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Several hours later, Reagan sat bundled on Maddox’s lap as I fed her bites of breakfast. Her skin was still pink from the bath, and she clutched her peep-pie in her hand, bracing for the moment she could suck it without us taking it away. I was pretty sure since all the secrets were out, we wouldn’t need to keep as close of an eye on her anxiety. She was already back to being our sassy girl. I hadn’t been this happy in a long time. I don’t think any of us had.
I went to feed her another bite, and she turned her head. “I’m full, Daddy.”
I looked down at the plate and was pleased to see she had eaten a decent amount. “Okay, baby love, go ahead,” I said, giving her permission to suck her pie. She popped it into her mouth with such force that Maddox and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Reunited and it feels so good,” Maddox sang to her and her pacifier as he gave her a little shake. She smiled around it but didn’t let it go. I learned forward and kissed her forehead.
“Can I have the rest of her pancakes?” Maddox asked as he opened his mouth comically wide. Reagan looked up at him and smiled again.
I rolled my eyes but fed him her last few bites. He had already eaten four.
My watch vibrated, and I looked down to see Dallas’ number. “Dallas is calling again, baby.” Reagan had sent Dallas and Emily a picture of us all snuggled together. Considering Reagan included an eggplant emoji, they put two and two together pretty quickly. They had started calling her phone immediately, but Reagan had taunted them by not answering. They had resorted to calling me. I wondered if they were really surprised—if anyone would be surprised. I was beginning to think that maybe we were the only ones who hadn’t seen this coming. Reagan leaned forward and hit the green button on my watch.
“Hello?” she answered after pulling out her beloved pacifier.
“What does this mean? Are you in a relationship with both of them? Are you being thoroughly fucked by both of them?” Dallas squealed into the phone. I could tell by her tone there was no judgment. She was genuinely excited for Reagan.
“Yes,” she answered with a sheepish little giggle.
“Whooooo hoo!” Cheers erupted from the other side of the line.
“This is so exciting!” Emily shouted.
“Yeah! You have two hot men obsessed with you. You’re a lucky duck!” Dallas said.
“Who has two men obsessed with them?” Pike rumbled.
“Reagan does! I’m next,” Dallas answered confidently.
Maddox and I shot each other a look. We already knew how that was going to go over with Pike.
“Next for what?” he asked.
“Next in line to find two Daddies!” she answered, full of sass.
“Like hell you are. Give me that damn phone,” he growled as we heard a scuffle from the other side of the call. It disconnected as we all shared a laugh. Poor Dallas. I didn’t think Pike was ever going to relax enough to let her have even one Daddy, much less two.
“Are you ready to tell people about us at the bar?” I asked Reagan as I stroked her face.
She nodded her head. “Yeah. I am so very ready.”
I smiled at her. “I think everyone is going to be very happy for us,” I said.
“And if they’re not, I give you permission to tell them to take a long hike up ‘Eat-a-Dick Mountain,’” Maddox told her with another gentle squeeze.
She laughed as she fell back against him. “No, I’m just going to tell them that sometimes Little hearts need twice the love.”
Epilogue
Maddox
Four years ago, I’d sat in a bar in a town I wasn’t familiar with. I was lonely. So fucking lonely. I knew heartbreak was a real thing, but I never knew it could be so severe. Every minute of every day since I’d had left Tennessee had been filled with pain. It was a pain so severe it permeated every inch of my body. I never imagined my life would turn out this way.
I’d spent countless years taking care of my mom. I had worked under the table to keep us out of shelters and buy groceries. I had two older brothers, but they had severe drug habits and rap sheets a mile long. They had been convicted of numerous felonies and had both served time in prison. I had stopped counting on them to help us a long time ago. I drove Mama to her doctors’ appointments, to her radiation and chemo treatments, to therapy. I held her hand when she cried after each new diagnosis.
I cleaned up the vomit-covered sheets. I helped her try on wigs when her hair fell out and I did it all with love in my heart. Only my mom was never actually sick.
