The Fisher Brothers: Box Set

by J. Sterling

  “You are literally the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  “Shut . . . up.”

  He smiled again. My stupid boyfriend was clueless.

  “I need you to start pushing, Sofia.”

  The doctor’s voice cut through the rest of the noise, and I became hyperfocused on her. I listened to her count me down.

  Ryan’s hand was in my grip, like it had been for the last five hours. I was certain at one point that I’d broken at least two of his fingers, but he was smart to not mention it. I might have threatened to break the rest if he had.

  “Almost there,” the doctor said with a lilt to her voice that gave me a brief reprieve. When the slicing pain became my focus again, she ordered, “Keep pushing,” and I did.

  I pushed with all my strength and every muscle until I felt a slight sense of relief. The hard part of delivery was over as the baby’s shoulders moved through. My entire body sagged, and I waited to hear the sweet sound of a newborn baby’s cry fill the air. When it did, I sucked in a breath of my own.

  “You did so good.” Ryan looked at me with tears rolling down his face. “That was amazing. You’re amazing.”

  I stared into the eyes that only moments ago I wanted to stab from his face, and I fell in love with him all over again.

  Having a child together bonded you, made the love between you grow in ways you never thought possible. I had never realized that until now. I’d missed that kind of connection the first time around with Matson. There was no man by my side holding my hand then, telling me I was amazing and looking at me like I’d hung the moon. There was no one telling me he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.

  I’d been alone then. But I wasn’t alone anymore.

  “Ryan, Sofia, meet your daughter.” The nurse handed the baby, who had been cleaned and swaddled, over to my waiting arms.

  I looked into her perfect tiny face and openly wept. She was perfect.

  “She looks like you,” I said, meeting Ryan’s blue eyes that were now bright with tears.

  He leaned down to kiss me, then placed a gentle kiss on our daughter’s forehead. We stayed like for a few moments, the three of us soaking in the moment like magic.

  Ryan shifted his weight. “Should I get everyone?” he asked the nurses.

  “It’s up to your wife,” one of them said, and my heart skipped a beat.

  I hadn’t agreed to marry Ryan yet, but I knew I would. The next time he asked, I’d say yes with no hesitation. I wanted to be his wife, and a part of me hated that I’d made him wait.

  Right now, as we stared together at the precious baby girl we’d created, I wished that I shared his last name as we’d brought her into this world. I always assumed that I’d never drop my maiden name since Matson had it as well, but once Ryan talked about adopting him, all that changed. The four of us would be Fishers, something I never even considered a possibility until Ryan came into my life.

  It seemed so simple, something insignificant in this day and age, but it was a bigger deal to me than I’d expected. Sharing Ryan’s last name was something I found myself desperate to do, and I hoped he asked me to marry him again soon. The last time he asked would be the last time I told him no.

  “Did you hear that, angel? It’s up to you, my wife.” Ryan winked, and I couldn’t help but smile at him.

  “Matson first,” I said. “And by himself, please.”

  Ryan nodded, then stepped outside the room.

  I looked down at the sweet girl on my chest, tracing her little features gently with a fingertip as she wavered between staring up at me and falling asleep.

  It felt like Ryan had only been gone two seconds, and then he was back at my side with my first love, my son.

  “Can I touch her?” Matson asked as he scooted onto the bed next to me.

  “Of course you can.”

  Not entirely sure what to do, he petted her head as if she were a puppy. I stopped myself from giggling, but it was sweet. She was so tiny in comparison to him, and I flashed back to when Matson was first born and how quickly the time had passed. How was my sweet baby already ten years old?

  “She’s so little,” he whispered.

  I smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “I know. You were that little once too.”

  “That’s weird.” Matson hopped off the bed. “I can hold her when she’s awake, right?”

  I glanced down and noticed that she had fallen asleep. “Of course you can,” I said, and his face lit up.

  “You’re not disappointed it’s a girl?” Ryan asked, and Matson turned to look at him.

  “Nah. I get to beat people up, remember?” Matson said the words so matter-of-factly that there was no arguing with him.

  I shot Ryan a look that told him he was going to have to deal with that later, and he just shrugged.

  “Want to go get everyone else for me?” Ryan asked Matson.

  “They can come in now?” My son looked at me for permission, and when I nodded, his expression filled with concern. “It’s a lot of people, Mama.”

  “It’s okay. They’re all family,” I said, and the words hit me like the force of a wave. This was my family now. Ryan’s brothers and their soon-to-be wives, his parents, and even Grant.

  They filed in one at a time, filling the room, and each person took their turn cooing at the baby. Once everyone else had seen her, Ryan took her from my arms and held her for the first time.

  He was nervous, concerned with holding her head properly, and my heart grew a little as I watched my mom show him how. Seeing Ryan Fisher holding our baby in his arms wasn’t something I was sure I’d ever get used to. I wanted a picture of it so badly, but my phone was God knows where.

  Thankfully, Jess and Claudia both apparently read my mind. Each of them smiled at me, then pulled out their phones and took a few pics. I mouthed thank you to them, and they gave me a thumbs-up like it was something they’d planned.

  “You’ve all been asking what her name is. So without further ado, I’d like you all to meet Apple Stem Fisher,” Ryan said with a grin.

  My mom’s eyes widened comically, and his brothers’ expressions froze before they attempted to form normal smiles.

  “Oh, that’s a lovely name,” Ryan’s mom lied.

  Then Ryan lost all control and started cracking up. “You should have seen your faces,” he said through his laughter.

  Frank punched him in the arm, and I couldn’t even blame him. Ryan deserved it.

  “Who does that?” Nick said, shaking his head.

  “What’s her real name?” Frank practically growled.

  “Hope.” Ryan beamed at them, looking like the proudest dad on the planet.

  “Now that’s a beautiful name,” my mom said, tears filling her eyes as she reached for the baby.

  And it was. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. She looked exactly like Ryan with the exception of her mouth and hair. Those lips were all mine.

  “How’d you choose?” Ryan’s mom asked as she took a few pictures with her cell phone of Hope with my mom.

  “We kept trying to pick a name before we even knew her,” Ryan said, and I interrupted with a small laugh.

  “It wasn’t working.”

  “It wasn’t.” Ryan chuckled. “We couldn’t agree on girl or boy names, and nothing felt right.”

  “So Ryan suggested we wait. He said we were trying too hard to name a baby we didn’t even know yet.”

  The room filled with the sound of sweet sighs of understanding.

  “It makes sense, right?” Ryan asked, and everyone agreed. “She’s the miracle we never expected,” he said, looking directly at me.

  “She’s the light that came out of the dark,” I added.

  “She was our hope without even trying.” Ryan looked between me and the baby, his eyes welling with emotion, and I wiped at my own, which had started tearing up as well.

  Jess took a step closer, stopping next to my bed to wrap her arm around
Matson, who was at my side. He followed suit, putting his arm around her. His crush hadn’t subsided, and I dreaded the day she married Nick, fearing that my boy might get his first taste of a broken heart.

  “She’s so perfect, Sof. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you, Jess. Your turn,” I teased, and the blood drained from her face.

  “Not yet,” she choked out, and I laughed, knowing that everyone in the room couldn’t help but overhear us.

  “I think someone might have cold feet, Nick.” I glanced at him and nodded toward Jess, and he waved me off. The last thing in the world Nick Fisher was worried about was his status with his girlfriend.

  “My baby’s just trying to climb that corporate ladder before she starts birthing future CEOs.” He grinned and gave her a wink. I swore Jess melted a little with the gesture.

  Nick and Jess always acted like a couple who had just gotten together instead of one who had been together for years, and I envied that. I hoped that Ryan and I never let our relationship grow stale. It required work to not get into that comfortable state where you expected things and stopped appreciating them, but it was possible. I wanted to make sure we both did that for each other . . . always.

  “You’ll be okay, right? For the wedding?”

  Claudia had replaced Jess at my side, and I cocked my head to the side at her question. I knew she wasn’t asking out of concern or worry for herself. She was genuinely about me being comfortable and ready to be a bridesmaid on her big day.

  “Yes,” I said enthusiastically, wanting to be sure she knew how excited and happy I was for both her and Frank. “Hope should be mostly eating and sleeping still, so the biggest thing I’ll have to do is breastfeed or pump a few times during the day. I hope that’s okay.”

  “Are you kidding? Of course that’s okay.” Claudia leaned down and gave me a hug.

  “When do you think you and Frank will have kids?” I whispered so the eavesdropping group surrounding us wouldn’t hear.

  “Tomorrow.” Claudia grinned as she glanced at Frank, who was completely oblivious to our conversation. He was staring at Ryan and Hope with what looked like awe and maybe envy in his eyes. “But, seriously, look at him right now. He’s going to have baby fever more than I do. Probably try to put a baby in me the second we get home.”

  “You might be right.”

  Frank looked over at us then and gave Claudia a smile that could stop any woman in her tracks. He was head over heels in love with her, and it was a beautiful thing to see.

  “I guess I won’t mind,” Claudia said. “Congratulations again. She’s really beautiful.”

  “She looks just like Ryan.” I shook my head. “It’s like I didn’t even make her at all.”

  “Damn Fisher genes.”

  I shrugged. “Could be worse.”

  “Oh, it could definitely be worse. The three of us are pretty lucky,” she said.

  I agreed, even though I wasn’t entirely sure what I was agreeing to. Were we lucky that our kids might be as handsome as their fathers? Or were we lucky that we were the women that they’d chosen to love and spend their lives with?

  Maybe none of it was luck at all. Maybe all of it was?

  I had no idea, but I sure was thankful for all of it.

  Diapers Are Dumb

  Ryan

  Frank pulled me aside at the hospital while everyone else was ogling the baby. “I know it’s not the best time to tell you, but I got some news.”

  “What did you find out?”

  He pulled at his hair, which told me the answer wasn’t good. “If that guy has the original deed to the land, then the one our lawyers drew up and Sam signed probably won’t be valid. An original documented deed with signatures supersedes all others that came after.”

  My heart, which had been soaring on cloud nine only moments ago, came crashing down. “So we’re screwed? We have no rights?”

  “Technically, it looks that way. But I’m not giving up yet.”

  “Don’t,” I said firmly. “There’s got to be some kind of loophole.”

  “Exactly what I was thinking.”

  We three were all financially set for life, thanks to not only the success of the bar itself, but also to the location fees we received whenever the bar was used in a television episode. Yet it wasn’t about the money.

  Sam’s Bar had evolved from a dream to a reality, and Frank and I made it happen together without anyone else’s help. And as soon as Nick joined us, it felt like even more of an accomplishment. The bar was about us as brothers being in business together, succeeding by pooling our individual talents.

  Before Nick came along, we had allowed a few reality TV shows to film us for the free exposure it gave us. Nick was the one who changed all that, negotiating location fees for us anytime the bar was either mentioned or used as a shooting location. And if one of us appeared in the episode, we got a talent fee.

  Those fees added up nicely over the years, continuing to earn us money without any effort. Sam’s had become a part of us, our heart, and Fishers didn’t walk away from the things they loved.

  We had to figure it out.

  • • •

  The next ten days passed by in a blink. We still weren’t completely sure what the hell was going on with the original deed to the land or how this man could have gotten his hands on it. Frank’s information so far had been deemed accurate, but we still didn’t have any concrete information beyond that.

  No one could find any records of Sam Sr. passing the land to a new owner, but that didn’t mean that it hadn’t happened. There were apparently hundreds of unorganized boxes of property transactions to go through by hand, and that required time that we didn’t have.

  Because we had no way to get in touch with the scary dude who had threatened to take it all from us, we were at his mercy, which wasn’t something any of us were used to. By not giving us a way to contact him, he’d taken away our ability to negotiate or get more information to determine what it was he was truly after. None of us could figure out why he wanted to tear down the bar, although we never mentioned it after we talked about it at length one night.

  Like typical men, we refused to ask the same questions over and over again. What was the point when we had no answers? We’d just be whining like a bunch of girls, and Frank wouldn’t allow that. So until we had a fucking solution, we didn’t discuss it; which meant we never talked about it because we had nothing to offer on the how-do-we-fix-this front.

  Aside from the bar, things at home were going great. Well, as great as they could when you no longer got to sleep through the night.

  The whole not having sex with my sexy-as-fuck girlfriend issue had been easier to adjust to than I’d anticipated, but the not-sleeping part sucked. People weren’t kidding when they said sleep would become a thing of the past after you had a baby. Hope woke up wailing every two hours on the dot, and Sofia was like a damn psychic, knowing exactly what the baby needed and tending to it, sometimes with her eyes half-closed. How she knew these things while I still fumbled a putting the diaper on properly was beyond me.

  While I tried to spend most of my time at home, I also continued to check in at the bar. Since Hope spent most of her day sleeping, Sofia had made it a habit to force me out of the house every day. She said I was driving her crazy, sitting around staring at her all day long, but she didn’t realize how mesmerized I was by both her and the baby we created.

  I wanted to help, to do everything, but realized pretty early on that there wasn’t much for me to do. Sofia breastfed our little angel and I changed her diapers—badly—whenever she let me, which honestly wasn’t very often. I think she’d been so used to doing everything on her own that she forgot I was there to help. Or maybe she was tired of fixing all my diaper mishaps. It was probably a little of both.

  Matson and I tried to come up with a plan to steal the baby one afternoon so Sofia could sleep all day and not worry, but we failed. Sofia yelled, so Matson and I left and played at the b
each until dusk. After that, I started bringing him to the bar with me so we could both get out of the house together, and Sofia only had to tend to one kid instead of two. Even though it wasn’t technically legal to have Matson in the bar during operating hours, it was worth the risk it posed if we got caught, especially if we were going to lose the bar anyway. What would it matter? We never stayed for very long, and Matson loved it there.

  “When I grow up, can I work here?” he asked one afternoon, and my heart cracked in two inside my chest.

  “Absolutely. I’ll teach you everything I know,” I said, hoping to God it wasn’t a lie, and that the bar would still be standing when Matson was old enough to work here.

  “Cool,” he said as he spun on the bar stool.

  “Are you going to make drinks like Ryan, or do you want to be a marketing genius like me?” Nick asked.

  Matson put a finger on his chin as he pondered the question. “Probably both,” he said with confidence. “I can do both, right?”

  Nick grinned at him. “You can do anything you want.”

  When I grunted in frustration, Nick shook his head at me.

  “How do you still not know how to do that?”

  I glared at him, then stared down at the baby doll on top of the bar that I’d been practicing putting a diaper on. I lifted it into the air and watched as the diaper came undone and fell off. Nick and Matson both laughed.

  “It’s not as easy as it looks,” I grumbled, dropping the dumb doll.

  Nick waltzed over, grabbed the doll and the diaper, and within two seconds had it on perfectly. Why could everyone else and their dog put a diaper on a baby without any issues, and I couldn’t?

  “You can’t be good at everything, brother,” Nick said, laughing at my dejected expression.

  “But I need to be good at this. I need to be able to put a diaper on my daughter and not have it fall off the second she starts wiggling.”

  “Mama said you’re not allowed to anymore,” Matson said, still spinning his bar stool.

  My head swung in his direction. “What?”

  He stopped spinning and looked up at me with wide eyes. “Uh, maybe I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”