by Meg Bawden
Grayson pursed his lips, suspicion flashing in his eyes. “The situation is that I will keep this baby.”
“You can’t be a single parent, Mr. Mayor. It would be bad for PR.”
I shook my head. “He won’t be a single parent.”
Todd spun on me, fire almost licking at his nostrils. It was a close call. “What do you propose the mayor does, Blair? Pick a husband as a media ploy?”
My lips twisted, smirk widening. “He doesn’t need to. He has a partner. Well, two partners.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Harry… Henry… whatever his name was asked. He crossed his arms over his wide chest, his alpha pheromones getting stronger by the second, almost as though he wanted to battle it out right then and there.
I rolled my eyes. Alpha or not, I wasn’t an animal, and I wasn’t going to grunt at him until he backed down. Grayson was mine and Bristol’s now, not that I ever got the impression the campaign manager wanted him. He always treated Grayson like a brother. “Mr. Mayor, do you want to tell them?”
Grayson chewed on his bottom lip, as if trying not to laugh at me. “I am seeing someone, or two someones. The fathers of my baby are Blair and his twin brother, Bristol.”
I didn’t know the meaning of all hell breaking loose until this moment. The room erupted in chaos, worse than before, with voices being raised all at once. Todd was the loudest because he wouldn’t be himself if he wasn’t, and while most of it was directed at Grayson, some of it turned on me.
I kept my cool, even with the rising urge to step in front of Grayson and protect him. I still felt the tingling of anger in my veins, though, enough that I shifted uncomfortably.
Finally, Grayson raised his voice. “Enough!”
Everyone gaped because this was Grayson and he never raised his voice.
“I understand your positions on this. You signed up with my campaign under the assumption that my loyalty lies in my position as mayor. This hasn’t changed. I will continue to do my job until I can physically do it no longer. Once I have my baby, I will return to my duties.”
One of the other men in the room snorted. It took me a moment to realize it came from Poppins. “Don’t omegas stay home with their kids after they have them?”
Both Grayson and I glared at him. Surprisingly, Henry/Harry did the same thing.
“That’s a misogynistic comment, Mr. Poppins. I may have heats and have the ability to carry children, but we are not all driven by our instincts. If I wanted to stay at home a little longer after I give birth, that’s my decision. I will not have a team member who mocks a decision such as that, am I clear?”
Poppins’ face paled and he nodded. “Yes, Mr. Mayor.”
“Good. I haven’t talked with my partners about this….” His gaze lingered on me. “However, it’s a wise decision for me to return to work immediately. Even if I bring my child with me.”
“And Bristol won’t mind taking care of him. Knowing that big lug, he’d enjoy carrying around the baby in a carrier while he did farm chores.” I grinned at the thought of him in one of his stupid flannel shirts with a tiny baby attached to his chest.
Todd spun on me, steely eyes hard. “How did this happen? It’s one thing for the mayor to have more than one alpha, but twins? The Cherry Hollow people will not accept this.”
“I don’t think you give our people enough credit,” Grayson said.
“And with the right spin, we can make them eat out of Grayson’s hands.” I moved into Todd’s personal space. I towered over him and used my height to my advantage. “We are his PR team. It’s our job to make them love him.”
Todd’s jaw was so tight I was surprised I hadn’t heard his teeth shattering. “How can we make them love him when he has twin partners, one of them being you. He had some of the best ratings we’ve ever seen, but you couldn’t keep it in your pants, and not only did you knock him up—” He spat out knock like it was a dirty word. “—but you even got your brother in on it. You’re disgusting. I should have fired you when I had the chance.”
“Enough!” Grayson shoved himself away from the front of his desk and strode forward, power in every step he took closer. “What happened between me, Bristol, and Blair was consensual. I made the choice to share my heat, and at this point, they are my partners. If you want to continue being part of this team, you will have to respect that. If you can’t, then you know where the door is.” He stared around at the gathered men and women in his room. “My loyalty to our campaign and my job will not falter.”
“Yes, but the people’s loyalty to you will. I’m not sitting on a sinking ship.” Poppins stalked past Grayson and then me, glaring as he went. He slammed open the door and walked out, leaving the room in silence.
“We’ll need damage control,” I said immediately, turning on my professional side. “He’ll talk to the press.”
“He has a confidentiality contract,” Todd snapped.
“Do you think he’d stick to it? He can hand over information to the Bulletin with an under-the-table deal.”
“We’d have proof he did it.”
“Bullshit.” I fell back onto the brown leather wingback chair Grayson had in his office and leaned my elbows on my knees, interlacing my fingers. “We’d have no tangible proof. We need to make his gossip insignificant, and the only way we can do that is going to the media ourselves.”
“You’d risk the mayor’s position?”
“His position isn’t at risk,” Henry/Harry said.
Todd turned on him next. “They won’t accept this, Hayden.”
Ah, so I was completely wrong with his name. At least it started with H.
“They love Grayson. They’ll support him, as long as he stays honest,” Hayden said.
“We can’t tell them he has two partners, who happen to be twins. If we’re going to do this, we’d need to choose one of them and pretend he only has one partner.” This came from Samantha. I liked her because she used her brain. She looked good too, a perfect employee in our mayor’s office. Professional, with a black pantsuit and flats and her brunette hair tied in a tight bun on the back of her head.
“Why?” Grayson ran his palms over his face. Exhaustion sat heavy in the lines of it and he suddenly looked tired. “We’ve come a long way as a society, and Cherry Hollow is advanced for a small town.”
“Not that advanced.” Todd’s voice was really starting to irk me. “I think you should get rid of it.”
Grayson’s jaw twitched. “That is not an option.”
“Mr. Mayor—”
“I said that is not an option. Are you deaf, Todd?”
Todd’s narrow face flushed red and he shook his head. “No, sir.”
Grayson stood, straightening his suit jacket. He looked regal in dark blue, but I didn’t expect any less. I was the one who suggested it this morning. I even had him agreeing to go on a clothes shopping spree with me so we could dress him in brand-name clothes, much to Bristol’s disgust. “So let’s get to work, team.”
Grayson
We spent the next week in a state of emergency at the office. My team worked hard to put together a press release, and I helped them how I could—whenever I wasn’t bent over a toilet bowl. It reared its ugly head worse than ever a few days after I broke the news to them.
Blair took control of the situation and I let him. I gave different work to Todd, because while he was the manager of the PR team, I didn’t trust him to do my pregnancy and relationship (if that’s what it really was) justice.
The twins and I hadn’t talked about defining our relationship yet. We didn’t have the chance, or mostly we avoided the subject, even though Bristol pushed for us to talk about it. We spent most of our time having sex, eating, watching TV, or doing some other normal thing we were used to. Sometimes I was alone with one of the twins, when Bristol was feeding his animals and taking care of Emily, or when Blair was working late nights. I’d yet to meet their sister, and if I was being honest, the thought made me nervous.
>
But tonight I would. Bristol invited me around for dinner with Blair, and I didn’t have to think up an excuse why I couldn’t because I wanted to meet her. I wanted to be a family with them. It made me think of my own family. Dad and Papa very rarely called me since their divorce, and I never bothered to message them either. I knew how their conversations went. Papa would whine about his new husband, and Dad never answered his phone because he was usually off drinking away his life at the local Hawthorne bar. I stopped having a family after Jon died. My parents had been too busy blaming each other to see the breaking threads of our relationship.
I didn’t want that for my child.
The thought made me touch my stomach and I briefly glanced down at it. “I’m always going to be here for you, little seed.”
I returned my attention back onto the road. Blair was doing another late night, and he said he’d meet us at the farm in about an hour, but I wanted to get there early to help Bristol set up. The farm was at least a half hour drive out of town, and it was peaceful, full of rolling hills and clean, fresh air. I loved the idea of our child growing up out here.
Pulling my electric car into the long, winding dirt driveway, taking extra care to go around the small potholes that had formed because of a surprise shower of rain we got last night, I finally reached the house and parked beside Bristol’s truck.
I got out and walked up the stairs. By the time I reached the door, it opened, and Bristol appeared, shooting me his gorgeous grin that made my heart race a little faster. “Hi.”
“Hey.” He tugged me closer and kissed my cheek. “How was the drive?”
“Peaceful. I can see why you love it out here.”
He curled his arm around my waist and guided me into the house. The soft scents of something delicious reached my nose and I breathed it in, my stomach grumbling. I’d forgotten to eat most of the day because I’d been too busy putting the final touches on the press release. I slid off my jacket and hung it on a coatrack, the November air becoming more frigid with the shift of seasons approaching.
“Here.” Blair led me to the warm kitchen and tugged a chair out for me. He opened the fridge and pulled out an apple. “Eat this. You’re hungry.”
I smiled my appreciation and took a big chomp of it, my stomach churned in retaliation. All that mattered was that it stayed down.
“Have you eaten at all today?” He stared at me in concern and dropped into the chair in front of me. Reaching for my hand not holding the apple, he held it in his.
“I had lunch.” I had the decency to flush under his look of disapproval.
“You’re pregnant, you need to eat better now.”
“Who’s pregnant?” Emily strode into the room, pausing at the sight in front of her. She was pretty, with blonde hair that curled over her wide shoulders. She had the same green eyes as the twins, but her face was softer, even though it was obvious by her height that she was an alpha too. She wore an orange-and-blue-striped shirt beneath a pair of white overalls that stopped at the middle of her thighs, with big brown boots. Is that what teenagers dressed in these days? It looked like a nineties outfit.
“I am.” I placed the apple on the table and stood, wiping my palms on my pants before I held out my hand. “I’m Grayson.”
“I know who you are.” She crossed her arms over her chest and slowly ran her gaze over me, as though deciding if I passed the test of being good enough. “You’re the one who made my brothers lose their minds. Sharing the same omega? That’s some kinky shit.”
“Emily!” Bristol shot to his feet and touched my shoulder, stepping closer as though offering his support. “We’ve talked about that attitude of yours.”
She rolled her eyes and waved her hand at us. “Whatever. I just wanna know how it’ll work with both of you banging the town mayor.”
“Emily!” He sent me an apologetic smile. “Teenagers with no manners.” He turned a glare on her. “Remember I can still ground you.”
She shrugged and shifted closer, grabbing the hand I still had reached out in front of me. She shook it hard. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mayor.”
“Please call me Grayson. We’ll be family.”
“Right.” She released it and strode past us, stealing the apple I’d left on the table and taking a bite. “When’s Blair coming?”
“Soon. And that was rude. Grayson hasn’t eaten most of the day.”
“Whose fault is that?” She grinned mischievously, and it was a carbon copy of Blair’s. “Whose baby is it?”
“We’ve talked about this.” Bristol rubbed my arm. “All three of us will raise this baby as our own.”
“Yeah, but whose is it? Yours or Blair’s? I would ask who it’s gonna look like, but the twin thing ruins that.”
I laughed, because while she was being sarcastic, it was actually funny. Her gaze narrowed on me, surprise flashing in her eyes at my laughter. “At least we won’t have the awkwardness of people telling the twin that’s not the father that the baby looks like him when he or she isn’t supposed to.”
Emily’s lips twisted, hiding a smile, and then a chuckle escaped her.
“Wow, the demon does laugh,” Bristol said.
She flipped him off. “I have a heart, y’know.” Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she shifted in front of me. “Let’s start again. Hello, Grayson, welcome to the family. I want to be the godmother of your baby.”
“There was no question about that.”
She flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Good, then you can stay.”
Bristol sighed. “Really, Emily, have some manners.”
I laughed again, this time at their antics. That’s what I missed about having a brother who wasn’t a drug addict. This companionship. I never wanted my child to grow up without it, but I couldn’t think about a second child when I hadn’t even had the first yet.
“What are we having for dinner?” I asked, reminded of my hunger by my roiling stomach.
“The only thing Bristol can cook. Pulled BBQ beef,” Emily snorted.
Bristol scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I’m not a great cook. I slow cook the beef.”
“Maybe I can teach you a few things.” I poked him gently in the stomach. “Before I got busy with my campaign, I cooked a mean pesto chicken bake. Then we’ll both know how to make two meals.”
Bristol’s chest rumbled with laughter. “We’ll need to learn a few more before the baby comes. Blair is actually a good cook. Did he tell you?”
I glanced at him in surprise. “No, he didn’t.”
“He doesn’t exercise his talent, though. He pretends like he doesn’t know how to.” Bristol snorted.
“Mom taught him how to cook,” Emily said, staring down at her fingernails. It looked almost bratty, but there was something vulnerable about the action, and my heart ached for her. “I was never old enough to learn before she died.”
“I’m sure Blair would teach you?” I took her hand and squeezed it, earning me wide eyes.
“Blair’s never had time for me since he left.”
“That’ll change now. You watch.”
I heard a whispered “I hope so” from Bristol behind me.
Emily’s smile was worth it, though. It was genuine and her entire body relaxed. “I like you, Grayson.”
“Thank you, I like you too, Emily.”
“Uh-oh, they’re after world domination,” Bristol teased.
We all laughed.
It took another hour for Blair to get to the farm. By that time I’d eaten a whole apple and we were sitting around the table discussing life in general. Emily told me about her future plans of being a vet, and I told her about the new policies I was trying to put in place, which excited her. For someone so young, she was incredibly intelligent.
Blair walked through the door, slamming it shut behind him. “Fuck, it’s getting cold outside. I fucking hate the end of fall.”
“Language,” Bristol snapped at him when he walked over the kitchen threshol
d.
Emily rolled her eyes. “I’m not a nun, I swear too.”
“That’s my girl.” Blair ruffled her hair and winked. He slid off his suit jacket and hung it over the back of the last available chair before he plopped down.
We’d set the table, too, and the food sat in the heated slow cooker, waiting for his arrival.
“We didn’t think you were going to show up.” Bristol leaned on his elbows, his eyebrows raised. “Did you get everything taken care of at work?”
“I have the PR team on board, if that’s what you’re asking.” Blair smirked and laid his hand over the back of mine. “I’m good at my job, so the mayor doesn’t have to worry.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. I had to trust he could do it because I knew he had that position for a reason. In a lot of ways, he was better than Todd.
He glanced at me, his gaze softening. “You’re welcome.”
“So you’re actually doing this? Telling the people of Cherry Hollow the truth?” Emily stared between the three of us, dark sandy eyebrows knitted together. “I’m not sure how they’d react to a pregnant omega mayor with twin alphas.”
I nodded. “I know, but I promised them honesty from the start, and I’m going to give them that. They can choose to vote me out if they want, but I’m not giving up your brothers. They stole my heart when I wasn’t looking.” I grabbed Bristol’s hand too, so I was touching them both. “Which reminds me, we do need to have a conversation about what this is. We can’t avoid it any longer.”
Bristol nodded. “I completely agree.”
Blair snorted, though. “If we must.”
“We must,” I said immediately.
Emily chuckled. “Blair hates serious discussions. He’d sooner run away.”
Blair pointed at her. “Watch your mouth with those lies.”
I knew for a fact it wasn’t a lie, but I smiled and laughed. “Let’s have dinner.”
I helped Bristol dish out the food and we all sat around the table eating. We kept up the conversation, with Emily telling me about her friends at school, and Blair bringing up more political talk. Bristol chatted about the farm, and I mentioned my hatred for soft-serve ice cream—“It’s not real ice cream, so don’t ever take me somewhere that has it.” The boys laughed until finally Emily said her good nights and even hugged me before she left.
