by Sable Sylvan
Goldilocks lay in the three beds that had been pushed together, held by the bear shifters that she could now call her mates. With Brian on one side, Cliff on the other, and Glen spooning Brian, the gang was back together, sleeping in the same room for the first time since high school. The hokey high school reunion had been worth going to, as it had brought her close to the three men she knew she was meant to spend the rest of her life with. She’d never believed in true love, fated mates, or destiny before that night, but there’d been something that had brought the four of them together, and it had been her. Goldilocks and her three bears: their relationships had gone from cold to hot over night but finally, she’d found the bed that she belonged in, the one that they’d all made, and messed up, together.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Goldilocks sneaked a peek at the clock as she bent down to check on the lasagna: it was nearly five, and that meant the boys would be home soon. She still had so much to do around the house: she’d made the beds, cleaned the bathroom, and tidied up the living room, but it felt as if there was always more work to be done. If it wasn’t for the chore chart, there was no way that any of this would’ve worked, and the weekly meal plans were a godsend as well.
As she set the table, the front door opened. “Honey, I’m home,” called her black bear shifter. Goldilocks put down the dish she was holding and went to the front door, getting on tip-toes to kiss her big, bad shifter on the lips. Even five months after they’d all had their marriage ceremony, eloping together to Vegas to get a three-way marriage certificate, wife life still felt fresh and new to Goldie.
“Long day at the mill, Bri?” asked Goldie.
“You know it, babe,” said Brian, holding Goldie from behind and kissing her on the cheek. “What’s for dinner? It smells amazing.”
“It’s Italian night, your favorite,” said Goldie with a giggle. “Go get cleaned up, your game’s going to be on soon, isn’t it?”
“The game can wait,” said Brian, washing his hands in the kitchen sink. “Italian food is serious business. Is that garlic bread I smell?”
“It is,” said Goldie. “I found a recipe for the garlic bread that uses the same temperature as the lasagna!”
“Awesome,” said Brian, setting the table. “I was worried for a second we’d need to get another oven. At this rate, we’re going to need another kitchen.” Brian turned Goldie around and rubbed her belly, which was getting rounder by the week. In just three months, the house was going to get a lot more crowded. According to the doctor, Goldilocks had gotten pregnant around the same night as the high school reunion, so there was no telling who the father of the kids was, at least, without a DNA test, which they’d all rejected: the kids would be raised by all three men, regardless of their parentage.
“I don’t remember any of my other friends getting this round when they got pregnant,” said Goldie with a frown. She couldn’t see her toes anymore, and her dogs were barking up a storm.
“Are your friends married to bear shifters?” teased Brian. It seemed as if they had this conversation every day. “No, scratch that: are they married to three bear shifters? All of whom want their hot bodies every damn night of the week? Plus, you know...there’s plenty of men that find pregnant women sexy. In fact, I don’t know a single male bear shifter that hasn’t been more attracted to his fated mate once she got pregnant.”
“How many do you think are in there?” asked Goldie, rubbing her tummy. Although she’d had ultrasounds as part of the prenatal health plan, she’d asked not to be told the number of babies or their sexes. While she knew, rationally, that they were healthy, she hadn’t felt them kick yet, and while at the beginning, waiting for the kick was fun, at the five month mark of the pregnancy, it had stopped being fun and started being a worry. Her doctor had assured her that some women never felt a kick and had perfectly healthy baby, but it was four weeks past the average time to feel a kick, and at this point, she’d take a kick, a punch, or a karate chop.
“I’m hoping three, one for each of the guys,” said Brian. “And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope there was a black bear shifter in there for me...but if there isn’t, well, we can try again, now, can’t we?” Brian slipped a hand beneath Goldie’s dress, slipping it up around her thigh.
“Oh my God, Brian, stop, what if someone walked in?” hissed Goldie. They didn’t have any neighbors that lived close enough to peep in the windows, which meant nobody was around to judge their unorthodox lifestyle. Of course, rumors had gone around Port Jameson that Goldie was living a life of sin, but the marriage certificate had been whipped out so many times that the rumors had shut up just about everyone, except a few bigots, and more than a handful of girls had headed to Vegas for “special marriages” of their very own.
“Who’s that, feeling up my wife?” said a voice as somebody rapped their knuckles against the kitchen window. “Goldie, how could you do this to me, after years of living a long and happy monogamous lifestyle?”
“That joke’s getting so old, Glen,” said Cliff, rolling his eyes as the pair walked in through the kitchen side door. “But seriously, do you two need to get a room while we finish up dinner?” Cliff was living at Goldie’s place now: although his house’s property bordered hers, they were working on an extension between the two houses that would make them into one huge house. Brian and Glen’s apartments hadn’t been anything special, and they’d only had a few boxes of stuff to bring over to Goldie’s place. Cliff and Glen worked in town, so they carpooled, and Brian kept his truck, which had proved useful given all the construction work being done around the house.
For now, things were cramped, to put it lightly, but soon, there’d be a large nursery as well as two bedrooms for the kids. As the kids grew up, and as the household had more kids, they’d add more rooms. In the end, each adult would also have their own separate bedroom, in addition to the large master bedroom, which was going to be extended, as the current set up, with two king beds, was too cramped. Of course, they needed to add more than a few more bathrooms. All the main rooms had to be much, much bigger: every man wanted at least one litter by Goldie, and that meant a minimum of six kids for the household. They’d agreed that having the litters close together made the most sense: of course, it meant the house would practically be a daycare for a few years, but the bear men had a strong urge to breed at a young age.
Luckily, Goldie’s and Cliff’s parents’ homes had been built at the same time as part of the same project by the same architect and the architectural styles were the same. Of course, this now meant that there was room for a huge yard once the trees that blocked Goldie’s house from Glen’s were knocked down, but the shifter men were still arguing about what would be done with that area, whether the trees should be chopped to make room for a large lawn to play football (Glen’s idea) or whether the trees should stay to teach the kids an appreciation of nature.
Recently, things had gotten even more crowded at the house: each of the sets of grandparents had sent stuff to the household for the babies! At first, none of the parents had approved of the triple marriage, but once they all met one another, and realized Goldilocks wasn’t a tramp, and the men weren’t under a spell or going through a phase, they had come around, and they were all excited for their grandbabies...and the men’s grandparents were all as competitive as their shifter boys, trying to outdo one another over the last few weeks by buying bigger cradles, fluffier blankets, and piles and piles of toys for the kids. For now, while the new wing was under construction, the stuff stayed at Cliff’s house, which was basically empty, but at the rate the men were going, building the new wing of the house on the weekends and some nights after work, the stuff would be moved into the new nursery within the next two months, and they’d have time to stock up the room with diapers and bottles and everything else a baby (or a litter of shifter cubs) could need.
“No, everything will be ready soon,” said Goldilocks with a giggle. This was the best part of he
r day: having all three of her handsome husbands with her, ready to enjoy a great meal together.
The guys helped in the kitchen as Goldie drained the pasta, finished reheating three Mason jars of her grandma’s special spaghetti sauce, and pulled out the cheesy garlic bread to cool. They all sat down at the large table,
It wasn’t until she had when Goldie spotted something extra on the table.
“Are those...pickles?” she asked. “Mini sweet pickles? You guys are the best: how did you know?” She took one of the small pickles into her mouth: it was sweet and sour at the same time, but what she really loved was the way that the pickles were wet yet crunchy at the same time. She’d never been a pickle person before the pregnancy, but she practically had pickle fever now.
“Well, you were talking about them in your sleep all night,” teased Glen. “So of course we had to go to the grocery store on our way home, and practically buy out the place.”
“What else did I talk about in my sleep?” asked Goldie warily. “I heard pregnant women can say some pretty weird stuff.” She bit into the garlic bread: it was still hot, but the cheese topping with a garlic crust didn’t burn her mouth like it had the week before, and it sated her urge for something salty and oily and full of carbs.
“Oh, the usual,” said Cliff with a devilish grin as Goldie cleaned off her plate. “Something about...dessert.”
“Chocolate ice cream?” asked Goldie. Now that the guys had mentioned it, she did remember having a dream that left a sweet taste in her mouth.
“Well, some kind of dessert that was loaded with nuts,” said Glen, putting Goldie’s hand on his crotch. She could feel his hard member and although the guys were all cool with public displays of affection, Goldie still blushed as she felt Glen’s throbbing tumescence.
“Dude, seriously, at the table?” joked Brian. “Save it for the bedroom.”
“Oh, I plan to,” said Glen. “And honey, the food is amazing, you’ve outdone yourself again. What’s on the menu for tomorrow night?”
Goldie shot Glen a devilish grin. “I don’t know...tomorrow’s Wednesday, and you know what that means.”
Wednesday was the night of the week that the men cooked for their women and it was obvious that at least one of them had forgotten about their duty. Glen looked to Brian and for a second, Glen was the palest man in the room, even paler than the polar bear shifter. “Guys, what’re we gonna do?”
“We can worry about that tomorrow, although I’m thinking...fried pickles for an appetizer, pickle spears, pickle slices, mini pickles, you name it,” said Glen, looking at the empty plate which had been piled high with pickles for Goldie. “Are you full, Goldie?”
“Yeah, I’ve had two plates of pasta,” said Goldie. “And way too many pieces of that garlic bread. I guess my body wants salt.” When she’d first gotten pregnant, the men had practically had to force her to eat extra: she hadn’t paid much attention when her friends had been pregnant or had babies, and so she didn’t know that when her body had a craving, it was up to her to sate that craving, whether it was for spicy nachos at two in the morning or coconut bonbons at three in the afternoon. Cravings were her body’s way of telling her what her babies needed, and if she even had a slight urge for something, she had to have it, doctor’s orders.
“Well, you’re eating for two,” said Glen, rubbing her belly. It was his night to get to sit next to his wife, and he wasn’t going to miss any opportunity to cop a feel of her creamy curves. “Or three. Or four or five or...”
“I’m full, really,” said Goldie. Her stomach rumbled and she felt some room growing as the calories she’d practically wolfed down were siphoned to the tenants in her belly.
“I heard that. You better have room for some dessert,” said Cliff, coming over to the table with a bowl of chocolate ice cream with a caramel ripple running through the ice cream, the ice cream covered with whipped cream, nuts, and chocolate sauce. Even more delicious was the site of Cliff carrying the ice cream, his tailored button down shirt rolled up to his forearm. Ever since he’d moved back to Port Jameson and gotten a gig at County Hospital, he’d started dressing more like the other husbands, although he still had his city-boy designer tastes.
Glen got up so Cliff could sit next to their pregnant wife and Glen joined Brian shirtless in the kitchen for cleanup. “I really couldn’t eat another bite,” said Goldie, admiring the two shirtless, buff men who were covered in their own sweat and the soapy bubbles from the kitchen sink. Their mate marks were still golden yellow, and although she hadn’t seen them glow as brightly as they had the first night she’d had sex with the men, all together, the mark still glowed during any love making sessions, individual or group, and whenever the men had a positive romantic thought about their wife near her presence.
“That’s too bad,” said Cliff, before taking a long, seductive spoon of ice cream into his mouth. He plunged his tongue into Goldie’s mouth, his tongue icy cold and slimy with ice cream. Goldie squirmed for a second and as he rubbed her tummy, started to giggle, before enjoying the taste of the caramel and chocolate sauces that had warmed inside of Cliff’s mouth, becoming a sugary lava. Glen ribbed Brian, and they both turned around to watch the scene, taking a break from putting away leftovers and washing dishes to watch their wife get tortured with ice cream.
“I guess I could have a few bites,” she said, and Cliff spoon-fed her ice cream while Glen and Brian cleaned up the kitchen. The ice cream helped with the cramps she’d been getting in her lower back due to the weight of the pregnancy, but her hips were load bearing hips, and her form was perfectly suited to taking a massive litter. Her womb was now zoned as a multiple occupancy residential lot, and as soon as the nine-month lease expired, she’d evict those tenants by force.
“Cliff, don’t just lounge around,” barked Glen. “Put those hands of yours to work!”
“If you insist,” said Cliff, getting down on his knees, taking one of Goldie’s bare feet in his hands and rubbing the arches. Yes, Goldilocks had become an absolute stereotype: barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.
Goldilocks fed herself ice cream while Cliff rubbed her feet and looked up at her, gauging her every reaction to his touch. The way she moaned while getting a foot massage made him consider going back to medical school to become a chiropractor.
“That’s right, babe, just lay back and relax,” said Glen. “The future mother of my babies has got to relax.
“Your babies? Pretty sure that the fact she’s craving ice cream, read, ice, means she’s got some polar cubs in there,” said Cliff. “Plus, everyone knows polar bears are the strongest swimmers of any of the bears, so obviously, my sperm were the strongest swimmers...you do the math.”
“Boys, boys,” said Goldie. “They’re our babies, and it’s not like we’re going to know what they’re going to shift into until they’re eighteen. Heck, they might not even be –”
Before she could say, shifters at all, Glen raised a finger to her lips. “Don’t. You. Dare,” he said, the other two men turning.
“Yeah, don’t joke about that,” said Glen, drying the cleaned dishes. “You could give a bear a heart attack.”
“At least we have a doctor in the house,” joked Brian as he put away dishes.
“There’s no way in heck I’m letting Cliff deliver my babies,” said Goldilocks. “No offense, sugar, but, call me traditional, I don’t want my husband delivering my baby, I want him by my side...and don’t you dare backseat drive, or backseat operate, on my birth.”
“I can’t make any promises,” said Cliff. “If you get paired with me when you go to County, well, I’ve taken a Hippocratic Oath to treat any and all patients.”
“Goldie, is this that pregnancy thinking we’ve heard about? Be rational: Cliff’s the best doctor at County, probably in the whole damn state,” said Brian. “No way we’re gonna let someone from outside the family...down there.”
Goldie resisted the urge to roll her eyes: her guys could go from competitiv
e to supportive at a moment’s notice, but that’s what she’d loved about them. There was a unique dynamic they all had, and while it could be messed up at times, in the end, they were the four people that had been a family since the day they all became best friends, and a five year gap in that was nothing in the long scheme of themes.
She looked down at her tummy and rubbed it: in just a few months, there’d be three new members of the family, the house’s extra wing would be finished, and she’d be a stay at home mom instead of a housewife to three messy shifters.
That’s when she felt it: the first kick. At first, she thought it had to be gas, but the kick was unlike anything else she ever felt before. She hadn’t been waiting for it, staring at her belly (literally navel gazing) like she had been for weeks, and it had finally happened when she’d least expected it...just like the love she’d found with the babies’ dads. “No frikkin’ way,” she said with glee. “Guys...I felt a kick!”
An, of course, within a minute, the guys were all competing to see who could feel the next kick, and arguing about how of course the kid who was kicking was their kid. Goldie smiled: she wouldn’t have it any way. Goldilocks and her three bear shifters: sometimes, things got hot, and sometimes, they got cold, but in the end, everything was just right, in a big, comfy bed with her shifter husbands.
...and they lived happily ever after...
Sneak Peek: Little Red Riding Bears
Meredith stormed up the stairs to the green and black Victorian house, which practically blended into the background of tall Oregon pines and fog and rang the doorbell once, then twice, then moved onto knocking angrily at the door.
A tall man opened the door roughly mid knock, nearly ripping the door straight off its hinges, and Meredith didn’t have time to pull back before her fist had hit his chest...hard. His chest was firm, broad, and a swath of crimson red hair covered the space over his heart, right where Meredith had hit him.
