Rubbing my sweaty palms on my slacks, I take calculated breaths to keep from passing out. I watch the judge’s mouth move. His words enter my ears. He said equal custody. My brain replays his words over and over, securing that I heard him correctly.
Then I spin around, hop over the wooden partition that separates me from my family, and gather them in a hug.
We planned to take Harrison on a picnic at the park closest to the courthouse whether I was granted custody or not. Now that I live in Eggplant Canyon, I’m only twenty minutes from his mom’s house and we’ll be doing a lot more playdates and family time.
Officially having custody of my son is validating at a level I didn’t remotely understand. Hearing him squeal as Natalie explains that he gets to spend half of his time at our house swells my chest to the point I think I might explode. Apparently, love knows no bounds, and I’ve found people who are capable of exploring the depths with me.
Natalie
It’s been a long day and couldn’t have worked out any better. My brothers are outside at their house when we get home. I texted them as soon as we got the good news, but the icing on the cake is that my best friend is there too.
Accepting that my best friend and my brothers were a thing stirred up all of my cringe factors, but Nathan and Carson had just as much trouble accepting that I was in a threesome with my boss and his twin. Zoe and I had a big talk that ended with us deciding we’re pretty darn lucky to each get two wonderful guys.
And now I officially have a son.
They head over to congratulate us, and our ménage doesn’t seem as strange when we’re with like-minded company. Not everyone understands how we make it work, but in Eggplant Canyon, it’s becoming the norm. The only hold-out is Jefferson’s lawyer. Time will tell if there’s really something in the air up here or if it’s purely chance.
Epilogue
Natalie
Alloftheneighborhoodmoms are corralling their kids to the lake for the first group swim lesson. Madison, Aria, Calli, and Yvette have joined Zoe in being my best friends. Turns out that whatever’s in the air in Eggplant Canyon finally got to the lawyer, but that’s a different story.
With enough kids to make you think Eggplant Canyon needs our own elementary school, we hired three swim teachers to come to our little lake. Our husbands insisted that we hire female instructors, claiming that women make better teachers, but watching each of the three buff, college guys strip off their tank tops and play with our kids, I have no doubt we made the right choice.
Not only do we get to enjoy the scenery, but we also get a break, the kids learn an excellent skill, and even though the mudslide is long gone, we live in our little bubble of happiness where no one judges us for our relationship choices.
Halfway through the lessons, Lincoln’s car rounds the corner. Jefferson is with him. They’re supposed to be meeting with the local motorcycle club to talk about hiring a bunch of the bikers to expand the security company.
They stop near us and Lincoln rolls his window down. “Get in the car, Natalie.”
The irritation in his tone concerns me. Did the meeting not go well?
I tell the other moms I’ll be back in a minute. It’s great to have support, and know that they’ll watch my kids like their own, but I’m worried about what’s upsetting my husbands.
Jefferson’s out of the car, holding the back door open for me. He ushers me in and sits beside me without explanation. The heat spilling off the two of them has a weird vibe to it now that I’m close to them.
“What the hell is going on?” Lincoln asks as he hits the gas.
“Swim lessons. I put it on the calendar.”
“What happened to the instructors?”
Oh, so that’s what this is about. I suppress a smile. “What do you mean? Ashley, Kelly, and Chris are doing a great job with the kids.”
Lincoln parks in our garage and whips his head around. “Ashley, Kelly, and Chris are guys?”
Sinfully hot, muscled, tanned guys, but I better leave this as a simple, “Yes.”
“We told you to hire women,” Jefferson says.
“You did, but when the other moms and I had to make the final selections, this is who we ended up with.” I taunt them with a shrug and slide out of the car. “How did your meeting go?”
“Not so fast, Baby Doll.” Jefferson catches my hand, spins me around, and pins me to the wall of the garage. He presses the button on the wall so the door closes. “Out of all of the swim teachers, you ended up with those three?”
It tickles me that my guys are jealous, and based on the size of their erections tenting their pants, they’re insanely worked up. It’s a little crazy though. They have to know I’m completely smitten and satisfied with them. We have sex every day.
Sometimes one of them entertains the kids, other times we wait until the kids are all out of the house or in bed so the three of us can be together.