Page 23 of Greater than the Heart
He went to his side of the closet and started to grab underwear. Jax immediately engulfed him in strong arms. “You won’t need those, chére. You’ll only need something to wear today, and something to wear home on Sunday. Between times? No clothes allowed,” he whispered as he kissed up the side of Kincade’s neck, making him shiver. It was all very clandestine and exciting.
They ended up in a cabin near the Fox River. It was secluded and small, but there was running water and a private boat dock, along with a king-sized bed and a deck that faced the west so they could watch the sunset. They picked up some food to cook in the small kitchen, but the lovemaking all over the small cabin would be what Cade remembered about his twenty-fifth birthday. It was almost as if they were playing Twister. The contortions in which they found themselves sometimes were unbelievable, but a few sore muscles were worth the effort. It had been perfect.
There was a soft knock on the door of the office, so he got up to open it, finding Sela. “Can I lie down in here?” she asked.
Cade noticed her feet and hands were swollen, and her face seemed puffy as well. He led her inside and helped her onto the couch, propping her feet up on some pillows. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Too much sun,” she responded as she closed her eyes. Cade went to the bathroom down the hall and grabbed a hand towel towet with cool water. He returned to the office to place it over her forehead.
“That feels incredible. What are you doing in here by yourself?” she asked as she pulled the cold towel over her eyes.
“I was looking up baby names. I thought we should know what they mean. Jax’s French heritage led me to consider names like Juliette, after his mother, or Louise, Mila, or Chloe, for girls, and Leo, Lucas, Jules, or Remy, for boys.
“I also found out Thomas can be French as well, so I started looking up names from my heritage. My own surname, Hayes, is Irish so that opens many other doors like Janna, Katharine, Maeve, or Margaret. The boys’ names—.” Cade glanced toward the couch when he noticed Sela’s soft snores.
He took her wrist to check her pulse, finding it much higher than he felt was safe. He hurried from the room and went down to the hall to find Jax. “Come with me. You know some medical stuff, right?”
Cade led Jax into the office and over to Sela. “She wasn’t feeling well. Her pulse seems to be racing, and her feet and hands are swollen. Is she okay?” His voice was trembling with nerves.
Jax knelt next to the couch and took her wrist, removing the cool towel from her forehead. He leaned forward and listened to her breathing before he turned to Cade with a controlled smile. “Call the hospital and Dr. Hu. It’s time.”
He picked up Sela and started down the stairs with her. Cade didn’t question him. He pulled out his phone and did as Jackson told him.
An hour later, Cade and Ford were sitting in the maternity waiting room while Jax was bothering the staff once again. “Sela Thomas. S-E-L-A-T-H-O-M-A-S,” he gritted out.
The door to the maternity operating room opened and Dr. Hu came out, taking off a cap from her head. She turned to the threeof them and smiled. “Everybody’s fine. Sela’s blood pressure spiked, so we delivered the twins by C-section. They’re perfectly fine. Sela’s in recovery now. It was good you got her here when you did.”
Guilt swamped Cade for not worrying about Sela more when she came into the office and laid on the couch, but they had two babies. “So, our babies?” he asked.
Doctor Hu smiled. “You want to see them? You want the surprise, or do you want to know what they are? You’ve never wanted—”
“Just fuckin’ tell us,” Jax snapped, bringing a laugh from Cade and Dr. Hu.
“A boy—six pounds, one ounce, and a girl—five pounds, six ounces. That adds up to a baby that weighs eleven pounds and seven ounces, so you’re going to owe Sela a great gift, guys.” She led them back to the nursery.
They headed toward the glass viewing window, and Dr. Hu laughed. “You can come inside, guys. Let’s just get you suited up to meet your babies.”
After scrubbing their hands and slipping on yellow gowns over their clothes, they walked into the nursery to find their babies in an incubator. The nurse there smiled. “Just to keep them warm. Who wants whom?” She reached into the plexiglass bed.
She swaddled a pink blanket around the girl and turned to Jax. “Poppa, you look like you can hold this little beauty.” She placed the little girl into his huge arms.
Cade noticed tears leaking down his husband’s face, and he couldn’t hold his own as he watched Jax kiss the little girl on her forehead. Based on the few wisps of hair peeking out, she had light brown hair which meant she could have been Ford’s or Cade’s.
“Okay, Dad, how about you take the big brother?” She put the little boy in Cade’s arms.
He turned to see Ford was sobbing, so he understood why she handed him the baby first. Peeking out from under the little blue cap was strawberry-blonde hair, which meant he could have been Ford’s or Jax’s.
Cade raised the boy closer and kissed his forehead as Jax had done with the girl. Their daughter. He was a bit stunned to look into the face of the little boy in his arms and think of him as Cade’s, along with his sister. The three of them were in it together, regardless of DNA. The three Delacroixs had a boy and a girl. Life would never be the same, but oh, it would be magical.
Epilogue
Ford
Life had been a series of ups and downs for the five Delacroixs. Remy Pierre and Chloe Sela had changed the lives of their fathers more than any of them could have ever imagined. Every day wasn’t perfect, but the memories were mounting. They became more precious as the days quickly rolled by.
When the twins were babies, the three men had a crash course in Baby Care 101, taking feeding, rocking, and diapering shifts. The twins shared a room for the first two years of their lives, but when their personalities started to emerge, they each got their own.
The three husbands also worked out a schedule so the children were with one of them all the time. They weren’t about to allow their kids to be raised by a nanny. They were hands-on dads.
