Colters' Gift

CHAPTER 5

I’M reminded of when Seth was born,” Adam said, his voice aching with memories.

Holly smiled at her three husbands as they sank onto the couch at home. They’d left Lily and the boys just a half hour earlier, and returned home to rest and leave the new parents to fuss over the baby themselves. The boys insisted on bringing Lily and the baby to the hospital the next day so both could be checked out and make sure there weren’t any problems. But Holly had a feeling that if Lily got her way, they’d settle for having the doctor come out and tend to mother and child at home.

“Never a more beautiful moment,” Ryan said softly.

“I’m reminded of when you came home,” Ethan broke in. “That first time I saw you after all those months. Big and swollen with our child. I’ll never forget that day. It was the best day of my life.”

Adam nodded. “Can’t argue there.”

Holly sighed and settled between Ryan and Ethan on the couch. She was just as beautiful, if not more so, as she’d been nearly thirty-five years ago when she’d had Seth. Adam loved her more with every passing day, and he hadn’t imagined being able to love her more than when she’d returned to them.

But he had. The day she gave birth to Seth. And then to Michael and Dillon. And finally Callie. The scare she’d given them just last Christmas still lingered in his mind, a shadow that may never fade.

“It’s hard to imagine we’re grandparents,” Holly murmured. Her voice was a little sad, her face drawn, though Adam knew how happy she was to be a grandmother. “The years go by so very fast. I don’t know where they’ve all gone.”

“The best are yet to come,” Ryan said, pulling her into his side.

“I’m still that young girl falling in love with three men at the same time,” she said. “And yet that was a lifetime ago and yesterday all at the same time. I’m not ready to go. I’m not ready for this life to be over. I love it so much. I love you so very much.”

Adam’s chest clenched, and he read the same dismay on his brothers’ faces. They didn’t even want to consider a time when they wouldn’t be together.

Ethan touched her cheek, his eyes softening in love, the wrinkles at the corners more pronounced than they’d been a decade ago. “Our love is forever, sweetheart. The end of our lives here is only the beginning for us. Not even death can separate us.”

“Not to mention we all have a lot of years left,” Adam said gruffly. “So don’t even think about checking out early. I’ll drag you back by your hair if I have to.”

Holly laughed and the sound sent sunshine straight to Adam’s soul. Her eyes twinkled and the shadows had lifted.

“I have no doubt you’d do just that.”

“Count on it,” Ryan growled. “Never giving you up, honey. That’s a fact.”

“They’re going to be fine,” Holly said with a contented sigh. “Did you see the boys? I’ve never seem them that undone. And Lily. There’s no more sorrow in her eyes. She positively glowed.”

Adam smiled. “Thank you, baby.”

She cocked her head, looking at him in puzzlement. “What for?”

Adam leaned over the couch to touch his lips to hers. “For giving me four wonderful children. For giving me a life full of more love than I ever dreamed. For accepting us. For loving us. For coming home to us.”

Tears shone brightly in her eyes as she stroked his cheek.

“You know, we never did get around to taking that trip we talked about at Christmas. I distinctly remember discussing a beach, being naked and making love for an entire week.”

Ethan chuckled. “That’s because you refused to even consider leaving when Lily was pregnant.”

“But she’s not now,” Holly said with a mischievous grin. “I’m thinking after we give them a few weeks to settle into a routine and they don’t need as much anymore, that we should pack up and go on that vacation.”

“I think that’s a very good idea,” Ryan murmured as he kissed her again. “I have a distinct need to show my wife how very much I love her.”