AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ISLA
The next two months seem to fly by, the guys spending pretty much every night at the manor with me and the kids. I never expected us to jump in so quickly but now they’re a part of our everyday routine.
My background check came back after only a week so I was cleared to start substituting, and I love it. It’s not quite the same as having a classroom of my own but I also love the freedom I have with my off days.
The boys are enjoying school. Despite his protests on the first day, Loch runs in every day excited to see his friends and even his teacher.
Maw-Maw and Vivi spend their days together. My grandmother has even started taking Vivi to different classes, and when the guys are off they take her to do things as well. So her days are anything but boring. Two weeks ago in fact, Orin and Callum took her to the nail salon to get her nails painted, and to make it even sweeter they got matching pedicures when she asked them to. Then they found a “Kiddie Spa'' and she spent the day getting pampered with princesses. She was on cloud nine the whole day. I never thought I’d find someone to spoil my girl as much as she deserves, but they prove to me every day that they love all of my babies equally.
The weekends are a mix of the guys taking the boys fishing, or finding fun things to do as a family. Just seeing my kids, hell, even the guys, light up at just the sight of each other, is everything.
Overall, it’s been amazing. I’m already in love with all five of these fantastic guys, even though I thought as time went on they would show their true colors like Corin did. But it’s been almost three months and they have been just as wonderful as they were to start.
It’s been a long week but it’s finally Saturday, and the guys told us about an amusement park two towns over, so we get all three kids up early to eat breakfast and load everyone into two cars. The twins ride with me and the kids, Callum and Silas having to ride in Bodie’s truck. Maw-Maw sits this one out for some much needed alone time. We’ve kind of crashed into her life and I know she loves every crazy minute of it, but even superhero grandmothers like her need a solid off day now and then.
About an hour later, we pull onto the park grounds, the kids are so excited they are bouncing in their seats. We get them out of the car and put Vivi into her umbrella stroller, while Bodie carries the book bag with all the kids’ snacks–that he just had to make–and everything else we need for them.
We coat all three kids and ourselves with sunscreen, then remind the kids that they are supposed to stay with one of us at all times. At the ticket booth, the guys fight over who’s going to pay, until I threaten to cut off sexy time if they don’t let me treat them for once. It’s crazy how comfortable things are between us in just a short amount of time. Luckily, we haven’t heard or seen anything from the stalker since the pictures were left on my car, which has been great but also still scary, since I doubt whoever it is just gave up.
I’m brought out of my thoughts when Arden starts yelling. “Mommy! Can I ride that?” he asks, pointing to the big fucking roller coaster they have.
I swear my eyes almost pop out of my head just looking at the thing. “I don’t know, baby. Mommy isn’t riding that but maybe you can ask one of the guys to ride it with you.” Despite how close we’ve gotten in almost two months, I’m still not ready to start referring to any of them as “dad”, even if that’s what the kids call them. A huge part of that is likely because ‘dad’ hasn’t held the best connotation for my kids. Trauma isn’t something I can shed in just a few short months, unfortunately.
“Mommy is a scaredy cat!” Arden sing-songs.
“Yep, I sure am dude. You have five brave men right over there, and I bet at least one will ride with you, cause mommy doesn’t do roller coasters. Let’s go ask them, huh?” I usher him towards the others who are playing a ring toss game
“Hey guys!” I call out, and they all turn to see what’s going on.
“Arden wants to ride the big green terror machine over there, so who’s riding with him?” I ask smugly, knowing for sure that at least three, possibly four, of them have acrophobia like I do. Part of me can’t wait to see if they will put on a brave face for the kids.
Odin looks like he’s gonna pass out and is shaking his head. “Sorry bud, I am not a fan of heights.”
Bodie’s face is set in a firm line and he looks at the other three while Callum is frowning like he is debating all his life choices. It's amusing to me that none of them want to let Arden down but they also don’t want to traumatize him when they inevitably freak out on the ride.
Orin scoffs at them, crooking an eyebrow and crossing his arms. “Really guys? How are you three still scared of heights?” He squats down so he’s eye level with Arden. “Me and Si will take you bud, how does that sound?”
Arden grins at him and looks over at Silas–who looks like he wants to choke the life out of Orin right now. “Yeah bud, come on. We’ll take you,” he grinds out, taking my son’s hand and shuffling his feet as the three of them walk towards the line for the roller coaster. When they get far enough away, the other guys start laughing mischievously.
“What’s so funny?” I ask, bemused.
Bodie wipes tears from his eyes as he explains, “Silas is scared of heights more than any of us, but he’s also the biggest adrenaline junkie. Orin loves getting him to do crazy things involving heights.”
He starts cracking up again, and I can’t help but smile and roll my eyes at the guys’ antics.“That’s just plain evil genius,” I point out.
“Mommy, can we ride the pirate ship?” Lochlan asks, pointing to the ship that rocks back and forth.
“Sure thing, baby! Are any of you big, strong gentlemen coming too? Vivi might even be big enough for that one,” I say, walking towards the ride. When we make it to the line, I grab Vivi from Bodie and stand her up in front of the height chart, and she just barely meets the requirements.
“We’ll put her in between Callum and I, and hold on to her too, just in case, Angel,” Bodie reassures me, scooping her back up. I swear, if she would have been any younger and not already walking when I met them, she would have never learned to walk, since they carry her everywhere. It’s ridiculous, even if it’s adorable.
We are waiting in line laughing and joking, the guys playing with the kids, when I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up like someone is watching me. Maybe I’m crazy, but after the years of abuse I’m pretty sure I know that feeling. To be safe, I start looking around trying to make it seem like I’m just checking out the rides, although I don’t see anyone that is just staring at me, I know in my gut that someone definitely was.
About five minutes later, it’s our turn on the pirate ship. Bodie gets on first and goes to the left, sliding into the second to last seat and setting Vivi down beside him. Callum slides in next to her, and she grins happily between the two of them. The rest of us get on the last seat, with me on the outside, Lochlan in the middle, and Odin behind Vivian. I’m sure he chose to sit close to her just in case.
Once we’re seated, they let on another wave of people looking for empty seats. There’s room for one more person on Bodie’s row, two more on ours, and a whole two rows on the other side. The group behind us in line was a trio probably around nineteen or early twenties–the two girls whispering back and forth, pointing and giggling while checking out my guys in line. I'd bet my inheritance they are going to try and sit beside Odin. Sure enough, when they step onto the ship, the guy sits beside Callum and the girls sit beside Odin.
Lochlan is bouncing excitedly next to me. “Daddy, when is it going to go?” he whines.
