Too Many(15)

Owen is the rational one. What has him on edge, I don’t know, but it’s got to be something. “What’s got him worked up?” I ask when I pull my mouth from Nellie’s. She rolls her eyes.

“I wouldn’t let him look at the pregnancy test until you got here.” My whole body freezes. We haven’t been trying but we kind of have. We all want kids and we never use protection and Nellie isn’t on anything. We thought it would just happen. In truth, I thought it would have happened months ago, as much as Owen and I are inside of her.

“Where is the test?” I look back and forth between them. Owen doesn’t answer my question. I’m guessing he doesn’t know.

“I don’t have the test,” Nellie finally says.

“I looked everywhere,” Owen confirms.

“I gave it to Harlow after I peed on it.” She shrugs like it’s no big deal to pee on something and give it to someone else. I hear Owen let out a deep breath. I don’t have to look to know he’s pulling out his phone to make the call.

“She texted me the results,” she says.

Owen drops his phone down onto the counter. “I know where that is.”

She laughs as Owen darts toward the living room, returning a moment later with the phone in his hand. I’m pretty sure I already know what the results are. Owen hands Nellie the phone for her to read it.

“You look.” She hands it to me.

“Let’s do this in bed.” Before I get the words out, Owen is already lifting our wife off the counter and heading toward our bedroom.

The room is no longer empty with bare white walls. A giant bed doesn’t sit alone anymore. Now the room is filled with colors and pictures of us all on our honeymoon, Nellie in her pretty dress standing on the beach. Her skin not only looks like it was kissed by us but the sun, too. We tell her all the time how she turned this place into a home. She always says we all did together. Now I’m about to find out if we’ll soon have a little one for one of the spare rooms.

She settles in Owen’s lap as I move in next to them and pull up her text messages. I click it.

Pregnant!

The one word rocks my world.

“I’m going to be a mom,” Nellie says in awe. She’s going to be the best kind of mom. My eyes meet Owen’s over Nellie’s head. I’m sure mine match his with unshed tears. God, we’ve wanted this life so bad and now here it is. We pushed and worked to get here and now it is all ours. She is ours.

“The best mom, sweet girl,” Owen tells her before kissing her below her ear. Fuck yeah she will be. I can see that in how she dotes on even us. We aren’t used to that. We had Dad growing up, but Nellie’s attention is different. I know she'll be a wonderful mom. She loves with her whole heart.

“I love you,” I tell them both.

“Love you too,” they say together. I lean in and kiss my wife. She moans into my mouth. I don’t know why we thought this might be hard, the three of us being together, but we were so wrong. Nothing comes easier than this. We work. We were made to be together.





Epilogue





Nellie





Two Years Later…





“That was the best creme br?lée I ever had,” I tell Harlow as I lean back in my seat, my hands going to my stomach. I’m not even pregnant with twins anymore but I ate like I was.

“I can’t believe we ate all that.” She lets out a long sigh, looking at the three empty dessert plates left on the table. We already polished off two appetizers and we both got steaks. I have no idea how we did it. Not to mention I’m pretty sure we killed a bottle of wine between the two of us.

“It’s ladies’ night.” I shrug. Isn't this what we’re supposed to be doing? The food was wonderful but we’re only halfway through our plans for the night. Right now I really want to go home and crawl into bed and let my husbands have their dirty way with me until I pass out.

“We still have dancing,” Harlow reminds me. Her face does not look excited about that.

“We got all dressed up and reserved a table. We can pop in and out?” I suggest. Then maybe it will feel more like we did a full ladies’ night even if we only stay for a little while. I think we got a little overzealous about ladies’ night when I came up with the plans for a night out. Harlow was content to lie on the sofa in her pajamas.

I enjoy that, too, but sometimes you need to get out. Well, I think you do. It has been a while since we’ve gotten all dressed up and went out only the two of us. More often than not we go out with our men, with our moms watching our little ones. I don’t know how they handle our three little boys on their own. Harlow was one and done when it came to having kids. I had my twins a year ago and we’re about to start trying again. Maybe this time I can get a little girl. The men are starting to take over around here.

“Let’s do this.” Harlow stands from her chair, ready to go. I can tell she is treating this like a mission. Get in and get out. She was smart and wore flats, but I went with a pair of heels that are already starting to make my feet ache. I remember the days when I could run all over town in heels.

We make our way out of the restaurant and down the block toward the new bar that sprang up a few weeks ago. I haven't heard much about it, but I know it’s ladies’ night. I shoot the husbands a text that we left dinner and are going to dance a little. I know they are all at Butch’s house, likely grilling out while waiting for us to call for a ride. They dropped us off so we could both have a few drinks if we wanted and not have to worry about driving home.