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“Hi, Mommy,” another sweet voice joined the first.
I looked up toward the table, where my other baby was sitting on the kitchen counter. He smiled at me; his face covered in flour. He was my sweet boy. The much calmer version of Logan. Quiet and perceptive, unlike his older brother. Brad stuffed his tiny fist into his mouth and licked whatever was on his hand. Chocolate, probably. Brad Coulter had a sweet tooth, and, ironically, like his namesake, his grandfather had had one, too.
“Mo-mmy.” With my heart full, I turned toward Maddox, who had our hiccupping baby on his hips.
Levi Coulter, Brad’s twin. The prankster. Out of the three boys, Levi definitely had more me in him than his father. He liked reading, loved Disney and was the bubbly one out of all three boys. Although he loved to tease, he was quick to be serious. Oh, and he was obsessed with mint-chocolate chip muffins.
“Good morning, babies. Are you making mommy pancakes?”
God, they were all a mess. Flour. Chocolate. Whip cream.
Brad nodded, shoving more chocolate in his mouth. Oh sweet Jesus. Sugar rush, I could see it coming. I shot Maddox a glare, before scooping up Brad and putting him in his booster seat, away from the mess and the chocolate.
“Pancakes,” Levi agreed.
“Uhuh. How come you decided to make me pancakes today?”
Logan gave me a dead serious look. “Because we love you, Mommy!”
Oh dear.
Oh no.
Oh shit.
My nose tingled, and the back of my eyes burned.
“Yeah, love you,” Levi and Brad agreed, at the same time.
Maddox smirked. “Love you, little dragon,” he mouthed.
And so… Lila Coulter promptly burst into tears.
“Oh no.”
“We made Mommy cry. Again.”
“Daddy, Mommy is crying!”
Maddox safely tucked Levi into his booster seat and reached for me. He wrapped me in his embrace, and I hiccupped back another cry. “Why are you crying?”
“Because… I’m just… so happy. Shut up, okay!”
This was my family. My crazy, sweet family.
Maddox laughed, before his hands lowered to my stomach. He cupped my heavy, swollen belly, and his lips feathered over my forehead with a chaste kiss. “I know. Now, let’s go eat. The boys worked hard to make you edible pancakes.”
I gave him a quick peck on the lips, before kissing all three of my boys. They loved mommy kisses, and I wanted to give them as much as I could, before they grew tired of it.
My boys. The exact replicas of their father.
Funny how, more than a decade ago, in the halls of Berkshire Academy…
“Remember how you once told me there was only one of you?” I asked Maddox.
His eyebrows shot up, and he gave me his panty-melting smirk.
“Now look at me! I’m stuck with four Coulter boys!”
As soon as I said the words, my stomach tightened, and the baby kicked. I palmed my pregnant belly, and my eyes widened in realization…
“Maddox,” I whispered. “If this is another boy, I’m going to lose my mind.”
He chuckled, but I was utterly serious.
“No… I can’t… I need a girl, Maddox!”
He was laughing, and I was this close to crying again. He must have felt it coming, because he quickly cupped my face and smashed his lips on mine, giving me one long, searing kiss, until I stopped freaking out.
“It’s okay, if it’s not a girl. We can keep trying, until we get a girl for you.”
He smirked.
I glared. “Are you trying to make me give birth to a whole football team.”
“I want at least seven,” Maddox replied innocently.
“And I’m going to kill you.”
He just winked, not at all scared by my threat.
“Mommy, hurry. We hungry.”
With a laugh, we sat around the table and ate our too soft, too sweet pancakes. Maddox had his big palm over my pregnant belly, and the baby was hyperactive, as if he – or she – knew his – or her – daddy was there.
I loved my babies, truly.
But I was also about done with being pregnant.
Logan was four.
Brad and Levi were two.
And I was seven months pregnant.
I literally had been pregnant for four years.
As much as I loved being a stay-at-home mom, the last few years, I really wanted to go back to work. I enjoyed being a Chemist. After this baby, I was ready to go back to the world of science and research. My four years absence wasn’t really an issue, since my manager’s boss’s boss was my husband. (Yes, he bought the research laboratory I worked at)
Maddox wanted more kids, and I wasn’t opposed to the idea. But I needed a break in between.
I ate my pancake and watched, as Maddox fed Levi a few bites, wiped Brad’s messy face and flicked some whip cream at Logan’s head. They laughed and Logan flicked a spoonful of whip cream back at his father. It smacked Maddox right in the middle of the chest.
He was the perfect dad I always knew he’d be.
