Page 20 of Greater than the Heart
It was February, Fashion Week in New York. Sela had been hired by a very prestigious women’s magazine to capture the magic, and the Delacroix men had vowed to take as good of care of her offspring as she would take care of theirs inside her.
After many discussions, the Delacroix men had decided to use donor eggs and have Sela be their surrogate. At the end of the day, Ford thought it would be too emotionally difficult on his sister to be the biological mother of their child, so they’d all discussed it and decided seeking donor eggs and trusting Sela to grow the baby for them was the best way to handle it.
The three of them had gone to the clinic one Thursday before Christmas, and together, they’d deposited their source into the same cup. The law had caught up with science, so two of them were allowed to mix their sperm in the same specimen. They added Cade’s with a wink from the nurse at reception, and after the eggs were harvested from their donor, they were fertilized. Five were implanted into Sela, and they had no idea who the father might be, but they vowed to love the child or children equally. They were all giddy about the fact Sela was pregnant, and when she returned from New York, they were all going for the first ultrasound. It was a miracle.
“Okay, so Uncle Jax wants to play tea party, but I was hoping you could help Uncle Cade and I make cookies for Uncle Jax. We’re all going out for dinner because It’s Valentine’s Day. Oh, how did the exchange at school go?” Ford’s nine-year-old niece didn’t look happy at all, based on the view he had in the rearview mirror.
Carlotta scoffed, which made him want to laugh because she sounded so much like her mother. “It was ridiculous. You hadto bring cards foreverybody, not just for special people, and the pack of cards Momma chose was icky. There weren’t special cards for me to give my friends. I don’t even care.”
“Darling girl, there will be plenty of time for you to have special cards and the like,” he told her as he pulled the car into the garage, seeing Jax’s Expedition and Cade’s smaller SUV were parked, which meant they were home. Cade’s vehicle purchase had been a fight, but Ford and Jax won. In the end, Cade loved it. It was a great twenty-fourth birthday gift.
“Do you have special cards for Uncle Jax and Uncle Cade?” she challenged with her beautiful head tilted so much like her mother.
Ford sighed. “No, but guys don’t think about cards as much as girls, Carlotta. Women love tangible proof they’re important. Men like other proof,” he said, thinking about a blow job like a total deviant. Both of his husbands were spectacular at blow jobs, and Ford was going to miss them until Sela got home from New York. Both of his men refused to partake of the carnal fruits when Carlie stayed with them for fear of traumatizing her. He staunchly disagreed.
“So, you don’t make Valentine’s for each other?” she asked as Ford opened the laundry room to lead her inside so she could relieve herself of her snow boots and the heavy coat. He slipped off his galoshes and his overcoat, hanging them on the coat tree.
He opened the door to the kitchen to see Connor, their cook, at the stove stirring something in a pot. “Connor, we’re home.” Obviously, the garage doors had already announced their arrival.
The guy laughed and turned to Carlotta, taking her hand to kiss. “Hello, little miss. I have been told to direct you and your uncle downstairs to the pool area. I’m making homemade ice cream for dessert. Your bathing suit is in the changing room,” the young man said.
“Thank you,” Carlotta announced as she hurried downstairs.
“How’ve you been, Connor?” Ford opened the fridge to grab a couple of juice boxes to take downstairs. The beer fridge was in the changing room, so all they were missing was something for his niece.
He could see the young man appeared to be uneasy. “I’m fine, Mr. Delacroix. Mr. Hayes is here,” Connor said.
Ford thought about it for a minute before he smiled. It had to be Ashton. The kid had transferred to an upscale boarding school in Boston. He was gifted, which Ford didn’t doubt, and he was set to graduate at sixteen. They already had their reservations to go to the ceremony.
“You don’t mind cooking for a couple more, do you?” Ford asked.
Connor had been with them for a few years, and he’d started making extra food so they could stock Sela’s freezer because Winnie had retired at Cleve and Griff’s insistence. She complained she was perfectly healthy, but they wanted her to take it easy so they moved her into their three-bedroom house in Edgewater, and the three of them were getting along fine. Winnie volunteered at Rainbow House a few afternoons a week to have something to do, and Ford doubted the kids who went there had ever been so loved in their lives.
“No, not at all. Mr. Hayes, um, he’s grown up a bit.” Conner glanced at Ford before he turned back to the stove. The chef had a strange expression, one Ford recognized. He’d had the same look on his face when he’d first met Kincade. It was an unadulterated lust.
“Yes, but he’s still not sixteen,” Ford reminded him as he headed downstairs without looking back.
He felt bad for Connor because Ashton was as beautiful as Cade, but he’d beat the man senseless if he made a move, regardless of whether Ash had settled on the gay side of life ornot. If Jax found out about Connor’s feelings, he’d bury the man in the garden.
Ford went downstairs, hearing the happy laughter from the pool area. The outdoor pool was closed, as it always was after the New Year, but Jax, Cade, Ashton, and Carlotta were playing a game of keep-away indoors.
“Who wants a drink?” Ford stood on the pool deck waiting for responses.
Brady Jones was watching the club that night, along with Owen Hatch, who had taken a part-time position at Fairytails as a host.
Four hands went up, which made him laugh. “Okay, I have two juice boxes. Strawberry banana, as a matter of fact. Carlotta, would you like beer or wine?” he teased as he slipped off his tie and suit jacket. Her giggle affected him nearly as much as Cade’s.
“Bud for me,” Jax announced.
“Wine, please. Whatever you’re having,” Cade followed.
“Strawberry-banana smoothie,” Carlotta said, a big smile on her face.
“I’ll take what you’re serving, brother dear.” Ashton’s eyebrows waggled at Ford as he grinned.
Ford laughed but went to the makeshift bar downstairs and blended up the two juice boxes with ice from the ice maker they’d installed two years prior. He poured it into fancy plastic cups they’d bought specifically for their niece and any other underage guests, and he carried the drinks over to the pool.
“I’m going to change, and then Carlie and I will challenge you three to a game of volleyball.” The cheers made him laugh as he went into the changing room and donned his trunks that were in his locker.
