I'll have to admit that I was dying of curiosity! What on earth could they have been doing in Wyatt's room? He'll tell me later? I was going to have to be patient. Preston smiled understandingly at me and held my hand. Jake scooped up Lexine to carry her downstairs and she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. Brady was behind them making faces at her and making her giggle. Chase walked at a slower pace with Wyatt behind us. The two of them were whispering and kept grinning at me when I turned back to look at them. Soon we were downstairs in the living room. Preston kept holding my hand and we headed into the kitchen.

"I was thinking about omelets for breakfast. What do you think?" I asked Preston.

"I think that you have far more patience than I realized. Don't tell me that you are not dying of curiosity." he said to me.

I pretended to not know what he was talking about. Stalling, I let go of his hand and tied up my hair with the band I had on my wrist. I decided to use my feminine wiles for the first time. Turning to face him, I slid my hands up his chest and looked up at him. Giving him a beguiling smile and fluttering my lashes, I said, "I'll be patient for you Preston."

He looked at me with fascination and cupped my face in his hands. "You are absolutely delightful. You are my delightful Delphine. I shall call you D.D. for short. My own personal nickname for you when we are alone." His accent was stronger and that put butterflies in my stomach. It was part of what I loved about him. Leaning down he kissed me more gently than he ever had before.

I sighed with happiness and Preston said to me, "I can't keep it from you any longer. Especially when you look at me like that. You and Wyatt forgot the walkie talkie handset in his room. He could hear Lexine talking to you and got so excited to hear her voice for the first time. He let the rest of us know and we all rushed up there to his room so that we could listen to her. You're not mad are you?"

"No, I'm not mad. But do not let Lexine know that you heard her talk! It will make her more nervous and she'll clam up even more."

"I cannot wait until she talks to me in person. I know that it will probably be a while before that happens." he said looking wistful.

"It will happen. I don't know when but I feel it will happen. You are a good man Preston. All of you are good men." I said and tiptoed up to give him a kiss.

"Thank you D.D. Now lets get to chopping things for the omelets!" he said with a big smile and I turned to get the cutting board out.

I heard an intake of breath and then Preston choking a little. "Where did that shirt come from!" he almost shouted at me. I giggled and said, "Chase. Aquarium."

He took off out of the kitchen yelling for Chase. I laughed and continued to get things for breakfast. I could hear him telling Chase off for buying me such a rude shirt. Honestly, he was such an uptight Brit sometimes. Jake and Brady poked their heads into the kitchen to take a peek at my shirt. I presented the back to them and they laughed as they walked back to the living room. I couldn't keep the smile off of my face and Preston walked back in.

"Don't worry Preston. I won't wear this shirt outside the house. I promise!" I said to him.

"Please don't. The pants are bad enough..." he grumbled.

"What wrong with the pants? Do they look bad?" I said frowning. I was worried about how I looked in them now.

"No! No, nothings wrong with them. They don't look bad. In fact they look too good. The shape of your cute little bum is on display. I really don't want anyone else other than my brothers to see it." he said to me as he rubbed my back. I grinned thinking that his use of very English words like "bum" for butt would always make me laugh.

We got to work and took everyone's omelet order. Soon we were all sitting down and eating breakfast. Everyone was in a great mood and we all chatted about various things. After we finished eating Brady seemed rather excited. The guys all exchanged looks and had a silent conversation again. They hurried to clean up and Brady picked up Lexine when they were done.

"Ok, baby bird! Cover your eyes with your hands and I'm going to take you to a surprise." he said to her.

I followed them out into the living room and out to the backyard. When I saw what was there, my eyes widened and I had tears. I don't know how they got it done so fast without us knowing about it.

Brady told Lexine to uncover her eyes and she let out a little squeal of happiness and ran over to her brand new playground. It had two swings, a slide, monkey bars and a fort on top. I couldn't believe it!

"Brady! How did you get it done so fast?" I asked him.

"Oh, I had some help from the guys and it wasn't that hard to set up. Did you see that I put shredded tires instead of bark so that there will be more shock absorption if she falls and no splinters. Plus we are recycling!" he said looking so proud and happy. I gave him a big hug and then pulled his head down for a kiss on the lips. Looking around at the other guys I blushed when I saw that they were watching with smiles.

Jake was holding a few big blankets and Preston helped him spread them out on the grass. Brady tugged on my hand and sat me between his legs on one of the blankets. The other guys followed and sat down with us. We watched as Lexine explored her new playground.

Preston sat next to Brady and I. He smiled at me and reached for my hand. "Before you give me an answer about staying here, there are some things that we wanted to tell you about us. I'd like you to take it into consideration before you make up your mind," he paused and seemed to be gathering up his courage. "We are part of an organization called The Academy. It's not like the mafia or anything like that. We don't do bad things. We help people and try to make this world a better place. We have our real jobs and then we also do jobs for the Academy. That's why sometimes we will have to go somewhere unexpectedly without telling you why. We will have to keep some secrets from you about the Academy and the jobs."

Preston's hand tightened a little around mine. Brady's arm around my middle tensed and he asked me, "Do you have any question for us Buttercup?"

Pursing my lips I though about all this new information. It was not what I expected! Did I have any questions? Did I want to ask them? I guess that my face was like an open book to them because Jake spoke up. "Ask us anything that you want baby."

I took a deep breath, "How long have you guys been doing this?"

"Well, we have been a team for almost 20 years now." Preston said.

My eyes widened. "That long?"

"Yes, we were all training in the Academy for a couple of years before we formed a team. Chase has been with the Academy the longest since his uncle was in it. Brady, Chase and Jake formed the team first and then a few months later Wyatt and I joined."

"Oh, so you are like the leader right?"

"Technically he is the team Liaison baby. Preston is our go between the Academy and our team. I am Family head which means I look out for our team and help spot any problems." Jake explained.

"Exactly how old are you guys?"

Brady's hand was warm as he rubbed my shoulder. Preston still hadn't let go of my hand. Brady answered this question. "I am 36, so is Wyatt. Jake is 37, Chase is 35 and Preston is 39."

"Is the Academy the reason why none of you guys ever got married?"

"Yeah, that's the main reason why. Some people manage it and most of the Academy members are either single or get married to another member. Academy ladies can be a bit tough to date because if they are playing a role undercover, they can't be seen with boyfriends. Especially when they are in their teens or early twenties. They are used as bait usually. To have a girlfriend outside the Academy is hard because of constantly having to leave unexpectedly for jobs is hard to explain. We can't go around telling everyone about the Academy." Wyatt told me.

"Are there any co-ed teams? Or is it always all guys or girls?"

Chase spoke up."The Academy guys are referred to as dogs and girls as birds. There are all dog teams and all bird teams and then there are couple teams which are of course one dog and one bird who are usually married to each other. There is one very rare team that started a new dynamic. The Anderson team has four dogs and one bird. She married them all and their team has been going on strong for a long time.  The Blackbourne team and Toma team have also formed an all dog with one bird team. So it being shown that it can be done and the Academy is coming to accept this. We had been interested in being able to have a relationship like this for a while now but never found a woman who would be interested in all of us and one that all of us would be interested in. Until you came along."

A name there had caught my attention. "Toma? As in Axel Toma? The guy at the aquarium?"

"That's right. His team has a bird named Kayli. The Blackbourne team's bird is named Sang. They and their teams have been together for a couple of years now."

I stayed quiet for a moment letting all the information sink in. Others were also in a relationship like the one I was in. They were making it work. But was that the part that I was really worried about? I think that I was more worried about something happening to them. My heart had been broken before and I wasn't sure that I could survive another heartbreak. I asked another question.

"What if something happens, if you get tired of us or a job is dangerous and you..." my voice trailed off.

Preston lifted my hand up to his face. "You are worried about us dying and leaving you alone aren't you. Like Rick did."

"Yeah, I guess I am worried about that."

"There is something that the Academy teams can do and that is adopt people. I don't mean like parents and children kind of adopting but making sure their loved one like a relative or a spouse who is not part of the Academy is taken care of for life. But the odds of every single one of us dying is astronomical. We have formally adopted the two of you within the Academy to ensure that the two of you are taken care of for life. You and Lexine will always be safe. Even if you decide that you don't want to stay here or that the relationships are not working out, you will still be taken care of. That will never change."

I blinked back tears. They cared that much about us! We would be ok no matter what and it was both of us. Not just me. I pretty much decided right then and there. The amount of love and care that they have shown us was never going to be matched by anyone else. If they were this committed to the Academy and were allowed these "adoptions" then I was fine with it. Men this wonderful were not going to be part of something bad. They trusted me with this information and I was going to trust them with something more important than my own life. My daughter. I watched her playing and looking so much happier than she had for the last few years. This was where we belonged!  Looking around at their serious yet nervous faces, I realized how much each guy meant to me. My heart belonged to five of the most handsome and wonderful men in the whole world. I still had another important question to ask them but the answer was not going to change my mind.

"Um...what about children? Are you guys going to want more or you don't...?"

Brady answered fast, "Yes, we love kids but if you don't want to have any more, it won't matter to us. Whatever you decide Delphine!"

I gave Preston's hand a little squeeze and said, " I do want more children. I've made up my mind. We are staying. I didn't think it was possible but I've fallen in love with all of you and I've spoken with Lexine. She would like to stay as well, you guys mean so much to her already."

There was a moment of silence after I spoke. Preston lifted up my hand again to kiss the back of it reverently. Brady let out a big whoop followed by cheers from the other guys. He stood up and picked me off the ground to toss me in the air and catch me. He gave me a big smacking kiss on the lips then passed me off to Jake who also hugged and kissed me. They all took their turns hugging and kissing me.  Lexine came over to see what the big fuss was and Brady picked her up and did the same.

"Did you hear the good news baby bird? You two are going to be staying here and we will be a family! Is that all right with you?" She laughed and nodded yes. The rest of the guys hugged and kissed her on the cheek and forehead too.

All of us stood there smiling and laughing and hugging. My heart felt full of happiness. This was one of the best days of my life.