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Gabriel chuckled. ‘If they weren’t so much like their mother, I’d find it easier to keep up with them.’ He reached Pietro before he managed to pull the column of balloons down, swinging him up above his head, and the little dark-haired boy whooped with laughter.
Alex was still blissfully asleep in Raina’s arms. Maybe he was dreaming of the warmth and the love that surrounded him. Alistair went to the kitchen, returning with a bottle of champagne and one of sparkling apple juice.
‘Daddy iced my cake all by himself.’ Anya wriggled up onto the sofa, and Raina put her arm around her daughter. It was a tradition now that Alistair make Anya’s birthday cakes, and his icing skills were improving. This one had a dinosaur theme, with small models of dinosaurs ranging over an iced prehistoric landscape.
‘I’m particularly proud of the triceratops.’ Alistair twisted the cork in the champagne bottle, and the pop attracted the twins’ attention. ‘Presents first, or cake, Anya?’
‘Presents!’ Anya slid down from her seat, running to the fireplace and carefully sorting through the wrapped packages, deciding which to open first.
‘Right, then. Presents and champagne.’ Alistair passed the bottle to Gabriel, who started to fill the glasses that were laid out on the table next to the cake and reached for the bottle of apple juice. ‘Special champagne for you, Anya, as it’s your birthday. Raina?’
‘I’ll have a few sips of the real stuff.’ It would probably go straight to her head, but nothing could be as intoxicating as this.
‘Right.’ Alistair put a glass in her hand and raised his. ‘A toast...’
* * *
They’d toasted the baby then Anya and then each other. Anya had opened her presents and they’d eaten cake. It had been a perfect afternoon.
Clara had taken little Alex, cooing over him and wondering aloud whether Gabriel missed that gorgeous baby smell as much as she
did. Raina had seen the smile that flashed between them, and reckoned it wouldn’t be very long before Clara was pregnant again. Alistair had suggested that Raina might like to lie down, and she suddenly felt very tired.
* * *
When she came back downstairs, the house was quiet. She could hear Alistair reading a story in the sitting room, and when she walked quietly through, she saw him. Anya was on his lap, and he held Alex carefully in front of her so she could put her arms around her new baby brother.
The book was propped open in front of them, and it didn’t matter that he couldn’t turn the pages. He’d read this story to Anya so often that he knew the words, and if he went wrong Anya was just as familiar with it and would correct him. The sound of his voice seemed already to have lulled Alex to sleep.
Raina crept into the room, sitting down quietly. He smiled up at her, and she nodded him on with the story. This moment was far too precious to interrupt.
Finally Anya’s head started to droop against his chest. A moment later she was fast asleep, worn out by the excitement of the day. Alistair smiled, gesturing for Raina to take Alex while he carried Anya up to her bed. By the time he returned, Alex was settled into his Moses basket.
‘So...’ Alistair looked around the room. ‘They’re both asleep. What do we do now?’
‘First you need to come over here. Then you can kiss me.’
‘Ah, yes. Of course, I knew there was something, I’d forgotten.’
‘Don’t you dare ever forget that.’ She felt his arms around her, and snuggled against him, knowing that whatever happened Alistair would always be there for her.
His chest heaved as a sigh of contentment escaped his lips. ‘You know, I could really get used to this. I’m looking forward to the next six weeks. Just the four of us...’
‘There might be times when you wish you could just put on a suit and go into the office. For a bit of peace and quiet...’ Today had been a great day, but Raina was under no illusion that every day was going to be like this.
He raised one eyebrow. ‘And who’s going to rub your feet for you if I do that?’
‘Good point. I hadn’t taken that into consideration. And since you mention it...’ Alistair did the very best foot massage and it was a little piece of intimacy that was very welcome right now.
He chuckled, shifting along the sofa and taking her feet on his lap. As he started to massage them, Raina relaxed.
‘So what were you and Gabriel muttering about in the corner?’
‘Work. It’s the last time I’m going to say that word for another six weeks.’
‘Oh. And since when did we not talk about work?’
‘You’ve just had a baby. You don’t need to bother about anything else other than recovering from that right now.’
