Page 61 of Single Mom for the Mountain Men
I answer a few more questions, then hang up, my hand cradling my belly again as I look at the three strong, handsome men building the new house that will keep us all safe from the tough winters up here on the mountain.
When had I become a mountain woman?I wonder. I realize that it happened slowly as I became a part of the fabric of the boys’ lives. If you had asked me a year ago if I would one day live far away from a proper city with Sophie and three men, I would have laughed. Frankly, during that time in my life, the thought of escaping James would have been impossible as well.
Everything about my life has changed for the better since I met the three men in front of me. I love them more than I thought I could love anyone besides Sophie. My life is brimming to the top with everything that I always wanted and never thought I would get to have.
“Lena, can you hand me some more nails?” Tanner calls to me.
“Sure,” I say easily, crossing the plywood floor of the new cabin to help him out. I know that our lives here are going to be fulfilling and incredible, and I can’t wait to start enjoying them.
Chapter thirty-three
CHAPTER 33: Lena
My dress is simple and silky, and it makes me look a bit taller than my usual petite height. I admire the complex updo that my maid of honor managed to weave into my hair, then put on some lipstick.
We decided at the last minute not to get married in town and to move the wedding up to the beautiful backyard behind the new cabin. The cabin itself is still fairly rough, but it’s complete enough that we can host everyone inside for the reception and the backyard still has incredible views of the valley below.
As I walk down the aisle, I giggle at Sophie frolicking ahead of me, casting flowers to the left and right. Then, I lift my eyes and meet the gazes of Brody, Aiden, and Tanner, standing side-by-side near the altar.
For those unaware of our dynamic, Brody is marrying me while Aiden and Tanner are his best men, but this wedding is really uniting of the four of us, for better or for worse, through thick and thin.
I can’t stop the tears from sliding down my cheeks as I promise to love and honor Brody, and I can see moisture in his eyes as well as he leans in to kiss me. The small group of friends and family assembled to witness the ceremony cheer loudly as we embrace, and then, it is official.
“I wish I could have married all three of you,” I tell Tanner later as he dances with me in the backyard. The evening light is slanting down across us, the last rays of the late-summer sun warm on my shoulders.
Tanner grins at me. “Someday, they’ll allow unique marriages, and then, we can just do this all over again.”
I roll my eyes. “Tell me that when I’ve forgotten how much work and stress a wedding is.”
“Can I cut in?” Aiden asks, sidling up to us with a smile.
“I suppose,” Tanner says. He presses a kiss to my cheek, then slips away to go talk to our guests.
“Happy?” Aiden asks me as he spins me around.
My voice catching a little due to the emotions overflowing within me, I tell him honestly, “I have never been so happy in my life.”
“Same,” he says to me. He kisses my other cheek, and we sway back and forth.
“Do you think anyone knows how our relationship works?” I ask him as we slow dance. I glance around at the assembled guests. Most of them are friends of the boys. I don’t have any close family left, and I was only able to think of a couple of friends who deserved to be at my wedding.
“Who cares if they do?” Aiden says back with a shrug. “Our love isn’t conventional, but it works for all of us perfectly.”
I think of the way that we had all celebrated that love the night before and blush. He’s not wrong. And I realize that I don’t care anymore about what people think. I won’t allow myself to be a prisoner to the opinions of others now.
“Momma, you look beautiful!” Sophie exclaims, running in between us and hugging my legs.
“I told her to wait,” Brody says with a little smile as he joins us.
“It’s okay,” I say to my daughter, bending down to kiss her cheek. “Today is her special day as well.”
“Yes!” she says excitedly. “I have three daddies now and one mommy!”
I glance around at the crowd, but no one seems to have heard her. We all laugh together, and then, Aiden invites my daughter to dance, leaving Brody and I standing before one another with matching grins.
“Dance?”
I nod and move into his arms. “I have a secret to tell all of you,” I say to him softly.
