He lifted my chin and made me look at him. His eyes glistened and sparkled, filled with unshed tears. Happy tears, as evidenced by the smile on his face. He rested his forehead against mine and kissed the tip of my nose, that smile playing upon his lips never faltering. His expression giving me no indication that he was being anything but genuine. Sincere.
He knew. Of course he knew. All along he knew that he couldn't have actually fathered this child. He wasn't stupid.
“It wasn't my brother that had Leukemia, Ember. It was me,” he said softly. “I'm infertile thanks to the chemo treatments I had to endure as a child. So, I already know it's not mine, biologically speaking. And honestly, I don't care who impregnated you, Ember. The child is ours.”
He kissed my lips, and I fell into him. Even Nathaniel let me go, letting Jude take me into his arms completely. It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. A physical, palpable weight had been lifted off of me.
When I finally pulled back from our kiss, I looked around at the men at the table and smiled. All of my men, there to support and take care of me. Jude was mine – one hundred percent mine. In that moment, I knew I would never be without a family again. My mother may have disowned me, but in the process, I gained a tribe.
Before long, I'd have a child of my own. One that would never doubt his or her mother's love. My baby would also have something I never had. Not just one dad, but four men willing to step up and care for it. Four dads that loved and cherished it. Four men who would all look after it like the child was one of their own.
Life couldn't get much better than that.
EPILOGUE
Ember
I called my mother when I was about three months pregnant. I didn't know why – it wasn't like I owed her a damn thing. For some reason though, I wanted to let her know she would be a grandmother. At first, the conversation was tough. Halting. Awkward.
She believed that I'd planned it all along. That I'd schemed and contrived a way for me to end up with Jude. I feared the worst – I feared I might have lost my mother completely. Feared I might have lost her just as I was starting my own journey as a mom-to-be. I needed her more than anything in the world.
I knew that balancing school and a newborn was not going to be easy. But, I never doubted that I could do it. I wasn't alone, after all. There were four men willing to step up and do what needed to be done to make sure that child was well taken care of. That I was well taken care of.
I was about eight months pregnant when there was a knock on the door. We were just about moved into our new home – an even larger estate for all of us – when the most unexpected of visitors arrived at our doorstep.
“Mom?” I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened the door.
I quickly steeled myself, prepared for what I assumed would be an onslaught of insults. That's all I'd gotten up until that point. But standing there on my doorstep, I could see that something had changed. I saw the difference in her eyes. In her face. Rather than scorn and derision, she stared at me with something close to awe.
She looked down, saw my pregnant belly, and something seemed to hit her all at once. If I had to guess, I would have said it was the realization that she was going to be a grandmother – and that she was that close to losing me. Not just me, but her grandchild as well.
“Ember, I'm so sorry,” she said.
She stepped forward and embraced me, tears streaming down her cheeks along with the remnants of her mascara. I wanted to accept her hugs, to believe she was sincere, but I was hesitant. Her visit had come out of the blue, without any sort of advance warning, and I couldn't help but feel like she was playing an angle. What that angle was, I hadn't the first clue.
I just didn't trust her and remained stiff in her arms. She pulled away, hurt and confusion on her face.
I looked her in the eye and asked her point blank, “Why are you here?”
“I wanted to see you,” she said. “Can't I just want to see you?”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and stared at her. She knew I wasn't buying it and sighed.
“Fine,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I just wanted to let you know that I'm getting married again, and –”
“And here, I thought maybe you'd changed,” I muttered. “Which billionaire's bed have you weaseled your way into this time?”
She looked down at the ground, color creeping into her cheeks. “I suppose I deserve that.”
“Damn right you did,” I replied.
She let out a long breath and looked back up at me. “No one,” she said, her cheeks still flushed. “I mean, not a billionaire at least. It's – Marlon.”
“Marlon?” I asked, disbelief washing through me. “Really? I thought –”
“I'd never marry him because he's not loaded enough?” she chuckled. “Yeah, me too. But if this experience with you and Jude – and losing you for so long – has taught me anything, it's that money isn't everything. That money is the very least of things, actually.”
I cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting for the catch. Waiting for her to deliver the punchline and reveal herself to be the greedy, gold-digging woman I knew her to be.