

With all of them to help, I had little to no pressure to hurry up and bounce back. As well as it had gone, the surgery was still a massive trauma to my body. Only time would heal me enough to lift anything or sit up on my own.

“We can’t take her home without filling out the birth certificate,” Luca stated. It wasn’t a law. Vince checked after the first debate that ended in a stalemate, but we agreed to have it decided before we left.

I didn’t want a family name, from my side or any of theirs. It wasn’t fair to use any of theirs, and I wanted a fresh start with no ties for my little girl.

I also didn’t want anything too trendy. Growing up, I loved that I was the only Avalon in any of my classes and didn’t want our daughter to end up being one of four in all of hers and either have to go by a nickname or always use her last initial.

Which was another issue we hadn’t discussed until now.

A last name.

With six options, there wasn’t a clear answer. Since we weren’t married, it defaulted to Bradley. The guys taking my last name would be easier than figuring out which one of theirs we should use.

“How did your parents figure out what last name to use?” I asked Noah and Sky.

“Vays is my mom’s last name, so my dads changed theirs to hers.”

“Bishop is from Michael. He was the last man in the family line. He didn’t have any male cousins and even checked generations back. My parents all agreed on it so it wouldn’t die out,” Sky answered.

“Gavin and Luca, are either of you the last in the line?” Vince asked.

“No, I’ve got several boy cousins. Alder isn’t in jeopardy.” Gavin grinned.

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