Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57675 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 288(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57675 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 288(@200wpm)___ 231(@250wpm)___ 192(@300wpm)
My son waves his arms in glee, a joyful smile breaking out onto his chubby face. He’s ecstatic, and very likely, this is the best day of his life. Little squeals of joy ring into the sunny day as he babbles more gibberish, waving his little arms. Not to be outdone, Ranger then hands my son a huge fluffy ball of cotton candy.
“Here you go,” he says. “Knock yourself out, buddy. This pink stuff is cool, isn’t it? Look you can tear some off just like this,” he says, demonstrating. Pretty soon, Danny’s going crazy tearing cotton candy into small fluffy clouds, his face sticky while simultaneously babbling, “Camel, camel!”
But the two men love it and are incredibly adept at handling Danny. They entertain him without losing patience, pick up on his toddler babble and awkward gestures, and even sing to him when he demands it.
“Row, row, row your boat,” hums Ryder.
“Eee!” shrieks my son.
Ranger merely leans over and gives him a drink of water from his thermos before joining in the chorus.
My heart turns over because it’s clear that these men would be wonderful fathers. Their paternal instinct is unerring and true, and they know how to create boundaries while also bringing a sense of joy and fun to the day.
My heart spasms again. It would be so amazing to be a mother to their child. But how would that work? Is that even what they want? After all, there are two of them, and only one of me. Whose sperm would do the trick? Or would we do a paternity test afterwards to determine the biological father? Or would it even matter?
This is so confusing but suddenly, I realize that that’s what I want. Having Danny is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I realize that I’d love to have a second baby with Ryder and Ranger. It would be my dearest wish for us to be a family somehow, even though it’s not clear exactly how it would work.
Sensing my gaze, the men turn towards me. Their blue eyes can read my mind, and oh god, but they’re so handsome that the breath catches in my throat.
“What are you thinking, sweetheart?” growls Ryder. Danny’s now fallen asleep in his stroller, his chubby hand gripping a stuffed giraffe loosely against his cheek.
“Oh, not much,” I fib lightly while looking at my handsome boyfriends. They’re so tall and imposing that I’ve caught more than one young mother looking their way, before glancing over at me with envy in their eyes. I have no idea if people realize I’m with both of them, but it doesn’t matter. These men are mine, and I’m so happy and proud I could burst.
We’ve come upon the lion enclosure, but fortunately, there are no lions there today and so there aren’t many people either.
“Come on, over here,” growls Ranger. “I think I can see a lion resting over there under a rock.”
“Oh really?” I ask, curious. “That makes sense. Maybe they wanted some shade, so they went to the back to hide out. I don’t blame them. It can’t be easy to have thousands of people go by each day staring at you. Especially if a lot of them are loud and noisy children. I’d want to hide too.”
As I wheel the stroller over to the back, we come upon a hidden glade of sorts. How odd that there’s this private space behind the lion enclosure, but it is what it is. There’s soft, jewel-green grass dappled by the sun and a thicket of trees blocking the view of the footpath.
“This way,” gestures Ranger. “There’s even a spring back here. It’s so beautiful.”
I wheel the stroller carefully, making sure not to wake Danny. Sure enough, the glade extends a bit and there’s a small pool of sorts, burbling with clear water.
“This is really gorgeous,” I say with a sigh, looking around. “The day can’t get any better. My son loves you guys,” I murmur, shading my eyes with my hand to look up at these huge, handsome men. “You’re so good with him.”
“Excellent,” growls Ryder. “Take a seat honey because we wanted to talk with you a little.”
I make myself comfortable, seating my curvy bottom on the grass right next to the spring.
“What is it?” I ask. The air in my lungs catches because as Ryder and Ranger come to sit on either side of me, I’m reminded of how lucky I am. These men are gorgeous. Ryder’s huge, his tanned biceps showing beneath a fitted t-shirt, with powerful thighs encased in denim. Ranger’s just as handsome, wearing a long-sleeve fitted t-shirt that shows off his broad chest, and shorts that reveal tanned, muscular legs.
But the expression on their faces is serious.
“Sweetheart, you’re a wonderful mommy,” begins Ranger slowly.
“And you know we haven’t been using protection,” adds his friend with a meaningful glance at me.