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"Emma, I'm really drunk. Can you come get me?" Karlson asked. It was just after 2300 and they had returned from a shit show of a spin up. The young medic was feeling not only the blast that he and his brothers had taken, but the crushing guilt of not being able to save the hostages.
"Yeah, Colby, I will be right there. Just you?" Emma asked, as she grabbed her keys and headed to her Tahoe.
"Yeah, just me." Colby said, there was a slur and sadness in his voice. "Thanks Em." He said before hanging up.
Emma drove the Bulkhead and found Colby sitting there with a glass of whiskey in his hand. She knew he drank with the guys, but for him to be this drunk something bad had to have happen.
"Hey, Colby, let's get you home." Emma said, touching his shoulder.
He turned and nodded as Emma closed out his tab.
"You taking care of him? He's in no condition to drive." The bartender said.
"Yeah, I got him." Emma said, taking the card that Colby had put his drinks on. "Let's go, Colby."
The young operator stood and swayed a bit, but moved towards the door, and then to Emma's vehicle. He felt bad for having called her... but who else was he going to call? Clay and Sonny had left a few hours ago and they were in absolutely no condition to be coming to get him. Ray was asleep, so was Trent and Brock was at home as well, and not a chance in hell was he calling his team leader at this time of night. As they drove, he leaned his head against the window creating a foggy spot from the heat of his body, that contrasted with the cold January night.
"Wanna talk about it?" Emma asked, looking over at him.
"Not really. I just wanted to drink until I forgot about it." Colby said quietly.
"Ok." Emma said, squeezing his neck much the way she used to do with Clay after a bad op. Thinking about her husband stung and made her a bit angry. The divorce papers were sitting in the drawer where they had been put a few weeks ago. Since then she had seen her husband a couple times, the last one for their most recent encounter just a week ago.
Emma pulled into the drive and then the garage where she parked her Tahoe. She wasn't going to take Colby home to be alone. He was far too drunk for that.
"Come on Colby, time to get out." she said gently.
Colby nodded, not even arguing that this wasn't his apartment. She helped him into the house and then into the shower. He smelled like whiskey and would appreciate being clean in the morning. He also looked like he had changed on the plane, but not showered. When he got out, he was shirtless, in the sweatpants Emma had set there. She looked him over, seeing bruises and cuts but nothing that needed urgent attention.
What happened next was the culmination of the last year of pain and hurt and being pushed away by her husband. It was fueled by the loneliness she felt and the pain of rejection she had been left with after the casual encounters she and Clay had over the last months since he left. She pushed the drunk operator up against the wall and pulled him down for a kiss that he didn't pull out of.
"Colby, I need you." Emma said pushing herself against him, trying to ease the pressure she was feeling in her abdomen and core.
Colby nodded. Normally he would have said no, told Emma to go to bed or they would have talked about it, but not tonight. Tonight, he was far too drunk and broken to say no. He needed the release, and he justified it by saying that Clay had served divorce papers and probably cheated on her already.
They went to Emma's bedroom kissing and discarding their clothes on the way up the stairs. Emma pushed him on the bed and rubbed her still clothed core against his clothed erection, making both of them moan loudly. Pushing any guilt from his mind and only focusing on the sensations he was feeling, and the beautiful woman in front of him.
Emma removed the rest of her clothes... and his as well... before kissing him and then climbing on top of him, sliding completely down. She moaned and nearly screamed in pleasure as he stretched her.
Colby got a cocky grin on his face knowing exactly what he was doing. He had never left any of his partners wanting more. He relaxed fully as Emma started to bounce on top of him. Both of their moans got louder and within 5 minutes Emma's bouncing became erratic. Although still drunk Colby rolled them over, thrusting into her and making her scream his name as she fell over the edge. That only solidified that she knew exactly what she was doing, and who she was doing it with.
Colby slowed his movements to a nearly lazy pace as Emma came down before he started to attend to the rest of her perfect body. He then picked up his pace feeling pressure start to build in his abdomen and extremally hard dick. The next words just slipped out.
"Come on baby, just one more." He encouraged her, reaching his hand between them, his rough thumb putting pressure on her sensitive bundle of nerves. "That's it." He said with a cocky grin as he felt her start to tighten around him just 10 minutes after he flipped her over.
Emma fell apart in his arms screaming his name once more, before he moaned hers, spilling into her, and falling next to her on her bed.
"Fuck that was amazing." Colby said.
"Umhum." Emma mumbled as she snuggled into his strong frame, falling asleep nearly instantly.
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The next morning was Saturday and Colby woke with an insane hangover, confused as to where he was. Quickly it registered that he was in a bedroom he had seen once before when starting an IV on one of his teammates. The thing that made his gut clench was the woman asleep on his chest. It was his best friend's wife. Although he didn't remember much from last night, he knew he was naked and so was she. His movement caused her to stir, and she mumbled something in her half-asleep state before he woke her fully.
"Emma you gotta wake up." He said.
"No." She grumbled, "Go back to sleep, Clay."
"Emma really you gotta wake up." Colby said with more urgency, realizing that Emma was either dreaming or hadn't fully awakened yet when she called him Clay.
Hearing a voice that wasn't her husband's woke her quickly. "Fuck Colby... Shit." Emma said, remembering what they did last night.
"Yeah. Umm Emma, did we?"
"Yeah." She said.
"Umm did I... Was it me who started it?" Colby asked concerned, knowing that he was much larger than Emma and easily could have forced himself on her, but the way she was snuggled into him this morning he didn't think that was the case.
"No, no, Colby, it was me." Emma said.
"Ok." he said "Umm I better shower and then you can take me to get my truck."
"Yeah... Want to talk about it?" Emma asked sitting up.
"Yeah... Emma this needs to be a one-time thing. We can't do this again. Clay is my best friend and your husband." Colby said.
"I know. We were both in a bad place and needed a release, he doesn't need to know." Emma said.
"Yeah." Colby agreed before getting up and heading downstairs to shower.
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The 4 weeks in between when Emma and Colby had their encounter and when she now sat sobbing on the couch... had seen Bravo being gone 3 of them. They had just gotten back from a spin-up when Colby's phone rang. It was Emma.
"Hey, how are you?" He asked, it wasn't unusual for her to call or text with things she needed help with especially since Clay had been gone. None of that had changed since what happened between them.
"Umm we need to talk." She said.
"Ok." Colby said, feeling his gut clench painfully as he hung up. "Hey guys, I'm going to go home." He said.
They all teased him a bit but said they would see him later.
Colby drove to Emma's and pulled into the garage as to not raise suspicions when Jason got home. He knocked and walked in finding Emma sitting on the couch crying.
"Hey, what happened?" He asked before she handed him a piece of plastic.
"Colby, I'm pregnant." Those words were ringing in his ears when she said the next ones "It could be yours."
He nodded but didn't say anything. There was no hiding this from Clay... no way at all. Fuck, he thought, this was going to lose him his best friend and maybe get him killed by Jason.
"Yeah umm ok... How do we handle this?" He asked.
"I don't know." Emma said.
"You want to keep it?" He asked.
"Yeah." Emma said.
"Ok." Colby said sitting down next to her. "Then we work this problem."
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6 months later Clay laid in a hospital bed after getting the living shit beat out of him by Jason after he cheated on Emma and bragged about it to Colby and Sonny. All of Bravo knew she was pregnant, but they just assumed it was Clay's. He had been pretty open with all of them that although they were separated, that he still went there from time to time, and they all just assumed that things happened.
Emma had been called by the hospital and walked in to find her husband lying there, beaten and bruised. Colby stood next to him as he woke.
"What happened?" Clay groaned.
"Jase beat the shit out of you. Your smart mouth got you in trouble. Clay, there is something else..." Colby said looking at Emma, as Clay followed his gaze, he saw his wife, his eyes traveling down her body he saw she was clearly pregnant, and a ways into it at that, by the looks of things.
"Is it mine?" He asked. He knew that he had been with a couple of other women and figured Emma might have been with another guy.
"I don't know." Emma said.
"Who else?" Clay asked, his anger rising, thinking of another man being with his wife.
Emma looked to Colby who shrugged and nodded. "Me." He answered quietly.
"What?!?" Clay asked sitting up. "What the fuck did you just say? Because it sounded like you said that you fucked my wife and now she might be pregnant with your baby." Clay growled. Looking like he was about to fight Colby then and there.
"Clay, you have been gone and only coming home when you needed that release. You have drank yourself stupid the last 6 months. What did you expect me to do? Just wait around, wait for you to be less fucked up? You served me divorce papers less than 6 weeks after I kicked you out." Emma said her voice raised.
"Oh, so you go and fuck my best friend? My brother? My fucking teammate? What... to get back at me?" Clay growled. "And you" he said, turning to Karlson. "I should fucking kill you."
"Yeah and you fucked two other women last night and then bragged about it. Who knows how many others there have been in the last 8 months." Emma said, matching Clay's anger.
At that Clay laid back and scrubbed his face. He had wanted to come home but figured Emma didn't want him. He blew out a breath, looking at his very pregnant wife and his brother. "Ok... ok. How do we figure out whose baby this is?"
"Do you want to?" Emma asked.
"I don't know." Clay said. "Could it be mine?"
"Easily." Emma said. "They also could be Colby's."
"They?" Clay asked. That would explain why Emma looked way more than 6 months pregnant.
"Yeah.. twin boys." Emma said.
"Karlson?" Clay asked. "Do you want to know?"
"Depends. If they are mine, and you and Emma stay married, am I going to get to see them?"
"Yeah." Clay said.
"Then I don't need to know." Karlson said. "Em?"
"I don't know. Part of me wants to believe they are Clay's, if we get back together, but the other part knows that they may be yours." Emma said now crying.
"Yeah." Karlson said... "So what do we do?"
"Get a DNA test. Both of you are there when they are born. If Clay and I repair our marriage, we raise them and you are part of their life if they are yours. If not, you are Uncle Colby." Emma said.
"If you two are married and together, I don't need to be anything more than Uncle Colby." Karlson said. "But I do want to be in their lives."
"Then it's settled." Emma said.
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Once Clay was released, both he and Karlson returned to Emma's house. Jason was pissed at Clay... but Emma knew that they needed to read him in on the baby situation, so they had him over about a week later, once Clay was feeling better.
"Daddy, we need to talk." Emma said, looking at the 3 men sitting in front of her.
"Shoot Em." Jason said lightly, not realizing the bomb he was in for.
"Daddy... As you clearly know I'm pregnant."
"Yup, that's quite obvious." Jason said with a little laugh. "And I'm very excited to be a grandfather."
"Daddy, what you don't know is that the babies might not be Clay's." Emma said.
"Umm say that again." Jason said confused, he thought his daughter had been completely faithful to her husband this whole time.
Colby took the lead on this one. "Jase, they might be mine."
"They might be yours?" Jason asked. "How the fuck might they be yours?" Jason's anger was getting the best of him.
"Daddy, please. I was the one that started it. I went after Colby, not the other way around. He was very drunk one night and well, I'm sure you can guess what happened next based on the situation." Emma said looking at Colby and Clay before continuing. "Clay has come to some level of acceptance with this, just as I have with him cheating on me. All 3 of us are going to be in these boys' lives and we will do a DNA test after they are born to see if they are Clay's or Colby's. Either way, Clay and I want to repair our marriage and raise them together. Colby has decided that he wants to be Uncle Colby, but if they are his, he will be over here after they are born to help and play a big part in their lives as they grow up. Daddy, this is our decision and we want you to respect it." Emma said.
"This is fucked up. It's really fucked up." Jason said pacing. "Colby, how the fuck could you do this?"
"Daddy, I already told you this is my fault." Emma said.
Jason just growled and kept pacing. One day Bravo 1 would come to terms with this, but today was not that day.
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Two and a half months later Colby and Clay were on a plane heading back home for the start of their training cycle. With Emma's permission, they had read the team in on things about a month ago, which resulted in Colby getting punched in the face by Sonny. Clay then promptly put the Texan in his place and told him to get the fuck over it because they had come to terms with what had happened. Although Sonny had been pissed for a few weeks, they were all now excited to meet their nephews who could come at any time, which is why when Clay had a missed call from Emma and then Colby's phone started to ring, they both looked scared as hell.
Colby answered and put it on speaker. "Hey Em, you're on speaker and Clay and I are both here."
"Umm guys I'm in labor and I'm really scared, and I really need you both here." Emma said crying.
"Em, we are on our way." Colby said, handing Clay his phone as they got in his truck, they had both been at Clay and Emma's when the call came in for this recent spin up.
"Baby, it's ok. We are 10 minutes from home, just breathe." Clay said.
The medic in Colby was activated. He had training on delivering babies because of his paramedic experience prior to joining the Navy. "Emma how long have you been in labor?"
"About 12 hours. Colby, I'm scared."
"It's ok. How far apart are your contractions?" He said driving faster.
"4 minutes, maybe 5." Emma said, crying harder.
"Ok. You have bags in your Tahoe, right?"
"Umhum" Emma said as she was hit with another contraction and she whimpered.
"Breathe Em." Clay said looking at Colby, the medic could tell his brother was scared.
"Emma once this one is over, get in your Tahoe we are 5 minutes away." Colby said, getting no response for a few seconds.
"Ok." Emma said when her contraction ended. "They are getting stronger and closer together that one was 3 and a half minutes from the last one.
"Any pelvic pressure?" Colby asked worried that he might be delivering the babies in their home, instead of the hospital like they had planned.
"A lot." Emma said. "It hurts."
"3 minutes out Em." That was Clay's voice.
"Ok... Every time I go to move to the garage it gets worse." There was a surprised gasp making both men scared.
"Talk to me, Emma." Colby said.
"Umm my water just broke." Emma said.
"Ok we are pulling in the driveway. Stay where you are." Colby said, slamming his truck in park as Clay jumped out and sprinted to the front door.
Clay was in first, with Colby quickly behind him, finding Emma leaning on the couch breathing heavily and crying.
He looked at Colby more scared that the younger man had ever seen him, and that was saying a lot after all they had seen and been through together.
"Emma, I know you are scared and in pain, but with your water breaking we need to make sure that you aren't so far that we need to call an ambulance or deliver the babies right here, ok?" Colby said calmly, tapping into every ounce of his training...because although they planned on him catching the twins, he really didn't want to have to do it here.
Emma nodded as Colby did a few checks. Everything looked ok and although Colby knew from experience that things could go very quickly, he was sure they could get to the hospital.
"Stay with her 7 I'm going to get some more leggings and a towel for the truck." Clay said, running upstairs.
Colby nodded and stayed close to Emma helping her stay standing and cleaning up the floor. "Hey how are you doing?"
"I'm scared but better now that both of you are here." Emma said, getting a hug.
"Neither of us are leaving. You are doing amazing." Colby said as Clay retuned, and helped Emma get dressed before heading to the Tahoe and getting in to drive, leaving Colby free if things progressed quickly.
He dropped both off at the door and parked, before running inside finding a nurse just coming out with a wheelchair. All 3 were taken upstairs, getting a funny look from the nurse as Clay and Colby looked far too much alike for most people to know they weren't biological brothers.
They got Emma upstairs and triaged, finding she was at a 7, nearly an 8 and it was too late for an epidural. She started sobbing, knowing she was going to have to do this the exact opposite of what she planned because it was even too late for pain medication.
"Hey, look at me, Em." Clay said. "You did this for 12 hours alone. Both Colby and I are here now, and things are going to move quickly. You can do this, I promise." Clay said, kissing her head.
"Clay I'm so scared." Emma said as another contraction hit, this was the strongest one she had had since things started and it would have dropped her if both men went there.
"Hey, lean on Clay." Colby said putting pressure on Emma's back. "Breathe." He said.
Clay looked over Emma's head and nodded. "It's ok baby. It's ok." Clay said, but he was scared.
Things did indeed move quickly and less than an hour later Colby was gowned up and at the end of the bed with the doctor close to him as they sat in the operating room. If there was a problem, Emma would be put under to deliver the second baby. But that wasn't a big concern for them as both boys had been head down for nearly 2 and a half months now.
"Ok Emma, I'm sure you can feel the pressure, but Baby B's head is right there. Colby, are you ready?" The doctor said. They had done an ultrasound to confirm placement of the boys.
"Ready." Colby said looking up at Emma and Clay. "You got this Em."
Emma nodded and then whimpered as the next contraction hit.
"Let's go Em." Colby said seeing what could be his son's head move down. "You're doing great." He said watching the contraction monitor and the baby's head. "Hey Em you did great. On the next one, we are going to have a baby." Colby said he knew from his experience that things moved really quickly, especially with twins, once the head was delivered. "Ok Em let's go." He said with a huge smile, this was it. Soon either his or Clay's sons would be born and in 24 hours they would know whose they were.
Colby was right. Baby B was born quickly, and he was laid on Emma's chest as he took his first breath and started to cry. The cord was quickly cut, and he was handed Clay, because Baby A wasn't far behind him.
"Ok Em, let's do this again." Colby said and in one push, the second baby was on Emma's chest, and the cord was being clamped and cut.
The two men were crying, and Emma was, too, but she was absolutely exhausted. The doctor took over and finished everything up while Clay and Colby stood at the head of the bed with Emma. The boys were cleaned up and wrapped in blankets while Emma's chest and abdomen were wiped up and the monitors were taken off. Although all natural was not what she had wanted she realized how absolutely strong her body was, and also that she never would have been able to do this without her husband and one of their best friends.
About 45 minutes later they were back in the room they had started in and Emma was resting with both men holding a baby.
"Did you call my dad?" Emma asked.
"Yeah, he and Mandy will be in tomorrow morning sometime. They wanted you to rest." Clay said kissing his wife's head. "You did amazing baby."
Emma just smiled and closed her eyes before a nurse came in. "Hello, I'm Trisha, I will be your nurse tonight. I am being told we need to DNA test the boys as well as you two?" She said with absolutely no judgment in her voice. Both men had been completely civil, and very friendly to each other, which was quite unheard of in many of these cases. In her nearly 10 years as a nurse, there were only a hand full of cases in which the child or children didn't have to be removed from the rooms for their safety. She also had read their charts and saw that their occupations were listed as spec ops.
"Yeah." Clay said looking down at the baby he was holding, it might actually kill if he wasn't his.
"Ok. Well first off do we have names for the boys?" She asked.
"Yes." Clay said. Emma had told him that he and Colby had to agree on the names. "Baby A will be Clay Jason Spenser." Clay said. Colby had said he wanted the boys to have the Spenser last name even if they were his.
"Baby B will be Travis Jason Spenser." Colby said looking down at the little boy he was holding.
"Ok. Will last names be changing based on these results or will they be staying with mom's last name?" She asked.
"Staying Spenser." Colby said.
"Ok, well, this is very simple, we swab the inside of your cheek and then swab both babies. It's highly unlikely as they appeared to be identical twins who shared an amitotic sack, but Superfetation is a possibility as Travis is nearly a full pound smaller than Clay." She said. "It's a very personal question but Emma, how far apart were your encounters with both men?"
"About 1 or 1 and a half weeks." Emma said, as she started to cry.
"Hey baby, it's ok." Clay said walking over and kissing her head.
"So one could be mine and one could be Clay's?" Colby asked.
"It's posable, but highly unlikely. It's just something we have to prepare all of you for." She said. "Mind if I swab you and Travis first?" She asked.
"That's fine. Call him TJ" he said looking down at the baby that was named after his late father. Colby opened his mouth and then held the baby tightly as the nurse swabbed him as well.
Colby moved over by Emma and took over comforting her while Clay and CJ got swabbed, then both men stood by her bedside.
The next 24 hours felt like years. Nurses and doctors were in and out doing checks and helping with breastfeeding and making sure everyone was ok. Bravo were all in after Jason and Mandy visited. None of them really cared who the boy's father was because they loved those little boys so much already.
The 5 of them were alone that evening when a doctor, 2 nurses, and two large men walked in. "Please put the babies in these beds." The doctor said.
Both Clay and Colby tensed, but Emma spoke. "Why? Where are you taking my boys?"
"Ma'am its protocol in these cases that security is present, and the child or children are removed just in case things become heated after the results are given. I'm sorry, all the reports that we have been given said both of you have been very civil to each other, but these things make tensions run high and tempers flare." the doctor said as 2 more large security guards walked in.
Emma nodded and Clay and Colby put the babies in the beds before they were wheeled out. They all knew now that the boys were only one of theirs.
"Clay, Colby, please have a seat." The doctor said, as 2 security guards moved to one side of each man to prevent an all-out brawl if they went after each other.
"CJ and TJ Spenser have been deemed to be identical twins. I know it was discussed that there was a very small chance that this might not be the case, however, they are identical." The doctor took a breath he had seen this go many of different ways, but he had never experienced something like this where both men were in the room and getting along so well, even laughing and joking at times. "Colby Karlson, CJ and TJ Spenser have been determined to be your biological sons." The doctor said ripping off the band-aid quickly.
Both men remained calm and Clay even pulled Colby into a hug. The next thing the doctor said would shock both of them and change everything.
"Colby, Clay there is something else. I have never once had this happen in my nearly 35 years of being a physician, and I doubt it will ever happen again..." he blew out a breath because this would truly change everything for these men. "Clay, Colby is your half-brother."
At that news both men looked absolutely shocked, and Emma sat up in bed. "What?" Colby asked.
"Colby, you and Clay are half siblings, you have the same biological father." The doctor said.
"No, nope that can't be true." Colby said. "Both of my parents are dead and Clay's father is still alive." Colby said.
"Colby, I know this is a hard pill to swallow but that is why this took so much longer than we thought, the DNA testing was complicated by you both being siblings. We looked up your birth certificate when this happened, and your mother is listed but father is listed as unknown." The doctor said.
Colby turned to the man he considered a brother, and now was more so one, looking shocked and lost and a bunch of other emotions that Clay couldn't read. Clay pulled him into a hug. "I got you. This is a lot to handle for both of us, but I got you." Clay said.
"Thanks." Colby said, swallowing hard and looking at the doctor. "When can our boys be brought back in?" He asked.
"Now. Security will have to stay for about an hour to make sure everything remains calm, but I see no reason why you can't take your sons home. Colby, you will be listed as the father on the birth certificate and it is up to you if you want to give up your parental rights so Clay can adopt the boys. You can do that at anytime or you can remain their biological and custodial parent, it is completely up to you. Clay and Emma, that decision does not need to be and should not be made now." the doctor said.
"Thank you." Colby and Clay said at the same time.
"Of course, I will have your sons brought back in." he said walking out.
"Fuck dude." Clay said with a bit of a grin.
"Yeah, that's a lot to process." Colby said. "I think I want to keep custody of the boys." he said.
"I figured you might." Clay said. "That's fine. I'm going to be the one that is called Dad." Clay said.
"Yup, and I'm Uncle Colby, who will just be around a lot." Colby said smiling.
"Well until they sleep through the night you are fucking living with us because I'm not being sleep deprived on my own." Clay laughed, making Emma shake her head.
"Ok." Colby laughed as the boys were brought in. He walked over and picked up TJ as Clay picked up CJ, both brought the babies over to Emma. "Here you go, Momma." Colby said handing her the little boy.
"Thanks Colby." Emma said.
"Want another?" Clay asked smiling down at the little boy that may not be biologically his but was his son none the less.
"Yeah." Emma said taking CJ in her other arm.
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3 days later the 5 of them were loaded in the Tahoe, with Colby and Clay in the front and Emma sitting between the two car seats headed home. The next few months would be a learning process and absolutely exhausting but both men knew they could make it work, they were best friends and brothers.
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It had been 4 years since CJ and TJ were born, Clay and Emma had 2 more boys since then. Brian and Sonny absolutely loved that their Uncle Colby was over nearly every night spending time with his "nephews" and his actual nephews, all 4 of them loved him. Clay and Colby had come to terms with being brothers and had even confronted Ash about it before the man died. Life was amazing and although it had all started a little fucked up, their family and the Bravo family had navigated the occasionally stormy waters just fine... they were Navy after all.