Denise checks me and pats my side. “Relax a moment, dear.” She hands me the squirming, crying baby and I look down at their little face.
I choke on a sob. “What about Mia?” I say.
“Mia.” Buckle nods as Abel lifts a finger to pet our baby’s cheek.
I grit my teeth. “I think we’re ready for round two.”
“I think you’re right.” Denise gets me back into a good position and I pass the baby to Buckle. His eyes are wide as he looks from me to Mia to Abel.
Poor Abel. I squeeze his hand so hard he winces.
“And push on the next contraction.”
My knees shake, but I do what I’m told. Our next child screams into the world and I slump to my back to stare at the ceiling. One more to go.
Denise puts baby number two in my arms. Another perfect cherub.
“What about Hannah?” Buckle asks.
“Love it,” I say as Abel nods.
We have a longer wait for baby number three to arrive, but when they do, I roar with my last push.
“You can rest now, papa.” Denise lays the final baby on my chest.
Buckle and I look at Abel, who stares adoringly.
“What’ll be?” I ask.
“Hmmm?” He says.
“Three babies, three fathers, three names.”
“Really?” He asks, and it almost breaks my heart, but he’s still working through feeling worthy. Now that the excitement of birth is gone, he’s not sure if we were serious about this being a three-man show.
“Yes, really. One for each of us.” I grin up at him before kissing the tip of his nose.
He buries his face in my neck.
“What about Liam?”
“Liam is perfect.”
We each have a baby in our arms. I may have been the one to give birth to all three, but I know my men were right there with me the entire time.
“Everything looks good,” Denise says. I totally forgot she was even there. “You can clean up when you feel up to it. Eat when you’re ready. But take it slow the next couple of days, maybe weeks. You have two strong partners. Use them instead of straining yourself. Okay?”
“Sounds good to me.”
Denise takes each baby and washes them up before swaddling them for us. She makes sure we all know how to change a diaper. Abel was nervous he’d forgotten and asked her to show him again. He takes notes, and it’s so endearing. I lean into Buckle as we watch our mate.
When Denise leaves us, Buckle helps me into the shower while Abel cleans up and refreshes the nest. I really want to be cuddled around my mates and babies. Abel is terrified of co-sleeping though, so we have special nest cribs for them so we can all be close, but there’s no danger of accidentally crushing any of our babies.
Once clean, Buckle guides me into the nest while Abel arranges the cribs. Abel hands each of our babies one of the dozens of crocheted octopuses he created. My mates climb inand I cuddle as close as possible, turning into a Perry sandwich. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
