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It started at the wedding, but once the audience became fans, adoring fans, the whole birthing and now what feels like our whole life is some huge hit reality series.
Not just for television, but at the movies as well.
“You’re just sore you’re not the complete center of attention anymore,” Denise tries to lecture me, not helping by convincing Olivia that she needs to show more cleavage or even that time they actually wanted to film her breastfeed our son.
No way.
I put my foot down, and hard. But the trade-off had to be that Olivia, Anthony, and even Denise had their turn in the spotlight.
Fine. But keep it fully clothed, will ya?
Olivia’s the most beautiful woman alive, and I’m not okay with sharing her with the world like that.
Pajama’s is fine but it’s the limit. Same for our son.
I take little Anthony and change him on his table by the doorway in our room, forgetting everything I pretend to be grumpy about when I see his large blue eyes flash up at me with the light and laughter only babies have.
Once he’s cleaned up and changed, he’s even more adorable.
“Don’t tell anyone, but I’m your biggest fan,” I whisper to him, kissing his feet before I feel Olivia’s hands over mine.
“I won’t,” she whispers, kissing my ear and telling me she’s still my biggest fan.
“And what’s the boss got lined up for Mommy and my son?” I ask in mock resignation.
“It’s just an awards show, the latest movie won something and they wanna shoot a special with Anthony there, with you too,” she adds, trying to console me but I only make a face.
“Do you want to go though?” I ask her, turning to hook my arms around her waist and pull her close, Anthony gurgling on his table, little feet kicking me in the side.
“I do. I want all of us to go, as a family,” I hear her remind me firmly, pretending to snatch my nose and show her thumb to our son like some strange trophy.
“Can we?” she asks, and I make another face. The, of course, we can one.
“Anywhere you want to go with our son and your loving husband? I’m right behind you,” I tell her, kissing her back before lifting up our baby boy for us both to share.
“I sometimes wish grandma wasn’t so organized, and I know I can be a grouch about it all sometimes, but I really do want you to do whatever you want that makes you happy,” I tell her.
“Both of you,” I whisper, kissing them both gently.
“We love you, Daddy,” she whispers back and I can only repeat it back to them both.
Holding them all like they’re the most precious things in the world to me.
Because they are.
My loves. My babies.
My family.
Extended Epilogue
Two Years Later
Olivia
The loft apartment was never gonna work. Not with a growing family.
I still smile when I even call it that, more like a shopping mall than an apartment.
“It’s not for a lack of room Jack, it’s too big. And in the city? I want our kids to run around on the grass, make mud pies. Breathe fresh air.”
I wasn’t complaining, but it turned out Jack was thinking exactly the same things once we had number two.
Maybe number three on the way, but that’s a whole other story.
Maybe I’ll tell Jack once we’ve settled in.
Kind of like a housewarming present.
Packing up the last of Baby Alice’s things, putting the cartons next to her brother’s, I can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness at leaving the place.
“So many good memories,” I tell the empty room, smiling at the echo the place has now that it’s practically empty.
But not empty for long.
I can already hear her coming up the stairs, barking orders at the movers before I hear Jack quiet his mom down with a strong whisper.
“Mom! Please, we just got them to sleep…”
I smile wider, hugging my elbows. Missing my babies already and with a little shrug, I give my last goodbye to our old room as we prepare to head off for the house in the country.
A big old country house, probably just as many square feet as this huge city place, but old style.
A real house, with a smelly old attic and a dusty basement. Not too dusty once Jack cleaned it out.
Trees that were planted long before our apartment high rise was even built let alone dreamed of.
And a yard. A huge yard that runs for acres in every direction. A place for our kids to be kids and for Jack and me to maybe get our hands dirty once in a while.
Denise has kindly agreed to take the city apartment off our hands, moving so quickly we’re pretty sure she’s been waiting for the day for a long time now.
“She’s earned it,” Jack said, surprised at how keen his mom was to move in as soon as possible once we let her know we’d be heading north, permanently.
