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Gretchen was crying and moved to Tina. She knelt next to Tina’s chair and wrapped her in her arms as she rested her head on Tina’s chest.
Ben was struggling to control his own tears but Lucy was letting hers flow. He was in awe of Tina’s capacity for love!
“Will you give Gretchen a baby as well?” Tina asked.
The woman in question gasped and looked up at Tina’s gentle smile. Then she looked back at Ben who was looking at Tina in surprise but finally nodded. Gretchen scrambled to her feet to kiss Tina then rushed back to kiss Ben.
When he finally got her to calm down he made her sit in her chair and took her hands in his. “I wasn’t kidding when I said it was a miracle that Tina became pregnant. It was even more incredible that lightning struck twice with Lucy. We will go to a fertility clinic and try in vitro fertilization but before I agree to this you have to accept the very high possibility that it might not work. If it doesn’t you have to be able to accept that. To accept that having a baby isn’t the only reason for living or being happy! I can’t go through again… what I went through with Wendy. I- I just can’t!” Ben’s voice was raw by the end.
“Yes! I accept it’s only a chance. That’s good enough. I promise!” Gretchen gasped as she cried.
Ben turned to Lucy. “I don’t want any of this to diminish how flattered I am that you want to have my child. I love you so much!”
Lucy moved to Ben’s lap and kissed him until they parted to catch their breath. “I love you too Ben!”
Ben looked at the three happy faces. “I- I don’t know what to do next!”
“I will call my obstetrician to make an appointment for Lucy,” Tina said.
“I’ll help Gretchen research fertility clinics to find a good one nearby,” Lucy suggested and Gretchen reached over to hold Lucy’s hand.
“Mama!” Christopher called out from his bedroom.
They glanced at the clock and saw it was almost 9AM.
“The morning is getting away from us!” Tina yelped playfully.
Lucy slipped off Ben’s lap and rushed over to Tina to give her a kiss then moved off down the hall to get Christopher.
Gretchen was wide eyed with excitement as she smiled at Tina. “I cannot believe how much my life has changed in such a short number of days!”
“Life is very exciting around Ben,” Tina agreed.
Ben smirked at Tina and walked over to go down on one knee beside her. “If there was any legal way to marry you, Lucy, and Gretchen you know I would in a second.”
“Yes, I do,” she said, looking at him impishly.
He took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips to sensually kiss the pad of each fingertip as she gasped and squirmed, watching his mouth hungrily.
Lucy arrived with Christopher and Ben gave him a kiss on the forehead before standing to kiss Lucy passionately. She was swooning as he stepped back and walked over to the counter to finish preparing breakfast. He glanced back and saw three women undressing him with their eyes. A tingle ran down his spine and he stiffened in his pants. He turned back to the counter and adjusted himself discretely. He still heard giggles from the ladies so he supposed he wasn’t as discrete as he thought.
He fried up some bacon and made scrambled eggs as Lucy prepared a pot of coffee. She still looked a little pale so she indicated she would just have some toast.
They ate their breakfast and listened to Christopher chatter away happily. He was eager to get back to his friends at the daycare.
When they were done Lucy told Ben she would clean up the kitchen so he took Christopher over to Daphne’s place. Once more the young boy squirmed to get down and go but he had to wait until Lisa came to the front to greet them. She helped him off with his coat and boots then he was off like a shot. Lisa grinned after the boy then turned to Ben.
“Hi,” she said with a wide smile.
Ben was suddenly struck once more by how incredibly lovely she was. She was the same age as Lucy too. The way she’d smiled at Christopher made him pause and think about what he was getting himself into.
Tina, who was only a couple of years older than the twins was having his baby. Lucy was their age and was having his baby. Gretchen was 31 and wanted to have a baby with him as well. That was at least three children of his own. Plus Christopher. His house wasn’t big enough. He needed to expand it!
While he knew Gabriella, Catherine, Trish, and Hannah were done with having children, he didn’t know if the twins wanted them. As he was in a relationship with them he needed to ask. What if they did want children? He began to feel a little light headed. Then very light headed.
“Ben? Ben! BEN!” Lisa yelped as he staggered sideways to thump his shoulder against the wall. She grabbed his other arm to stabilize him. Daphne rushed out to see what was happening and saw Ben was taking deep breaths and leaning against the wall. The two women managed to get him moving and brought him into the playroom and had him lie down on the big couch. Lori was there and pulled off his boots to put his feet up on the arm of the couch to raise them above his head. Some of the kids came over to see what was happening but Daphne drew them away to the activity center.
He looked up into the concerned faces of the twins. “Sorry about that,” he said with embarrassment.
“Are you feeling any pain in your arm?” Lisa asked.
“No, it wasn’t anything to do with my heart,” he said with a sigh. “I’ve just had a rather… emotional morning. I’m afraid it just suddenly overwhelmed me as I thought about it.”
“What happened?” Lori asked.
Ben no longer felt lightheaded so he eased his feet down to the floor and sat up. He didn’t re-experience the dizziness so he sighed with relief. He patted the couch beside himself and the twins sat next to each other facing him. He had to smile as they looked so lovely there. He stiffened his resolve. He had to ask them straight out.
“Lucy may be pregnant with my child,” Ben said. The twins squealed excitedly and drew looks from the kids and a glare from their mother. Ben gave Daphne an apologetic look and a stern look at the twins. “This is according to a home pregnancy test which, as impossible as it seems, I believe may be correct.”
He took a deep breath and pushed on. “You know the woman I’ve asked you to shop for tonight? Gretchen? I’ve agreed… to be her Dom.” He paused to see their reaction but they took that news as if it was a given. He felt… a little annoyed that the women in his life always seemed to know the outcome of his decisions before he did. He pushed that aside for now.
“Her husband had a doctor tie her tubes to sterilize her,” he said bluntly and they gasped in outrage as Tina and Lucy had. He nodded. “She wanted a baby but not with him. I- I said I would try to give her a baby with in vitro fertilization.” Again, the only reaction from Lisa and Lori were loving smiles. “There’s… going to be a lot of babies in my home. I’ll need to add some rooms to the house.” He looked into the eyes of the twins. “Are you going to want children too?”
“No!” they blurted loudly in unison drawing another glare from their mother. They blushed and apologized to her.
“We love working with children but neither of us is interested in having our own. We- we were worried how you would take that news but it seems you have no shortage of willing volunteers.” Lisa said and Lori nodded with a grateful smile.
“I was amazed to discover I was having one with Tina. I’m very happy to be having one with Lucy too. Gretchen deserves to have a baby after she lived with that monster for so long.” He looked at the twins. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to have more than that.”
“You have our word that we won’t ask you for children,” Lisa said and Lori nodded.
Feeling much better Ben nodded and stood up. “Sorry about that Daphne. I’m feeling better now. Have a great day!”
“Bye Ben!” she replied with a wave and the kids paying attention waved as well. He waved to everyone and made his way out with the twins following.
He slipped his boots on and gave the ladies a quick kiss before heading back to the house. He saw a man standing on the top step of Catherine’s house ringing the doorbell. As he got closer to his driveway the man was returning to his vehicle which Ben saw was an older model of his truck. The man had grey hair in a flat top military cut and he moved with a precision that said he was military and you’d be smart not to fuck with him.
He spotted Ben and waved to get his attention. “Excuse me! Is this Catherine Khaleel’s home?” he called out in a strong voice.
“It’s Catherine’s home but she went back to using her maiden name, McGovern,” Ben called back. He saw the man’s face freeze then smile.
“You wouldn’t happen to be Cat’s neighbor, Ben Shepherd would you?” the man said walking towards him.
Ben looked at the man suspiciously. “Do I know you?”
“No, but my daughter has spoken of you. I’m Jack McGovern. Cat’s father,” the man said holding his hand out.
Ben smiled and shook the man’s hand which had a very firm grip. “The Sergeant?”
“Retired!” Jack smiled. “I guess I’m a little early. I wasn’t scheduled to arrive until tomorrow but the hotel we were booked in last night was hosting a bunch of drunk and noisy yahoos. We couldn’t sleep so the missus and I got back in the car and just drove through the night. I was hoping to get here before Cat went to work but we got stuck in traffic.”
“I could call her on her cell,” Ben offered but Jack just raised his hand.
“No, I don’t want to disturb her plans. I wasn’t supposed to be here this early,” Jack said.
“Okay, why don’t you come to my place to wait for Catherine to get home? You’re welcome to get some sleep in the guest bedroom.” Ben suggested.