“We need to round you up a Hope or two,” Sarah teased right back. “They’ve got brothers and cousins galore. I’m sure we can find at least one good one in the bunch.”
“I don’t think I could handle two of them.”
“You’re going to want two when the twins get older.”
Dana chuckled. “True.”
It was Valentine’s Day weekend, clichéd, but the timing worked out perfectly. As did the weather. Sunny and only slightly breezy, the temps were supposed to top out in the mid-seventies.
A perfect day all around.
They’d spent the previous weekend moving Betty into Walt’s house, and Dana and the twins into Betty’s house. With Dana’s parents home for good, the house just wasn’t quite big enough. And Betty didn’t want to sell her house, which was already paid off, so she offered to rent it, reasonably, to Dana.
Tonight Jason would have a sleepover with his cousins while both sets of newlyweds had child-free alone time. Tomorrow they would move Sarah and Jason into the Hopes’ house.
And today wasn’t catered, except for the two wedding cakes. Sarah wore a pretty sundress Pete and Sam had helped her shop for, Betty wore a dress with a tropical flower print, and all three grooms wore khakis and short-sleeved, chambray shirts.
Everyone else wore whatever they wanted.
Instead of neatly placed rows of rented chairs, they’d asked their guests to bring their own. Pete’s brothers had already fired up the grill, and the smell of barbecue deliciously filled the air.
Dana was doing double-duty as maid of honor for both brides. As was Jason, who’d been drafted to be best man for his grandpa as well as Sam and Pete.
With the last touches ready, Sarah turned and hugged Dana. “This is like a dream come true.”
“Hey, enjoy it. Life’s short.”
“You better believe it.”
Jason returned. “Everyone’s ready. Judge Ingalls said she’s ready.”
They’d kept the gathering limited to close family and friends who wouldn’t be shocked by the proceedings. Thirty-odd people, and Judge Ingalls’ husband, as well as the hired photographer and videographer, gathered close to the lake in the shade of the sprawling oaks, with the water as the backdrop.
Betty and her dad went first, a brief, sweet ceremony that had Sarah blinking back happy tears.
Then it was her turn. As she stood and faced Sam and Pete, their silly grins making her smile, she waited for Judge Ingalls to start.
The judge lowered her voice. “Remember, I’m only signing the marriage license for you and Sam.”
Sarah nodded and tried not to laugh as the judge smiled and began the ceremony.
Unlike the first time, this time the judge added a little something. “The state only recognizes two people at a time, but I had a special request from the best man,” she said, which caused a flutter of laughter throughout the audience. “Just because a piece of paper only lists two names on it doesn’t mean it completely defines a family. Samuel and Peter and Sarah have chosen to come together to make a family. Far be it from me to deny them happiness.”
She leaned over. “Is that good enough?” she asked Jason.
He firmly nodded with a smile.
The world faded away around Sarah as she stared into the faces of her men. Six months ago, it felt like her world had ended.
Now, it felt like her entire life, a good life, lay before her.
“Do you, Samuel and Peter, take Sarah?”
Peter actually slipped the ring on her finger, since he’d made the decision to let Sam legally marry her. They realized the best way to get Sarah and Jason insured, as well as pave the way for them to adopt Jason, would be to pick one or the other. Sam had volunteered to let Pete be the one to do it. But Pete had countered that since the house and business were actually in his name, they would add Sarah to the deed, evening things out. They’d already had Lucy draw up all the necessary paperwork to begin the adoption process. Once that was complete, they’d file additional paperwork giving all necessary rights to Pete, as well.
Sarah was comforted that if anything happened to her, Isabella would have to go through both Pete and Sam, as well as her dad and Betty, to even hope to have a chance of getting custody of Jason.
She smiled as the men held her hands. “We do,” they said.
Behind them, Jason pumped his fist. “Yes!”
The audience laughed.
She’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry, but when it came time to say her vows, and slip the rings on her men’s fingers, she had to blink back the tears in her eyes.
The judge smiled. “By the power vested in me, I pronounce you a family. You may kiss the bride.”
Jason smiled and kissed her first, followed by a patiently smiling Sam.
Then she scooped up Jason and kissed his cheek.
The judge high-fived him. “Happy?”
He nodded. “Just one problem.”
“What’s that?”
“Can I call them both ‘Dad’? Or is that illegal?”
They all laughed and both Sam and Pete engulfed the two of them in a hug.
“You can call them whatever you want, Jason,” Judge Ingalls told him. “They’re your dads.”
* * * *
Sam stared at Sarah, smiling as she held Jason. She looked happy, radiant. A far cry from the sadness cloaking her when they first met her.
And she was now his wife. Their wife. He didn’t have a problem sharing her with Pete, especially since he knew Pete loved her as much as he did. The two of them would spend the rest of their lives helping her forget the past few months, the pain and heartache she lived through.
And Jason. He was their son. While they would watch what they said about Michael around Jason, and couldn’t speak about him personally anyway since they’d never met him, they would show Jason what real dads did. How real dads loved their families.
Neither one of them would ever have to worry about the future again. Not with him and Pete taking care of them.
There were plenty of nights he’d gone to bed alone after his divorce and wondered why he couldn’t have had his happy ending and the family he’d always dreamed about.
Now…all those lonely nights were a small price to pay for this perfection.
Sarah cocked her head and gave him that playful smile that always turned his insides into melted butter. “What are you thinking about?” she softly asked.
He smiled. “Our future.”
* * * *
After all the guests left, Dana, Betty, Sam, and Pete shooed Sarah out of the house and refused to let her help do cleanup. Most of the guests had left, and Jason was engrossed in a movie with Sage and Dell.
Overruled, she walked down to the water, to the end of the dock, and stared out over the lake. Late in the evening, it was calm, with the sound of frogs along the shore singing the sun to sleep behind them.
She didn’t turn when she heard her father walking down the dock toward her. She knew from the sound of his footsteps it was him and not one of her men.
He stopped next to her, staring out over the placid water. “I know I’ve said it before,” he quietly said, “but I’ll say it again just to make it perfectly clear. I’m glad you’re with them. They’re good men. I’m glad it all worked out all right.”
She took a deep breath, the familiar tang of the water filling her lungs. “Me, too, Dad.”
He slung an arm around her shoulders but didn’t speak.
After a few minutes, she finally broke the silence. “Do you really think Mom would have been okay with it? With me and the guys?”
“I don’t think she’d have a problem with it. Like I said, I read her Kindle. If the alternative was you ending up with another bastard like that guy, she’d be tickled to death to have Pete and Sam looking out for you and Jase. I know I am.”
Out of nowhere, a realization slammed into her skull. She turned and looked up at her father, who refused to take his eyes off the water.
After a moment, she finally said it out loud. “You wanted this to happen, didn’t you?”
He didn’t respond, didn’t look at her.
“Dad?”
“What?” He still didn’t look at her.
“Did you… Wait a minute. Arranging the job for me, and leaving the gate open and Big Mac escaping that day, and Braveheart…” She ran out of words as her jaw clicked shut.
Slowly, he swiveled his head to look at her. If she wasn’t mistaken, the outer corners of his eyes looked slightly crinkled, like he was barely keeping the smile off his face. “What?”
Sarah couldn’t say it even though the truth had settled deep into her gut.
He cocked his head and stared at her before finally speaking. “I think your mom would be happy that we’ve both managed to find people who have made us happy. If you think I would have just sat by and risked you falling in love with some other asshole, think again, kiddo.” His voice sounded choked. “I kept my mouth shut the first time around and look what happened. I nearly lost Jason, and I did lose you for several years. And look at all you lost.”
His gaze returned to the water. “I wasn’t about to make that mistake again. And are you really going to complain about how it all worked out?”
She mentally chewed that over for a few minutes. “No,” she softly agreed as she laid her head on her dad’s shoulder. “I’m not going to complain at all.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Good. That’s my girl.”
As the light slowly turned purple, they stood on the dock and watched the lake. Occasionally, a fish would hit the surface, breaking the smooth glass into ripples.
Her follow-up HIV test had also came back negative several weeks earlier.
The men had kept their promise, starting in the backseat of Sam’s SUV on the way home from the clinic.
And today, she still wore no panties. The men had told her they’d let her have them back once they knew they’d done their job.
She smiled to herself. She knew she could have nipped that in the bud and they would have relented. To be honest, she liked it. It was fun having them take charge like that.
Having not one, but two hunks to take care of her.
She rested her hand on her belly. She hadn’t told anyone her suspicions yet, and she hadn’t made it to the drugstore for a test kit, but if her calculations were correct, in about seven or eight months, Jason would have the little brother or sister he’d asked about.
And the men had already started talking about making plans to start trying for baby number two when they hadn’t even confirmed number one yet.
A happy sigh escaped her.
No, I don’t have any complaints at all.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tymber Dalton lives in the Tampa Bay region of Florida with her husband (aka “The World’s Best Husband™”) and too many pets. Not only is she active in the BDSM lifestyle, the two-time EPIC winner is also the bestselling author of nearly fifty books, such as The Reluctant Dom, The Denim Dom, Cardinal’s Rule, the Love Slave for Two series, the Triple Trouble series, the Coffeeshop Coven series, the Good Will Ghost Hunting series, and many more.
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Tymber Dalton, Hope Heals
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