Christmas with my Three Best Friends (Lucky Lady Reverse Harems)

Epilogue II

Shay

I t only took a couple more years for West Key Gym to welcome the addition of East Key Gym, our second business project together. We’ve got about five years as partners in a successful and unique fitness project. Three years as a loving and weirdly happy family. Two years since the wedding. Years and years will pass, and I know we’ll always be as gleeful as we were in Chappaqua, as thrilled as we were when Logan was born, as energized as we are right now as we open the doors to East Key.

The gym is part of a huge corporate office complex on the east side of Seattle, encased in a gorgeous steel and thick, smoky glass structure overlooking one of the city’s bustling shopping districts. Foot traffic here is spectacular, and we’ve already got about two thousand clients signed up for month-long gym passes. The opening event is a raging success, much to my surprise and exhilaration. We’ve got a DJ and a protein-rich, low-sugar kind of snazzy buffet, wicked protein shakes and macro-friendly hors d’oeuvres. We’ve got fitness models parading around in our branded gym gear—why start a Key Gym franchise without the matching fashion apparel, huh? We’ve got some local celebrities and plenty of fitness influencers roaming through the crowd, taking photos with various guests and selfies in front of our illuminated logo in the reception area.

Marius’s mother is looking after Logan at our home. She is now the second person outside our relationship who’s aware of our situation—and while she may be a bit of an old school kind of lady, Sofia has come to understand that love is love, coming in all shapes and sizes. In my case, love came in three different sizes, each as wonderful and as necessary as the other. Besides, she is crazy about Logan, and she’ll never miss out on an opportunity to spend time with her firecracker of a grandson.

He was a heavy sleeper as a baby, but the period of peace lasted only until he learned how to walk. He’s been causing minor heart attacks ever since, my darling little kamikaze devil.

“Champagne for the missus?” Marius quips as he brings over a couple of glasses.

I’m standing close to the reception desk, watching Cassandra as she ropes a couple of local celebrities into conversation. She may not be a marketing guru, but I’ll give my best friend the credit she deserves—she does know how to sell a product she believes in.

I’m constantly amazed by how much can be accomplished with just a tap of a smartphone camera and a carefully constructed series of hashtags. While I’m still kind of retro on the whole digital thing, I do appreciate the unseen work that goes into building a brand, and I’m certainly a happy camper knowing we’ve got so many people willing to get involved and promote East Key. I reckon we’ll do a whole lot better now than we did with West Key in the beginning.

Marius chuckles lightly. “Look at her go, huh?”

“Hey, she’s motivated,” I reply, then shake my head at the champagne glass he’s offering. “None for me, thank you, baby.”

“But it’s your favorite,” he says.

“I know, honey, but I’m not into champagne anymore. Not for a while, anyway.”

“Why not?” he insists.

I do know he went to a lot of trouble to get these bottles delivered in time for the event. Marius is always so sweet and thoughtful, always taking care of the little things in order to make me the happiest I’ve ever been. I thought I couldn’t love him more, but he keeps surprising me.

Richard and Jax slip out of the swelling crowd to join us. Just in time, too, since I’m about to make their night even better.

“What’s up?” Jax asks, noticing Marius’s befuddled expression.

“I specifically ordered Chateau Neuf champagne for tonight’s opening event, because I know Shay would absolutely love a glass or ten of this stuff. It’s her favorite,” my husband says, almost pouting.

Richard gives me a curious look. “Are we getting prissy about drinks, now?”

“Not prissy, no. I still love Chateau Neuf and as soon as the baby comes and I can drink again, I’ll gladly have that glass. Or ten,” I answer with a grin.

Silence settles over the three of them as they mull over my words. Once they understand what I just said, they light up like firebugs. But because we’re in public and surrounded by way too many people, Marius, Jax, and Richard can only gasp and struggle to find the right words without jumping out of their skin.

“Wait, what?” Jax croaks.

“You’re gonna be daddies again,” I reply.

“Now she tells us,” Richard jokingly scoffs. “In the middle of an event.”

“It’s like you don’t even want us to tear the clothes off you and make love to you until the morning,” Marius plays along, covering his excitement with a layer of fake disappointment. “What a dirty play this is.”

I lean in and kiss him softly. “Well, it’s okay. You can tear them off me later.”

“My God, the party ends way after midnight,” Richard complains.

“Don’t you have an office here, too?” I reply with a raised eyebrow.

Jax takes my hand and immediately guides me away from the reception desk. “Our wife has a point, fellas. We’ll find plenty of privacy upstairs.”

I laugh wholeheartedly as the four of us sneak through the party crowd, smiling and waving at various familiar faces along the way before we rush up the stairs and disappear inside Richard’s new office. I’m excited and nervous about what’s coming next for our unusual family unit, but I love every second I get with my men. I’m going to be a mother again, and while that comes with inevitable ups and downs, I know I’m safe.

“Make sure you lock the door,” Marius tells Richard as he’s halfway out of his dinner jacket.

My heels are coming off as Jax comes up from behind to take me in his arms and trail wet kisses down the side of my neck. His hands cradle my belly, where another human being has decided to strap in for the ride of a lifetime. Marius kisses me on the lips, and I can feel his heart beating close to mine, two rhythms blending into one. When Richard joins us, the formula is complete, and the sweetest kind of bliss seeps through our pores. We surrender to one another as we celebrate this milestone in the best possible way.

I know I’m going to be the happiest wife with the happiest husbands and the happiest kids.

After everything I’ve been through, after the countless hurdles we’ve had to work past, it looks as though the universe has finally decided to crack open the rewards sack for us. We’ve earned every single smile, every single laugh, every single moment of love, joy, and peace. And tonight, my three men are going to claim me yet again—as their best friend, their partner in crime, their wife and the mother of their children.

The End