Page 69 of Firefly

And I had the three most amazing men who loved me just as fiercely as I did them. This was all I had ever wanted and finally, it was mine.

Now, we had the rest of our lives to fan the flames of our love and see where it brought us next.

I couldn’t wait to see where that might be.

Five years later…

The fire crackled, sending sparks fluttering through the night. The smell of meat perforated the air, making my mouth water.

Porter, my ever grilling husband, had just thrown the hamburgers on the grill while my other two husbands Darren and Alden entertained all our family and friends by the fire. Music played over one of the speakers Darren had set up on our back porch and echoed through the massive yard and possibly even past the lake that sat just a few hundred yards away.

A year after the night of the explosion and Porter getting shot, we’d had a ceremony where I married all three of the men I loved more than anything in this world. We quickly decided that we wanted a more expanded home and yard for us to settle down in to raise a family in the future, so we bought this property next to a lake that had several acres of land.

It was a beautiful country cottage home with more than enough rooms to house our family when they came to visit, like tonight where Kaden and his wife had flown in with my niece to spend the Fourth of July with us. Mama Torres was here as well with her new husband George that she met at one of the annual station cookouts. We never thought she’d put herself out there again after losing her husband, but we were thrilled she had. George was a wonderful man that absolutely adored Mama Torres and treated all of us like we were his own kids since he never had any. Duvie had brought Samantha, the woman he’d danced with at the gala and had only just recently proposed to several months ago. She was a lovely woman and seemed to handle Duvie’s craziness better than even his late wife did.

It was always a joy to have everyone here together, especially since this also doubled as a surprise party where we were going to be announcing our pregnancy. A girl this time.

We had found out I was pregnant with our first not long after the wedding. We’d named him Aaron after my dad and he’d just turned four a month ago. He was as goofy as Porter, as grumpy as Darren, and as spirited as Alden, yet none of us wanted to know who his biological dad was. He looked so much like me that it was hard to tell, but honestly, we didn’t care. They were all his dads as far as we were concerned.

A set of hands wrapped around me from behind, coming to rest on my slight baby bump. “Baby, when did you want to tell everyone?” Alden whispered in my ear.

“Not yet. This mama needs to eat first, or I’ll go full pregozilla on all of you.”

Alden laughed and kissed the side of my head. “Okay fine. I’ll go grab you a burger.”

“Make sure it has extra cheese! And mayo! Oh and three pickles!” I shouted after him.

He laughed harder and blew me a kiss. I watched as he made his way over to Porter and relayed my request. Porter glanced over at me and made a kissy face, which I returned, then mouthed I love you. I mouthed it back and turned away, almost bumping into husband number three.

“Whoa. Don’t fall.”

I shrugged him off. Darren had been treating me like a china doll since I announced I was pregnant again. Though that really wasn’t much of a shock. I wasn’t allowed to even put my own shoes on when I was pregnant with Aaron cause he was terrified I’d fall over and land on my stomach. He worried too much.

“I’m fine, ya goof. But where is my son? Burgers should be ready soon.”

He glanced over his shoulder then turned and looked over the other, pointing in that direction. “Over there hopping around. Want me to go get him?”

Groaning, I kissed his cheek then shoved him in the direction of the other two. “I can handle getting my boy, now stop hovering and go make sure husband one and two don’t mess up my burger,” I joked.

He grumbled but did as I said anyway. Smart man.

I made my way over in the direction of where Aaron was in fact hopping around, though I couldn’t tell exactly what he was doing. It wasn’t until I was only a few feet away that I realized what was happening and I let out a soft giggle.

“Mommy! Lights!” Aaron babbled excitedly.

I knelt next to him and smiled warmly up at what he was referring to. “Those are called fireflies, Bug,” I explained using the same nickname on him that my dad has used for me.

“What’r fireflies?” he asked, staring at me with those big hazel eyes I adored.

“Well, they’re bugs that light up when it gets dark. They flash as they fly, signaling to all their other firefly friends.”

“Do dey ever stop?” he questioned.

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him to me close. “Nope. Because nothing can dim a light that shines from within, Bug. Cause fireflies only know how to get brighter the darker it gets,” I repeated to him what I’d told one of his daddies so long ago.

Pulling up the sleeve of my cardigan, I traced the tattoo on my arm of the jar that had five fireflies spilling out from the top. One for me, each of the guys, and one for Aaron. And when our next child came, I’d add one more.

We were a family of fireflies, burning bright together endlessly.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

THE END