Room One Hundred and Nineteen: Watching Her (Club Sin: Seattle Session 2)

19. Elena

19

ELENA

T rying to sneak into the triage area wasn’t easy. I thought I almost got away with it, setting my water bottle onto my desk when I felt her before I heard her.

“Elena?” my boss called my name, and I winced. Shit! So close. With my back to her, I took a moment to keep my composure.

I was late.

Again.

Yesterday morning, my car had decided it didn’t want to start. Thankfully, my sexy doctors saved the day when they insisted I take one of theirs. They had been bugging me about it for the last two months, but yesterday, I wasn’t able to turn them down. I was thankful for them, but when I was loading the kids into the huge brand-new SUV after my shift, Tabitha was walking to her car, and I knew she saw me. I knew she knew whose car it was.

Then a four-car pile-up caused traffic to be so bad, it made me twenty minutes late.

I could only imagine what she thought about me now, probably assuming I was involved with one of them. My boss had had it out for me from day one. I was positive if she found out I was seeing the three, her head would pop off.

“Good morning, Tabitha.” I forced a smile before I turned to face her. And like usual, I couldn’t read her. Her features were clear of emotion while she stared at me.

“You’re late.”

“I know.” I quickly took responsibility and started to explain. “There was––“ Not that she let me.

“Again,” my boss pointed out with a cool demeanor, and I knew it was pointless to try and explain anything. Whatever she was going to do, she had decided before I’d even walked into the hospital.

“Right.”

“I need to see you in Conference Room B.”

“Conference Room––“

“If you head down now,”—she pointed behind her, picking up a stack of files—“I’ll be right behind you. I just have to put these prescriptions into the system,” she mumbled. My stomach tightened into a mess of knots.

“Okay.” I swallowed.

Shockingly enough, with all the times I had been late in the past, Tabitha had yet to write me up. I always figured it was to save her the headache of having to deal with HR or paperwork. But I had a feeling my streak had run out.

Maybe this would be my first or a warning of some sort? Or maybe you’re getting the boot? a voice whispered, and even though panic started to seep into every pore of my body, I managed to keep it together.

If I got fired, it would be fine.

It would all be okay.

I might be living paycheck to paycheck, but I would figure it out. I always did. While I walked to the conference room, my head was overrun with different plans of action. All of which were worst-case scenarios. I was so distracted, I didn’t notice anyone as I walked. I didn’t even noticed the three men standing inside the conference room when I stepped in. I shut the door, and just as I was going to take a seat, I spotted them. They were the last people I had expected to find in there.

“Miles, Josh, Rick?” My eyes bounced from man to man. One by one. “What are you guys doing in here?”

“We need to talk,” Miles said, and I immediately noticed something was wrong.

Something was very not right.

Miles was serious, too serious. As were the other two men. I knew them. Or I thought I did. Shit. Not only was I possibly getting fired, it looked like I could be getting broken up with, too. If that was the case, I would need to look for a new job anyhow. There was no way I could handle seeing them daily. Not when I was completely in love with them. I stood and watched them frown, their intense gazes laser-focused on me.

“Talk.” I stood to my full height. If they were going to end it, they needed to hurry before Tabitha walked in and fired me.

“Come over here, gorgeous.” Rick crooked his finger. If I hadn’t been so freaked out, I would have noticed how gentle his tone was.

I wanted to go to him, sit on his lap, burrow my face into his neck, and breathe in his scent and let him this make this crazy morning fade away. He always smelled so good. They all did.

But I couldn’t get myself to move.

“I’m okay right here. What’s up?” I asked, surprising myself with how calm I sounded when I felt like I was coming out of my skin.

“El, baby, come over here,” Rick repeated, his voice somehow still gentle but more insistent.

“Tabitha is on her way,” I shared, but they didn’t react. “So, you should get on with whatever this is.” I tried to figure out if I had missed some kind of warning sign they hadn’t been happy, that we hadn’t been on the same page, but nothing stood out.

I thought everything was good between us.

They were very vocal about how they felt when it came to me and the kids. Maybe they’re tired of you being a coward and not telling them exactly how you feel. I chewed on my lip.

“El,” Rick said again.

“Are you upset about me borrowing your car?” I blurted. Panic dripped from every pore. Shit. If they ended this, I wasn’t sure I could recover. When my marriage imploded, I had expected it. Hell, I was relieved. But with them? With my handsome doctors? I wasn’t ready for it to be over. My vision started to blur, and the end of my nose started to sting with unshed tears.

“Elena, come over here,” Rick repeated, and Josh made a disgruntled sound.

“Jesus Christ, I told you this was fucking stupid,” Josh cursed and hurried toward me. Before I could process that he was right in front of me, Josh had me in his arms and carried me toward where the other two were patiently sitting.

“What are you doing?” I hissed and sniffled. Shocked I hadn’t started to sob. I glanced over at the door I’d shut behind me like it was going to burst open at any moment.

I could only imagine it. Tabitha would walk in and call in HR so she could definitely fire me for not only being late but for fraternizing with not only one fellow employee but three of them. Oh god! I am going to end up on the news somehow!

“We need to talk,” Josh repeated as he sat down, setting me on his lap.

“You guys––“ I started to say, but he interrupted me.

“We love you,” he said, and I frowned.

“I know that,” I clipped, my body taut with anxiety. “But it’s not enough, right?” I asked, staring into his icy blue eyes. God, will this be the last time I sit on his lap like this? Will it be the last time I look into his beautiful stare?

“I’m… I’m too much, and you guys are done? Is that what this is?” I asked while I looked around at the three of them. It felt wrong to say the words out loud, and worse when I noticed their grief-stricken faces.

“You think we want to break up?” Miles asked with a look of horror on his face.

“Yes. No. I don’t know. You said you needed to talk, and all of you looked like you were nervous, when you’re never nervous. Tabitha was upset I was late and––“ I sounded unhinged, and I knew it.

Anxiety and fear were never a good mix.

“Shh… breathe, beautiful,” Josh soothed. That’s when I noticed Rick’s’ big warm hand rubbing my back with a firm touch. Up and down tenderly while my breathing returned to normal. I turned, and my eyes connected with Rick’s.

“I got scared,” I admitted in a whisper.

“Why?” His hands never stopped moving while my hand rested on Josh’s chest.

“I don’t know.”

“El, talk to us.” Miles kneeled at my side and Rick on the other. I exhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. It was time to tell them. To be honest about how I felt.

“Things—“ I licked my lips. I knew it was time, but fear of rejection was crazy. I knew how they felt. They had literally just told me, but for some reason, saying it out loud was scary as hell. “Things have been good with us. So much better than I could have ever dreamed. When we went to Club Sin, I thought… I don’t know. I thought it would be a one-time thing, and yet… it wasn’t. Things with us feel good. Too good and… I thought my luck ran out,” I admitted. I felt like I was standing on the edge of the ledge, letting myself be vulnerable with them.

“Stop thinking that,” Josh muttered, and my other two doctors grunted like they agreed with him. “We love you, baby,” he repeated the sentiment, and as I stared into his gray-blue eyes, something started to change inside of me. Something that had been softening since the night they had come over when the kids got sick, but different. “And yes, we need to talk to you—“ he kept speaking, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Tabitha—“ I started to warn because if we weren’t breaking up, I didn’t need her to find me surrounded by them and jump to what would be the right conclusions.

“She’s not coming, gorgeous,” Rick shared. My brows bunched. “We need to talk to you, and we need to make sure you’re ready to listen to us”.

“Wait! How are you so sure she isn’t coming?” His lips twitched.

“Trust us?”

“Always.” And it was the truth. I did. I just needed to tell them all of it.

How I felt.

That I wanted forever.

Even if it sounded crazy and irresponsible to be tied to three men. Especially as a single mom. But fuck whatever one else thought. My kids were happy and safe and cared for.

“We love you,” Miles said, and I turned to look at him. “You have no idea how fucking happy we are. You … you and the kids make our lives brighter. You guys give us a higher purpose. More than one that we could get from our careers.”

“And we know we haven’t been together that long,” Rick cut in. “It’s been a couple of months, but the three of us have been talking things out. The going back and forth is hard. We want to give you and the kids more. Space for Mike and Betsy to run around in, privacy for us when we want to… connect.” Rick winked.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered.

“We want you to move in with us,” Josh clarified.

My mouth opened and shut. Their words, god, their beautiful words processed slowly in my head. Each sweet thing they’d said crumbling whatever walls were left around my heart.

“I love you,” I whispered. “I’m sorry I haven’t said it before but—" And that was all I could get out before I crumbled like a piece of paper and started to sob.

It hurt yet felt good to let it out. I might have been on Josh’s lap, but the other two moved in close. With their hands on me, I felt anchored. Secure. Fear and anxiety trickled out of me with every tear I shed. The doubt of whether the four of us could make this thing work, what people might say, all of it left my body. In its place was a serene, content calm. I knew it was complicated. But that was life. Some people in our lives might not ever understand, but that didn’t matter. Nothing but the kids and my doctors mattered. We as a family mattered.

“I love you guys,” I sniffled. “I’m sorry for making a mess of your shirt.” I patted the dress shirt Josh wore and then looked around, noticing the three of them were in crisp white dress shirts and ties. “Do you guys have a meeting?” I asked through my sniffle, and Rick chuckled.

“You just told us you love us for the first time, and you’re concerned about a meeting, baby?”

“No, I mean… I suck at this.”

“No, you don’t.” Miles smiled gently.

“You are always in scrubs,” I reminded them. “That’s why I was—“ I studied the space around us more closely and blinked. The conference rooms were usually empty of everything, and certainly of any kind of decorations. There was a big bunch of red roses, bigger than anything I had ever seen in real life, and sitting next to it was a cute little teddy bear off to the side.

“Wait… what’s…” My voice drifted to nothing when not only Rick stood up, but Miles did, too. And then Josh stood with me in his arms before setting my feet on the ground.

“We thought about all the ways to do this.””

“Wait, you guys?—“

“We want you to live with us,” Rick said.

“You and the kids,” Josh made sure to add. My lips twitched.

“This is really sweet, but I can’t live with you.” I shook my head.

“What?”

“I mean, I love you three. I love you so much. I don’t have the words, but… I wake up happy. I wake up with a smile on my face knowing I get to see you or talk to you. Even if it’s only in passing at work or when you guys come to the kids’ soccer practices.”

“Baby—“

“It’s not me being safe. I’m not— I need you to know that I’m not being closed off. This isn’t that.”

“Then what is it?” Josh asked, tipping my head up.

The three men were standing shoulder to shoulder. God, they were beautiful. The living, breathing embodiment of masculine beauty. Each different in their own way. Light, dark. Sarcastic, sweet. Funny, intense.

And mine.

I was being the world’s biggest idiot by saying I couldn’t move in with them. The house they shared was four times the size of mine. The kids loved it when we went over.

“When I was with my ex, I moved in with him, and then we got married.”

“We know that,” Miles mumbled.

“But what you don’t know is we got married because I got pregnant. After he walked off and I started my life over again, I told myself I wouldn’t date ever again, and if I did by some miracle find someone who could deal with my cold, mean girl side?—“

“You’re not mean,” Rick jumped in.

“You’re tough,” Miles clarified.

“And that makes it a world of a difference, baby,” Josh added.

“Well, umm, I— I promised myself I wouldn’t move in with anyone just like that and especially with the kids so young. I’m sorry. I know it makes it hard but…”

“So, you saying you want a ring on your finger, gorgeous?” Rick asked, holding my hand. My heart stalled.

There was something in his tone and the way the three of them looked at me that was different.

The conference room went quiet, and suddenly, Josh was no longer in front of me but walking to the corner of the conference room where there was an extra exit door and the flowers waited.

But he didn’t pick them up.

No, instead, he opened the door, and I couldn’t believe it, but my sister and her guys were there. And in front of the four of them stood my babies. All dressed up, way more dressed up than what they had been wearing when I dropped them off at daycare. Betsy wrote a pretty, purple dress, and Mikey was in a suit with a tie that matched the guys’.

“What’s going on?” I whispered.

The other two men left me where I stood and turned to walk over to my kids. I watched them all kneel around one another, in a circle, and put their hands in like a team did together at the end of the game to show their appreciation for the team they played. The guys stood up and moved to the side a little. I watched as Mike reached for Mile’s hand while Betsy took Rick and Josh’s. Each of the guys’ free hands held either flowers or a teddy bear. The sight was beautiful, and it had me in a chokehold. My heart felt like it was racing and beating slowly all at the same time.

The five of them started their way toward me. Slow, deliberate steps until they stopped mere inches from me.

“What is this?” I whispered. Betsy’s giggle made me look down at her.

“They love you, Mommy.” Betsy grinned, and my lips wobbled.

“And they want us to be a family,” Mike added. I’d thought I’d cried all the tears I had just moments earlier, but I realized I still had more in me. Though, these were filled with nothing but joy and love.

“For our entire life, until we met you and then the kids, we thought all we’d have was each other,” Josh started to say, taking my hand in his. “But then we met you, in here, actually.” My eyes widened.

They were right. We met in this conference room. How could I forget that?

“It all made sense. We tried to give you time. Get to know us slowly. The three of you. And the more we got to know you, the deeper we fell in love. We love you, Elena. We love the three of you.” Josh squeezed my left hand, and then the pads of his fingertips touched my ring finger and stayed there.

“Nothing would make us happier than if you let us join your family,” Miles added, his voice full of rich emotion.

“We promise to love, protect, and respect each of you until our last breath,” Rick vowed.

They were too much.

Too perfect.

And I was stunned speechless. I couldn’t tear my eyes off them to look at my kids or my sister, who I’d forgotten was still standing there, bearing witness to one of the most beautiful moments in my life. Something that Rick, Josh, and Miles had planned.

For me. For the kids. For all of us.

I watched the three men in my life drop down to their knees. They each held a stunningly beautiful thin gold band in one hand. And then Josh pulled out a box, one that they all held together. In the center of the deep brown wooden box sat a beautiful princess cut solitaire being held by lavender velvet.

“Will you marry us?” they asked in unison, completely wrecking my world. I broke out into silent sobs, nodding happily through my tears.

“Yes!” I finally managed to say, and they didn’t wait a moment to get up and hug me. First as a group then individually, each kissing me with the passion and love they felt for me. My kids moved in and hugged me and the guys, as well as Rosie and her men.

“Champagne!” Rosie cheered, and I wiped my face.

“We can’t drink. I’m on the clock.” I laughed. My sexy doctors looked sheepishly at me.

“Actually,”” Josh started off, “now, don’t get mad, but remember you just said you would spend the rest of your life with us?”

“You’re on vacation for the rest of the week,” a familiar voice sounded from the door I’d entered. I turned to see Tabitha actually smiling.

“A week?” I asked, and she nodded.

“Happy vacation. And congratulations.” She smiled before exiting the conference room while my sister was already pouring the champagne.