Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
To my surprise, Mark kisses me hard. When he pulls away, John’s lips attach to mine.
“What was that for?” I ask.
“To stop you from freaking out,” Mark says. “We’re not worried about who the baby’s biological father is. As far as we’re concerned, we’re both the fathers.”
I gape at them. I was not expecting Mark to say that. I don’t think I’ve ever met a guy who would be willing to raise another man’s baby. Most normal guys would demand a paternity test.
I should have known better than to assume Mark and John would behave like normal guys. They’re nothing like the other men I’ve met.
They’re a million times better.
“I think you should sit. You look pale. Have you eaten?”
I shake my head. “I didn’t have a chance. I woke up kind of late, and then I felt sick, and then I realized that I was probably pregnant, so I went to the store to get the test…”
“Wait…how did you get to the store?”
“I might have borrowed the rental car.”
John laughs. “You scandalous girl. I’m glad you and the car made it back in one piece. Now, how about a sandwich for you and our beautiful child?”
“A sandwich sounds delicious. Ham, please. With mayo, lettuce, tomato, and ketchup.”
“Ketchup with mayo?” Mark asks, scrunching his nose.
“Blame the baby.”
John laughs. “Weird sandwich, coming right up.”
He makes quick work of fixing my sandwich, as well as one for him and one for John – minus the ketchup on theirs. Then the two of them join me in the living room with our food.
The first bite is fantastic. I groan into the bread.
“This is exactly what I wanted.”
“Good. Now, eat up because we have more to talk about.”
“We don’t need to talk anymore. Talking is boring. Eating is fun.”
“Eat now, talk in a few minutes.”
I try to slow down my food intake, but it’s no use. I’m starving, and the sandwich is so freaking good. I finish it a few minutes later.
“Alright, now back to what we were discussing. We don’t care that only one of us is technically the father. We’re excited to co-parent this baby. But are you okay with that?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we may never know which of us is the biological father. Would you prefer we take a test to verify who it is?”
“If you guys are okay with not knowing, then so am I. I like the idea of this baby belonging to all three of us.”
When he or she is born, we may be able to tell from his or her characteristics which man is the father, and that’s fine. But we don’t need a test to tell us who the baby’s dad is. They’re both going to be around to raise this baby.
My heart swells with happiness. I’m so glad the guys are on board with this. I was nervous to tell them, but they’ve put me completely at ease.
“I’m so unbelievably happy,” John says. “I’ve wanted children for years. I was beginning to think I’d have to adopt if I ever wanted to see that dream become a reality.”
“And I’ve always wanted to be a mom. I’ll admit, this isn’t how I expected it to happen, but I don’t regret anything. This baby is going to have two amazing fathers.”
“And an even more amazing mother,” Mark adds.
I blush at the compliment. He knows exactly what to say to make me feel good. He’d better keep it up. I’ve heard that pregnancy can make your hormones go insane, and you can get really insecure. I’ll need lots of compliments to keep me from crying all of the time.
“I’m…I don’t even know how to explain it. There isn’t a word to express how happy I am right now.”
Mark and John hug me on the couch. I’m sitting between them, wrapped in their arms. They make me feel safe and loved, even with such a simple gesture.
“I’ll have to move out of the dorms!” I exclaim suddenly. “I don’t think they allow babies to live on campus.”
John kisses the top of my head. “I think you’re right. Don’t worry about that now. We’ll figure out living situations when we get back to New York.”
“Will we all live together?”
“I hope so. It’s complicated right now, but we should be able to live together before the baby is born.”
The idea has me both excited and nervous. I’ve never lived with a man other than my father, and that hardly counts.
Will we cohabitate well? I’ve heard of people who move in with their significant others only to find out they have awful habits that are deal breakers. What if that happens to us? We have a baby to consider now.
“I can tell you’re thinking too much right now, Mari,” Mark says. “Try to calm down. We’re going to figure it all out.”