Page 62 of Snowed In with Three Mountain Men

“I think that’s a great idea,” he replies, glancing between the three of us. “And maybe you gentlemen could wait outside…well, apart from the father?—”

“I think we’re going to stay,” I tell him firmly. He raises his eyebrows slightly, and I’m sure he’s got all kinds of questions for us—but he doesn’t have the nerve to ask a single one, much to my relief.

“Alright, well,” he mutters, backing toward the door. “I suppose I’ll leave you to it.”

“I suppose you will,” I reply. And with that, he heads outside, leaving all four of us alone together once more. None of us could have guessed that this was the direction this day was going to take. But now that we know? It feels as though everything has fallen into place.

As though everything is exactly as it should be, even if it’s not how any of us could ever have predicted.

But hasn’t that just been the story of our lives, since Charli came into them?

EPILOGUE

CHARLI

“Hey, hey, sit down,”Callum insists as I try to get to my feet and head through to the kitchen. “You’re pregnant. Don’t you remember?”

I grin at him, shaking my head.

“Oh, yeah, I remember,” I tease. “I don’t think any of you are going to let me forget…”

“It’s our job to take care of you now,” Dax replies, grabbing the plate out of my hands and heading through to drop it in the sink. “How are you feeling now, anyway? Better than before?”

“Much better.”

It’s the truth—my mood has improved a whole lot since we got back from the doctor, though I’m still trying to make sense of the ridiculously huge news he hit us with.

I’m pregnant.

Pregnant. With child. As in, in just a few months time, I’m going to be bringing a new life into this world, alongside the three men who are going to be their father.

It’s the strangest thought, but not an unwelcome one, not at all. Before everything that happened with James, I often thought about having a family of my own, but when we got together, I couldn’t stand the thought of involving a little one in the nightmare that he put me through—it just didn’t seem fair. No matter how much I craved a family of my own, I couldn’t expect a child to live in that hell with me.

But here, now? It’s different. These three have given me freedom I didn’t even know was possible, and I’m certain they’ll do the same for our little one too. It’s not exactly how I pictured my family turning out, but sometimes it’s the stuff you least expect that makes the most sense.

When we got home, Chuck cooked dinner for us, and we all sat down to talk about how we’re going to handle this—what needs to be done to make this place safe for a kid, how we’re going to manage raising them, what we’re going to do for hospital appointments and schools and everything like that.

Of course, I’m certain there’s still so much we haven’t thought about, so much that none of us could even have imagined, but we’re well on our way to getting there. And we have a few months yet before we have to make any big decisions. The biggest one, as far as I’m concerned, has already been made—we’re keeping this baby. We’re going to raise it together, as a unit. And I know I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Chuck emerges from the kitchen and sinks down onto the seat next to me, draping his arm along the back of the chair and pulling me close.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I admit, biting my lip as I look up at him. Dax and Callum are sipping on whiskey in the seats opposite us. The fire is crackling in the hearth, the warm weatherhaving given way to a chill tonight. It’s so perfectly cozy in the cabin, I could almost doze off right here on the couch, if I wasn’t so excited about what I just found out.

“I can,” Callum replies, simply. “Ever since I met you, I always thought you would be an amazing mom.”

I turn to him, raising my eyebrows. “Really?”

“Oh, yeah,” he replies, grinning. “You were so sweet, and so patient. So kind. I knew any kid would be lucky to have you as a mother.”

“You’re too cute,” I tell him, shaking my head.

“Well, I thought you would be a good mother,” he muses, “and that you would look so fucking hot barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.”

I laugh, feeling my cheeks grow a little hotter.

“Hey, that’s very old-fashioned of you.”

“Hmm, yeah,” Chuck agrees, his fingers trailing up the side of my neck. “But he’s right. You will.”

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