To hold his own baby... Sam looked at his belly. It seemed like such a long time until then—too long. Anything could happen in that time.
He bit his lip. With each day that passed, Sam was filled with equal measures of hope and dread. He hadn’t gotten this far with the previous pregnancy. How long would this one last?
Valen kissed his neck. “We’ll take care of you,” he murmured. “You’ll be okay.”
Then Valen sank to his knees, turning Sam around. He pressed kisses all over Sam’s belly. “Hello,” he said against Sam’s skin. “I’m your dad. Sam, too. And Harris. There’s three of us looking forward to you.”
Sam held his breath. Glanced at Harris. He hadn’t talked about being dads with Harris since that night in the library, when Harris had asked to be the baby’s dad. Sam had discussed it with Valen. But bringing it up with Harris, when both of them had lost their babies?
Sam didn’t want to promise him a baby that hadn’t even been born.
He gulped, meeting Harris’ eyes. “If—if the baby’s born healthy, I’d love for you to be its dad,” Sam said. “But I can’t—can’t promise it’ll be fine.”
Harris’ gaze dropped to Sam’s belly, dark with yearning.
“Gods, Sam.” Valen stood, pulling Sam into a hug. “It’ll be okay.”
Easy for him to say. Sam leaned into Valen anyway, savoring the sturdiness of Valen’s chest. Harris set his piping bag down, coming over to stand by them. “You mean it?”
Sam chuckled. “I’m your omega too, aren’t I?”
He tilted his head, showing Harris the silvery scar on his scent gland, where Harris had left his mark a month ago. Harris growled. Leaned in, kissed Sam on the scar, slipping his arms around Sam and Valen. “Thank you.”
“Thank you for accepting me into this... this relationship you have with Valen,” Sam said.
“We want you here,” Valen growled, sliding his wrists down Sam’s back. “You’re ours.”
“Ours,” Harris agreed, nuzzling Sam’s temple.
It was still amazing, pressed in by two alphas, their gazes fiercely protective.
Harris touched Sam’s belly, brushing his thumb over Sam’s skin. “Can I...?”
“Yeah,” Sam whispered, his throat tight. Allowing Harris to be his baby’s dad, letting this strong, selfless alpha work his way deeper into Sam’s life—that was incredible.
Sam pulled slightly away from Valen, showing Harris his belly. Harris growled, kneeling by Sam’s feet. Then he leaned in, dragged his nose over Sam’s abdomen, where the baby was. Breathed in.
“Hey,” he murmured. “I’m Harris. Valen and I are taking care of your dad.”
A warm, soaring joy bloomed in Sam’s chest. He ran his fingers through Harris’ hair, then over his stubbled jaw. Valen grinned, cradling the back of Harris’ head.
“What is the baby gonna call us?” Valen asked. “We can’t all be ‘Dad’.”
Sam laughed. Growing up, he’d had a mom and a dad. “Wyatt’s children call both him and Raph ‘Dad’. Or to me, they say ‘my dad Wyatt’. But I think it might get confusing if there’s three of us.”
“Papa,” Harris blurted. Then he paused, looking between them. “I called my father that. He called my grandfather Papa, too. The three of us went hiking in the forests here.”
“That okay with you?” Valen asked Sam. Sam nodded. “Right, then Big H will be Papa. What do you wanna be, Sam?”
Sam shrugged, meeting Valen’s eyes. Valen didn’t have a great relationship with his dad—never had. A decade ago, Valen would grumble at Sam, storming through the public parks when he fought with his father. “Thought I’d let you choose first,” Sam said to Valen. “What do you want to be?”
Valen wet his lips, looking down at Sam’s belly. “I call my Dad ‘Dad’. But I don’t want to turn out like him, so... Can I be Daddy?”
“Yeah. I like that,” Sam said.
“And you’ll be Dad?” Harris murmured, rising to his feet. He touched his fingertips to Sam’s nape.
Sam nodded. “I used to call my Dad ‘Dad’, too. That’ll work for me.”
Thought about his dad, the times they’d head out to the park, or when Dad had brought him and Kade and Chris out to the ice cream van when Mom wasn’t looking.
Dad had been gone for years, but the memory of him still hurt. No one had foreseen that workshop accident.
What could you do with the curveballs in life, anyway? Get back on your feet, move on. Sometimes, it seemed the only way to go was forward.
“We should get us mailboxes,” Valen said suddenly. “You know how offices have In and Out trays? Except we get mail from each other. One box for each of us.”
“Dad boxes?” Harris asked, glancing around the kitchen. “Where would you put it?”
“Could just be a hanging wall decoration. We could stick all the love notes in there,” Valen said with a grin. “We’ll have pockets with our dad names. Papa, Dad, and Daddy.”
“A pocket for the baby, too?” Sam smiled.
“Or multiple pockets, if you want more children after this.” Harris slid his hand over Sam’s belly. “I could make one.”
“Making one, are you, Big H?” Valen grabbed Harris between the legs.
Harris rolled his eyes, but grinned. “I meant I could build the wall hanging.”
Valen laughed. “Next baby will be from Harris. Since I got you pregnant the previous time.”
Harris blushed as he met Sam’s eyes. “You want that?”
Sam held his breath. More than one baby with Harris and Valen? Yeah, he’d like that. He’d like it a lot. Then he imagined all the times he’d be pinned open under Harris, Harris filling him with seed. It made him damp. “Yeah,” Sam said, strangled. “It sounds wonderful.”
“Yeah,” Valen growled. “Gods, I love watching Harris fuck you. It’s like he’s a different beast.”
Harris clicked his tongue. “I’m not roughing Sam up, V.”
“I know. You’re the perfect alpha with him. Do you hear the sounds Sam makes when you’re inside? I could listen to you guys all day.”
Harris snorted. “Voyeur.”
“Like you aren’t.”
Sam laughed, listening to them. He was settling into this household, getting used
