Team Players

We hug again, enjoying the novelty of the comfortableness between us. Long may it last.

And when I go inside, finding my men relaxing in the den, a space left for me on the sofa, I finally feel at peace.

EPILOGUE

It’s six weeks since my foster brothers drove me to the hospital with my contractions five minutes apart. Only two of them could come with me, and when it was put to the vote, John and Gordon were chosen: John for his amazing empathy and Gordon because he’d spent the last four months of my pregnancy poring over baby books and learning everything he could about childbirth. That man definitely doesn’t like to be underprepared.

Baby Dale was born at 6.05 am and came into the world red-faced and screaming. It was only when they rested him onto my chest that he was quiet, gazing at me with his unfocused eyes that already remind me of his daddy.

John and Gordon both have tears in their eyes, my big, strong men overwhelmed with emotion as they witness my child coming into the world, the child they are going to raise as their own.

Gordon is the first to reach out a finger, gently stroking Dale’s wet hair and then touching his hand. On instinct, Dale wraps his tiny little fingers around Gordon’s huge digit, already holding on for dear life. A whoosh of breath leaves Gordon’s lips. “Look.”

I smile up at him, warmth spilling out of my heart with an intensity that I’ve never felt before. “He knows you’re special.”

John bends to kiss my lips gently. “No, you’re special. Look what you created.”

And I do. I can’t stop staring at the perfect being that has developed inside me, made by a physical act that was far from loving, but generating the fiercest welling of love in my heart. People always say that you don’t truly know love until you have a child, and in that moment, I agree. I would go to the ends of the earth to keep my little man safe. I’d risk everything if it meant he’d be okay.

In my arms, he starts to squirm. “You can put him to the breast,” the midwife says. “He’ll know what to do.”

“I’m glad one of us will,” I say, feeling very unconfident. It’s strange to pull up the old football jersey that I’ve given birth in, and getting the angle right is a struggle, but once my little man latches on, it seems okay.

“That’s my boy,” Gordon says.

John smiles and nods his head proudly. “It’s like he’s tucking into a burger meal,” he says. “Maggie’s breasts are just a buffet to him.”

“They’re a buffet to me too,” Gordon mumbles, and the midwife sniggers.

“So you’re the father?” she asks.

“We both are,” John says without a hint of embarrassment or uncertainty.

“And there are another nine daddies in the waiting room,” Gordon says, gazing down at me like I’m the most wondrous thing he’s ever seen.

“Speaking of the other nine, can we swap out so that they can come and meet little Dale?” John asks.

“Let’s just wait for Maggie to finish labor. Now she’s feeding, her womb will contract faster.” The nurse smiles at John’s eagerness, but Gordon shakes his head. “You see, if you’d read any of the books like I did, you’d have known that.”

“That’s great that you’re prepared,” the nurse says. I don’t miss the sparkle in her eye or the little wink she gives me later when all eleven of my amazing men have come to meet Dale and shower me with adoration.

It’s the most special day of my life.

Today Danna and the Jacksons are coming to meet Dale too. Her twin girls, Zoe and Zara, are gorgeous. I saw them when they were first born and then again when they were about three months old. When I spoke to her last week, she was proudly gushing about how well they’re sitting up by themselves and tackling solid food. She’s lucky that Jackie is there making them home-cooked baby food from their organic kitchen garden. Those girls are going to grow up healthy and strong in all the fresh air.

I’m sitting on the back porch, nursing Dale and watching my eleven men working as the perfect team that they are. Gordon is getting the grill ready; Harley and Hunter are working on preparing the meat. Sean and Logan have built a bar area and are stocking it with drinks and plastic cups. There’s going to be a lot of us today. John and Reggie are preparing salads. Dwayne, Daryl, and Donovan are gathering chairs from around the house and setting up a large rug in the shade for the babies to play on. Trey has headed down to Main Street to pick up some more ice to keep us cool on this warm day.