“It’s the least we could do,” Carlisle replies. “Right the balance whatever way we could…”
“Well, I’m grateful for it,” I tell them firmly. “And so are the children. And so’s everyone in this town. All the work you’re putting in at the school, it’s more than any of us could have asked for—more than I ever could have imagined, actually.”
I hesitate, catching my breath. This is the hard part, the part that I’ve been trying to figure out inside my head all day. How exactly do I ask them what their plans are now? I’m not sure I have any right to just lay it out and demand it so straightforwardly, but then…
But then, I’m done playing games. I have to think of my children, of the baby inside of me, of creating a life for them that feels like it runs smoothly and consistently. And I’m not going to get that by ducking away from the hard questions.
“So…so when the school and the house are built,” I ask softly, hardly daring to get the words out, in case they come with an answer that I’m not ready to hear. “Does that mean that…that you’re going to leave?”
The words hang there in the air for a long moment, and I wonder, for a second, if I’ve danced a little too close to the sun. Have I been living in a fantasy all this time, letting myself believe that they might stay, when there’s so much they need to do out there? When the amends that they feel as though they have to make are so great?
But then, Carlisle cocks his head to the side, gaze not moving from mine. “Do you want us to stay?”
“Yes,” I gush, before I can stop myself. “Oh God, yes—I want you to stay so badly. I’ve wanted you here since the moment I found out I was pregnant with the quads, and I…I never thought I would get a chance to see you again, to tell you all of this. It still doesn’t feel…real, sometimes, that you get to know about them.”
I sigh, letting out a slight laugh as I shake my head. “You know, it’s stupid, but I always felt like I had four children because I was with the four of you at the same time,” I admit. “I know how itsounds, I know it’s not possible, but it was like—like I got a child for every man that I loved.”
Loved.That word escapes me before I can stop it, and the weight it carries is far from lost on me. I inhale sharply, half hoping they didn’t hear it, but it’s out there now, and there’s nothing we can do to change it.
“I know only one of you is the father,” I add quickly, not wanting to sound as though I’m entirely delusional. “But?—”
“I don’t care who it is,” Dylan cuts in. “Never have.”
“Me neither,” Joe adds.
“Yeah, I feel the same way,” Callum agrees, and Carlisle nods, throwing his hat into the ring too.
I bite my lip, but this time it’s to contain the smile that threatens to burst out. “Really?”
“Really,” Carlisle replies. “It never mattered to me who the father was, on a biological level, I mean. The moment I saw those kids, I thought of myself as their father, and I’d guess that these guys feel the same way.”
“Four fathers,” I murmur, shaking my head. “That would leave them pretty spoiled, right?”
“Oh, yeah, but they deserve it,” Joe remarks. “We’ve got a lot of time to make up for. Got to put things right. The house is a start, but we’ve still got a long way to go.”
“And we’re only going to be able to do it if we stick around,” Dylan points out, reaching out for me and laying a hand on my knee. “If you’ll let us, that is.”
“Of course I will,” I blurt out, and I feel a lump leap to my throat, a rush of happy tears threatening before I can get a handle on them. As I look between the four of them, the way they gaze at me like they can’t believe that I’m right here in front of them, it warms something in me that I didn’t even know had been lacking all this time.
But there’s still more I want to say out loud. More that I want them to know. And now seems as good a time as any to come out with it, once and for all, and get it off my chest.
“I think I might have another reason for you to stay too,” I murmur. And as I lay my hand on my belly, I watch their faces as the reality begins to sink in for all of them in turn.
Callum seems to be the first to make sense of it, springing to his feet like his ass is on fire. “You’re?—”
“No fucking way,” Carlisle mutters, leaning forward, his eyes so wide it looks as though they might pop out of his head.
“What are you talking about—” Joe begins, but then it clicks, and his jaw drops.
“You’re pregnant?” Dylan finally says, and I nod.
“I’m pregnant,” I confirm. Barely a second later, I’m descended upon by the four men, pulling me into their arms like they can’t imagine ever letting me go.
“God, Angelie, how long have you known?” Carlisle murmurs, as he presses a kiss into my temple.
“A few days for sure,” I mumble against Joe’s shoulder, where he’s holding me so close I’m not sure that we’ll ever be able to disentangle ourselves from one another. “I wanted to tell you in person, you know, when I was sure that you wanted to stay.Didn’t want to feel like I was holding it over your heads or something.”
“It’s all going to be different this time,” Callum tells me, as he catches my face in his hand, gazing at me like he’s still somewhat in shock. “We’re going to be here to support you. Everything you need?—”
