A Bundle of Mannies

by Lorelei M. Hart

  Pace closed his eyes and inhaled, stopping at the kitchen entrance. “My grandmother used to make this for me when I was upset about things.”

  My omega was the best—both of them were.

  “Sit and relax. I know it’s been a hard day.”

  He nodded and sat at the table, his shoulders slumped. “I feel like I’ve run a 10K, even though I’ve just been sitting and waiting for…something.”

  “Stress will do that to you,” Adam said, pouring all three of us a cup.

  Adam’s and my stares met more than once. We had big things to talk about, but now wasn’t the time. Tonight, we would offer Pace our warmth and love, but anything beyond that would have to be initiated by him.

  We sipped our tea in silence.

  “Pace.” Adam put down his teacup and cleared his throat. He tugged at his ear, and I knew it meant he was nervous. Good not to be the only one in the room anxiety-ridden as hell. “We want to talk to you about something.”

  “What is it? Oh, you’re not firing me, are you? I love those kids.” A tear formed in the corner of Pace’s eye, and I couldn’t help but to reach over and try to console him. He had been through the wringer, emotionally.

  “Pace, no. Not it at all. It’s something else.”

  “What is it, then?” I watched his Adam’s apple bob.

  Adam continued, “We know things have been a mess for you with your dad, and we would like to offer you our support and love.” He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. “I’m not making sense.”

  Adam had never been good at getting straight to the point. I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Let us take care of you.” There, that sounded coherent. Mostly. “We set up our room to be like a little getaway. You take care of us—all of us all the time. I honestly don’t know how we’d have managed these months without you. Please, let us help you.”

  Pace blushed a thousand lovely shades of red and sat up straight.

  “It doesn’t have to mean any more. We already set up an airbed for us in the other room.” He had? Adam had thought of so much. Sure, our plan had been to help Pace and not add extra pressure to his life, but when I closed my eyes, I saw my husband and me holding him, helping him feel as safe and as loved as he deserved. “But it can if you want, and it wouldn’t change anything you didn’t want changed. This is for you. All of this is for you. You carry so much on your shoulders, let us help lift it if only for an evening.”

  “I couldn’t.” He closed his eyes, and, for the first time since I’d met him, he looked almost unsure about what he was going to say. “I mean, I want to—very much—but I’m not sure I would ever want to sleep somewhere else after being held by the both of you.” Oh, he was thinking about being wrapped in our arms.

  Boy did my cock jump at that notion as my heart did a pitter-patter and the butterflies started swarming. And we weren’t even talking sex. At least, I didn’t think so. We were talking about comfort—comfort he so very much deserved.

  Adam smiled.

  We were all blushing like fools now, my face burning at the mental image running through my mind. How I wanted us to be on the same page when it came to bedroom things once the dust settled and the stress less. Making too bold of decisions now could easily backfire.

  “We would never ask you to leave, isn’t that right, Lincoln?”

  I slammed my jaw together. It was too much too soon at the worst of times for him. It didn’t make it any less true. But timing. Damn it. The timing was the absolute worst. “We would never.”

  Adam scratched his chin, the way he did when he was buying time to choose his words wisely. “We’ve wanted you in our bed for a while, but…”

  “I’m the manny,” Pace finished for him.

  “Yes, and we didn’t want to do anything to lose you in that capacity,” I added quickly, afraid this whole conversation was going to spiral into something none of us were ready for. Or, more accurately, that we were ready for had the timing not been so off. But wasn’t that the thing. If things had not happened the way they had, would we have been brave enough to broach the topic—to risk losing him in whatever capacity we had him?

  “Our kids love you like you were another father.” There was some sadness to Adam’s words, his father guilt probably hitting him hard again.

  I had two omegas to take care of tonight. Please, let me be strong enough to give them all they need.

  “And Adam and I wouldn’t fare well if you weren’t here, not just because you’re the manny, but because, well, we’re kind of in love with you.” And there went my mouth. I had either just ruined everything or made it one thousand times better.

  Pace looked from me to Adam and back to me again. “I’d love to sleep with the both of you tonight, but the other things—I’d like some time to think.”

  Relief flooded me. We hadn’t ruined it—probably. He wasn’t running.

  “I’m like an open wound right now, just raw and vulnerable. I’d like a clear head before I make a decision that impacts this family so greatly.”

  “That’s enough for us—more than.” I took his hand in mine while Adam did the same. “We hadn’t meant for this conversation to go so far tonight.”

  “My…our alpha…Linc is right. We just want to take care of you. Can we forget the rest and revisit it at a later date?” Adam’s voice lowered with each word, his insecurity showing through, his vulnerability with Adam telling me more about how strong his feelings ran than any of the conversations we had had. We were making the right choice, even if Pace ultimately decided he wasn’t the omega for us.

  “How about I draw you a hot bath or set you up with a shower, and we can make some tea for us all while you let the warmth of the water relax your muscles and wash away the grime of the day.” Adam looked to me as if unsure what to say next.

  Damned if I knew. This was brand spankin’ new for all of us.

  “A hot bath sounds great. I’ll be up soon. I need to grab some clothes first.” He left the table and stopped short of going into his room to look over his shoulder at us. Fuck, the man was sexy as hell when he pulled that move.

  “Shit…” Adam whispered. “I thought I messed everything up a few times there.”

  “Same,” I confessed. “But he seems receptive to our care. So, do you want tea duty or bath-running duty?”

  “Tea. You always make it too strong.” He chuckled. “And besides, I have a boner from the look he gave us on the way out.”

  He wasn’t the only one.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Pace

  I was half convinced I’d fallen asleep in the waiting room and was dreaming this. After a day that started with such potential and ended in despair, I almost didn’t know what to do. In my current emotional state, I shouldn’t be focused on anything but getting through the next days and weeks with Dad and, of course, doing my job because the kids and my employers were counting on me. But suddenly, it had all turned sideways and upside down.

  They wanted to take care of me. They’d invited me to join them in their bed—with or without them. No pressure. Of course, my mind couldn’t envision it without them. It was something I’d fantasized about way too often lately. How far their care extended was entirely up to me. They’d driven the point home clearly.

  I wanted…I wanted it to go far. All the ogling had shown me what amazing specimens of men they were, but that wasn’t why I wanted them, not tonight especially.

  I gathered my sleep pants from my room along with my favorite towel, one my father had sent me when I complained about how small the towels were while I trained to be a manny. It had cost him more to send the thing than it did to buy it, and I loved it to bits. They were running me a bath. Baths were odd in a way. I drew baths for the children, and it was caretaking and meeting their essential needs. But with Adam and Lincoln drawing one, it was that but so much more. Yes. Baths were an odd thing.

  A quick glance in the mirror on my way out showed me what they saw. I looked older th
an my years, my eyes sunken and my hair a frazzled mess. No wonder they had jumped to take care of me. I needed to pull myself together for my father’s sake. He had so much on his plate, and seeing me such a mess would only add to it. He needed to focus on getting well, not on his poor falling apart son.

  And he would get well. The doctor was wrong. I could feel it. I didn’t know how it would happen, but he was tough as nails, and this wasn’t the end of his life. It just wasn’t.

  I wiped an errant tear from my cheek as I closed my bedroom door shut. My bedroom. Suddenly, it didn’t feel like that anymore. Sure, maybe the emotional lows from the day had me grasping onto their words, but when I heard, “We would never ask you to leave,” flowing from Adam’s lips, something changed. I saw things in a new way.

  I stepped into the bathroom, the hot water already filling the room with steam and a subtle scent of lavender filling the air.

  “It’s supposed to relax you.” Lincoln turned off the handle. “If you prefer a different scent, I can re-run the tub. No harm. No foul.”

  I shook my head.

  “I put what I thought you might want on the ledge there, but if you need anything else, just call me.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I walked over to the tub which was brimming with bubbles. A bubble bath. It was perfect.

  “If you need anything, let me know,” he said again softly as he walked out the door, closing it with a click. No pressure on me. None. They had meant it when they said they just wanted to take care of me, which only made my heart long for them even more.

  I sank into the tub, allowing the warm water to relax my muscles and the soft scent to relax the rest of me and stayed there until the last bubble had dissipated then climbed out and dried myself off with my favorite towel, which felt more like a hug, and slipped on my sleep pants, suddenly feeling extra exposed by my forgetfulness of a shirt. I never slept in one, but I wasn’t going to sleep alone. I was going to sleep with my alpha and omega—my beginning and end. How apropos.

  Linc and Adam both had been nothing but kind to me since I’d entered their employ, and I’d reminded myself a thousand times it was no more. I worked here. They were great guys.

  It was more, however. So much more. Alpha. Omega.

  If I were being honest with myself, I’d known from the first day.

  Padding toward the door, I wondered why they chose tonight to invite me… What if it was pity? But as I reached the door, I decided I didn’t even care. I wanted the warmth and comfort they’d offered me no matter what their reason.

  But as I wrapped my hand around the knob, my motion flagged. What did I do now? Did I knock? Just open the door and walk inside? Hesitating, I nearly fell into the room when the door opened.

  “Come in, omega.” Lincoln extended a hand. “Come get under the covers and get warm. I trust you had a nice bath?”

  Despite the fact, I wasn’t at all cold, I grasped the excuse and his hand and let him lead me to the bed, nodding the entire way like a bobble doll. Adam flipped the bedding back, and I crept in next to him with Lincoln behind me. And I didn’t know what to do from there. In my fantasies, things just happened naturally, but this was real life, and we were three people who’d never been in bed together before.

  “I-I don’t know what comes next.” There. Admit your weakness. Tell it like it is. Speak the truth.

  Adam, bless him, slipped his arm under my shoulders and drew me close. “Whatever you want. We are here for you, to offer comfort, affection, and, if you’d like, sandwiches. I even made tea.” He pointed to the small tea tray on the dresser. It would never pass muster in the royal house I served in, but it was perfection in my eyes.

  “Sandwiches?” Despite myself, I let loose a laugh. “Is that what you think this is about?”

  “Not really, or at least not the traditional kind. Although we do have some good roast beef left over if you get hungry.” Linc arranged Adam on his side behind me, spooning me, then he lay down facing me and embraced us both. I hadn’t been cold, but now I was warm in a way I’d never been before.

  “I like this.” Such simple words for so much emotion, but they were all I had.

  “I’m glad, Pace.” Lincoln pressed his lips to my forehead and tucked my head under his chin. “We’ve talked about it, and we agree. If you are willing, we would like to try us being an ‘us.’ But we don’t want you to even think about anything right now but taking care of you and taking care of your dad. We just wanted you to know it was more to us. Anything else, even the fact we’ve fallen in love with you, can wait until—” He snapped his mouth shut.

  I struggled from between them, suddenly needing air. Pushing up against the headboard, I panted as if there were no oxygen in the room. I stared straight ahead, stunned almost into silence. Almost. “Can…can you say it again?”

  Adam also shifted and sat next to me, shoulder to shoulder. Linc still lay on his side but propped up on an elbow, watching me warily. “That your dad and you come first? Well, of course, we know your priorities are—”

  “Not that.”

  Adam said, “Are you okay, Pace?”

  The area where our skin touched was so hot, almost burning, but I didn’t move away. Nor did I answer, and Linc sat up and looked into my eyes. “What’s wrong, omega?”

  I shuddered. “You said you…you and Adam have fallen in l-love with me? How did this happen?”

  Adam stroked my arm with gentle fingertips and answered. “How could this not happen? You walked in the door, looking so hot the air sizzled, made our kids, who have also fallen in love with you, happy and almost well-behaved. You’ve taken over most of the cooking and feed us so well we’ve both gained weight even with upping our workout game. You’re funny and smart and kind. We aren’t idiots. Of course, we fell in love with you.”

  Linc went on. “Doesn’t everyone? I can’t imagine anyone could spend any time with you and not fall hard. Took us about sixty seconds.”

  I looked from one to the other, the dimness in the room softening the edges of their faces but doing nothing to dim the sincerity shining in their eyes. My tears spilled over as I reached out and gathered them close. “You’re right. There’s so much to deal with right now, and I don’t want you to ever feel like I said yes because I was needy and sad.”

  “We wouldn’t,” Linc protested, but Adam waved him to silence.

  “No. He’s right. Pace isn’t in any shape to do anything but sleep. So, let’s do that because if we wait much longer, the kids will be up and nobody will be sleeping.”

  “The kids!” I started to get up. “What will they think?”

  “They’ll think we’re hugging you to make you feel better,” Linc said, tucking me close. “Because that is what we are doing.”

  I snuggled in, breathing his scent and wishing I had the energy to do more. “Yes, thank you. I want to very much.”

  We didn’t sleep long, because dawn wasn’t far away, and little children woke early, but when we opened our eyes, they were both in the doorway, looking at us.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Adam

  Three days. It had been three days since we first shared a bed. It had been this enormous leap forward in so many ways.

  In others, we hadn’t moved forward one centimeter, and I had not a clue what to do about that.

  To say Pace had a lot on his mind was such a complete understatement. His father was sick, but stable. Linc swore stable was good. The doctors had expected a rapid decline and holding his own was a positive sign. I couldn’t wrap my mind around that one. I wanted to see improvement. Heck, I wanted a freaking miracle.

  We weren’t getting one anytime soon.

  So I understood. I truly did. Why would we move past sleeping snuggled together into doing more? It was far from the healthiest way to begin a relationship. Not that this was the beginning. No, things began long before we admitted to them.

  But I wanted smooches and nakedness and sweaty piles of exhausted limbs after explosive o
rgasms.

  I was a freaking selfish prick.

  “Papa!” Penny screamed, and I bolted as fast as I could, images of all the things that had gone wrong under my watch simply because my thoughts kept wandering to a sexy omega flashed through my mind.

  “What is it?” I’d run so fast I was out of breath by the time I reached the top of the stairs.

  “Beau is stinky.” She pinched her nose, eyes still sleep laden.

  “Dear sweet baby girl, remember our conversation about emergencies?” I knelt to her level, never more excited to have a poopy diaper in my near future than I was in this second.

  “If there is an emergency, I call 9-1-1.” She put her hands on her hips, beaming with pride. It wasn’t where I was going with things—not by a long shot—but her knowing how to get that kind of help was so important.

  “True, my smart girl, but I was talking about the other conversation, the one where you promised not to scream like you needed me to call 9-1-1 unless it really was an emergency.” It hadn’t gone quite like that, but after the neighbor across the street came over to see if I needed assistance, and the scream in question was over a dropped Popsicle, a conversation was had—one that resulted in her scream vanishing for many, many months.

  “Like if I got stuck under a car or the house was on fire…” She ticked each item off on her fingers.

  “If the house is on fire, Penny, is screaming the best plan?”

  “I need to get out of the house.” She pointed toward the door. “Then scream.”

  “Exactly. So, when your brother poops, should you scream?”

  “No.” She sighed. “But this is sooooooo much poop.” It was only half a concession, but it would have to do, the scent of her complaint hitting my nose like a sledgehammer.

  “Did you fix your bed after your nap?” Pace had taught her how to do it. It was hardly what you would call made, but it looked nice enough, and she was so proud to be doing princess things. Two points to Pace for using his Royal Manny background to get her thinking chores were princess like.