Chapter 7: When four become one February 14, 2009

We pushed back our New Year's trip to Valentine's Day as we wanted to work out the issues I had, as well as those which had remained unspoken among the other three. Rose was worried about how exactly to share the nature with the girls and we actually sought outside help from Jasper and Carlisle. Between the two of them we were able to find a child psychologist, who while not approving of our unconventional relationship, she was willing to work with us.

The children were very bright and quite observant, so when we had Irina over to our home and the McCarty family came down, she was quite taken aback when Chase had a rather simplified answer.

"Daddy loves Mom. Mom loves Daddy. My mom and dad love Uncle Edward and Bella in the yucky cooties way. They all love my sisters and me. Aunt Bella makes really good chocolate chip cookies."

That was the end of the discussion.

With the children's blessing, the four of us packed our overnight bags and were on our way to a luxury suite in downtown Milwaukee so that we would only only be a half-hour drive if the kids became too much for Jake and Leah. They had announced their own pregnancy a few weeks ago and were looking forward to more time around the little ones as practice.

Last night... was incredible. I cannot think of another description for it. We stopped worrying about what could be and we just existed in the moment. The room had a walk in shower big enough for the four of us; we made use of it several times during the night. Near two in the morning, Bella and I found ourselves alone in the shower, washing remnants of dribbled champagne and red trails of strawberry juice from our bodies. Rosalie and Emmett were sound asleep width-wise across the bed, his head on her stomach, one hand resting lightly upon her mound. A finger may or may not have been between her folds but at our angle we could not see for certain.

I washed Bella's hair with care and was putting the conditioner in when she turned to me, lips slightly parted. A few faint bruises were appearing on her shoulders and the back of her neck, some too large for my mouth to match the mark. My lips sought out each love-bite and my tongue traced the marks.

We made love in the shower, reclaiming one another and reinforcing that our love was not diminished by our loving of Emmett and Rose. I panted out her name as I came, my head dropping onto Bella's shoulder. The water had long since turned cold and we quickly rinsed before climbing out of the shower.

The garbage can had several used condoms in it, most wrapped somewhat discretely in tissue. The main rule we had was that between partners we were not married to, condoms and/or dental dams were strictly in place; there would be no exchange of non-saliva bodily fluids. We were all disease-free, had specifically gone to be tested for proof, but we did not want any unnecessary worries. In time, with a more public commitment and years, not months as a quad, we would likely relax the strictest of our physical rules down to just condoms or chemical birth control.

As Bella and I turned off the shower and stepped out to wrap up in the complimentary robes, we heard two sensual groans. One was deep and the other started in a soprano range in and ended in a low alto tone. To steal an overused cliché, the four of us make beautiful music together.

We stood in the doorway between the bedroom and the master bath, watching Emmett repeatedly raise and lower his body atop Rosalie in an illicit pushup that had my mind wandering and my body aching for him to enter me once again. My cock was worn out after so much use and merely swelled slightly at the stimulating thoughts, the robe's folds hiding me. Rose whispered into Emmett's ear and they both turned to us, motioning us to join them in the bed.

It was all about the loving, not the release, as we kissed the others we had allowed into our marriage. As the four of us finally lay at peace, I considered the gifts we each brought to the table. Bella brought her heart, Emmett his strength- not just physical- but an emotional strength and resiliency I have yet to see an equal to, and Rosalie brought a quick intellect with common sense, loyalty, and a fierce devotion to those she loves. Me, I bring myself, and hopefully they glean from me what they need to in return.

I sat up against the headboard of the bed and watched their sleeping forms. I have always been a night owl and tonight was no exception. Part of me, a small part of me at this point, was still worried that I was somehow going to let them down. I am prone to "emosodes," as Emmett calls them, where I immerse myself in my music and outside of work and food, I rarely surface until the music has soothed whichever part of me was feeling ragged.

Surprisingly, it is Rose who can pull me out of those obsessed moments the best. It could be her no-nonsense manner, or it could be that while I love her, she is not as under my skin as Bella and Emmett. They both get me in a manner I cannot explain. But Rose, she and I love one another deeply, but we have to work on it constantly. We also bring out the childish taunting side in one another. We bicker, a lot, and the children make fun of it, saying that we are worse than the twins when they are fighting over the last of a certain shirt in a popular clothing store.

Even now, at only eight months into the relationship, I cannot imagine my life without them. It frightens me to a degree, but not so much that I would have it any other way. If I was asked today to give up one of my three loves, I could not do it. However, if I was asked to step back for their happiness, I would in a heart beat. They mean everything to me, and loving them also means doing what is best for us as a whole. One day, we may not be together, but I hope, I hope and pray to all the gods and goddesses that may listen to me, that we will always be friends.

A phone on the dresser began to vibrate, so I carefully extricated myself from the various arms draped upon my legs and tiptoed my way across the room. Rosalie's phone was the culprit and the call was coming from their house. One of the kids.

"Hello?"

"Edward, it's Jake. Chase woke up with a bad dream and will not go back to sleep. I swear we tried everything and I cannot get him to go down again."

I looked over at the bed; they were all still asleep. Tightening the sash on my robe, I made my way out to the living room portion of our suite and closed the bedroom door partway.

"Can I talk to him for a second?"

"Sure Sure. I'll run the phone in."

I could hear faint sniffles as Chase cried and then Leah's voice while she tried to soothe him. My chest physically hurt as I longed to be there comforting him.

"Eddie?" My name was broken apart into multiple syllables as he sobbed it out.

"It's me, little man. Your mom and dad are asleep. Do you want me to get them or do you want to tell me about your dream?"

I heard him press something against the phone and then Jake saying 'fine' as he left the room. "Uncle Eddie, I dreamed that you and Auntie weren't going to be here anymore. Auntie Bella was so sad that she didn't have her own baby and she didn't want to be around us, just like at Thanksgiving."

"Oh, gosh, Chase. No, no, no. Bella and I are going to be around a long time, I hope. We love you, Kailey, Cara, your mommy, and your daddy very much. Yes, we were sad when we didn't get to have our baby but that would not ever make us want to be around you less. You're my special guy, didn't you know that? Your dad can't sing to save his life so someone has to teach you how to sing and play instruments."

"Uncle Eddie, can I come down and stay with you and Auntie Bella some night? Can we play the piano and then have chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast?"

I could not help but laugh as I thought of Bella making Mickey Mouse chocolate chip pancakes with a whipped cream smiley face for him.

"I think if we ask your mom really nice, she'll let you come sleep over some Saturday night. Are you feeling any better, Chase? Would you like me to sing you a song to help you sleep?"

I heard the creak of the mattress and the whisper of fabric as Chase laid down once again. "Yes, please."

My mind worked rapidly to find the right song and finally landed on one that I could remember singing to Alice when she would stay over and have a bad dream. The last time the melody had passed my lips was when I was ten, at the oldest.

I'll be your candle on the water
'Till ev'ry wave is warm and bright
My soul is there beside you
Let this candle guide you
Soon you'll see a golden stream of light

He was asleep before I had reached the last verse. Leah pried the phone from his hands with only a small whimper on his part before he buried his face back into the pillow.

"Thanks, Edward." Leah had never taken a liking to me, so I was more than surprised to hear the warmth in her voice.

"You do not need to thank me, Leah, but you are welcome. Feel free to call my phone if he wakes up again. The number is posted on the bulletin board beside the phone in the kitchen. I would be glad to talk to him again. I hope you can get some more sleep. Good night."

"Good night."

I closed the phone and leaned back to put my feet up on the edge of the table when I noticed Rosalie in the doorway. A barely opaque white nightgown ghosted over her curves as she looked at me, her eyes staring through me.

"I just realized, in this moment, how much I truly love you, Edward." She walked across the room, her feet silent upon the carpet, until she was sitting on my lap. "Thank you." My arms went around her and eventually we fell asleep on the couch, with Rosalie sleeping upright against my chest, her head on my shoulder.