About The New Normal
Author: Sean Michael
Word Count: 57400
Page Count (pdf): 228
ISBN: 978-1-77423-121-0
Price: 4.99
Pairing: M/M
Series: Mannies Incorporated
Genre: Contemporary
Date Published: December 15, 2020
Publisher: Sean Michael
Heat Rating: 3
File Types available: epub, mobi, pdf
This book has been moved to Kindle Unlimited for the time being
Summary:
Fresh out of the hospital, wounded soldier Bradley Martin is suddenly a father of three when the mother of his young daughter, and her own set of twins, passes away. He’s overwhelmed and grateful that Mannies Incorporated have found a male nanny for him to help, not only with the kids, but with some of his needs as well. Recovering and learning to walk again is hard enough without the three children that have landed full time in his life.
David “Duffy” Dufferin has been a manny since graduating from college, and he loves his job. He gets to be a part of so many families, and he loves helping raise all the children he works with. He’s thrilled to be starting a new assignment with a brand-new family.
Both Duffy and Brad are shocked and delighted to discover that they not only know each other, they were friends with benefits before their lives took them in different directions. Life is never going to be the same for either man, but together, they just might find that their new normal includes a happy ending for all.
Excerpt:
Chapter One
David Dufferin—Duffy to just about everybody—sat in his little electric car and went through the folder the guys at Mannies, Inc. had given him on his next assignment. He’d originally wanted three months off after having seen the Wilson triplets into kindergarten, but after a month, he knew two more would leave him batshit crazy. He needed something to do.
So he’d called up the agency and told them he was ready to go back to work. To his surprise, they’d called him back the very same day.
The file didn’t have a lot in it. One Bradley Martin—huh. That was the same name as one of his exes. The only one who could have moved from fuckbuddy to something a whole lot more if he hadn’t joined up and left the city. He had some fond memories of Brad—the only one of his exes he could say that about.
Anyway. This Bradley—no, Mr. Martin at least until he was invited to use the guy’s first name—was on his own with a six-year-old and twins. He wasn’t even sure of the gender. This file clearly had been thrown together, which jived with him getting the call the very day he’d become available again and being needed immediately.
He glanced at his watch. Nearly 5:30, right at suppertime. Well, he’d been told as soon as he could get his butt over here, so he wasn’t going to worry about whether or not it was polite to show up at dinner. He slung his overnight bag on his shoulder and made his way up the stairs.
The house was one story, fairly long. There was no telling how many rooms there were, probably a good number. He’d have to wait and see. The front yard was a decent size, and hopefully it had a backyard to match or, even better, that was bigger. There was a very temporary-looking ramp covering half the stairs.
He decided to knock—if anyone was asleep he didn’t want the doorbell to wake them up. He knew very well how precious babies sleeping were, especially with multiples.
A very tired-looking lady answered the door. “Good morning?”
He resisted the urge to look at his watch. He knew it was suppertime, but there was no reason to make her feel like an idiot for giving the wrong greeting.
“Hi. I’m David Dufferin. Mannies, Inc. sent me. I’m looking for Bradley Martin.”
“I’m Martina, Brad’s mother. I’ve been here helping, but I have to get back to work by Monday. Please come in.” She stepped back to give him room.
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am. I understand you’ve both had your hands full.” The place was bright inside, the windows letting in lots of light. That was good. Kids needed that.
“We have. It’s been…please, come in. Brad is in the study. I was feeding Victoria. The twins are due for a bottle at six.”
“Granny, who was at the door?”
“Tori, finish your macaroni, please.”
“Well, I’m happy to help if you’ll have me. I’m pretty good at bottle-feeding, if I do say so myself.” It was his job, after all. In fact, he was looking forward to it—it had been quite a while since he had to bottle-feed the triplets and he was eager to hold a baby again.
“Let me introduce you to Brad, hmm? You may just decide to run. Everyone else has.”
He chuckled, because what else was he going to do? There could be a variety of things that meant, from the kids to the dad being hard to handle. He followed her down the hall.
“I’ve got this, Mom.” A solid bearded man in a wheelchair rolled up, and bright, bright blue eyes met his with a glimmer of shock. “Duffy?”
His own mouth dropped open. “Brad?” This was the Bradley Martin he knew. And in a wheelchair? Jesus, what had happened? “The beard is an interesting addition.” It was all he could do not to roll his eyes at himself because that had been about the stupidest thing to say ever.