“Helen, you don’t—” Asher started.
“No, Asher, they need to know,” she said cutting him off. “That night we were both so lonely. We were in the middle of one of the longest undercover stints we’d ever done. I went as a model and Asher was my handler. I was missing Ann, and I knew of Marilyn and Asher’s troubles. The night started out with us simply talking and drinking, and one thing led to another.” She paused and turned to Seth who was sitting beside her and gently touched one of his cheeks.
“You were a child made from love and admiration. Asher was and will always be my friend. I love your mother, and I know that Asher will forever love Marilyn, so it didn’t surprise or cheapen what happened between us when he called out her name when he climaxed.” She turned and looked at everyone else at the table who was stunned to complete silence.
Well, shit, how the hell do you counter that?
“Look, your mother, Helen, Ann-Marie and I talked things through and realized that keeping this from everyone was a mi . . . the wrong thing to do. Since that day, I have never given your mother cause to doubt my trust. She is the only woman I’ve ever loved and will love until the day I draw my last breath. I just hope one day all four of you will forgive Helen and me for what we did"—Asher turned and looked directly at Lucas, Tyler, and Christen—"forgive me for what happened and embrace Seth and his moms as a part of this family. Because everyone at the table is family.”
“One that’s about to get a bit larger,” Ethan said. “My water just broke.”
* * *
“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”Lucas said looking at Tucker and then down to his twin nieces.
“Yeah, they are.”
Ariel and Gabriella Beaumont-Hamilton came into the world kicking and screaming wanting their say. They looked so much alike that Lucas couldn’t tell them apart. He looked over at Ethan who appeared tired but happy. They had made it to the hospital just in time for the twins to be born. The doctors didn’t have time to give Ethan an epidural because the first twin wanted out immediately. Lucas looked over to his father who was standing at the window staring out with a lost look on his face.
“Go talk to him,” Tucker said to him. “You don’t have to forgive him but just talk to him.”
Lucas nodded and walked over to his mother and kissed her on the cheek, she was meddlesome and smothering, but he loved her. He realized he was more upset about his father cheating because of how it must have hurt her when it happened. Their family was still intact, and he never once doubted if his father loved her the entire time he was growing up, he was sure Tyler and Christen felt the same way.
“Hey, Dad, can we talk?” he asked stopping beside his father.
Asher turned and looked at him and smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. His eyes were filled with sadness when he should have been happy to be a grandfather again. “Yeah, sure, Son.”
“Hey, Ethan, can I borrow Tyler for a few minutes?”
“Yeah,” he said with a tired smile and looked down at his daughters. “I’ll be fine.”
He touched Christen and Seth’s shoulders tilting his head for them to follow him. They walked into the visiting room, and he was happy that it was empty. He sat down and waited for his brothers and father to follow his lead. He was quiet for a few minutes trying to figure out exactly what to say.
"I’m soangry, Dad, but I think I’m angry for the wrong reasons. I’m angry because, to me, it seemed as if Mom forgave you when the woman I thought I knew would be so angry she could spit fire. I’m angry because it felt as if I was the one you cheated on. I know how crazy that sounds, but it’s how I feel.” He paused and looked at his brothers who seemed to understand where he was coming from. “I’m not saying I don’t understand why or how it happened, drunk or not it shouldn’t have happened. I’m not going to stop loving you because you’re my father and that will never change, and I don’t want it to. All I’m saying is that it will take time to earn that trust back. But now that we know what happened between you and Helen the question is how do we move forward?”
He stared at his brothers one second at a time, but his eyes stayed on Seth. He was a Hamilton, and there’s no denying the resemblance except for his curly blond hair and pointed nose.
“Seth, I know you must feel like you’re the cause of all of this and I want you to know you’re not. Families go through shit and this is simply one of them. The question is, are you going to stick around for what comes next? If you’re not, you should get up and walk out of our lives now.”
“There’s an unspoken rule,” Tyler said speaking up for the first time. “Once you’ve been claimed by the Hamiltons and you accept, there’s no turning back. You’re one of us, until the day you die.”
“Think of us as a wolf pack,” Christen added. “A family for life, we look out for each other and stick together no matter what happens.”
“Before I say yes, what do I get out of the whole deal?”
“You think you have two meddling mothers now? You'll get another one who is dying to smother and marry you off to someone for more grandchildren,” Lucas said.
“Brothers who will have your back,” Tyler said.
“But brothers can be quite annoying. Just a warning, you may be my big brother, but I will kick your ass if you try to prank me like these two idiots have been doing my whole life.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, Chrissy, we weren’t so bad.” Lucas chuckled.
“Chrissy?” Seth asked in confusion.
“Long story . . . so, what do you say . . . want to be a Hamilton officially?” Lucas asked.
“You also get me,” Asher said. “You get me as your father, if you still want that.”
