She looks up and meets my eyes. “When I found out we were having twins.” A wet strand of hair falls over her face and she reaches up to brush it off, but it just falls right back.
I take her wrist with one hand, and with the other I push her hair behind her ear. “Yeah?” I answer absently, lost in the beauty of her face. The joy and fun we have together still leaves me in awe.
“I was afraid it would change us. You know? I mean, babies change people...but twins? God, I knew they would be a lot of work...” She giggles and shakes her head. “...and I was just afraid that, I don’t know... That we wouldn’t be ‘us’ anymore you know?”
I gather her hair in my hands and smooth it down her back, then move them to each cheek, looking down into the eyes that have given me a life I never dreamed possible.
“And? How did it turn out?” I tease.
“Pretty good, I guess.” She answers on a shrug.
I chuckle and mock, “Pretty good, huh?” I ask, mimicking her shrug. “Guess I need to try harder.”
She wraps her arms around my waist, putting her cheek to my chest. “We have more fun now than I think we did even when we first got together. I don’t know how you do it. You’re always happy. I get my moods, but you just keep us level. Keep this family going.”
“Baby.” I lower my lips to the top of her head. “We do that. I think the same thing about you. I wonder how the hell you do it all. Take care of the girls and me. You are always there for a smile and a hug. And a fuck. Of course.”
She giggles. “Yeah, see I worried about that too. That part of us wouldn’t be the same.”
I push her back and look down into her wide eyes. “You’re right though. It’s not the same. Not at all.” I shake my head and see her hesitate. “It’s better.”
The smile spreads over her face. “I know. It’s always getting better.”
“We’re going to be ninety and still rockin’ it, babygirl. We’ll just need to make sure we don’t break a hip.”
The clock over the fireplace chimes twice. We’ve been up wrapping presents for hours.
“Time to put my baby to bed.”
“Yes, Daddy. You’ll give her special Christmas kisses?”
“Of course, I will. Just like every year.”
My balls tingle at the knowledge we’re going to spend the next couple hours giving each other our own special kind of Christmas gifts.
I reach for her hand and we walk up the stairs to our suite in silence. I swear my heart grows bigger every year.
We pause and open the door to the girls’ room. The moon casts a white light across the lavender bedding. The twins are both snuggled into Emily’s bed together, a twist of arms and legs with chocolate brown messy hair around their faces.
“I’m the luckiest man alive,” I whisper, and Brinna smiles as she melts against me.
The twins brought a light into my life I’d never before understood. They completed us. Made us a family. And I provide for my girls and protect them from any and all threats—real or perceived. I am their rock and I will never waiver in my care for them.
“Come on, Daddy.” Brinna runs her hand down my chest, gently pushing me back out into the hallway and quietly closing the door behind us. “I need something from you.”
My heart squeezes in my chest as she takes both my hands, turns and starts gently pulling me as she walks backwards to our suite.
“What do you need, babygirl?” I ask, playing into our traditional closing to Christmas Eve.
“I need my Daddy to kiss me goodnight.”
With that, she guides me into our bedroom and I close and lock the door behind me. I know I’m not just going to kiss her. I’m going to enjoy the best gift I’ve ever received in every filthy way imaginable.
Merry Christmas to me.
Epilogue Two
Brinna