I glanced around and watched where they went. “Elisha’s brothers. They’re cops.”
CHAPTER TWENTYONE
ADAM
When we came out of Bunny’s and made that short walk to our apartment, I had my arm around Sophie’s shoulders. Briefly, we kissed on the lips. She may have been holding Ben’s hand too as he stood on the other side of her.
Carl led the way. It might have been all of ten paces that we traveled before we stopped and waited for Carl to open the door.
We stopped and waited, and while she kissed Ben, I noticed our parents across the street with our younger sisters. They were all staring at us. We won’t have to wonder when and how to tell them, I thought.
On impulse, I almost withdrew my hand quickly as if from a fire and stepped back.
I didn’t.
I coughed.
Under my breath muttered, “Don’t look now because it’s too late. Our parents are approaching.”
I stood my ground because I was an adult and I had made my choice about how I wanted to live and who I wanted to live with.
Carl turned around. “He’s right.”
Sophie wiggled from under my arm, and I believed she snatched back her hand from Ben. She suddenly looked pale and ill.
This may not have been the way our parents should have found out, but it was too late.
Younger sisters, being what they were, came right out with it as soon as they reached our side of the street.
“Have you got a boyfriend, Sophie?” asked Emma. Sophie’s youngest sister stared at me as if she’d never seen me before.
“Are you dating all three because you can’t tell them apart?” Megan asked, her gaze flitted between us.
Our sister, Diane, looked confused. “Okay, which of you guys is dating Sophie?” She sounded stern and put her hands on her hips as she spoke. It was comical for her age, but mostly for Sophie’s sake, I didn’t laugh.
Barbara’s face looked like thunder.
Our father didn’t look too happy either.
We lived in his apartment and had a few months left until we brothers completed our degrees. The gravity of the situation began to register with me. He wouldn't chuck us out or cut us off, I hoped. Could they split us up?
Carl stepped forward. “Let’s talk up in the apartment, shall we, not on the street. And to what we owe the pleasure of this surprise visit?”
Silently, I thanked Carl for stepping in. He was the only one of us not caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
“We’ve come to pick up a new clarinet for Diane. Our journey took us through this neighborhood; we thought we’d just stop by.”
“I did send you a text just a short while ago,” Barbara said.
Sophie bit her lip. “I left my phone up in the apartment as we were just stepping down for some breakfast. I didn’t think I’d need it.”
I understood. I didn’t have mine with me either because nothing else was as important to me as these three people. We’d all stopped bringing our phones to the dining table, and it was quite possible none of us had our phones when we stepped out together either.
The most important people in our lives were all together as a group. We had become a family and were making plans for our future together as one.
Ben and I had both secured positions for when we finish college in just a few months. Our jobs meant staying in the city. We envisioned continuing living in the apartment, assuming Dad didn’t kick us out.
Carl hadn’t found a job yet he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.
While Sophie was still in the first year of her arts degree, it seemed obvious to me that she and Carl could form an excellent business partnership related to the art world in the future.
Our father pulled out his wallet. “Girls, you go treat yourselves to whatever you want in there. And wait until we come back to fetch you.” He handed Diane some notes. Enough for a week’s worth of waffles, from what I could tell.
“You’ve got phones if you need us. Or we’re in this building, top floor,” Barbara said stiffly.
Carl unlocked the door, and we all followed in silence. We took the elevator in silence. We entered our apparent in silence. The longer it went on the worse I felt about the way this was going to go.
In our apartment, Dad sat down at the dining table and Barbara marched to the window.
This was good for us. My brothers and I positioned ourselves at various vantage points between them.
I’d learned something about the psychology of negotiation for my business degree, and it was something we’d discussed and played with at length as brothers. Already our opposition was divided, and nobody had said a word.
“What is going on?” Barbara demanded.
“We were just discussing how to tell you,” Sophie replied. I didn’t like leaving Sophie to face her mom like this but decided against intervening too soon.
“To tell us what exactly?”
Sophie looked at over at me. Okay; it was time to step up after all. “We’ve been more than just roommates. We’ve been dating, and it’s gotten serious,” I replied.
“You and Sophie?” Barbara asked me directly.
For a moment I wondered if we could pass it off as just one of us and Sophie. It might be easier for Barbara to accept. And here was when triplet telepathy would come in very handy. The damn thing didn’t work for us.
I looked at Sophie. I knew that although she’d like to spare her mom from pain and anguish, lies made Sophie miserable.
“What we’ve got is unusual, but we all adore Sophie. We all love her.”
I watched as Barbara drew in a sharp breath. Sophie sat down at the table with Dad. She looked shattered. I wanted to comfort her, but Carl moved first. He went and sat next to Sophie and placed his hand on hers.
“Sophie and I are dating, and I’m in love with her. She’s dating Adam and Ben as well, and that’s fine by all of us.”
Ben moved to stand behind Sophie. “I’m in love with your daughter, Barbara. She’s a special and unique girl, and I’ve never met anyone like her.”
Understandably, Barbara was at a loss for words. I couldn’t begin to imagine how she felt at that moment or what thoughts went through her mind.
I decided not to speak but give it time for the information to sink in.
“Sophie,” our father’s voice sounded calm and soothing. “What do you think about what my sons have said?”
She looked at him and replied, “It just happened, easily and suddenly. We got along so well living together that one thing led to another.”
“They say they are in love with you. They haven’t forced you into anything?”
Every one of us tensed. Anger rose up inside me at the very suggestion. Could he imagine we were like that?
“No, absolutely not. I wanted them as much as they wanted me. It was mutual.”
I turned to Barbara. “We promised to look after your daughter, and we have. Our living together arrangement works well, and we’d never let any harm come to her. Barbara, we three all sincerely love her. It might be difficult for you to understand, but we do.”
She didn’t even look at me. She did look at our dad. “What do you think of this?”
My heart sank. He’d just practically suggested something unthinkable and coercive was going on.
“Well, they’ve always been good boys. I had not one moment of doubt that Sophie would be safe when we moved her here.”
Yes, Dad, exactly.
“And they are nice boys. They will make excellent husbands to future wives, so why shouldn’t Sophie be one of those wives?”
“We don’t want other wives. We aren’t in an open relationship,” said Carl. “We only want Sophie, no other women. We’re faithful to her, and she is to us. We don’t want to share her.”
I knew what Carl meant, but it was a funny way of putting it.
A small smile came over my dad’s face too. “Oh, I see. Just the four of you in a committed relat
ionship?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Polyandry, that’s it. Is that what this is?”
We all nodded.
“I remembered the term for it. I knew a group of people once who had such a relationship. They may still be together, for all I know. If this is what you want and it’s working for you, then I have no problem with it.”
I was both relieved and shocked. I looked at Barbara. She only looked shocked but not relieved.
“Barbara, Sophie was obviously going to date guys when she went to college. It seems to me she’s picked three of the best guys the city has to offer and has decided to date them all at the same time. If they are all happy with that, then why should we have a problem?”
Barbara finally turned her attention to me. “How can you be happy sharing your girlfriend with other men?”
“I wouldn’t be happy sharing a girlfriend with just any other men, and we’ve never done this before.” Not that it was relevant or any of their business. “But the relationship I have with my brothers is special. We’ve got a tight bond. We’d trust each other with our lives. It’s different.”
Our dad stood up. “I think we should leave and talk about this between ourselves. I want to see you all happy, and if this makes you happy, then I’m good with that. We’ve got to collect the girls from the diner.”
Barbara walked over to where Sophie sat. She leaned over and kissed Sophie on the forehead. “You’ll always be my daughter no matter what. I can’t understand this at the moment. But I’ll try.”
CHAPTER TWENTYTWO
SOPHIE
Cowardly I may be, but I was in no hurry to see our parents. I thought my boys, as I called them, felt the same.
When opportunities came around, we’d jumped at anything that ensured we had many reasons why we couldn’t go home to visit. There were always things to do in the city or reasons to go away. We booked a little trip away for Easter.
Mr. Cooper visited us from time to time. Ostensibly it was to deal with the apartment, which was why Mom didn’t come with him. That excuse convinced no one. She had no reason not to spend a day out with him and see her daughter.
I didn’t call Mom, and she didn’t call me.
The boys spoke to their father regularly and networked with him over social media.
Mom and I made no effort to contact each other. Being an artist, I had acceptable methods of avoiding her. I made postcards out of my artworks and sent them to her on an almost weekly basis. We could both feel good about it. Me that I’d made an effort. Her that she’d heard from me. And yet, we completely avoided direct communication.
When school finally broke up for the summer, and it was all over for my big boys, we set off on another trip.
We’d booked a private house for a beach vacation. It was a long drive, but if we shared the driving and didn’t stop for longer than it took to use the restroom, we thought we could get there within a long day.
We piled into Adam’s car, and he drove the first shift. As I sat in the back with Carl and wasn’t driving for many hours, I didn’t pay too much attention to our route until it all started to look too familiar.
We were exceptionally close to home. I knew for a fact that this involved a significant detour. Our hometown was not in the direct line toward the beach vacation destination.
“Who’s idea was this?” I realized what they were planning, and I knew there was no point in getting upset about it. I could never stay cross with them for more than a few minutes. They always made me laugh or talk their way out of any trouble. They had a logical argument for everything, and it was impossible to win.
“Adam’s driving, I’d say it’s his fault,” said Carl.
“I’m admitting nothing and denying everything,” Adam called from the front.
Carl was sitting next to me; I aimed my comments at him. “You knew about it, didn’t you? You’re all in on it.”
Carl breathed in deeply. Of the three of them, I knew he hated confrontation the most.
Ben turned around in his seat, “We’re all agreed on this, so you’re outnumbered, Sophie. You need to see your mom.”
I sighed. “I’m not even going to argue with you because I know it’s true. I just wish you could have warned me that this was the plan.”
“It was for your good. If we’d have warned you, you wouldn’t have been excited about the vacation. You would have been worried about seeing your mom. As it is, we’ll be there soon, so you don’t have much time to think about it. We’ll just get it over with quickly.”
“How do you know she’ll be there?” As I said it, I realized this plot was bigger than just the three of them. “Your dad is in on this too? Does Mom know we’re coming?”
Carl shook his head. “No. Dad does, but not your mom.”
“That’s why I love you guys.”
“Because we’re so considerate and we look after you in every aspect of your life?”
“Um, something like that.”
When we pulled on to the driveway, I was surprised Mom came out to greet us. She pulled me into a big hug. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered and more loudly added. “I’ve made some dinner, so I hope you kids are hungry. You always look like you need feeding.”
Clearly, Mom was expecting us, but I didn’t know when she’d learned we were coming.
“Where are the girls?” I asked after we’d settled in the kitchen with drinks and the delicious smell of home-cooked food teasing our senses. I wondered if they’d deliberately been sent somewhere to avoid us so our freaky relationship couldn’t corrupt their morals.
“They’re at summer camp. They’ve been gone for a few days. I know they’ll be sorry they’ve missed you, but they’d already left by the time I learned you were coming today. And it has been booked for ages.”
Her lengthy excuse only made me more suspicious, not less. Nevertheless, Mom looked relaxed and genuinely happy to see us. There was no reason why she should be any different. We were the same people she knew last summer.
“Mom and Dad,” Carl said, which was weird because she wasn’t his mom. “We didn’t just pop by to eat your food. There are a few things we wanted to tell you.”
I looked at him and wondered what those things were.
“It’s in no particular order of importance, so let’s talk about me first.” Carl chuckled. “I’ve decided to do a masters in Art and Business studies.” Judging by the looks on Adam and Ben’s faces, this was news to them. “I’ve been offered a slot in the program, and I’ve decided to accept. I talked it through with Dad, so it’s not news for everyone. I just wanted to tell you all.”
I knew about the course and how much it interested him, but I didn’t know he’d decided to go for it. I started clapping, because, why not.
Adam and Ben both went over and gave him those brotherly handshakes that involve a lot of slaps on the arms and punches to the shoulders.
“So, it’s my turn to make an announcement.” Ben stood up and started to pace. “We’ve been dating Sophie for about ten months, and that’s almost a year.”
Their dad gasped. “It never is.” I could see where they got their sense of humor.
“Strange but true,” Ben retorted. “We wanted to do something special for our anniversary and it would mean a lot to us if we could share it with you. If things were different, we’d ask Sophie to marry us, but that’s not possible. Even so, this is a significant relationship for us all, and we want to share that with our family.”
It was my turn to be amazed.
Ben didn’t seem to notice exactly what he’d just said, but Carl and Adam both turned to look at me.
“What did you have planned, son?”
“We thought we’d have a party and invite everyone we know. Lots of people know us and think we’re roommates, or aren’t quite sure what’s going on. So we though a party to celebrate one year together as a group would be good.”
“A group, rather than a couple. Is that what you call yourselv
es?”
“Um, we don’t really call ourselves anything.”
Ben looked at us for help, but he was right. We didn’t have to ever give our relationship a name. It was what it was.
“Does that mean you’ve got an announcement too?” Mr. Cooper looked at Adam.
Ben sat down, and Adam stood up.
“Barbara, I think you have had doubts about our intentions toward your daughter. As we’re brothers, very close brothers, we discuss stuff. And we’ve discussed Sophie a lot.”
I wasn’t sure what sort of discussions they might have had about me that were suitable to tell my mother.
He came over to me and took my hand. “Sophie, there isn’t anywhere in the world where a woman can legally marry three men. We’ve looked into it because we’re all agreed that if we could, that is what we’d like to do. We would ask you to marry us, and I hope you’d say yes.”
I couldn’t believe tears were welling up in my eyes at a hypothetical proposal of marriage. I felt foolish. I choked out the words, “I’d say yes.”
The boys knew that.
Just as I knew what they wanted.
We talked, and we lived together.
We knew what each other as thinking a good deal of the time.
“Dad, Barbara, we brothers wanted you to know how serious this relationship is to us. And Sophie,” Adam turned back toward me. “We can’t marry, but we can exchange rings and arrange our own ceremony to celebrate it. I speak for the three of us; we’d like to have four rings of significance made, one for each of us.”
I nodded. I couldn’t speak again.
Mom mopped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Rings are better than tattoos. I hear all you young people are getting each other’s names tattooed these days.”
Ben stood up; his face lit up with excitement, and his hands waved in the air. “Oh yes, tattoos. A list of our names. Why didn’t we think of it?”
I knew he was teasing; we were not the type of family to go for matching tattoos, but he made us laugh.
Triplet Time: A Reverse Harem Stepbrother Romance Page 13
