Page 72 of Break My Fall

“What?” he uttered, looking a little taken aback.

“You love, Maddie, don’t you?” Kai asked, and Nico nodded. “So do we,” Kai went on. “This doesn’t have to be us against you, fighting for her. It can be all of us, offering her everything she wants and needs.”

“What if that’s not what she wants?” Nico pointed out.

“It’s what she wants,” I confirmed. “I think the main reason she’s holding back from us is her feelings for you. She loves us, but she loves you too and she can’t bring herself to choose. We should give her the option not to have to choose.”

“And if that is what she wants, you’d all be good with that? With me being a part of what you have with her?” Nico asked, looking between us.

“We’ve known you a long time, Nic. I might not know you as well as these motherfuckers, but I know you enough to know you would fit in with our family,” I explained.

“Maddie loves you. We love her. We’d make it work,” Kai added with an easy going shrug.

“What the fuck?” Cam shrugged as we all looked to him. “I’m good with whatever makes Maddie happy. I guess four fucked up guys are better than three.”

“This is crazy,” Nico sighed. “We don’t even know if Maddie would even consider what you’re proposing.”

“I think she would. In fact I think it’s exactly what she wants.” I turned to glance through the small gap in the door as I spoke, peeking in at Maddie to make sure she was still sleeping.

“Would it even work? I live in Chicago,” Nico mused.

“The logistics will need some work, but I think the four of us can make a relationship work if we really want it to. Like Cam said, we’re all a little fucked up. Together we can offer Maddie and the kids everything they need. I’m not sure any of us could do that separately,” I pointed out.

“Basically it all comes down to the fact we love her and we want her. Doing this together means we don’t put her through the hell of having to choose. I think that’s important. She’s been through enough in her life. Why not let her have what she wants and deserves for once?”

“I’m not against this. I agree with you, Kai. I don’t want to make Maddie choose if she loves all of us, but this is a huge thing to go into. A relationship with five people is not going to be easy to navigate. I’ve seen the struggle my sister has faced with the guys over the last couple of years,” Nico explained.

“But they’ve come through it, right? They’re still together?” I asked.

“Yeah, they have, because they love each other,” Nico nodded. “I know another relationship like this too. Livy, the mom I just called – she has four husbands, and they have kids together too. They’ve been together for years and they make it work really well.”

“So it can work,” Kai agreed.

“We need to talk to Maddie about this. We can’t just stand here making decisions for her,” Cam cut in.

“Agreed, but I think it’s best if the four of us are on the same page before we do that,” I clarified.

“So are we?” Kai asked as he looked between us. “On the same page?”

“I’m good with this,” I agreed.

“I want whatever Maddie wants,” Cam added.

“Same,” Kai agreed.

“I just want to be with Maddie. If that means I have to put up with you assholes too, I can handle that,” Nico said with the hint of a grin on his face. When I looked to my brothers, they were both smirking too. They were happy. We all were. We had a plan to make Maddie ours and I was feeling pretty sure it was a plan she would get on board with.

The sound of Willow crying out had all of our faces dropping as we hurried towards her room in a rush, clashing at the door as we all tried to squeeze through it together.

Nico, being the biggest motherfucker amongst us, ploughed through first, the rest of us following.

“Call the doctor,” Sam told us. When I got in there I found him sat on the floor with Willow in his lap, leaning over a bucket as she vomited. “She’s burning up,” he added as he tried to soothe her.

“Fuck,” I whispered to myself, hoping Willow wouldn’t hear me cursing. This was bad. We all looked between each other, all as clueless on what to do next as the other. It was going to be a long fucking night.

MADDIE

Opening my eyes to find Nico sat at my bedside with a soft smile on his face was like a dream. I blinked a few times and rubbed at my eyes, confused and sure I was actually dreaming, but when I sat up, he still sat there.

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