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That he made too.
He wondered if Jesse was upset or disappointed, but when he glanced at him he was counting the baby’s toes, wearing the biggest grin Taylor had ever seen with tears running down his face. Jesse loved so selflessly and Taylor was in utter amazement of this tender, pure-hearted man he and Chloe were lucky enough to call theirs.
“Which one of you is cutting the cord?”
Roberta Torres held out a pair of scissors. Jesse nodded to him and winked. “Taylor is.”
‘The three of us made this baby together.’
Taylor shook his head. “No. Both of us are.”
Later, after the nurses cleared out and they were alone, they sat with Chloe on her bed. Jesse was holding the baby. Chloe looked up at them. “Peanut needs a name.”
Jesse grinned. Actually, Jesse was still grinning. He hadn’t stopped. “I like Peanut.” He chuckled and then clarified, “Kidding, babe.”
“It’s Prince William’s birthday today as well,” Taylor informed them. William was also his father’s name.
“How about William Arthur? Like King Arthur.” Jesse nodded, apparently pleased with his suggestion. “A prince and a king. I like it!”
Taylor chuckled to himself because his father’s middle name was Arthur. He nudged his wife. “What do you think, cherry cake?”
She smiled. “Well, I did have some names in mind.”
“What are they?” Jesse prompted her. “C’mon, let’s hear them.”
“I’m only going to tell you one,” she murmured like it was classified information. “I’m keeping the other names until we need them.”
Jesse’s blue eyes sparkled and his brows shot up. “You want to have another baby?”
“Of course I do! Being an only child sucked.” She leaned over and kissed the top of the baby’s head. “You want a little brother or sister one day, don’t you, Chandan?”
Chandan William Arthur Kerrigan Nolan.
“I’ll keep it wrapped next time.” Taylor winked at Jesse.
Jesse smirked. “And next time you get to be the prostawhatever donor.”
And they all laughed.
It started the very day they brought Chloe and baby Chandan home from the hospital. A pap, dressed in surgical scrubs, charged out of the lobby gift shop to snag a photo of Chloe being wheeled out by the nurse with the baby in her arms and he and Jesse flanking her on either side. It was all over social media before they even made it home.
All Taylor wanted, the only thing he wanted, was for them to be left alone to focus on being brand-new parents. Being a family of four. Instead, every day there was another exploitive headline speculating the baby’s paternity or the nature of their triad relationship. Park Place was their only sanctuary. The paparazzi grew brazen and more relentless with each passing day.
When Chandan was three days old, they took him to see the pediatrician for his first well-baby check-up. The next day, photos of them leaving the doctor’s office with the baby were online everywhere. Brendan spotted a black van with blacked-out windows parked on Third Avenue. He went out there to investigate, but when they saw him approach they sped off. They kept returning, though, parking in a different spot every time. After that, Chloe was afraid to leave the house.
Linnea was here to spend the evening with Chloe and the baby. Figuring they needed a little girl time together, Taylor, Jesse, and Kyan went to watch the baseball game at Brendan’s next door.
Monica was there, in a faded Cubs T-shirt and cutoffs, beer in hand. She got up to hug them. “Tay, Jess. How are my favorite new dads doing?”
Taylor leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Tickety-boo, dear.”
“And the baby?”
“He’s perfect,” Jesse said with a smile. He was smitten with their son, and he pampered their son’s mother every chance he got.
“I can’t wait to see him tomorrow.” She clapped her hands together. “And Chloe. How is she?”
Tomorrow was the Fourth of July. The original plan was to spend the weekend up at the lake house. They all wanted to make that an annual tradition. Not this year, though. Not with the black van parked outside, the tabloid bullshit, and Chandan being so brand new. They were going to have a potluck barbecue right here at Brendan’s instead and watch the Coventry Park fireworks from the rooftop.
