“I’ll run to town and get you a test,” Tarek offered. Llir didn’t miss the hint of sadness in his voice.
“Tar,” Llir breathed. He reached for him and Tarek pulled his arm free.
“I don’t know what to say here, Llir. I know what’s going to happen now—you and Elira are having a baby. You’ll be a family now and I’ll just be in the way,” Tarek said.
“Bullshit,” Llir growled. “When we started all this, we told Elira that if she agreed to be with the two of us, that she’d be ours. She belongs with both of us and this baby will too. We’re a family—the three of us, Tar. You’re being an ass right now. She doesn’t need your uncertainty about us all being together. Elira needs—” She grabbed his hand, effectively stopping his next words. Elira left his arms and turned to wrap herself around Tarek.
“I need both of you,” she insisted. “Llir’s right. I want you both and if you’ll agree—this baby will need both of you too.” Tarek looked down at her but made no move to give Elira an answer. Llir felt like he was holding his damn breath waiting for him to agree to be a part of whatever they were building.
“Say we can be a family,” Llir prompted. “Tell us that you’re in this with us, Tarek.”
“Please,” Elira begged. Tarek pressed his forehead to hers and let out his breath.
“I’m a part of this,” he whispered. “I want us to be a family and I want to be a father to our baby.” He reached down and cupped her non-existent belly.
Llir wrapped his arms around the both of them and they stood like that for what felt like an eternity. “If I’m pregnant, this baby will be the luckiest kid on the planet,” Elira said. “He or she will have two of the best daddies a kid could ask for.”
“Thank you, Honey,” Llir breathed. “Now, how about we get you that test and find out what we’re dealing with?” he asked. Elira nodded and he smiled at Tarek.
“You still want to run to the store? I’ll hang back here and keep an eye on our girl while she sits down and takes it easy.” He shot Elira a look and she smirked at him.
“Geeze—we don’t even know if I’m pregnant or not,” she grumbled.
“How about you let us take care of you and you sit that sexy little ass on the sofa and do as Llir said?” Tarek said. “You know how bossy our guy can get if you don’t follow his orders. You can take one night off.”
“And if I’m pregnant? How many nights off will I be taking then?” she griped.
“As many as you need to take care of yourself and our baby,” Tarek insisted. He gave her a quick peck on the lips and turned to grab his wallet and keys from the kitchen counter. “Be back in a few minutes,” he promised.
“Then, we’ll take the test together,” Llir insisted.
“I don’t think that’s how these tests work,” Elira said. “I’m pretty sure that no pee will be required from either of you for the test.” Llir chuckled, finding her grumpy spirit adorable.
“Good luck making dinner and taking care of our little storm cloud,” Tarek said. “You’ll need it.”
Elira
Elira paced the bathroom, trying to remain calm, but failing miserably. She had locked the guys out and she knew that they were both waiting on the other side of the door. She could almost feel their anxiety and that was only serving to ramp up her own.
How had she been so stupid to let herself get pregnant? The three of them had only been together for a couple of months now. Sure, she and Llir had been together longer but that was no reason for her to let her guard down like she had and end up pregnant. She knew that she was too—she didn’t need the little plus sign in the tiny window to tell her what she already knew. As soon as she realized that she had missed three cycles, she knew. She was always so regular.
At first, when she counted to figure out when it happened, she worried that it might be her captors’ baby. How would she be able to live with the fact that her child was conceived by rape? She wouldn’t be able to ever live down that shame and regret. But then, she remembered that she had her period the first month that she lived with Llir. That time was a blur to her, but Llir jogged her memory by telling her that he had his housekeeper purchase her feminine products a few weeks after they got to his apartment. After she vaguely remembered that, she let herself relax. If her calculations were correct, the baby would be Llir’s and she wondered how that would affect her relationship with Tarek. Both guys insisted that they would share the duty of fatherhood, no matter who the biological father was, but would that work? They seemed to be fine with sharing her but would they be able to share their child?
So many worries plagued her, clouding her judgment, she wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole baby thing, even if both guys seemed to be pretty excited about the possibility of a little one.
A harsh knock at the door startled her and she nearly jumped out of her skin. “Yes,” she called through the closed door as if she didn’t know that her two protective alphas were on the other side of it, impatiently waiting for her to give them the news.
“Open the fucking door, Honey,” Tarek insisted.
“It’s not finished yet,” she shouted back. “I just need a few more minutes.”
“A few minutes for what?” Llir asked. “We need to do this together, remember. We went over all of this earlier.” She remembered, but that promise was made before she let doubt and worry creep into her mind to cloud her judgment. She wanted to know for sure if she was going to be a mother or not before facing the two potential fathers. She wasn’t lying when she said that their baby would be the luckiest kid on earth to have the two of them. They’d both be great dads. Her concern was what kind of mother she’d make. How could she take care of a baby if she could barely take care of herself? She had little education and her skill set was slim to non-existent. She’d never be able to properly take care of her baby.
She checked the test and the faint plus sign that showed in the window nearly took her breath away. “Oh God,” she sobbed.
“Open this fucking door, Elira,” Tarek shouted, banging on the door. She pulled the door open and found two very angry looking alphas on the other side. “You can’t shut us out like that, Honey,” Tarek insisted.
“What does the text say?” Llir questioned. She could tell by the look on his face that he could already guess the answer.
Elira held up the pregnancy test to show them both the proof. “It says that you’re going to be a father,” she whispered to Llir. He pulled her into his arms and Tarek wrapped his arms around both of them, cocooning her in the middle of their two big bodies.
“We’re going to be father’s,” Llir whispered to Tarek.
“We’re going to be a family,” Tarek corrected. “How do you feel, Elira?” he asked. She felt every gambit of emotion from confused, furious at herself for letting this happen, to happy and even hopeful.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I’m feeling that I’m going to be an awful mother and then what? How can I be a mom when I can’t even take care of myself? And, in case neither of you noticed, now isn’t the best time for us to be expanding our family. We have your family after us. What happens if your father finds out that we’re having a baby?” she asked.