Uniting the Souls

by Annabella Michaels

  I let out a long sigh of relief and, feeling exhausted from the emotions of the day, I drifted off, cradled between the two men who I knew would never let anything bad happen to me ever again.

  “It sounds like you’re doing really well, Rylie. I’m so happy that the stress of being on the road hasn’t caused you to have any slip ups,” I told him. He’d asked if we could continue our sessions using Skype while he was on tour and I told him I thought it was a great idea. He’d been gone for over six months, but he’d never missed even one of our weekly sessions.

  “It’s still stressful, and you and I both know I’ll always have times where I have to fight the cravings, but I feel great, I’m more focused than I’ve ever been and I have so many things to live for,” he said, smiling widely. I smiled back at him, so proud of how far he’d come since I’d first met him.

  “I’m assuming Lachlan is one of those things,” I teased and laughed as Rylie’s grin widened even further.

  “Yeah, he’s the best thing,” Rylie answered, his voice gentling at the mention of his husband. “But there’s more.” I arched an eyebrow at him and waited for him to elaborate. “Oh, would you look at that. We’re out of time!” he said with a devious grin.

  “Asshole,” I grumbled.

  “Is that your professional diagnosis, Doc?” Rylie asked, his shoulders shaking.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, it is and I’ll be sure to put it in my notes,” I informed him haughtily and he burst out into a fit of laughter.

  “So, how are things going with your two lovers, you naughty boy?” he purred. I rolled my eyes, but ignored his teasing.

  “Things are amazing with both of them. I couldn’t imagine finding any two people more perfect for me,” I told him.

  “I’m so happy for you, you deserve it,” Rylie said, sounding more serious than usual. I could tell he had something important to say so I waited quietly. He cleared his throat. “If it weren’t for you and Lachlan, I’d probably have died a long time ago in some skeevy motel room. That was the path I was headed down, but because of the two of you, I was able to get back on track and in the end, got a life that’s better than I could’ve ever hoped for. You’re more than just my therapist, Hudson. You’re one of my very best friends and you deserve to be just as happy as I am.”

  I swallowed around the knot in my throat that his words had caused. “I feel the same way about you and I’m so glad to have you as a friend.”

  “Even when I’m forcing you to ride in tiny cars?” Rylie joked, lightening the heavy mood.

  “Even then,” I chuckled.

  “Okay, I better get going. I have a very sexy British man sleeping in the other room and I have plans on how I’d like to wake him.” He gave me a wolfish smile and then my screen went dark.

  I shut the lid on my laptop and then stood up and stretched, I was still smiling as I walked out of my home office and down the hall to the kitchen. I’d been telling Rylie the truth when I said things were great with me, Matt, and Isaac.

  Isaac began seeing a counselor shortly after he told us about his past. It was the same counselor that Matt was seeing and she seemed to be helping them both tremendously. Isaac’s nightmares started occurring more frequently which was to be expected after having to dredge everything up. But now, instead of making up excuses, he talked to us about what the nightmares were and let us comfort him. The whole thing had just brought us even closer to each other.

  I washed my hands at the sink and then started pulling food out of the fridge. I had a lot to do and only a few hours to get it all done. I’d asked my guys to come over for dinner, but they had no idea that I had planned for this to be a special dinner. A swarm of butterflies took flight inside my stomach when I thought of everything I wanted to say to them. I just hoped they took it well.

  A couple of hours later, the food was all prepared and had been put in the oven and I’d cleaned my place. I glanced at the clock on the stove and realized I’d better get a move on if I was going to have time for a shower before they got there.

  I cleaned myself quickly and had just finished getting dressed when I heard the front door open. We’d exchanged keys with each other several months ago, making it easier for us all to come and go from each other’s homes.

  “Oh, wow! Something smells delicious,” I heard Isaac say.

  “Yum. What is that?” Matt said. They were in the kitchen and I crept up behind them, smiling as they peeked under the lids on the stovetop.

  “No need to snoop, I’ll tell you.” I laughed when they both jumped and turned around to face me, matching guilty expressions on their faces. “It’s beef bourguignon with buttered noodles and string beans. I also made a triple chocolate cake for dessert.”

  “That must’ve taken you all day,” Matt said.

  “You’re worth it,” I responded, moving in to kiss each of them, long and slow.

  My cock was aching by the time we stopped, but I made myself because we needed to talk first and I wanted to feed my men. I got dinner out of the oven while Isaac poured the drinks and Matt sliced the loaf of homemade bread I’d made. It felt so natural and domestic and I found myself smiling as I plated the food.

  “Everything looks amazing, but is there a special occasion we forgot about?” Matt asked as we sat down at the table.

  “Every day with the two of you is a special occasion,” I replied sweetly, earning me a grin from each of them.

  We talked as we ate. I told them that Aysha had called and asked if we’d keep Nicholas overnight the following weekend so she and Drew could go out of town for a concert. Isaac and Matt’s faces lit up as they offered suggestions of fun things we could do with Nicholas. They loved spending time with him and had even taken him to the park a few times when I had to work on a weekend.

  We’d finally met Drew when they asked us over for dinner. He was sincere, intelligent, and crazy about my sister, enough to put up with the three of us giving him the third degree. By the end of the night, we’d given him our stamp of approval.

  “I have a couple of things I wanted to talk to you guys about,” I told them, that nervous jittering starting up again in my gut. I looked at Matt who nodded at me, he knew a little of what I was going to say, but not all of it. Isaac saw the look we shared and his brow furrowed.

  “What’s going on, guys?” he asked, setting his fork down and giving us his full attention.

  “I talked to Matt about this because I wanted his opinion and because I don’t like keeping anything from you guys. I asked him not to tell you because I didn’t want to say anything before I got some answers,” I explained.

  “Answers to what?” Isaac asked slowly. I took a drink of water since I suddenly felt like I’d swallowed a mouthful of cotton.

  “Answers about what happened after you left home,” I said quietly. If I hadn’t been staring right at him, I might’ve missed the slight tensing of Isaac’s shoulders and jaw. He took a sip of his own drink and then set it down and looked me in the eyes.

  “What did you find out?” he asked. I scooted my chair closer to him, needing him to be within arm’s reach.

  “I checked police reports first, hoping a neighbor had heard all the screaming and called the police. I hoped they had found your father and arrested him for what he’d done,” I told him.

  “But that isn’t what happened?” Isaac asked sadly.

  “I found a police report on your father, but not because they arrested him,” I said, hating to have to tell him this part. “It was an autopsy report. Apparently, your father shot and killed himself not long after that night.”

  Isaac covered his face with his hands and his shoulders began to shake as he cried softly. I knelt beside his chair and put my hand on his back. He turned and threw his arms around me, burying his face in my neck. I smoothed my hands over his hair and Matt began rubbing his back. I hated bringing up the pain of Isaac’s past and I was so relieved that he didn’t seem to hate me for it.

  “Sometime
s I think of how different things might have been if Mom hadn’t died that day,” Isaac said as he sat back up in his chair, wiping his face with his napkin. “So much senseless anger and pain and death followed and maybe none of that would’ve happened if she’d gotten help or taken us away somewhere with her. But then I would’ve never met you,” he said, looking at Matt adoringly. “And in turn you,” he said, giving me the same loving look.

  Isaac took our hands and joined them together in his lap like he liked to do. “I just wish Zane could see how everything turned out; how happy I am with you guys and all the love I have in my life.” I took a deep breath and Matt and Isaac both turned to look at me.

  “Matt doesn’t know this part, because I just recently found out. I made a few phone calls to friends of mine who work at some of the area hospitals. They did some digging for me into medical records for Zane or even any John Does who may have been brought into the morgue.”

  “And?” Isaac asked, his voice shaking.

  “There was no one in any of the morgues matching his age or the description I gave them using the picture in your wallet. Then I asked them to check records of emergency room visits using the description along with what his possible injuries might have been.” Isaac’s eyes were huge as he stared back at me.

  “Did they find anything?” Matt asked.

  “It took a long time because there were literally thousands of patient records they had to go through. One of my friends finally got back to me and said they’d found someone who matched Zane’s description. Someone dropped him off at the emergency room and left him there alone. He was barely conscious and they had to do emergency surgery to relieve swelling in his brain. They also had to do extensive reconstructive surgery to fix the shattered bones in his cheek and nose, and dental surgery to replace the teeth that he’d lost. Scans of his body showed broken ribs but they were healed so they believed they had happened at a previous date.” Isaac’s hand was shaking as he covered his mouth and tears poured from his eyes.

  “He refused to tell them his name, a nurse made note that he’d said it would be too dangerous to tell them his name. He was in the hospital a month. They tried to get him to stay longer, but he told the same nurse that he had someone he needed to find. He checked himself out of the hospital that same day.”

  “Oh my God! That’s Zane! That has to be Zane, right?” Isaac screeched, grabbing my arms and looking back and forth between me and Matt.

  “It sounds like it, baby, but don’t get your hopes up just yet,” I warned. “I don’t want you to be hurt all over again if you find out it’s not him.”

  “I know and I understand, that’s why we have to find out for sure,” Isaac insisted. “We have to find out.”

  “We will. I’ve already called Micah and he’s got one of his guys working on it. It’s going to be difficult because even if it was Zane, he may not be using the same name anymore, we have no idea where he went after he left the hospital and he may not look the same after all the surgeries. The hospital records said his face was too swollen still when he left to get a good description. But I won’t stop until we find out for sure, I promise.” Isaac threw himself into my lap and peppered my face with kisses then he turned so he could see Matt too.

  “I am honestly overwhelmed. I have no idea what I ever did to deserve you two, but I’m thankful every day to have you in my life. I know you said not to get my hopes up, but I’m going to choose to have hope because it feels a whole hell of a lot better than how I’ve felt the last few years when I thought about Zane. If my brother is out there somewhere, I’ll move Heaven and Earth to find him,” Isaac said.

  “You won’t have to do it alone,” Matt said gruffly, wiping tears from his eyes. Isaac pulled him towards us and we shared a long, languid kiss.

  We left our dishes where they were and went into the living room where we could all three cuddle together on the couch. We took turns kissing and soon enough we were exchanging blow jobs and enjoying mutual orgasms. As we lay in various heaps on the couch, gasping for air, Isaac spoke up.

  “What was the other thing you wanted to talk to us about? You said you had things to talk about, as in plural.”

  I gazed at both of them, not sure it was the right moment, but as I looked into both of their eyes, happy and sated and still dark from their arousal, I knew that there would never be a more perfect time. I sat up on the couch and I could feel their eyes on me as I reached for my pants that were wadded up on the floor. I heard Isaac gasp as I pulled the small velvet box out of the pocket of my jeans. Their eyes were wide as they stared at me and Isaac had covered his mouth with his hand.

  “My life was decent before I met you, I was content in my career and I had my sister and nephew, but there was something missing. I watched my friends fall in love and get married, and I hoped to meet a man and have the same one day. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d end up meeting not one, but two people who were absolutely perfect for me. Isaac, Matt, you both have brought more joy and more love to my life than I ever thought possible. You make me happy every day and I want to spend the rest of my life finding ways to make you happy. Will you marry me?”

  I lifted the lid of the box and showed them the three matching sterling silver bands inside. I’d had them each inscribed inside with three small hearts all connected to each other. I pulled theirs out and held them up.

  “Is marriage even possible for three people?” Isaac asked.

  “It wouldn’t be a legal marriage, but we could have a ceremony in which we exchange vows. The law and the paperwork isn’t what matters anyway. The important thing is the promises we make to each other and the life we choose to build together,” I explained.

  “I want that. I want a life with the two of you, I want to love you forever and grow old together. Yes, I’ll marry you,” Isaac said. His smile was breathtaking and I kissed him soundly.

  We turned to Matt who had been quiet up until then and I was afraid maybe I had pushed too soon or too far. Matt had been married before and he’d lost his husband. He might not want to get married again.

  “Matt, we will only do this if all of us are comfortable with it. If it’s too soon, or you never want—” Matt leaned forward and kissed me until my head spun.

  “It’s not too soon and I do want to spend the rest of my life with you guys. I’m just trying to figure out what to do with these,” he said, pulling a small jewelry box from his own pocket.

  It was my own turn to gasp as I realized that Matt had been planning on proposing too. We were silent for a few moments and then we were all laughing. We laughed until we couldn’t breathe and I had never felt fuller or happier in my entire life.

  I finished putting the last of my clothes in the box and folded the lid down then looked around my bedroom. The closet stood empty, my bedroom furniture had been taken to the local homeless shelter. All that remained were the boxes on the floor.

  After getting engaged, Hudson, Isaac, and I had talked over what our living arrangement would be. It didn’t take us long to decide that we should buy a place where we could start fresh, making memories that were just our own. We preferred to live just outside the city, not too far from our businesses, but more private than a condo in the city.

  We hired a realtor to do the searching and after a few weeks, she found the perfect house for us. There was an updated kitchen, swimming pool, and media room as well as a large backyard, space for an office, and a master bedroom that was big enough for two California king-sized beds if we wanted them.

  My favorite part though was the en-suite bathroom that had a giant rainforest shower with a bench seat in it and a whirlpool bath that all three of us could fit in comfortably. I could picture all the nights we would be able to relax in that after a long day of work; perhaps as we sipped wine and talked about our day.

  In fact, as we walked through the house with the realtor, I could picture everything; Christmases, birthdays, anniversaries. That had been what sold me on the hous
e. Everything included in the house was wonderful, but it was the way I could see myself in that home, sharing a long life with the two men I loved most in the world that had been the deciding factor.

  A month later we had secured the loan and signed the papers with all three of our names on the title. With very little that needed to be done to get it ready, we were able to begin moving in right away. Isaac told his landlord he wouldn’t be renewing his lease and Hudson and I put our properties on the market. Hudson’s place sold in a little over a week and my house sold after just three. It had all happened so fast and so easily that it was hard not to believe that it was fate at work.

  I glanced at my watch and saw that I had a little bit of time before my guys would be there to pick me up and take the last of my things to the new house. That night would be the first night we all slept there. I picked up the box of clothes and carried it out by the front door then I went back to get another one.

  Bending down to pick up the box, the lid popped open and lying inside, on the very top, was my picture of me and Sean on our wedding day. I sat down on the floor and pulled the framed photo from the box. I ran my finger over Sean’s jaw, noticing the happiness in his smile and the love in his eyes as he looked at me.

  “I remember every single thing about that day. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t considered legal in the eyes of the law back then, our marriage was real to us and that was all that mattered. I felt like the luckiest man in the world to be marrying you and to have you as my husband. Our life together may have ended way too soon, but the time we had was full of more joy and laughter and love than most people experience in their entire lifetime. You were my first friend and my first love and I will always have a place for you in my heart. It’s gotten a little crowded in there since I let Hudson and Isaac in, but they don’t mind sharing the space with you,” I said with a smile.

  “Losing you was the hardest thing I’d ever been through and I didn’t deal well with it. I got stuck in the darkness, buried under my grief. I knew you wouldn’t have wanted that for me, but I just couldn’t seem to find my way out of it. Then Hudson and Isaac found me and they showed me how much I’d been missing by closing myself off from the rest of the world. They taught me that the heart has room for more than one and they taught me how to live again,” I told him.