Page 11 of Doctor Daddies

“If we’re going to do this, then I want it to be multiples,” Ross tells us calmly. It’s clear that this is something he’s been giving a lot of thought to, and I wonder just how much time he has spent pondering all the possibilities of our potential child. “Triplets, preferably. I don’t want one kid being passed back and forth between the three of us. Three kids, then they grow up with siblings too.”

“Damn,” James mutters under his breath, clearly somewhat taken aback by the very notion of it. I can’t say I blame him, but honestly, Ross is right. I don’t want a single child that we just share and hope for the best. I want a kid of my own, a kid I can raise alongside my friends, not as one of three parents taking care of them. And with the technology we have access to, it would be entirely possible to ensure that we have multiples…

“You’re talking like we have someone who’s already agreed to this,” James replies incredulously. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s nobody on board to do this yet.”

“So we reach out to Millie,” I announce, planting my hand on the page before us. “See if she’s up to it.”

We all stare down at her photo in silence. Seeing her name and contact details right in front of us, it has made all of this a whole lot more real. It’s not like we can just chalk this up to a hypothetical any longer. We could actually do this if we wanted to. Actually put this into motion.

But it’s more than just the weight of the decision we’re making with regards to potential future children. It’s abouthertoo. About seeing the woman who brought us together six years ago.

If I’m being honest, one of the reasons I never bothered with dating that much was because I knew it would be unfair to compare any woman I was with to the memory of that night. I know it’s not the kind of thing you can just recreate, an alchemy of recklessness to it that you can’t just snap your fingers and reclaim whenever you feel like it. She’s something special, and inviting her back into our lives, even just for something like this, might prove to be more than any of us are ready for.

“Fuck it,” James mutters, snatching up the paper and staring at her picture for a moment. “I say we do it.”

I blink, surprised. Of the three of us, James seemed least certain about this approach.

“You think?” I ask, leaning forward, a spark of excitement in my chest. This could actually, really happen.

James nods. “You’re right, there’s no harm in pitching the idea to her,” he replies. “We can do it through an anonymous agency. Make it look like it’s just another job offer for her. That way, we’ll at least know if she’s open to that side of it.”

Ross’s brow is still furrowed, and he’s looking unconvinced. “What if she says no and then figures out it’s us?”

“She won’t,” I reply. “I’ll go through one of our agencies, make it look like it came entirely from them. The entire process is anonymous at least for the first few steps, so it’s not like she’ll have any reason to wonder why we’re not around.

Ross taps his finger on his chin, pondering. He’s always been the heaviest overthinker of the three of us—a good thing, sometimes, at least when it comes to work. I know I can trust him to take on almost anything without missing a beat, but sometimes when I see the deep furrow in his brow, I wonder if we’ve put more on him than he can really take.

“And what about Matt?”

“That’s a bridge we cross if we come to it,” James replies. “He doesn’t know about any of this, and he doesn’t have to, if nothing comes of it.”

“Yeah, if she just says no, then no harm, no foul,” I add. “Not like she’s ever going to find out where the offer came from, or that we had anything to do with it.”

Ross flicks his gaze between the two of us, calculating. He clearly doesn’t like the idea of taking such a huge risk, but this is about more than just business. This is about a future. My future, a future that includes a real family.

“I’m not getting any younger,” I press him. “None of us are. And I don’t want to be the kind of father who can barely keep up with their kid because they’re getting too old for all of that shit?—”

“Agreed,” James cuts in. “I want to be present in my child’s life. There for them, not distracted because I can hardly get out of bed myself.”

Ross lets out a long sigh, perhaps sensing that we’re not going to ease up on convincing him until we get the answer we’re looking for. He tosses his hands in the air. “Put in the application,” he says. “You’re right, there’s no harm in it, especially if she’s never going to find out.”

“My thoughts exactly,” I say, trying to keep the huge grin off my face. I don’t want to seem too keen, in case he changes his mind and decides he doesn’t want to go through with this after all.

I rise to my feet, grabbing what I brought with me and slipping it back into my bag.

“Well, I guess it’s decided,” I announce.

“I guess it is,” Ross replies, and he stares down at his coffee for a moment, like he’s trying to make sense of the choice he just made.

James has his hands locked behind his head and a grin on his face, eyes distant, as though he’s already picturing some future he can hardly wait to dive into.

“I’ll get that seen to,” I finish up, and I turn to head out of the room before either of them can pepper me with any more questions.

As I make my way down to my office, I can feel something at the back of my head, a thrill that I know I can’t ignore. And part of it is about the process of having a child, the thought of bringing kids into the world that I can raise as my family. But another part of it has everything to do with the woman we’re about to ask to take on the task.

And I don’t know which part, right now, I’m looking forward to more.

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