Chpt. 22 CPOV:
"Guys!" Ana rushes into the living with her iPad in hand. "You're never going to believe what I found!"
"What?" Taylor and I both say at the same time.
"I found the perfect bed for us!" she plops down on the couch next to me. Taylor quickly comes from the kitchen to sit next to her. On the ipad is a picture of a large bed, it's nice and all but I'm not quite sure why she's so excited about it. Glancing at Taylor I see the same lost look in his eyes confirming I'm not the only one not understanding why this is a such a big deal for Ana.
"It's…nice Ana," Taylor says.
"You don't get it," she clicks back to a different image which when I look at closer seems to show size images of beds. "Okay, this is the bed we have right now, a king size bed. We talked about going with a California king bed for the new house but did you know that it really isn't much bigger than the bed we have now?"
"Really?" I ask.
"I thought it was bigger?" Taylor asks.
"It's longer, but not wider. So in a way it's bigger, but I don't think we need a bed to be any longer than the one we have."
"No I suppose we don't," I agree.
"So what is this then?"
"This company makes a larger size bed, two actually, than a king size bed," she zooms in on an image. "The length is the same, but they made the bed wider. It goes from 76" wide, which is what we have now, to 108" inches and then even up to 144" wide! I don't think we need a 12 foot wide bed but the other one…"
"Yes," Taylor says.
"That's exactly what we need," I agree.
"It's a little more than I budgeted for the new bed, but not by that much," she indicates the price which isn't nearly as much as I had expected it to be. "They have the bed frame, headboard and even bedding for that size bed."
"It's just about 2.5 feet wider than our current bed," Taylor points out. "Just enough to give us a little more space but not too much space. I don't want to roll over and not be able to find you." He leans over and kisses Ana while running his hand through her hair.
"What do you think Christian?"
"I love it," I lean in kissing her when Taylor pulls away. "Like Taylor said, it's not too big. I don't want to lose you in the bed."
"Somehow I doubt that could happen," she giggles.
"Not taking the chance," I tug her closer to me and both Taylor and I lean in and kiss her on the cheeks making her giggle again.
"So I can order this one?" she asks.
"Yes," Taylor and I both say at the same time.
"I can't believe in less than a week we close on the house," Ana smiles. "The bedroom is going to be perfect for us!"
"With this bed you just found it really is going to be perfect," I agree.
Since receiving the inspection report last week, we've started to focus on the design of the house since that was the last of the major hurtles we had to jump through to buy this house. Buying a house with three people turned out to be a little more complicated than we originally thought, but we found a great broker who helped us find a way to have all three of our names on the mortgage as well as the dead to the house. We had a slight hiccup because Ana hasn't been at ECJ Construction very long, but with the added cosigner the issue was resolved and secured the third name on the mortgage. By this time next week the three of us will own the house.
The plan is to spend the first two months getting house ready during which time the condo will be on the market. If all goes as planned, after two months we will have found a buyer for the condo and the house will be ready for us to move in. We won't have everything finished in those two months, but the kitchen, office, bathrooms and master bedroom suite will be completed. The other spare bedrooms will slowly be finished over the following few months. Since we don't expect to have any overnight guests, we didn't see the need to rush to finish those rooms. We'll be able to slowly work on those once we move into the house.
"I spoke with the realtor and we're still on plan to list this place as soon as we close on the house," Taylor says. "He thinks we should have an offer pretty quickly."
"The permits will be easy to transfer over," I add. "So work should be able to begin within a week or so of us closing."
"The kitchen cabinets have already been ordered and the crew is aware of the timeframe for completion of that room," Ana explains.
"It's hard to believe in a week that house is going to be ours," Taylor says.
"It all came together really fast," when I say those words though I realize that I'm not only talking about the house. Ana's only been back in our lives for a few months now and we're buying a house together and planning for a future, a future at one time I didn't think I'd ever have. I never thought I would find someone like Ana; I never thought I would feel the way I do about anyone. I assumed that was something that other people found, not something that I would ever find. Especially after coming back stateside, I didn't think I would find someone who could, or hell would even want to, deal with the fucked upness of my nightmares and triggers from over there. Who the hell would want to deal with someone with so much baggage when they could easily find someone on the street who didn't have to deal with half the shit that I do.
Yet, somehow Ana manages to deal with two people with baggage from over there. As I watch her show something to Taylor on the iPad, not for the first time I realize just how lucky I am to have found Ana that night in the club in Georgia. Not just how lucky I am…but how lucky we are. I won't pretend to understand why this works, it just does. That night in the club, in the hotel room, everything changed; nothing has been the same since that day. And even though we lost those two years, I wouldn't trade that night for anything.
Ana tosses back her hair, giggling at something Taylor said and suddenly my breath catches at the realization that I don't want this to ever end. This, right here, with the three of us is what I want…forever. To hell with what society says or what people may think, this fucking works for the three of us. Ana makes me feel whole again; she makes me not feel broken and a mess from everything that went on over there. And Taylor…he gets it. He gets the nightmares, the reactions to loud noises, the…memories; he gets all that because he was there.
"You okay man?" Taylor asks.
"Yeah, I'm good," I wrap my arm around Ana's back and pull her against me. "I'm good."
Ana rests her head on my shoulder and shows me something on the iPad that she was showing Taylor but I don't pay much attention to it. Because the only thing on my mind right now is the realization of what needs to happen next. I want this…I want the three of us sitting on the couch, designing a house, watching a movie or hell just doing absolutely nothing.
"This works for you Christian?" Ana asks pointing to the iPad.
"It does," I'm referring to anything but the design right now. She could be suggesting that we paint the kitchen bright pink for all I know, but I don't give a shit. I catch Taylor's eye and I don't know how, but he knows that I'm not talking about the design. He raises his eye brows in question, but I don't answer. Not yet…that will come later.
By the time we head to bed, I have a plan for tomorrow; one that I'm certain will change things even more for us. We each go through our usual bedtime routine, with Taylor and I lying in bed waiting for Ana to finish in the bathroom.
"Everything okay?" he asks.
"You free tomorrow morning?" I ask without answering his question.
"Yeah, my meeting got moved to next week so my morning is open. What's up?"
"We'll talk tomorrow," I answer just as Ana walks into the room. She slowly takes off her clothes, leaving her only in the small black lace thong before she turns off the lights.
When Ana goes to climb over me to slip between us in the bed, I grab her and pull her down on top of me. She giggles and tries to push me away, but I hold her even tighter. Even if we don't make love, Ana only sleeps in a small pair of panties. It only took a couple nights of taking off her pajamas the moment she climbs into our bed for her to realize that neither Taylor nor I will let her sleep in clothes. Even if we don't make love, there's something about having her bare skin against ours at night that…helps.
"Are you going to let me go?" she squirms against me, her beautiful body rubbing against mine in all the right places.
"Never," I vow.
"Christian! We're supposed to be going to sleep," she pushes up which does nothing but put her perfect tits right in front of my face. I groan before taking her hardened nipple in my mouth.
"Sleep is over rated," Taylor says as he moves closer to us.
Glancing up I see him lean over and kiss Ana; I continue to tease and suck on her nipples, alternating between the two of them until she's moaning and rubbing herself against my dick. My hands glide over her body, touching her everywhere.
"You're wet," Taylor slips a hand into her thong.
At his words she bucks against both of us; my dick is in the perfect spot to rub against her clit each time she moves while from what I can tell Taylor is teasing warm center from behind. Her arms eventually give out, she buries her head into my neck and I take a deep breath in loving the way she smells. It's a mix of her perfume, the scent of her shampoo and then…just Ana.
"I love you," she whispers before pushing herself back up so our eyes meet.
"I love you too Ana," I kiss her deeply.
"I love you," she leans over capturing Taylor's mouth in hers
"Baby, I love you," he groans against her lips.
Ana surprises both of us by then slowly moving down my body, kissing my chest and my stomach as she goes. I raise my hips just enough for her to push my underwear down, freeing my throbbing erection which has been begging for attention since I pulled her on top of me. I gasp the moment her warm mouth surrounds me, taking me completely in all at once. My hand goes to her head, my fingers tangling in her hair just as she traces me with her tongue nearly causing me jump off the bed.
"Fuck Ana," I groan.
Taylor slides down the bed until he's behind Ana; she moans when he kisses her back and slides her thong down her legs. Without taking her focus from me, she lifts herself just enough for him to remove her only piece of clothing from her beautiful body. It quickly falls to the floor in pile with my underwear and Taylor's which join moments later.
"Taylor," she gasps as he slides into her.
"Don't stop," I practically beg, guiding her back to my dick which is so close to her lips I can feel her warm breath on it. "Baby…"
She takes me back in her mouth, moaning around me as Taylor starts to thrust into her from behind. I can tell when she's close to tumbling over the edge; she doesn't take me from her mouth as she begins to meet Taylor thrust for thrust. Her hand wraps around the base of my dick, holding onto me tightly as the magnitude of sensations begin to hit her all at once.
"You feel so good Ana," Taylor runs a hand up her back and I watch as she arches into his touch. "I love the way you grip me-"
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!" She screams around my dick as the orgasm hits her which in turn triggers my own. I thrust into her mouth, emptying myself just as Taylor groans out his own release.
Ana rests her head against my thigh, her breath is warm against my still hard dick as she tries to come down from her release. I brush the hair from her face, needing to still touch her in some way. Her body shudders against us, but none of us pull away obviously not yet ready to let go. It's several minutes later before any of us move; Taylor is the first leaning down to place a kiss on Ana's back before slowly pulling out of her. While he's washing up I pull her on top of me; she's relaxed and limp against me but nuzzles against my neck and sighs when I wrap my arms around her. She quickly falls asleep in that exact position which is how Taylor finds us when he comes out of the bathroom with a warm washcloth in hand. I gently lift Ana from me so Taylor can clean her up while I head to the bathroom. By the time I return, Ana is snuggled against Taylor covered by the blankets. I slip under them and curve my body against hers before leaning over and kissing her on the cheek.
We generally fall asleep in the same position every night. Ana will rest her head against of us, often taking turns, and the other is wrapped around her back, our legs intertwined. I have a feeling that even with the bigger bed, we will all be sleeping just as close as we are now. Although it would give us more room when it came to other things….
"Is everyone home for dinner tonight?" Ana asks the next morning.
"I have a late meeting with a client," I answer. "I'll probably be home around 8ish."
"I should be home around 6:30," Taylor says.
"We'll save you dinner then," Ana kisses me before going over to Taylor and kissing him. "Love you both."
"Love you," Taylor and I both reply.
I watch as Ana walks out the door and wait a few minutes to be sure she's not returning to the apartment because she forgot something before joining Taylor at the kitchen table where he is finishing his coffee.
"What's up?" he asks clearly seeing that I want to talk about something.
"I think we should go shopping today," I blurt out forgetting everything that I thought about saying.
"For?"
"A ring…for Ana."
"A ring?" I watch as the realization of what I'm referring to dawns on him. "Oh. You want to buy a ring for Ana."
"Yeah."
He doesn't say anything for what feels like an eternity; it's just long enough for me to begin questioning what I'm suggesting. Not that I'm questioning how I feel about Ana or what the three of us have, because fuck there's no questioning how I feel at all. But I begin to wonder if I've read Taylor wrong until now that perhaps he doesn't feel the same way I do. We haven't actually discussed marriage, or whatever the hell it would be called between us…not since that day at my parents' house but I thought-
"Let me jump in the shower and we can go," he says.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"You…get what I'm saying right?" I ask just to be sure there's no confusion.
"You want to buy Ana an engagement ring…right?"
"Yes….from us."
"Well I assumed it was from us," he chuckles. "If you're asking if I'm on board for asking Ana to marry us? Yeah, I'm there man."
"You are?"
"Hell yeah," he grins. "I'm in love with her and I know you are too. I don't know how it's all going to work legally and what not, but I want this…forever."
"Me too."
"Let's go buy our girl a ring."
An hour later we walk into a jewelry store, both of us grinning like complete fools but neither of us giving a shit. I have no doubt in my mind that Ana is it for us and I have no doubt that she feels the same way we do.
"Can I help you gentleman?" a woman asks as soon as we walk into the store.
"Yes, we'd like to buy an engagement ring," I practically announce.
"Perfect, we have many beautiful rings in available, so I'm sure we'll find something perfect," she guides us over to a case full of diamond rings. "So which one of you is the lucky guy who is proposing?"
"We both are," Taylor answers.
"Oh…we have rings over here for men that will work as engagement rings as well," her face reddens in embarrassment.
"Uh, no," I don't move from the cabinet we're in front of. "We need a women's ring; we're both proposing."
"Oh! So two rings for two lucky ladies!" she giggles and walks back to us. "Are you planning to propose at the same time? Like a double proposal? That's so different! I haven't-"
"No, one ring one lucky lady," Taylor corrects.
"But…you said…both of you…"
"We're both proposing to the woman we love," I clarify.
"You both…oh," the realization hits her and her face reddens even more which she quickly tries to hide by bringing a rack of rings out. "What type of a style are you looking for? Something subtle, noticeable? Yellow or white gold? What about-"
"That one," Taylor cuts her off pointing to a ring still in the cabinet.
"Can we see that one?" I ask as soon as I see what Taylor is pointing to.
"Of course," she quickly brings out a ring and places it on the counter in front of us.
"Yes," Taylor and I both say at the same time.
The ring is perfect; it's as if it was made for us and our situation. It has three large diamonds, with the center one being slightly larger than the other two. There are smaller diamonds going down each side and then three diamonds on the top and bottom of three larger stones. Three diamonds…one representing each of us.
"Well that was easy," she giggles. "It usually takes a couple of hours…"
"No this is perfect," I look at the ring again.
"She's going to love it," Taylor adds.
"Great, let me get one cleaned up and packaged for you. Give me a few minutes."
"When do you want to ask her?" Taylor asks.
"I don't know….when she gets home from work tonight?" I chuckle.
"What about at the new house on Friday after we close? We could go back there after signing the paperwork and ask her there?" he suggests.
"She would like that," I nod.
After paying for the ring, we head over to a coffee shop around the corner to work out the details of our plan. Until now all I had thought about was actually asking Ana to marry us; I hadn't thought about all the details like when and where. But a short time later we have it all planned out; a call to Elliot ensures that everything will be set up just how we want it. I have no doubt that Ana's going to love what we have planned. Now it's just a matter of waiting a couple of days to close on the house. Taylor takes the ring back to the condo to hide in his bedroom; since no one uses that bedroom except him to store his clothes in it's the perfect place to keep the ring hidden from Ana.
The next few days drag on incredibly slow; I have no doubt the reason for that is because I'm anxious about Friday. Maybe anxious is the wrong word…no that's probably the right word. Taylor and I both are a mess; even Ana asked if everything is okay. Naturally we lied and said we were worried about a project at work. Neither of us doubt that Ana feels the same way we do about her, but is she ready to commit to both of us? It's one thing to date two men, but to say she's married to both of us? Is she ready for that or would she want to keep things the way they are?
"Sign here, here and here," the agent points to three different lines on the closing paperwork. We each sign our names although it feels like that's all we've done for the last hour. "Congratulations, you are now officially home owners."
Ana reaches under the table and squeezes our hands as she lets out the breath she was holding; she's been nervous this week that something was going to prevent us from closing on the house today. While it was possible that something could come up at the last minute, neither Taylor nor I were worried about that. When my phone vibrates, I pull it from my pocket to see the text from Elliot. We were incredibly lucky that Mike was agreeable to allowing Elliot into the house to set this up for us while we were signing everything. Technically we just took ownership of the house so Mike didn't have to accommodate our request earlier. Once we explained to Mike why we wanted access to the house a few hours before the actual closing, he handed over the keys to us.
All set – E
"How about we go back to the house and have a look at our new home?" I suggest even though we were there last night for the final walk through before closing.
"Yes!" Ana practically jumps from the chair. "I have these new paint swatches I want to see in the light of the master bedroom. I want you both to tell me which you think is the best option…"
Even though the drive to the new house technically only takes about 15 minutes from the office where we completed all of the closing paperwork, it feels like it takes an eternity. Both Taylor and I are quiet on the drive over but thankfully Ana talks enough for both of us. If I wasn't such a nervous wreck I would probably laugh at her excitement over the new house. I love seeing her so happy about having a place for the three of us; I love that she's incorporated all of our personalities into the design of the house.
When we pull into the long driveway, the first thing I notice is the curtains on the windows in the living room. It's the only finished room in the entire house but last night when we were here there were no curtains up. I quickly double check the driveway, confirming that Elliot's truck is nowhere to be found. I take a deep breath before climbing out of the truck and meeting Ana and Taylor on the other side. Taylor and I exchange a nod before we both take a deep breath and follow Ana to the front door.
"I still can't believe that this place is really ours," she says standing just at the threshold of the house. "I can't wait until we can move in, it's going to be amazing to live here."
"Yes it will," Taylor leans over and kisses her on the cheek smiling.
"Why don't we go inside?" I reach past Ana and unlock the door before pushing it open for her to walk through.
When we walk into the unfinished foyer, I close the door, locking it behind us even though I doubt anyone will be stopping by. Elliot is the only one who knew we closed today, well him and the crew who will begin working on the house next week. They know that this is a project we have taken on, not necessarily that it's a house that Taylor, Ana and I bought together. We keep our relationship private at work since Taylor and I oversee so many of our staff and frankly it's none of their business what we do in the privacy of our own home. Plus, these men work with Ana while Taylor and I aren't around. I don't think I could bear the thought of them thinking about her in that way.
"What-" Ana gasps the moment she walks into what will be our living room. Her reaction confirms that Elliot has the room set up just perfectly.
As I walk in I realize the room looks so much better than I even thought it would. There's a large blow up air mattress in the center of the room covered in red rose petals. In a perfect world we would have done this in one of the bedrooms, where an actual bed would have been, however since none of those rooms even have walls or electricity that wasn't really an option. Small lit candles are scattered around the room, creating a soft glow throughout the room. A bottle of champagne sits chilling in a bucket of ice on a round table; next to the bucket is a small black box.
"Ana," Taylor leads her to the center of the room.
I take the black box from the table and step next to Taylor; I watch Ana's eyes go wide, likely in realization of what's about to happen. Her hand comes up to her mouth just as Taylor drops to his knee in front of her. My eyes on the other hand can't leave hers; I've completely forgotten the entire plan that Taylor and I had for this moment. All I can think about is what her answer is going to be. I'm about to just blurt out the question when Taylor tugs at my pants reminding me of all the details we worked out that day in the coffee shop. I drop to my knees on the soft carpeted floor next to Taylor; I open the small box that holds the three stone diamond ring that Taylor and I picked out. Taylor holds one side of the box, while I hold the I'm supposed to say something, but for the life of me I can't remember shit about what Taylor and I talked about.
"Ana," Taylor takes a deep breath, his voice shaky as he says her name. "That day in Georgia, all of us were at a cross roads in our life. Christian and I were trying to decide what to do next with our lives, and you were trying to come to terms with…your mom. Speaking just for me and Christian, finding love was the last thing that either of us expected when we walked into the club that night."
"But finding love was exactly what happened," I add. "The moment we saw you, we knew that you were ours. That night…you made us both feel again; you made us forget about everything that had happened before. You saw us for who we were, not what we had done or what we had seen. You knew we had our own demons to fight, but those demons didn't scare you away."
"They never will," she whispers.
"When we woke the next morning and realized you were gone, we were devastated and didn't think we would find you again. But, once again fate seemed to have a plan," Taylor says. "It may have taken two years, but you walked back into our lives and…"
"You've made us happier than we ever thought was possible," I continue. "If you'll have us, we're going to spend the rest of our lives trying to make you as happy as you've made us these last six months."
"Ana, will you do us the honor…" Taylor begins.
"Of marrying us?"
I hold my breath as I wait for Ana's response; her tear filled eyes keep darting between Taylor and I but she hasn't answered us yet. Just enough time passes that I'm starting to doubt that she feels the same way that we do about her; that perhaps she's trying to think of a way to let us down easily, to tell us that this is too soon or it's going to be too hard-
But then Ana surprises us both by dropping to her knees right in front of us.
"Yes," she whispers. "Yes, I'll marry you both."
"Thank fuck," I sigh as the intensity of her words hit me.
Taylor takes her left hand in his while I take the ring out of the box. Together, we slip the ring onto her finger where it looks as if it has always belonged.
"I love you both, so much," she wraps her arms around our necks pulling us closer to her.
"We love you Ana," Taylor says.
"So fucking much Ana," I add.
Taylor and I both wrap an arm around her waist; our bodies are pressed against each other in an awkward sort of triangle shape. I kiss the tear that is falling down Ana's cheek just as Taylor leans in to do the same thing. She turns just enough, kissing one of us then the other on the lips. The kiss is full of emotion, of promise, as she tugs me even closer to her. I can't get enough of this woman; the woman who has just agreed to spend the rest of her life with us. Her fingers tangle in my hair, tugging at it as she takes turn kissing both of us. It doesn't take long for the kisses to quickly deepen, as we each become breathless with need. My hand slips down to Ana's ass gripping her tightly just as I feel Taylor tug her even closer to us. Her lips are on ours as we take turns tasting her; she pulls me even closer to her…until the three of us are kissing, solidifying are future together.