Stitches

I roll my eyes at him. “Says you.”

“I find you both exceptionally impressive,” Moira states, preemptively cutting off any competition we could cook up. “I have the best of both worlds and I couldn’t be happier. What about you guys? Both getting enough Moira time? Of course I’m satisfied; I have two men. If anyone ever needs more of me, you’ll have to tell me.”

“I get more of you than I ever got from a woman I didn’t have to share,” I state.

She wrinkles her nose up. “Yuck. Ashley’s on my shit list.”

“Mine, too,” I offer, dryly.

Now Seb glances up from his paper. “I told Griff he should move in with us once we get everything settled.”

Moira brightens. “I love that idea.”

Once the food is cooked, we all sit down to breakfast together. It’s so strange, sitting together like this every morning. I enjoy it, but it’s not the kind of thing I’ve done since a couple of the try-hard foster homes I was shuffled in and out of. Back then, whether because it was or I was just a self-defensive asshole, it always felt phony. The kind of thing people usually do as a family, only those people weren’t my family. They were glorified innkeepers that I would have to move on from a few months later.

This isn’t, though. For once in my life, I have permanence. For once in my life, I have a family of my own—traditional or not.

It’s something I’ve thought about a time or two given Seb and I rarely use protection with Moira, but since we’re doing this, I figure I might as well bring it up now. “I have a question about the future. Or potentially the present, depending on the answer.”

Seb infers by my delivery that this is going to be a serious thing, so he puts down his paper and meets my gaze. “What’s that?”

“We both have sex with Moira.”

“Correct.”

“Neither of us consistently uses condoms. You never do. I have on occasion, but not on a regular basis. So… pregnancy? Is that something we should discuss?”

Moira replies quickly, before Seb has to. “I’m on the pill.”

I glance at her, taking in her eagerness to resolve and file away this topic. I can’t imagine Moira not wanting kids, so Seb must be the problem.

“Okay,” I say, looking back at him. “So, we’ve got it covered now, but what about later?”

Seb sips his hot coffee, eyeing me over the brim. From the look on his face and the glance he cuts in Moira’s direction, I gather he would have preferred I ask him about this without her present, but that’s bullshit. She’s more involved in this decision than either of us. She’s the one who would be carrying a baby. So how the hell is that supposed to work?

“We’re not looking to have kids just yet,” he says, vaguely.

“But when we do. If we’re planning to do this long-term, that’s something to consider, right? How the hell are we supposed to do that? There’s two of us and one of her. Do we take turns? You get first kid, I get second? Do we both just fuck her without protection and see whose sperm gets there first? Do we all even want kids? I want kids. I assume Moira wants kids. Obviously I didn’t think you were going to be involved in this part of my relationship, so I never thought to ask you about it.”

“We’ll have kids eventually,” he assures me.

“But which one of us?”

“You know,” Moira begins, in a tone I can tell means she thinks she’s being helpful, “There’s this HBO show called Big Love that we should totally watch. It’s not our situation, obviously, and it’s multiple wives instead of husbands, but they have kids. It is done. Obviously the show is fictional, but… I think kids are pretty adaptable. Everyone’s parents do something to make them ill-adjusted; at least our lack of convention is born from a place of love. Could be worse. And kids have multiple parental figures all the time. It’s no different than if Seb and I got divorced and I married Griff, except there’s no bitterness and we all live together as a happy, functioning family. I think it’ll be fine. I think we can be completely functional in this arrangement with a baby—and it would be years before we even had to explain. Babies don’t take inventory of their family members.” Cutting a look at Seb to make sure he understands, she adds, “I still want babies. This does not change that.”

“I realize that,” he replies dutifully, then cuts me another look of mild annoyance. “Thanks for this, Griff.”

I shrug unapologetically. “It’s an important thing to know.”

“We can figure that out when it come

s up.”

“Moira, do you even want to have babies with me?” I ask her. Obviously Seb is the man she married, the man she planned her life out with. Even if I’m a welcome addition, something she has adjusted to and decided she could want, having kids together is another level of intimacy.

Reaching across the table, she places her hand over mine. “I think you’ll be a wonderful father, Griff. I’m not sure how this works, I’d rather let Sebastian work out the details, but as long as it makes everyone happy….”

“When it’s time,” Sebastian adds, more firmly. “Which is not right now. Moira’s adjusting like a sport, but let’s not leap ahead, hm? Give her time to adjust. Let the honeymoon period wind down first, for fuck’s sake.”