I join my men and cuddle up between them. We’ve come so far and around every corner is another adventure, just like I’ve learned to expect. I’m going to end up loving them more every day which is better than any boring ‘happily ever after’ I expected.
ROMAN
Gunner runs after Link, saying he’s going to eat the little almost four-year-old. Link squeals and does another lap around the island. I lift the pan above my head and turn to see Sophia, face red, panting. I catch her before she can jostle me into dropping what I have of dinner so far.
“Amore.” She rubs my chest, breathless.
“You’re losing the race,” I tease her.
“Don’t have the energy I used to.” She hugs me tightly. “Dinner smells amazing.”
I kiss the top of her head and she stands on her toes, kissing me hungrily. Four and a half years since we found out she was pregnant and I’m still in heaven. At first, it was hard, the sleepless nights, Sophia having extreme nausea, then finally quitting was a lot in a few months, but she’s become twice as lively and is such a good mother I fall more in love with her each day.
She drops onto her heels and looks at the mess I’ve made in the kitchen. “Can I help?”
“You can go sit down and relax for five seconds, Bambina.”
“You’re doing so much,” She tells me.
“I’m doing what I love,” I correct, setting the pan on a potholder so I can take her face between my hands. “I love being a stay-at-home dad.”
Her smile softens and she gives me that warm smile that inflates my heart an extra size or two. “I thought you’d be bored after just a year and run back to work. And then Emma came along and the … the chaos.”
Emma looks like a sweetheart in Holden’s arms. She babbles while pointing at the TV and he talks to her like she’s making perfect sense. It’s so obvious that he’s her dad. She has his nose, Sophia’s gorgeous eyes, and Holden’s skin tone.
Link runs to his Legos, but Gunner flips him upside down and shakes him, making Emma and Link laugh. Link is the real chaos. His floppy mess of hair that matches Gunner’s, his need to be doingsomethingall the time and involved in absolutely everything. At least the kids are never boring and they keep us constantly entertained.
“I love you,” Sophia says, kissing my shoulder. “So much. For staying home with me, supporting us, being such a good dad, reliable cook, and extra amazing in bed.”
That lusty look on her face makes me want to ignore dinner entirely and drag her up to my room. Sophia lifts my shirt to stroke over my abs. “Speaking of bed …”
“That kind of talk has to wait until there aren’t little ears around,” I remind her, kissing her slow and gentle. Showing her exactly what she’s in for later.
“I think we could manage to run off for thirty minutes … maybe an hour.”
Groaning, I bend down to kiss up her throat and bite her ear. Someone swats my ass and I see Nick, finally home from the office. Link forgets all about his Legos and sprints to Nick as fast as his chubby little legs will carry him.
“Daddy!”
“Kiddo.” Nick sweeps him up and kisses his cheek before sitting with Gunner to talk all about Link’s very exciting day. “You drew a picture? Is it up on the fridge yet?”
The fridge is covered in his art. He’s prolific. Paint, crayons, markers, Sophia’s makeup. It’s all committed to paper.
“We’re going to need a bigger fridge,” I murmur.
Sophia laughs. “Or a wall of corkboard just for him.” She still cuddles in my arms.
We look over our family together. It’salmostperfect. As much as I love our children, as much as I love Sophia and my best friends, there’s still one thing I want. My hand spreads over Sophia’s belly.
She had agreed to at least two kids and we’ve hit that mark as of a year and a half ago, but I want one of my own. Macho, primal, jealous, whatever it is, I want a biological link to at least one of our children.
“Roman.” Sophia sighs.
“Mommy!” Emma yells, tears ready in her eyes.
“What?” Sophia asks, sweet, but no baby talk. She hasn’t been about that at all. I didn’t expect that kind of parenting, but she’s all about making sure our kids are loved, supported, and independent. “What do you want, baby?”
Emma points at Sophia again.