Her smile grew a bit more. “Promise?”
“I promise you, Hadley. You're stuck with me now,” I said. “You're stuck with all of us.”
Evan and Jared were beside me, their hands on my shoulders.
“It's all about you, baby,” I said, stroking her cheek. “From now on, it's all about you.”
Hadley looked at peace, her eyes closing again. I thought she was asleep, but then her eyes popped open again, this time with a look of panic.
“Evan, what about the baby? Is the baby okay?”
I stared at Hadley, stunned. Then looked up at Evan.
“Baby?”
Evan nodded. “The baby is fine, Hadley. The doctors checked everything out already. They found a strong heartbeat.”
“You're pregnant?” I asked Hadley.
“I am,” she said softly. Her smile grew even wider. “Our plan worked.”
My whole world changed in that moment. Not only had I almost lost the love of my life, for real this time, I could have lost our child. Even if the child inside of her wasn't mine, it was one of ours, and I would always raise it like my own with my brothers by my side.
“Well then, I guess you've got your wish,” I said. “Looks like we're going to be one, big happy family after all.”
Epilogue
Hadley
One Year Later...
“Whoa, Grayson,” Gabe said, dodging my little boy as he ran through the living room with a tray of drinks for our housewarming party.
I'd been living in our new home – Evan's house – with Evan and Grayson for a while. But, this was the first time our family was coming over to see it set up for all of us. After moving in, I'd redecorated everything. It hardly looked like the same house, which made Evan happy. He moved back in as soon as I'd had the rooms painted to our liking and moved some things around.
Gabe and Jared also moved in and made the place their own, even though that hadn't happened until recently. Our parents still didn't understand what we were doing, but no one bothered to question our lifestyle, and for that, I was grateful.
“Mommy, can I hold Emma?” Grayson asked, jumping up and down at my feet.
The sweet baby girl in my arms was only a few months old, too young to be passed over to an unruly toddler. I hesitated to answer, fearing how I'd explain it to Grayson, but Evan swooped in from around the corner and took the baby in his arms.
“Sure thing, little man,” he said. “Come sit with me on the couch.”
I started to argue, but Evan shot me a knowing look. He had it covered. The two of them sat on the couch, the baby sitting just barely on Grayson's lap. Evan held the bulk of her and Grayson just smoothed her hair down along her head.
“She's so cute,” he said.
“Yeah, she is,” Evan said.
I leaned against the wall, admiring my happy little family. Evan shared a look with me and we smiled. God, I loved that man. I loved him more and more every day.
The doorbell rang, and I rushed over to answer it, trusting our baby in the hands of one of her fathers.
I answered the door, and Laura greeted me with a hug.
“Hey, partner,” she said, winking as she stepped inside.
“Hi back, partner,” I teased. “Ready for a drink to celebrate?”