Second Year After Ch. 06

~~~~~

December 1, 2014

I earned my first raise! Less than six months on the job, and Mike called me in and congratulated me on a great job so far, and told me the raise would be on my next check.

Patti and Mom were thrilled when I got home with the news.

Amber, meanwhile, was told at her gallery to start her maternity leave early, with a bonus to cover the expected commissions. It was getting harder and harder for her to walk the gallery floor with customers, and since she'd sold more than her quota for the year already, the owners decided she'd earned the extra time off.

After examining her, Henry agreed, and told her to rest in bed for the remaining two-plus weeks of her pregnancy. She didn't much like it, but at least I got to see her more, in between Kenny visiting to see her. We didn't make love, but we did get to talk.

After overhearing another argument between her and Kenny, I told her, "I've missed you the last few months. I know you think I disapprove of you and Kenny, but I need you to know that I love you, no matter what. Whatever happens with Kenny, whatever the results of the paternity tests might be, I love you, and only want what will make you the happiest. If that's Kenny, I will be happy for you, I promise. But that's not what I'm seeing right now. You're struggling to make it work with him, and it's not."

Amber sighed, then said, "I love you too, Drew. Thank you for saying that. You're right, things aren't working with Kenny and I right now, but I don't know if it's just because I'm hormonal, or if things will be better after the babies are born. They need..." And she trailed off.

"They need what?" I asked. "What were you going to say?"

"They need... a stable home." Amber said, clearly not what she originally had in mind. "Like it or not, I still think Kenny provides me the best shot at that."

I knew she was going to say something else, but I didn't have a clue what, and pressing her on it would get me nowhere.

~~~~~

December 5, 2014

Mom and Patti joined Amber on maternity leave, with Mom and Patti both due on the 14th. I was starting a paternity leave on the 10th.

~~~~~

December 19th, 2014

I had spent the whole summer and fall imagining that I was going to be like Steve Martin in Father of the Bride II, scurrying between delivery and waiting rooms for my mom, wife and step-sister, as they all gave birth at the same time, but in the end, they each delivered on different days. The hospital wouldn't let Henry deliver any of the babies, because of his relationships to the mothers, but he wound up in the waiting room for all three.

Mom gave birth three days early on the night of the 11th to my "brother", Gavin James Kilson on the birth certificate, 9 lbs 11 oz, and they were already back home when Patti went into labor on the morning of the 15th and gave birth to Sharon Tina Barnes, 8 lbs 5 oz, and I was at the hospital on the 17th picking Patti and Sharon up to go home, when we got the call that Amber was on the way there, her water having broken, a day after her due date.

I greeted Amber and Kenny when they arrived at the hospital, and gave Kenny encouragement, and Amber a squeeze of my hand. I ached to be able to tell her I loved her, but I couldn't with Kenny there. Then I took Patti and my daughter home, and brought my Mom and Henry up to speed. Henry took off for the hospital waiting room while I stayed with my two wives and my kids.

Amber labored for six hours, before delivering her two children, who they named Kenneth Anson Phillips Jr., 7lbs 10 oz, and Kyra Rose Phillips, 6 lb, 13 oz. Kenny posted photos on Facebook, and they looked beautiful and happy. They were already referring to their son as "KJ".

The happiness didn't last long.

On the 19th, Henry brought Amber and the babies home earlier in the day, as Kenny was working, his last day before the pre-scheduled two weeks of paternity leave his job allowed was to start. That afternoon, Patti and I were coming into Henry's house with Sharon in my arms to see Amber and the twins, when we heard screaming in the kitchen.

"She's not mine, bitch! Who the fuck is her father?" It was Kenny, screaming at Amber, who was seated at the table, and he was pissed. I had never seen him like this before.

"What's going on here?" I asked, stepping between him and Amber.

He took a moment to focus on me, then answered. "Drew, Kyra's not my daughter. She can't be. I'm blood type O-negative, and Amber's B-negative, yet Kyra's discharge paperwork says she's B-positive. I may not be a scientist, but even I know that two RH-negative blood types can't produce a positive, so that means I can't be her father. But this... CUNT... won't tell me who the father is."

I froze for a moment. Amber looked lost and terrified, and I knew what I had to say. "That's because it's me."

"You? What the fuck? She's your step-sister, and my girlfriend?" He looked like he was ready to punch me, if not for Sharon being in my arms.

Patti put a hand on Kenny's arm, which seemed to calm him, but only a little. Patti softly said, "Kenny, she wasn't either one of those things when this happened, it was right before our wedding. You hardly knew Amber, and Henry and Tina weren't even engaged, at the time. You see, Amber was my first lover back in High School, but we broke up, and then Drew and I met in college. So when I found out that her family had moved next door to Drew and her Dad was dating Tina, that brought us into contact again and our old feelings for each other resurfaced. I talked to both Amber and Drew about having a threesome, kind of as a wedding gift, and we did, several times before the wedding, then haven't been together that way since, once she became your girlfriend." That last part wasn't true, but hopefully could hold up. Telling him about our lovemaking after graduating wasn't going to calm him down.

Amber took a deep breath, and said, "Kenny, I actually made love to both of you on their wedding day, Drew that morning and you that night, and the next days after we got back to school. Drew clearly still had active sperm in me when I ovulated a couple of days after the wedding, not once but twice, and you each fertilized one egg. Because of when I estimated my ovulation, the odds strongly favored you being the dad, so that's why I didn't bring Drew up."

"Is KJ mine, then? Or is he Drew's, too?" Kenny eyes threw daggers at me.

Amber said, "I'm certain KJ's yours. Dad was able to get a test done during the pregnancy, and while it took some extra effort to differentiate the two babies' DNA, it proved KJ is yours and Kyra is Drew's. I... just didn't know how to tell you."

Kenny looked mixed up. "But Drew knew? You could tell him, but not me? Why didn't you tell me, man, even if she couldn't?"

I answered, too quickly, "She didn't tell me about the test. I only knew there was less than a 40% chance I was the father of at least one twin based on the timing, and didn't know until right now that either baby was definitely mine. As for telling you, it's not the easiest thing to have to say, 'Hey, bud, I think I might be the father to four babies'..." and I froze, as Patti and Amber both flinched. Oh, fuck.

It took Kenny no time at all to figure out my flub. "Four? What are you... Oh. My. God. You mean your Mom's baby, too?" He coldly looked me in the eye, and said, "You don't need to answer that, mother fucker, it's plain on your face. Did you need a DNA test for that, too? Henry says he's the Dad."

I took a deep breath, before answering, as calmly as I could, "No, Henry had a vasectomy years ago, so there was no doubt. He's told people he had it reversed, because Mom wanted another child. He's saying that to protect my Mom, mainly, but me too."

Kenny snorted. "So, he knows all about you and Tina fucking, and he's okay with that? What kind of pussy lives with someone else fucking his wife?"

Amber decided she'd had enough, and stood gingerly, saying, "A lot better man than you've shown yourself to be, Kenny Phillips. I'm not going to stand here and let you bad-mouth Daddy or Drew, never mind what you've called me in the last few minutes. I'd take either one of them over you. Leave. Now." She pulled his ring from her finger, saying, "Oh, and engagement's fucking off, in case you hadn't guessed," before tucking the ring into Kenny's front pocket, and using the contact to push him towards the door. "I thought I needed a husband for my babies' sake, and since Drew was already married, I accepted your proposal. That was a far bigger mistake than not telling you about Kyra's parentage. I don't love you, Kenny, not enough to marry you, anyway. I kept waiting for feelings to develop for you, but they just didn't. I love the people in this house, and they love me. I would rather be in Drew and Patti's lives as a 'baby momma' than be married to you."

Kenny looked deflated, but had one more realization. "That's what this is. It all makes so much sense now. Drew and Tina, and you... you... and your Daddy. You just said you'd take him over me. That's why you've held back from setting a date or moving in with me. You've fucked your own father, haven't, you, slut? This is just a nest of incest you've all cooked up here, and you didn't want to leave it."

She looked like she wanted to slap him, but instead said, "Goodbye, Kenny."

Kenny left, shaking his head and muttering, what I don't know.

Amber came to me, and buried her head into my chest, saying, "I'm so sorry, Drew."

I hugged her to me with my right arm, while I still had Sharon in my left, and said, "No, don't do that, sweetheart. The way Kenny just acted is on Kenny, not you. And I'm the one who slipped up, anyway. I can remember when he once said that true friends stand by friends even in the bad times. Well, I guess he just showed what kind of friend he really is, to all of us."

Patti wrapped her arms around all of us, and kissed Amber's cheek, saying, "It'll be alright, hon. You're not alone, you have too many people who love you and your babies."

We stood there, for several minutes, just standing there holding her, when Amber looked up at Patti and said, "Yes. 9 months ago, I turned you down when you proposed to me. If I had said yes then, and not gone to bed with Kenny during your wedding, we would have all been happier. So, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"

Patti began to cry. I said, "You probably wouldn't have KJ now if that's how things had happened. Maybe it would still have been twins, but it would be a different baby. I'm a firm believer that things usually turn out the way they are supposed to. And in this case, you were meant to have one child by each of us. They both belong in our lives. Maybe even Kenny still has a role to play. I don't blame you for any of your choices, Amber, they were what you thought was right at each moment, and we haven't seen the ending of our story yet. I'm just glad I will get to call you my wife now. I do have a question, though."

"What?" she asked.

"Earlier this month, when you said the babies needed a stable home, that wasn't what you were originally going to say. What was?"

Amber hugged me closer, before saying, "I was going to say my babies needed both of their dads, but I realized I hadn't told you that I knew Kyra was yours. Dad did an amniocentesis on your Mom at 18 weeks to check Gavin for genetic problems, and I asked him to do one on both babies to check paternity, then asked him not to reveal the results. He didn't even need a genetic sample from either of you, as he could just compare genes with Gavin's, and that proved Gavin was Kyra's half-brother, but not KJ's. Dad and I actually knew I had a boy and a girl before the sonograms. I'm sorry I kept it a secret. Maybe if I had done things differently, Kenny wouldn't have found out about all the other secrets."

"It's okay, hun. We'll get through it," I said.

We hugged each other tight. "Will... will the two of you let me sleep with you, tonight? I know it's way too soon for sex, but just to cuddle and hold each other? It's not going to be much of a wedding night for us, but I've missed you both so much."

"We can do that, honey," I said.

Just then, Mom and Henry came through the door, Henry carrying Gavin, and Henry asked, "Do what?"

I answered, "Dad, Amber and Kenny just had a huge blowup, when he figured out that Kyra wasn't his daughter. He now knows that I'm her father, while KJ is his son. And he... he also knows about the incest in this family. I... I slipped and talked about maybe being the father to 4 kids, and he connected that to Gavin right away, and the rest he put together in about a minute, although we didn't confirm his guess about you and Amber. Amber was just asking us if it would be okay for her to sleep with Patti and me tonight, and you heard me saying yes." I didn't know if I should reveal that Amber had just agreed to marry us.

"Oh, fuck!" Henry said. "Will he use that against us?"

I shrugged, saying, "I don't know. He's always been one of my best friends, but he's also the angriest I've ever seen him. I... just don't know what he'll do before calming down, if he even does."

"So... did you just call me Dad?" Henry asked, with a hesitant smile on his face.

"Yeah, I guess I did. Do you mind? You -are- my stepdad, after all." I gave him a huge smile, eclipsed only by the one I saw on my Mom's face.

"I'd be honored... son. How about this? We go put Sharon and Gavin into the nursery with the twins, and either the three of you can sleep in Amber's room, or you can join your Mom and me in the master, and we'll just cuddle all three of you moms."

Amber answered for us. "Daddy, your Queen isn't big enough for five of us, and Sandy and Toni will be here in awhile. I'd like to spend tonight with Drew and Patti, and I can spend the next night with you and Tina, if that's okay? But first, can I talk to you alone?"

Amber and Henry went up to their bedroom, while Patti and Mom put Sharon and Gavin into the nursery, then went back to the kitchen to start dinner. During this, Sandy arrived, her last finals having been that morning, followed by Toni, and we had to quickly bring them up to speed on everything. When we brought up the marriage, Sandy responded, "That's not what I want right now. I want to see how things go with guys at college. Carlos and I have different schedules next semester, so I'll need a new study buddy at least," and we didn't argue. If time brought her to us, it would. We would love her regardless.

When he and Amber came back downstairs, Henry said, "Amber told me that she agreed to marry you all, that you started talking about it back during Spring Break, and that I was the intial obstacle. I'm sorry for that, but with all of your help and love, I really think I'm ready to be part of that. Will you all marry me?" We agreed instantly.

He walked up to me, and hugged me tight. "I would not only be proud to call you my son, but also to call you my co-husband. We both love all of the women in this room, and you've shown me how it's possible to do that without fear or jealousy. I love you, Drew. Not in a 'let's go fuck' kind of way, but you know what I mean."

I stepped back, smiling, and said, "I do know, Henry, and I love you, too."

To Mom, he said, "Tina, we've been married on paper for six months, and acting like that's all the commitment we have to each other. In fact, my heart has been yours this whole time. I want the full commitment of being married to you as part of this group, to the same level of intimacy all of you have shown me is possible. We are now six, unless Sandy changes her mind. And we have four babies to raise, together, as one family. I want them to know that we all love them and each other, as soon as they can handle it, and I want Gavin to know his true biological parentage as well. Drew is going to be his Dad, not just his big brother. We may not be able to change his birth certificate, but Gavin needs to know that he has two fathers, not just one."

"I love you, Henry. Thank you for all you've done," Mom told him.

To Patti, he said, "My dear, I never told you that I once caught you and Amber making love, and that was what got me started thinking about her as a sexual person. You played a similar role in Tina and Drew's discovery of each other, and here we all are today. Thank you for both. I've thought of you as my third daughter for years, and now I get to think of you as my wife, and I couldn't be happier."

Patti started to cry, just getting out, "I love you, Daddy," before hugging Amber, who likewise had happy tears in her eyes.

Finally, he came to Toni. "You and Tina have helped me so much this year, and I've fallen in love with you, too. Will you sleep with Tina and I tonight, and let me make love to you? After all, you're the only one of my four wives not out of commission because of Drew and his hyper-sperm," to which we all laughed.

Toni agreed and Sandy wound up with Patti, Amber and I, and she let me make love to her, before we settled into cuddling Amber and Patti.

Our babies, of course, had other plans. Every time one cried, which was at least once an hour, so did the others, even if they were dry and fed. We were up pretty much all night, but at least we were finally together.

~~~~~

December 20, 2014

We had almost finished a round of feedings. Mom, Toni and Henry had Gavin in their bedroom, as he'd been crying loudest. I was rocking Kyra in the nursery, while Patti was burping Sharon and Amber was still nursing KJ, thinking how I had dreamed this same scene earlier in the year, when I realized it was 6 AM. That was the time two years earlier when my Mom woke me to tell me that Dad was dead. Where had the time gone?

I remembered waking the same time the year before, thinking back to a year of changes, wondering what new changes were in the offing. I smiled thinking how I would never have predicted this second year, and all its changes. Graduation and the new job were the only things that really weren't surprises. Henry, Amber and Sandy came into our lives, and were now so many things to each other, step-family, lovers and spouses, Toni joined in right before the public wedding with Patti, and now I was a Dad myself, to three babies by three moms, and even though KJ wasn't mine biologically, whether I thought of him as stepson or nephew, I loved him already, too.

But then there was Kenny. Would he turn me and Mom into the police, or accuse Amber and Henry, too? Would he fight for custody, or abandon KJ altogether? The revelations threatened to burn our future down, so I really didn't have an idea of what the next year without my Dad would bring. But as I thought about the people I loved, I knew we would face it together.

~~~~~

Author's Note: "Third Year After" still needs some more development, plot-wise, but I do know the direction these characters are headed, into Year Four. Have patience with me as I get the story there.

Leenysman