by J. M. Dabney
“I’ll go take care of them while you clean up.” He rose to his knees, easing out of his boy’s red, swollen hole. He placed a kiss between Pure’s shoulder blades then quickly got dressed to get to the bathroom to wash his hands and then off to the nursery.
THE TWO TINY girls were on either side of their brother, hugging him for all he was worth and Desi was having a meltdown. First thing in the morning affection from his sisters wasn’t his favorite thing. He required a bit more waking up than his balls-to-the-walls sisters.
“Give me Desi,” Pure demanded and picked him up, carrying him out of the room to get their bottles ready.
“Princesses, you have to stop torturing your brother,” he said as he smiled at his and Pure’s daughters. They had his dark hair and deep tan skin, while Desi was all Pure. They’d had two embryos implanted, Nicole and Billie came from one, and Desi the other. They’d left it to chance and received three surprises. He’d never expected to fall in love at first sight with three very tiny pissed off humans.
They’d been so small, and over a month early. The first month, while they had to stay in the hospital, had been filled with sleepless nights and worry. Pure’s soft cries awakening Raul as he worried about their children’s future. The joy of their birth exploded into fear as Desi fought to breathe that first twenty-four hours.
He quickly changed them and picked them up to go join Pure in the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway and remembered another morning with a kitchen filled with kids. His boy making breakfast. It didn’t seem like two years had passed or that he would’ve come to be the one to make his boy’s dreams come true.
This is the dream he’d had as he’d spent months in prison, waiting for his release day to set him free. Those first days of worry, not knowing if his boy had survived. The missed opportunity to tell his boy he’d loved him.
They had learned their lesson. They didn’t wait for the right time to do or say what was needed; even if that ended in the start of a fight. They’d allowed too much to fester, had made mistakes, but no longer. He approached Pure with their daughters hugging his neck in a chokehold far stronger than their size.
He stopped in front of his boy and leaned in, brushing his mouth over Pure’s. “You forgot to tell me something, didn’t you, baby boy?”
He took in the sweet tilt of Pure’s lips. “I love you, Daddy.”
“Good boy, I love you too.”
They wrapped their arms around each other, their son squeaking as he made himself heavy in an attempt to escape the group hug. His perfect boy, their overly dramatic son, and two highly affectionate daughters were the future he hadn’t seen coming, but he’d never take it for granted.
He groaned as they separated. They had an hour and a half to feed the babies and get breakfast themselves before Princess showed up to watch the triplets. Then him and Pure were off to work. Things at Trenton had slowly worked out. Everyone agreed mistakes were made. They loved their jobs, but life had changed. Pure and him alternated jobs. Only working together when a full team was needed. They wanted to make sure one of them was always home at night with their daughters and son. Family was always the most important thing for them—everything else came second.
He also accepted something else since his prison stay. Family wasn’t about the blood that ran through their veins or the name shared. It was about acceptance and care, the people who always had their backs. Forgiveness for missteps. Before Powers and the Crews, he would’ve never seen this life for himself. Yet, even if he’d taken a different path, some part of him knew that it would be like a missing piece—a regret for some unknown thing. But he didn’t have to worry about that. This was the happily ever after they deserved and suffered to attain.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.M. Dabney is a multi-genre author who writes Body Positive/Diverse Romance and Fiction. They live with a constant diverse cast of characters in their head. No matter their size, shape, race, etc. J.M. lives for one purpose alone, and that’s to make sure they do them justice and give them the happily ever after they deserve. J.M. is dysfunction at its finest and they makes sure their characters are a beautiful kaleidoscope of crazy. There is nothing more they want from telling their stories than to show that no matter the package the characters come in or the damage their pasts have done, that love is love. That normal is never normal and sometimes the so-called broken can still be amazing.
The author is Gender Nonconforming are uses the preferred pronouns They/Them.
ALSO BY J.M. DABNEY
Sappho’s Kiss Series
When All Else Fails
More Than What They See
Dysfunction it its Finest Series
Club Revenge
Soul Collector Prophecy
Twirled World Ink Series
Berzerker
Trouble
Scary
Lucky
Brawlers Series
Crave
Psycho
Bull
Hunter
Executioners Series
Ghost
Joker
King
Sin & Saint
Trenton Security
Livingston
Little
Gage
Pure
Masiello Brothers
The Taming of Violet
3 Moments Trilogy
A Matter of Time
The Men of Canter Handyman
Black Leather & Knuckle Tattoos
Chance at the Impossible
Bloody Knuckles Bar & Grill
Clipping the Gargoyle’s Wings
New West City Universe
Co-written with Davidson King
The Hunt
Standalone
By Way of Pain (Criminal Delights - Assassins)
Waited So Long
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Author Note
Prologue
1. It Was Just Stitches
2. Wasn't This Cozy?
3. Day with the Crew Babies
4. No Fucking Way
5. They Couldn't Wait and See
6. Raul's Fate Awaited
7. The Great Escape
8. The Boy Needed His Ass Spanked
9. He'd Made the First Move
10. What Now?
11. Could Pure Do This?
12. Their Time was Quickly Coming to an End
13. Setting Up the Perimeter
14. An Endless Whodunit
15. Raul was Acting Strange
16. Hell Has Found Them
17. The Slamming of Jail Doors
18. When Would They Answer Him?
19. Pure Awakened with Nothing
20. His Boy Came for Him
21. Enemies Were Closer Than They Expected
22. They Couldn't Hide Forever
23. Trenton Took No Prisoners
24. Nothing Was As It Seemed
25. This was the Happily Ever After
26. Epilogue
About the Author
Also by J.M. Dabney
