For all their sakes, Eve hoped the men made it and stayed together. This would be infinitely easier with two couples instead of two single guys and them.
They performed Kimbra’s ultrasound first, and Ron stood behind Ivan, holding him, his chin resting on Ivan’s shoulder as they watched and Eve filmed it.
“That’s your baby, buddy,” Ron whispered.
And when the tech flipped over to audio, so they could hear the heartbeat. Ivan’s hand covered his mouth as he started sobbing.
She and Kimbra both reached over to hold Ivan’s hands as Ron held him. Eve didn’t know the specifics about what Ivan had been through in his life. Ron had privately told Kimbra it was bad, but that he thought with all of them helping Ivan he could finally heal.
Also, that it explained why Ivan so desperately wanted to be a father and was eagerly anticipating the babies’ arrivals.
The tech printed ultrasound pictures for them the way the other one had. Finally, it was Eve’s turn.
That’s when things went sideways.
“So, do you want the good news or the bad news?” she asked.
“Bad,” Ivan immediately said.
The tech smiled, froze the picture, and drew a circle…
And then another circle.
“You’re going to need to buy an extra car seat.”
Ivan gasped. “Holy shit! It’s twins!”
Eve started laughing. “Okay, haha, that’s a good one. Did you put her up to this, Kimbra?”
“She’s not kidding,” Ivan said, stepping around the table to get a better look. He started asking questions of the tech, using terminology that Eve had no clue what he was talking about.
The tech, a woman probably in her late fifties or early sixties, gave him an odd glance. “You think you’re a doctor, kid?” she joked.
Kimbra and Ron burst out laughing, but Eve was in too much shock.
“Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. Dr. Ivan Mercado, Proctor-Collins Med Center. Cardiothoracic surgeon.”
“You’re kidding!”
Ivan had met the three of them there, since the office was located only a block from the hospital. He dug his name badge from his back pocket, where he’d tucked it after walking in with it while still wearing it and Eve had pointed it out.
“Holy shi—” She coughed. “Sorry, Dr. Mercado.”
Ivan grinned, and it was enough to make Eve think maybe this would all be okay. “Twins! This is great!”
“Holy shit,” Kimbra said, then she smacked Ron’s shoulder.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“Twins, huh?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose!” Ron pointed at Eve. “Mead is forever. I warned her!”
* * * *
Ron felt too stunned to ask questions, but Ivan took over, apparently able to focus more now since his initial shock and awe over seeing his own baby on the screen had sunk in.
Twins?
“I didn’t mean you literally had to give my mom two-for-one on the grandbabies,” Kimbra teased Eve, leaning in to kiss her.
Ivan pulled out his phone and took a picture of the screen, grinning as he stared at it.
Once they were talking to the doctor again, she laughed. “I guess you’re both high-risk pregnancies now. Congratulations.”
“I don’t think that word means what you think it means, doc,” Kimbra snarked.
Before they left, they’d agreed they were going to get together on Sunday at Kimbra and Eve’s to discuss this latest development and revise their plans. After they left the appointment, Ron drove Ivan over to his car, where he’d stowed his laptop case and bag upon leaving the hospital.
“Are you okay, Sir?” He looked entirely too amused.
“Don’t forget I am a sadist,” Ron said. “I might decide to spank you just because.”
Ivan grinned. “Can I say ‘challenge accepted’ then, Sir?”
“You know it’s not a great idea to tease a sadist, right?”
“Maybe I’m trying to distract you.”
In many ways, that’s exactly what Ivan was doing, even if he didn’t realize it.
Ivan was no longer the man Ron had first met at Kimbra’s, and didn’t even resemble the twink he’d seen before at the Toucan.
This man was Ron’s man.
And Ron loved every millimeter of him.
* * * *
Ron drove Sunday night, although he felt probably every bit as nervous as Ivan did. He’d given Ivan a proactive spanking right before they left, because he’d started stressing over finances again despite Ron telling him not to stress, and Ron suspected the man was still a little subspacey.
Which was fine. It’d help things go easier for him. Ron trusted Eve and Kimbra. They were attorneys, but they were all in this together. He had no reason to think they’d try to screw the two of them over.
Kimbra had apparently seen them drive up, because she already had the front door open for them as Ron led the way up the walk. He pulled her in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek, unable to keep his hand off her tummy. “How we doing, Mami?”
She smiled. “Lucky I let you two get away with that now.” She opened her arms to Ivan, who practically melted against her. “How’s our boy?”
“Good, ma’am.”
Ron smiled. No, he didn’t mind Ivan calling her that. He knew it was a lower-case m and not an upper-case one. And he didn’t mind Kimbra calling Ivan that, either.
Ron knew he came first in Ivan’s heart. He’d actually worry if Ivan didn’t feel at least some affection for Kimbra and, to a certain extent, Eve.
Kimbra kissed the top of his head. “I see someone got a spankin’ before they came over, hmm?” She playfully ruffled his hair.
“Yes, ma’am.” He leaned in and kissed her tummy. “Hi, sweetheart. Don’t give Mami a hard time, huh?”
Ron thought if Ivan acted any more adorable, his heart would burst just from watching him.
“Come on, boys,” Kimbra said, leading the way. “This’ll be a working dinner.”
Eve was carrying the last of the food out to the table, and there were stacks of paperwork at the other end. “Hey, guys.”
Eve hugged Ron first, letting him lean in to kiss her tummy after she kissed his cheek. Ivan next, Eve kissing the top of his head the same way Kimbra had, smiling as he also leaned in to talk to her tummy and the babies. It didn’t matter Ivan was older than her, all three of them had defaulted to Ivan being the “youngest” of the group.
He didn’t seem to want to challenge them on that, either.
Meatloaf and green beans and salad were on the menu, and it was delicious. Ron carefully watched Ivan, making sure he ate enough.
“We’ve been doing some research,” Kimbra said. “And considering the latest development, we think we’ve hit on a perfect solution. So please hear us out.”
Eve passed papers to Ivan and Ron. “We’ve found a piece of property for sale, over near Mevi and Doyle’s place. Right there by Tilly and all of them. It’s expensive, but I think it’d be worth the investment. We’ve already lined up a private lender who’s willing to back a loan for us right now to buy the property and start construction. We could close on it by the end of the week. If Kimbra and I sell our houses, we can use that for the construction costs, plus whatever you can contribute.”
“You want him to sell his house?” Ivan asked.
“No,” Kimbra said. “He’s free to do whatever he wants with his house. Sell it, or keep it for investment income and rent it. The house and property would be part of a trust we’d all be owners of. That way, no one gets screwed. And it means, forward thinking, we can add the kids to the trust at some point and they wouldn’t be hit with inheritance tax for it.”
“I like it,” Ron said. “I’d be willing to sell.” He looked at Ivan. “What do you think?”
He remained quiet for a long time. “I won’t be able to contribute much, Sir,” he finally said. “Not right now, at least.”
; Shit. Ron recognized that tone. Ivan was struggling to not withdraw from the conversation, but he was feeling less-than again.
“Honey,” Kimbra said to Ivan, “this will be an equal partnership. We’ll keep the accounting in terms of who contributes what. We need the house built. We can contribute more now and you can contribute more later.
“We’re going to have four adults and three kids under the same roof. None of us will let the others starve, I’m sure. But once the house is built, we’ll look at all the numbers and then we can figure in your share of what you owe. If you can’t swing a full payment every month, we’ll do a partial. You and Ron can work that out between you based on your income and your expenses. You’ll still be paying in your fair share over time, but we need this plan put into action now.”
“She’s right,” Ron said. He reached over and captured Ivan’s hand, squeezing. “This is what families do—they take care of each other.”
“But what if you don’t like living with me?”
Ron’s heart broke for his boy. Despite all the progress, Ivan’s scars ran deep, and it would take more than a couple of weeks of hot sex and straight talk between them to help him move past it.
Ron was going to respond, but Kimbra stood and rounded the table to wrap her arms around Ivan. “Sweetie, if Eve and I thought we couldn’t live with you two, we wouldn’t be talking about this option right now. Obviously Ron’s able to live with you, and he knows us. If he thought it wouldn’t work, he would have said something.
“We don’t want you guys to miss a second of their lives. Leo and Nate and their pack make it work. Even better, we’ll design the house with a split floor plan like theirs, a master suite at each end of the house and the kids in the middle. That way, everyone’s got privacy, and the kids will have all their parents living under the same roof.”
“Kimbra has three sisters and a brother,” Eve said. “She can live with nearly anyone.”
Kimbra snorted. “True story.” When she finally released Ivan, Ron stood and leaned in to hug him. “And,” Kimbra added, “we’ll design it so both couples have their own…sanctuary. Create a sitting room with each bedroom. Maybe have a little wet bar sort of thing so we can each have our own snacks, a little sink and fridge, coffeemaker, like that.”
“Besides,” Eve said, “between her parents and mine, they’ll be over all the time, especially at first. We’ll have plenty of time to get settled in and find our groove.” She arched an eyebrow at Ron. “Just had to give me twins, huh?”
He snorted. “Sorry, but isn’t that kind of your fault, too?”
“And don’t forget Ev and Wylie,” Kimbra said. “I have a feeling we’re all going to see a new side of Wylie around those babies. He’s nearly as excited as our parents.”
Eve laughed. “He’s fricking adorable.” Her hand rested on her stomach. “I’m not ashamed to admit I’m terrified. But I can’t think of two guys I’d rather be terrified with than you two. I mean, who wouldn’t want a doctor in the immediate family?”
Later, on their way home, Ivan broke the quiet between them. “I used to wish I had a brother or sister, because of Joshua. When I was little, before I knew what was really going on. Then I wished I’d never been born, because of what happened. But I’m really glad they’ll all be born so close together. Like triplets, almost. They’ll be able to rely on each other. They’ll have each other.”
“They’re going to have us, too,” Ron said. At least during all his family’s bullshit, he’d known he and Meri had each other.
And he’d come damn close to almost losing her to cancer without even knowing it until after the fact.
“Are you ever going to tell your parents?” Ivan asked.
“About what?”
“About the babies?
He snorted. “No. I don’t want them a part of our children’s lives. They’re bigots. They don’t deserve to be part of their lives.”
“I can’t wait to get the blood work back. Find out what we’re having.”
“I don’t care what we’re having,” Ron said. “I just want healthy babies.”
“I don’t care either,” Ivan said, “except I want to know what to start buying.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do we buy pink? Do we buy blue?”
“We can buy whatever we want,” Ron said. “I want to raise our babies to see the world differently than my parents did. They don’t have to conform to pink or blue just because that’s what people think they should do.”
“I didn’t think about it like that.”
“Think about what you lived through, the expectations on you. Why would we want to lay something like that on them before they’re even born?”
Ivan’s hand settled on his thigh. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For being patient with me. For opening my mind. And for reminding me what’s really important.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kimbra and Eve handled the loan and closing on the property, getting the men the paperwork to sign to hand over to Ed so he could get started on creating their trust and handle that paperwork.
Over the next three weeks, the men met with the women for dinner at least two times a week.
They also found out through blood work results that they were having girls.
All girls.
Three girls.
That thrilled and terrified Ron all at the same time. Having little girls meant less childhood trauma for Ivan to relive first-hand.
It also meant he and Ivan would be outnumbered by women in their household.
The grandmothers, however, were absolutely thrilled.
As Ron settled into life with Ivan, he saw the man change in good ways.
Including the way he openly laughed and freely chatted on Wednesday night Viking outings when he accompanied Ron as his DD, the way he’d started making friends at the Saturday Viking events they went to. The way he was making friends amongst their kinky group of acquaintances.
The next Saturday, four weeks after Eve’s twins were diagnosed, the men headed over to the women’s house to sit down with them and finalize the house plans so they could meet with an architect to draw up their blueprints.
“You know, Ron, you boys really should be married before the babies arrive, if that’s what you’re gonna do,” Kimbra said.
“Why?” Ivan asked.
Kimbra arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at Ron, and he knew.
“So they can have the same last name,” Ron said, not needing a map to follow her train of thought. “Our last name.” He struggled to suck in air, to breathe, but it all boiled down to this, when he thought about it.
It was perfection.
It also fucking terrified him.
He turned, clasping Ivan’s hands in his as he dropped to one knee in front of him. “Please marry me,” he said. “I love you, and I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. This week.”
Ivan’s eyes widened. “You want to marry me now?”
“Uh, yeah,” Kimbra said. “Why do you think he’s so damned goofy all the fricking time? He loves you.”
“Duh,” Eve softly snarked, punctuated with a smile.
Ivan was his net—Ron only hoped he caught him. “I want to put my house on the market,” he said. “Sell it. Meri’s moved in with Wynn. It’s a seller’s market right now. Put that money into our house.” He looked at Kimbra and Eve, who both nodded in encouragement, but remained silent.
Then back to Ivan. “Marry me, and let’s do this. Because I can’t imagine my life without you in it. As my friend, my lover, my husband, and my slave, and the father of one of my kids. Marry me, and let me keep making you smile and laugh. Marry me, so I know I can spend the rest of my life with the only guy I’ve ever loved the way and as deeply as I love you.”
Ivan’s eyes filled with tears, but at least this time Ron knew it was for a good reason as he started nodding. “Yes!” He threw his arms around Ron’s
neck. “Yes, Sir! Yes!”
Ron kissed him, sweet relief filling him.
“Halle-fuckin-llujah,” Eve snarked. “About damn time.”
“But where will we live until the house is ready?” Ivan asked when Ron finally let him take a breath.
“Here,” Kimbra said. “It’ll be tight quarters for a little while, but you can get a storage unit. And the bonus is it means y’all will be here, with us. Won’t be much longer before these kids are trying to play soccer with our bladders, and you’ll be able to feel every kick.”
* * * *
Ivan was able to get away early on Monday afternoon to meet Ron at the county courthouse and get their license. As they stood waiting in line, all their paperwork in hand, it struck Ivan how fast this had all happened.
Except it felt like Ron had been in his life forever. It was hard to even think about the past now, except the few good things he used to keep desperately clutched to him.
Memories of his abuela. Life with his mom after his father died, before she got sick.
Not only had he gained two new sets of parents in Kimbra and Eve’s families, but Wynn’s ex-in-laws adopted Ivan as quickly as they’d adopted Meri and Ron. That wasn’t even counting the extended “family” surrounding them.
Ivan still felt the urge to cut. It wasn’t something that magically disappeared overnight just because he was getting laid on a regular basis.
Especially on the bad days.
Now, they had a code. When Ivan knew it was a bad day, he would text Ron as soon as possible with an SOS emoji, and then let him know approximately what time he’d be home.
Ron was always waiting for him.
Always.
Then Ron would hold him, tell Ivan how much he loved him, and then give him what he needed. Sometimes just a spanking.
Sometimes, he needed more than that, and would ask for a paddle or cane.
He could cry it out of his system, feeling truly purged in a way he never did before.
And Ron always let him wear the Thor’s hammer. Ivan didn’t want another one, even though Ron asked if he did.
This belonged to Ron and it always reminded Ivan of his strength, his steady, calm presence in Ivan’s life.