Ronan exhaled deeply and faced the beta. “Niall, you of all people know that Teal and I have always been open to the idea of bringing other people into our marriage.”
Niall released a puff of air. “Uh-huh.”
Ronan cleared his throat, oddly unsure. “Teal and I have known for a while that we felt a profound connection to Sorcha. Something well beyond being neighbors. His heat may have upped the ante and driven the point home sooner, but we both believe this is where we would have ended up, eventually.”
“Ended up…with Sorcha.”
“Exactly,” Teal affirmed. “He’s part of us now. We aren’t letting him go.”
“Oh,” Niall said flatly. “Um, of course.”
Teal circled his arms around the beta from behind. Surprising Ronan, Niall leaned into the embrace, pushing the omega’s hands against his abdomen.
“We felt this way about you,” Teal said fervently into Niall’s ear. “You know Ronan and I would never disrespect your relationship with Jax, but we learned our lesson about not being honest about what we truly wanted when we let you go. We can’t repeat the same mistake with Sorcha.”
Niall looked up at Ronan for confirmation, and Ronan nodded with more than a hint of melancholy.
“We’re so grateful for your friendship, Niall. Yours and Jax’s,” Teal continued. “And maybe things worked out the way they’re supposed to. Because you have Jax, and you’re still a part ofour lives. But we’ll always miss the piece of you we don’t have anymore.”
Niall’s eyes closed. “I made my choice. And I don’t regret it,” he said. “I don’t want to be jealous of Sorcha. Heck, I care for Sorcha too. But I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel like I’ve been…replaced. I know it makes me an asshole to think that, and I promise I’ll get over it.” He blew out a long breath.
The sadness and longing in Niall’s tone shot straight to Ronan's core. An instinct to ease the man surfaced. With reverence, Ronan placed his hands over Teal’s on Niall’s stomach. “My beta—”
Niall and Teal startled at the unexpected alpha voice, and Ronan flinched. “Shit, sorry, it just slipped—”
“It’s okay,” Niall murmured.
Ronan nodded. “Alright then. Niall, my friend.” He moved his hand to the beta’s cheek. “Our relationship with Sorcha takes away nothing from what we had with you. You need to understand that you are absolutely irreplaceable.”
Niall turned his face to the alpha’s palm and the three men stilled, letting Ronan’s words sink in.
The beeping of the microwave broke the moment. Niall pulled out some broccoli he’d heated to go with the pizza. Teal called the boys to come inside and wash up.
“Niall, we realize this will be a big adjustment for everyone,” Ronan said. “But Teal and I wouldn’t pursue this if we didn’t think it was the best decision for our family. We don’t know yet how Sorcha will fit into our sons’ lives, only that he will, and we feel strongly that they will be better people for knowing him. Just as they are for knowing you.”
“Thank you,” Niall replied as the twins trooped in with their brother trailing behind.
Once the kids sat down, Teal said, “We want to talk to you boys about Sorcha.”
Garin, Kino, and Zayne listened with interest as their fathers told them that Sorcha would be living with them for the foreseeable future, that he was joining their family.
“Families can have lots of different people in them,” Ronan explained. “Kind of like how Niall is a part of our family.”
“Is Sorcha going to be our nanny too?” Kino asked.
“No,” Teal said gently. “This is the part that’s difficult, so I’m going to ask you to be very grown-up trying to understand. Right now, the best way to explain it is like this. You know how Papa and I are husbands?”
“Yes,” all three boys answered.
“Well,” Teal ran his hands over his thighs. “Sorcha is going to be like another husband to me and Papa.”
Ronan held his breath as he viewed his wide-eyed sons. He and Teal had agreed earlier that being as honest as possible would be better than having the boys wonder what was going on or needing to guess at it. The kids were too young to know much about sex, but he imagined they’d notice if their fathers were touching and kissing Sorcha the way they’d only seen them do with each other.
And, of course, Sorcha had had a breeding orgasm. There was a chance he would be connected to their family in a much more meaningful way soon. But they’d agreed to wait on revealing that possibility until they knew for sure.
Besides, the boys were already dealing with enough, taking in the information they’d just received.
“Three husbands?” Garin scrunched his face. “I’ve never heard of that.”
