Page 16 of Bought By Three Men

This wouldn’t be so bad. My biggest issue would be missing my family. I was sure I would get to see them throughout the five years, but it was different. I spent every day for the past twenty-five years of my life with them.

A little boy in swim trunks with sopping wet hair ran out of the house. Oh no, I wasn’t good with kids. If one of them had kids, I was screwed. The invite said you were ineligible if you had children. Maybe that only applied to entrants.

I climbed out of the limo. Ethan and Tristan were already out, waiting for me.

The little boy kept running. He had to have been going to one of the men. As he got closer, I realized he was looking right at me. I stepped back, the limo pressed into my back.

He jumped on me. His sopping wet hair slapped my face, clearly screwing up my makeup. Little arms wrapped around my neck. The kid wrapped his legs around my waist. What was going on?

“Mommy! Mommy! You guys bought me a mommy! This is so great. We are gonna play all day, and you can cook all my meals.” The kid was shouting into my ear.

I froze. This was not what I signed up for. I could barely take care of myself. Cook? Not a chance. My arms stayed by my side. What was I supposed to do?

“Alright. Enough.” Tristan peeled the kid off me. “You are gonna scare her.”

The kid laughed. So did everyone else. I was shocked, and they thought it was funny.

“You should see your face.” The kid pointed at me. “I’m Joseph Miller, that’s my dad.” he pointed to Tristan. “And that’s my uncle.” he pointed to Ethan. Then he stuck out his hand.

I shook it. “Sorry. I’m not good with kids or being a mom.”

“No worries, I had a mom. She died. I was just messing with you. We have a surprise inside.” Joseph put his tiny hand in mine and pulled me toward the mansion.

I followed, ignoring how my heart gave an extra beat for this tiny human. He was yanking me so fast I could barely keep up.

Doing a little jog, we reached the front doors.

“Okay, Ava, close your eyes.” He stopped.

“How did you know my name?” I scrunched up my face.

“Uh, you’ll see. Now do it,” Joseph huffed.

Reluctantly, I closed my eyes. The kid guided me inside. A few times, I almost tripped, and strong hands wrapped around my waist, holding me steady. I didn’t know which one of the men it was, and I didn’t care. His touch sent tingles through me.

After what felt like forever, but was probably only a few minutes we stopped. The strong hands turned me around to face the way we came. At least, I thought that was the way I was facing. It was a shame I hadn’t gotten to see any of what the place looked like. Although the kid was giggling so loudly, it seemed like the surprise was worth it.

“Okay, open!” the kid yelled.

A wall. A giant boring white wall was in front of me. I mean, I didn’t want to seem ungrateful. It was just, well, I kinda thought people with money went big with surprises. Like every color of pink polish available. Or a brand-new wig. Nope, I got a wall. Granted, at one point in my life, I would have killed for a wall. So, yeah, I changed my mind. It was a perfect surprise.

The giggling grew louder. It was as if the kid and the two men were giggling. No, wait—a woman’s laugh. I continued to stare at the wall. Why? I didn’t know.

“Turn around,” the kid giggled.

I obeyed. A huge banner that said ‘Welcome home, Ava’ was in clear view. It had bright pink lettering with glitter, so much glitter. I was so distracted at first, I didn’t notice the people holding the sign. No, not people. My People!

Dottie, Felix, and Sandy were holding it. Tears welled in my eyes, I couldn’t breathe.

“H…h…,” I stammered.

They dropped the banner and engulfed me in a massive hug. I had seen them this morning, but that felt like saying goodbye. This was, well, it was hello.

“How?” I finally managed to get out.

“Ethan and Tristan. They picked us up. Well, not them, their driver,” Dottie squealed.

“You should have seen the car. It was awesome.” Felix waved his hands around.

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