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It hadn’t been easy to accept that I was falling in love with Snow, and that I already loved our child. I was scared. I knew what it felt like to love and to lose someone. I was terrified of losing her or the baby. Throughout her pregnancy, I had been constantly checking on her, making sure she was taking it easy, and printing off long lists of things that would help keep her and the baby safe. I was grateful Doc was on hand—he assured me she was fine, both she and the baby were healthy, and we had only the best obstetricians taking care of her, thanks to his network.
As I finished the morning business, my heart began racing. “And now, let’s find out the gender of our baby,” I said. My hands were sweaty and I was getting a bit dizzy. It was all so surreal to me, that within a matter of months, we would have a baby. I knew that all of us would love and protect that child with our life.
Rosie brought the cake to the front and motioned for Snow to join her. I took a seat nearby.
Behind them were the tallies for our pool. We all guessed the gender (five of us guessed boy, with three guesses for a girl), the due date, the weight, eye color, etc. It was actually a lot of fun placing our guesses. Jason had also added one for who the baby would most look like and we all had chosen ourselves except for Gage who didn’t vote. None of us really cared, it was all good fun.
Rosie handed the knife over to Snow.
“Alright, here goes!” Snow said. “Pink for girl, blue for boy!”
She cut into the cake as the room went silent. I held my breath, waiting for her to slide the piece of cake onto the nearby plate. Snow gasped and her eyes went wide.
Snow held up the piece of cake for all of us to see.
Beautiful pink layered between clouds of white icing. We were having a precious girl.
I stood up and went over to Snow, hugging her tightly, whispering in her ear, “We’re having a little princess, a mini you. I’m so happy.”
She giggled before kissing me.
She then turned to the guys who were huddled around us, tears flowing down her cheeks. Rosie had stepped aside momentarily to let us have our moment.
“I love all of you so much,” she said. She hugged Gage first who was standing beside her, and one by one, embraced all of us before we closed in on one, big, group hug. All of us expressed our love to her.
“So it looks like we can sort of narrow the pool down a little bit, as far as some of the guessing goes,” Jason said with a laugh.
“I’m so glad I don’t have to do this alone.” Snow whispered, laughing and crying at the same time.
I closed in on her, squeezing her hand tightly, and looking into her beautiful blue eyes. “I promise, you will never, ever have to do this alone.”
I would be there for her, we would all be there for her.
I had no doubt about that.
48
Snow
Alice was born just a tad early and had spent some time in the hospital before we could bring her home, but overall, she was healthy and everything was perfect. I had no doubt that the relaxation I was able to get at the resort and having seven doting men to wait on me hand and foot helped a lot.
Naming her was harder than expected, everyone had an opinion, of course. We decided to settle on something classic, something that fit our fairytale life. Alice seemed like the perfect name as she would surely be living in a wonderland.
My personal cottage was complete by the time our daughter had come home, with a nursery attached to the master suite, and a bed large enough that I never slept alone.
I always had plenty of help with feedings, baths and changing diapers, and most importantly, I was able to sleep, something that wouldn’t have been possible had I done things alone or even with just one partner. There were always willing and able hands every minute of the day.
Reed was nervous at first—he was the overly overprotective father—always checking with Doc to be sure that things were normal or safe. He had opened up to me about his loss, and I understood that there was much more to him than his customary cheerful, positive demeanor. He spread happiness and stayed positive so that what had happened to Ben would not consume him, and it was one of the things I loved so much about him. He was caring and doting, even though at times I knew he was afraid.
Gage was probably the only one who gave Reed a run for his money as far as being protective went. He was like Alice’s own personal security guard. He loved her the moment he laid eyes on her, and when his sister, Claire, met Alice for the first time, she said that she was going to be the luckiest kid on the planet with someone like Gage watching over her. No one would ever hurt her. I knew that to be true.
Not surprisingly, Jason was the fun dad, the one who was always acting like a goofball to bring a smile to Alice’s face. He had no shame, he would wear fairy wings and dance around like Tinkerbell if it meant getting the tiniest laugh from her. He loved to play, and I think having the baby brought out the child inside of him even more.
Anthony was a serious dad, he was the one who made sure that she had enrichment and learning toys. He spent time teaching her sign language and talking to her, and he was amazed by every little thing that she did. He had mentioned that, if she was his, hopefully she didn’t inherit his allergy to cats, but we played it safe with Petey anyway. Anthony was getting a little less sneezy with the right combo of meds, and Petey still adored him more than any of the other men, which made me laugh all the time.
Bash was the one who read to her all the time, no surprise there. He told me he wanted to write a children’s book someday, one featuring all of us. I loved the idea and asked if we could work on it together. I knew that Alice would grow up with his love of reading, she stared at him with wide eyes whenever he read her stories, even though she was still far too young to understand the words being spoken. He even acted out the characters, giving them all unique voices, and making her laugh with his silliness. It was such a delight to behold.
Sean made sure she had the best crib and mattress on the market. He read up on tips and tricks of how to soothe her when it was time for bed, his soft voice and lullabies able to calm her even at her fussiest moments. He was truly a miracle worker, and I honestly believe she slept so well thanks to his presence in her life. It also meant we all slept better, which I was eternally grateful for too.
