Of Love (17 page)

“Oh. Oh my God. Will you let me know when we can come up?”

He thought it was a victory that she wasn’t already in the car.

“I’ll call as soon as they’re born and we have the good news.”

“We’ll all be praying, son. I love you.”

He shook his head, grinned. She was a good woman. “I’ll call soon, Mom.”

He hit the button to end the call. “She actually agreed to stay put until we call her to come see them.”

“Wow. She must listen to you better than she does me,” Kent noted.

“Maybe I had my stern ‘do as I say’ voice on.” Maybe he ought to practice that one for the kids. “Slow down, sweet. We’re almost there, and you don’t want to get stopped for a speeding ticket.”

“Right. Right. I can’t believe that we’re having babies. March babies.”

“I can’t believe they’re so early.”

The doctor had been less worried the last couple of weeks, though, telling them that they were at a point where everything should be okay if they came, even though they were still six weeks early.

“The amnio said the boys were great. We just have to worry about our girl,” Kent reminded him.

Dex nodded, worry clutching at his heart. Was it always going to be like this?

“But we’ve got a good chance. A good chance.” Kent repeated it like he was trying to convince himself.

“Oh, there’s a parking spot right there. That’s a good omen.”

“Good eyes!” Kent parked, then sat there with the car off, just breathing.

Leaning in, he turned Kent’s head and brought their mouths together. He kissed Kent for a long time, leaving them both breathing heavily as their lips parted again.

“Okay. Let’s go meet our babies.”

“Okay. Let’s go, Poppa,” Kent said.

He was going to be a poppa. Him. Him. Dex looked over at Kent and smiled.

Before Kent he would have run screaming from just this situation. Now he was nervous but also looking forward to the adventure.

“Yeah. Let’s find our family.”

KENT HAD
thought about being in the delivery room with Elizabeth, but that was more about Liz and what she needed, and she needed her husband. Three hours later and still no babies, and it was looking like the right decision. But he stood close by, and when he finally heard one cry, followed in short order by a second, his knees went weak. Where was the third cry? Come on. Come on.

He had three babies, and as overwhelming as that was, he needed them all to come home with them. Dex’s hand slid across his shoulders, rubbing hard, squeezing tight. It felt like they were holding their breath.

Come on, baby girl. Please. Please, cry.

A fierce wail sounded, pissed off and earsplitting.

Oh please. Thank you, God. Thank you.

“Oh man, she’s got an attitude already,” murmured Dex.

“That’s her, right? Our girl?” Kent asked, needing the reassurance.

“Uh-huh. Two boys and a little girl.” Dex wrapped around him from behind. “I want to go in there and grab them. We have to be patient, though, right? They’ll bring them out soon?”

“They have to clean them up. They’ll come. They will. They promised.” If they went to NICU, he and Dex would have to have sterile gowns and….

“Are you the fathers?” A nurse came over, offered them a smile.

Dex’s laugh sounded nervous, but he was the one who stepped forward, grabbing hold of Kent’s hand as he did. “We are.”

“Yeah. Yeah, we are.” Kent beamed.

“Good deal. Let’s get you into a couple gowns and washed up while they’re cleaning Elizabeth up.”

“Are they…. All three? I mean, okay. Them. Our babies.”

“You’ve got two bruiser boys and a tiny girl. Everyone is breathing on their own. Thirty toes. Thirty fingers.”

Dex squeezed his hand tight. “They’re okay. All three of them are okay.”

“So far. Let’s get our gowns on, men. You have company.”

Dex gave him a wide grin, and they followed the nurse. They washed their hands and put on gowns and booties and little hats, and then they were inside with a whole slew of doctors and nurses and Elizabeth and….

“Oh.” He’d meant to check on her, to ask if she was okay, but the first look at his babies, and Kent was lost.

Dex made a soft noise. “Just look at them. They’re perfect little people.”

“Can I hold them?” Kent asked.

“This is your firstborn.” One of the nurses handed him a beautiful scrunchy-faced baby boy, and Kent’s eyes filled with tears.

“The boys were first, then the little girl,” Elizabeth said from the bed. “You’ll have to name them, guys.”

Kent looked over at Elizabeth. “Thank you. I can’t…. Thank you so much. You’re so brave.”

Hank snorted. “Uh. We’re not raising them, boys.”

“No, that’s us.” Dex sounded like he was in church, voice quiet and awed.

Dex was holding their daughter, and Kent wanted to hold his other son, but he couldn’t let go of the first. God.

“You’re going to have to learn the double-arm hold,” Hank told them.

The nurse held up the third baby. Dex looked at him, then put their little girl into the crook of one arm and held the other one out to the nurse.

“Hey, son. I’m your poppa. Your daddy’s got your brother.” Dex grinned. “You look like him. You all look like him.” Dex started blinking quickly.

Kent didn’t bother trying to hold back, he just let the tears fall. “Welcome to the world, babies. So many people love you already.”

“I think she’s an Angela, don’t you?” Dex smiled, his arms totally full.

“Our angel, Angela, huh?” He loved it. “What do you think about Adam and Andy?”

“Three As? That’s great.” Dex nodded, looking down at the boy he held. “I’ve got Andy, you have Adam.”

“There,” Kent told Elizabeth. “Names.”

“We need to take everyone to the nursery, guys. You can see them in the window in a few,” the nurse promised.

“In the window?” Dex pouted. “That’s not the same as being able to hold them. What about feedings? They need to be fed soon, don’t they?”

“They will.” Nurses took the babies and tried to ease them out of the room. “Maybe we should give Elizabeth her privacy, time to rest.”

Dex nodded. “I just have to do something first.” Dex went over to Elizabeth. “Thank you, thank you so much for my family.”

Kent nodded. “I…. Our families are going to be the best of friends.”

“We already are. Shoo. I need to rest. I’m sore.” She waved her hand at them, but she was smiling.

Dex made a face and started backing away. “Ack! Too much information.”

“Get some rest. I’ll see you soon.” All the paperwork was done. The babies were here and his responsibility now. His and Dex’s.

Dex looked at his watch. “April fourteen at 2:20 a.m. This is when we became a family.”

Taking his hand, Dex led him down the hall to where they could wait to see their babies through the glass.

“I need to call Mom and Dad, huh?” Kent asked.

“You don’t think we should wait until at least six?”

“Yeah.” He grinned at Dex. “Let’s go admire.”

“I want to take them home and spend all day holding them. We could take turns, pass them back and forth.”

“All day. All night. We’ll be able to take them home this evening if all is well.”

“This evening. Is it evening yet?” Dex laughed. “God, this is amazing. I can’t believe how amazing this is.”

“Adam, Andy, and Angie.” Kent had to say the words again and again.

Dex grabbed his hand and squeezed tight, walking with him to the little waiting area right in front of the windows where the babies were kept. The lights were low everywhere, but they weren’t the only parents in the room.

Everyone was cooing and grinning and taking pictures, but when the boys came in, swaddled in blue blankets, they got warm, sympathetic looks.

“Twins?” one father asked.

Then they brought in Angela. Dex shook his head, pointing. “Triplets.” His lover—his husband, his co-dad—was beaming.

“Oh wow.” A man who had been taking pictures of a little baby girl just stared. “They’re all yours?”

Kent nodded.

“They’re gorgeous. This one’s mine. Julia Renee. Isn’t she perfect?”

“Almost as perfect as our little angel,” Dex said.

“She’s amazing.” Kent was wearing rose-colored glasses, and the world was a glorious place.

“So are her brothers. I can’t believe… I didn’t know I’d feel like this.” Dex squeezed his hand again.

“Me either.” He leaned against Dex’s side, then grabbed his phone. “Time for them to get used to pictures. They’re going to have lots.” Lots. These babies had two daddies who loved them.

Dex laughed. “They’re going to be the most photographed babies in the world.”

Kent couldn’t see how that was a bad thing. “You know it. Most loved. Most photographed.”

That was why they had been given three. God knew that they both had need of all this joy to keep safe.

“Love you,” Dex said quietly. “So much. Daddy.”

“Love you too, Poppa.”

Then he took the first pictures of the most important things in their lives.

DEX PUT
the two car seats he’d been carrying down on the coffee table next to the one Kent had carried and then sat next to his husband. He stared at their beautiful, amazing, sleeping babies. He was in shock and in love. He’d never expected to feel the way he did, but the moment he’d held his little girl, his heart had opened up, and he’d fallen totally in love with her and then with her brothers.

Why had nobody ever told him this was what having kids was like?

Oh, he was still scared. What if he did something wrong or hurt them—what if he dropped one of them? But now he couldn’t imagine not having them in his life. Them and Kent. God, he was so lucky. So lucky. And he couldn’t stop looking at them as they slept, beautiful little faces….

Kent’s people had all come to the hospital to see them and the nanny was coming in an hour or so, but right now, it was them. Just them. Their little—no, not little, three kids was not little—family.

“I can’t believe how precious they are,” murmured Kent.

“I can’t believe how little they are.”

They had all the paraphernalia, all the stuff, but…. Wow. They were real.

Adam stretched, little face wrinkling up. The boys were six and a half pounds each, which was amazing, but Angie was barely five pounds and seemed so fragile, at least until she screamed. Then she was all power and strength.

“I can’t believe they’re mine too.” If it wasn’t for Kent, Dex would have missed out on this.

“Our babies.” Kent leaned against him, heavy and warm. “Thank you, love.”

“For what?” He hadn’t done a thing. Kent had supplied the sperm, Elizabeth had carried them.

“Trusting me, loving me. Having a family with me.”

“Oh, the first two were so easy, and the last….” He shook his head. “Thank God I did. Look at what I would have missed out on? The triplets and you. God, it would have been devastating not to be yours.”

“Yeah.” Kent grabbed his hand and held on tight. “But we are each other’s. We’re a family and we’re whole.”

“I know. I’m still nervous. Terrified, really, that I might not be a good enough dad.” Kent deserved to know he might not be up to the task.

“My dad says he still feels like that, and he’s a granddad.”

“Seriously?” Dex laughed. “I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or scares me more.”

“Yeah.”

Angie started wiggling and fighting the blankets, hands flailing. Leaning forward, he rocked the car seat gently. He turned to Kent when she settled a little bit. “You feel the same way?” He thought it was him, that there was something wrong with him in the dad department.

“God, yes. I’m terrified. What if I drop one? What if I do something wrong? What if they don’t like me?”

He wrapped his arms around Kent, holding on. “Oh thank you. Thank you.”

If Kent, who had wanted the babies so badly, felt like this, then it was okay that he did too. There wasn’t something wrong with him.

“For what?”

“For making me feel normal.”

Kent chuckled softly. “It’s my pleasure, lover.”

“Mmm. I love the sound of that.” He leaned in and kissed Kent, tongue lapping at Kent’s.

The kiss deepened, and one of the babies started crying. He broke off the kiss, both of them immediately reaching for Adam, who was the one crying, their hands bumping. That rocked Andy, who started fussing.

Kent looked at him, and they started laughing, both of them just giggling.

“I’ll take Adam, you can take Andy, and we’ll pray Angie stays asleep until these two are happy again,” he suggested.

He knew even if it happened like that this time, it wouldn’t always, but it might be easier if they could ease their way in.

He grabbed Adam, holding the dear boy and cooing at him. “You think they’re hungry?”

“The nurse said every two hours. If we feed them, maybe she’ll sleep until one is done.”

Thank God they’d hired help. Thank God they could.

Dex nodded. “I think we have two bottles for each of them already made up from the hospital.”

He started trying to dig through the bag one-handed. Adam glared at him, little face screwing up.

“I’m trying, I’m trying,” he told his son. Oh God.

He couldn’t get into the bag properly because every time he leaned forward to where it was on the floor, it felt like Adam was going to slip out of his arms.

“Here, I’ll help.” Kent lifted, he grabbed, and together, they managed.

“Score one for the new daddies.” He couldn’t cheer for too long, though, because Adam let out an earsplitting wail, nearly making him drop the bottle. He didn’t, though, and he pushed it against Adam’s lips.

His boy—his boy!—stopped midscream, lips clamping down on the bottle, and fierce suction began. Oh wow. Wow. He was feeding his son. He looked over at Kent.

“I…. Don’t forget to burp him,” Kent reminded him.

Andy took longer to convince, Kent giving Dex a panicked look. “What am I doing wrong?”

“I don’t know. I just shoved the bottle at Adam, and he took it. Maybe Andy’s not hungry?”