179 Porthos

179 Porthos
I agree with Porthos, this needs to be between him and her. He understands this best. We have to understand that there will be times when she needs one of us more than the others. This is one of them. - Geo

Priscilla used her key to open the door to the apartment in Laurel, just north of Washington DC. As soon as she saw the olive-green couch, she burst out laughing. Porthos chuckled behind her and kissed the back of her head.

“That is not the reaction that Chance had.”

“I imagine not,” she agreed with a smile.

“Well, go in.”

Grabbing his hand, she walked in and pulled him with her. She touched the wooden kitchen table that sat between the kitchen and the olive-green couch. Running her hand along the bottom edge, she found the brand that Sticks put on all his furniture. Next to his company brand was the C in a box indicating that it was a custom piece.

She started to ask him about it when she saw the rocking chair that was sitting in the bump-out next to the patio. A small gasp escaped her as she moved closer to it. She gently traced the letters on the back of the chair. Across the top was LANDON with all four of their names running down the slats.

“Why Landon?”

He pulled a strip of camouflage material from his pocket and handed it to her. “Geo and I changed our names. It’s going to be hard enough for our kids having three dads. They shouldn’t have three last names too.”

Nodding, she moved to bury her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and placed a light kiss on the top of her head. Moving his hands to her thighs, he lifted her and sat on the couch. Of the three of her handsome men, he knew best all the hell that she went through during school.

It had been decided that when they agreed to pursue together, decisions had to be made together. If there was anything that even one of them were not comfortable with, it was discussed until they all agreed or they would defer to what Priscilla wanted. This discussion, Porthos argued, needed to be done between him and her alone. He understood it better than the other two.

“Talk to me, Priss.”

She sat up and went to brush away the tears on her cheeks, but he beat her to it. Cupping her face, he brushed the tears away with his thumbs. He tipped her face slightly so that she was looking at him.

“Do you need a nubby?”

Smiling, she shook her head slightly between his hands, “No.”

“Tell me what you need.”

“I don’t know,” she admitted quietly.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Keeping in mind everything that Geo had told him, he patiently sat in the silence and gave her the time to process her thoughts. It took several minutes, but she opened her eyes and reached out her hand without the name tape to touch his smooth cheek.

“You took Denver’s name.”

“No, you took Denver’s name. We took your name. I saw what the kids in high school did to you and Eliza. I heard the stories about when you were younger. I pushed for us all to have the same last name. Your name. No matter which name you took, we would all take that same name.”

He slipped one hand to the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. Nibbling on her lips, he slid his other hand down to her hip and tugged her closer to him. She leaned in and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I love you,” she murmured against his lips.

Smiling, he kissed along her jaw, moving towards her ear, “I love you, too, baby girl.”

“I love Geo and Denver, too,” she sighed as she tipped her head back and he gave a small growl of appreciation.

“Me, too,” he nipped at her neck and tugged her shirt out from her jeans. “I love you and I love your other handsome men. There is no one else that I would want to spend the rest of my life with or raising our children with.”

Priscilla started rocking her hips against him as he pulled her purple T-shirt off. Reaching behind her, she undid her bra and let it slide off her shoulders. Porthos dropped her shirt to the ground and began to tease her nipple rings with his tongue.

“I want lots of babies,” she admitted as she looked down at where his mouth covered her tit. “Not as many as my parents…”

He chuckled as he pulled back, letting her nipple slide out of his mouth. “For us to have that many babies, we would need to have more women. And I’m not willing to share your men like that.”

“Me neither,” she admitted as she pulled his shirt up.

He pulled his shirt off and dropped it next to hers. His dog tags jingled as they settled against his bare skin. She picked up the oblong thin piece of steel and ran her thumb over the embossing.

“Your dog tags already say Landon. We only got married two weeks ago.”

Smiling at her, he wrapped his caramel-colored hand around her smaller paler one. “We discussed it over summer. The weekend that you and I had in Boston, I came home for us to discuss who you would marry, when you were able.”

“How did you three settle on Denver?”

“Well, I tried the I’ve known you longest, but it turns out, Denver has. And Geo said that he outranked us. Yet Denver has the most experience, so when we were with Dom, she deferred to him. And Denver would be home first, technically, he was already home. Plus, Dom was able to get us assigned here, just a few hours away.”

“So, Denver was picked as a process of elimination?”

He ran his hands up and down her back as he slowly shook his head. “No, baby girl. Denver was chosen because he would be here, and if Geo and I didn’t get married, the military would send us wherever they wanted. They still can but are more likely to keep us together.”

Leaning in, he kissed her lips and then leaned back against the couch cushions. His eyes trailed down her body and focused on her belly. Moving his hand, he rested his palm over the small bump that would soon be a baby bump. Looking back up at her, he spoke softly.

“Denver was chosen because we didn’t want to take you away from your family. We did not intend to be having a baby this soon. But we sure as hell did plan to get you pregnant. You need to be close to your mommas for your pregnancies and having our babies.”

She swiped at the tears that were on her cheeks again. “This is the only decision that we made for you. Because we didn’t want you to feel like you had to choose one over the others.”