BEFORE DINNER*WADE*Connor had come back from retrieving Taylor from the office alone and had told me about her plan of talking to her mom first. My heart fluttered and warmed at the thought that Taylor was now protecting me the best she knew how. I was more nervous about telling her dad than I had been about telling Blaze the news.I was somewhat upset when Connor had been honest in telling me that he and Taylor had had sex without me. I quickly got over my jealousy because, most likely, Connor would have our chances of being alone with Taylor more often than all of us being together. We would need to be careful; we didn't need to subject Mark to our arrangement."I know Taylor hasn't lived in her apartment for long, but we need to think about what we will do about our living arrangements. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be away from her. Taylor is going to need our help with Mark. We need something with at least four rooms and an office. Too bad Tanner and Kaysen have a
TAYLOR*I looked back and forth between them, and tears pooled in my eyes. Connor and Wade got a sad look in their eyes and looked at each other and then back to me."Did we mess up here? We can wait and propose in a more romantic way," Connor said as he reached out to me. I smiled the biggest smile I ever had in my life."Yes,"Connor and Wade looked at each other and then back to me. "Yes, what, baby?" Wade asked with a quizzical look on his face."Yes, I will marry you both. I'm crying happy tears, don't worry; this was perfect. I wish I could marry you both on paper. I love you both so very much, but yes, in a sense, I will marry you both. I don't ever want to be away from either of you ever again. I'm ready for us all to spend the rest of our lives together," I said as Wade pulled the ring from the jewelry box and handed it to Connor. Then Connor placed the ring on my finger.More tears fell upon my cheek as I looked at the gorgeous ring they had picked for me. The band was rose
CONNOR*Taylor had left many of her things at her parent's house when she moved into her apartment because it was a bit on the smaller side. Tanner had lent us boxes from when he and Kaysen had moved, and it had only taken a little over an hour to get everything packed up. The only things Taylor had remaining to pack by eight o'clock at night were the bed garments and bathroom toiletries. Taylor had left out nightwear and a change of clothes for her and Mark for tomorrow, and we had packed everything else. We made sure to label each box in the event something needed to be retrieved from them. Taylor bathed Mark, and then Wade put him to bed while Taylor and I took a hiatus on the couch.Taylor rested her head in my lap as I put my hands through her hair. "That didn't take long, but I'm sure you're tired. I'll run you a bath so you can get cleaned up and get to bed,""But it's so early; I love just being here with you,""We will have all the time in the world soon, love, but we have a
TAYLOR*I woke to Wade nuzzling my neck with his nose. How had he managed to wake up before me; he was usually the last one to wake up, and it would be because I waited until the last possible moment to do whatever I could to get him out of bed."Wake up, baby, we have a surprise for you," Wade whispered."Let me go to the bathroom real fast; I'll be right back," I said, then yawned and stretched.I crawled out of bed and went and did my business. After washing my hands and brushing my teeth, I returned to the bedroom. I looked to see Connor and Wade patiently awaiting my return and then looked over to see that a tray loaded with food was calling my name."You guys made me breakfast in bed; that's so sweet. Mmm...Eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast, you guys went above and beyond. Thank you so much," I chirped as I hugged and kissed Connor and Wade."Well, get back into bed so we can pamper you before we have to leave. Blaze will be here any minute; we are all getting measured for our tu
WADE*"Here's to Wade Cunningham being off the market! We never thought we would see the day!" Hector yelled over the music as we all licked the salt from our knuckles, slung our tequila shots back, and bit into our lemons.Strippers danced around us, but not one of us was paying a bit of attention to them. We all had wives and families at home. Blaze had bought out one of the private rooms at Hectors strip club for the night and had paid handsomely for stripper's food and booze. They were giving me one last hurrah before getting married next week.Hector would be a part of our wedding party because Taylor would have five bridesmaids. We wouldn't have it any other way, of course. Hector has been a part of our crowd since high school and has always been like family to us.Shortly after we had our first round of shots, food was served. We all scarfed down our greasy burgers and fries and chatted about married life and how my life was about to change. I felt terrible that I was the one g
CONNOR*I watched as Wade drove off with our wife and wished that I could be driving off with them right now. A pang of jealousy rocked through me. Though I got the privilege of walking Taylor down the aisle, I would never get to enjoy the whole experience of getting married. I would never be able to say those vows and put a wedding band on her finger. I would never be able to boast about her being my wife. I was always going to be a secret because no one would ever be able to handle the fact that all three of us were one.As I was wallowing in self-pity, I heard screams coming from the playground. I saw that Aaron had grabbed Mark and was running with him like a man gone crazy. I ran like my life depended on it; I wasn't sure how to keep Mark from being harmed."Aaron put Mark down now! Aaron stop! You don't want to harm your son; put him down," I yelled as I caught up to Aaron and ran alongside him. "Aaron, stop and put Mark down NOW!" I commanded, and Aaron stopped with a look of d
TAYLOR*"You shouldn't have kissed me like you did; your parents were right there and saw the whole thing," Connor said as he winced in pain. "And they didn't look too happy about it. Of course, it could also be the fact that I might have very well killed Aaron. He was breathing when they took him," Connor said grimly.I couldn't quite place if it was because he was actually in pain or he felt terrible about Aaron, that held a permanent scowl on his face. As far as my parents go, they would have figured it out eventually, so why not get everything out in the open now?I don't know how I feel about Aaron at this point. I've been his only family besides the bureau for the last ten years and the last five years; he has treated me like gum you find stuck to the bottom of your shoe. Aaron's whole family, his parent's and four younger siblings died from carbon monoxide poisoning in their home when Aaron was 25 and away at college. He has no surviving family to this day. I suppose I'll be th
TAYLOR*Connor was released around five o'clock in the evening after being stitched up, having his MRI, and a bag of IV fluids with pain killers. He was lucky to have not broken any ribs, only bruising around the area where Aaron had jabbed and kicked him. Connor had, however, broken a couple of fingers and fractured his wrist. The MRI only showed a mild concussion, and no other injuries were reported. Aaron, however, showed no signs of improvement when we left. I was told I would get a call when the time came that he would be going into surgery. I was also told he would most likely never fully recover.Wade and I had left to get Jackson, Connor, and Wade's dad when some police officers showed up to get Connor's accounts of what had happened earlier that day. He would not be facing any jail time because there was too much evidence showing that he was defending himself and doing what he could to protect Mark.Connor, Wade, and I decided we would keep our relationship under wraps for no