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“Love you, Mama,” she whispered and I kissed her forehead.
“Love you too.”
“Love you, Izzy Belle,” Archie said, leaning over to give her a kiss.
“Love you, Papa.” She smiled before her lashes drifted down and she went right back to sleep. He brushed some of the damp blonde hair away from her forehead.
Once back in the hall, he pulled out his phone and pressed a button before catching my hand in his. “Hey, Jere,’ he said. “Yeah, we just checked on them. Still low-grade fevers for both of them, but Izzy’s is a bit higher.”
He listened as we made it to our room and I closed the doors behind us, then turned the lock. The guys could get in. There was a key above the doorframe that we could all reach.
I leaned against the doors as Archie turned to face me. The concern on his face wrapped me up in knots. They were all the best fathers. They loved the kids so damn much and it made me weepy sometimes—usually when I was pregnant—but I loved that our kids had them.
“Thanks. Frankie and I are going to take some time, but call if we’re needed.” He chuckled and some of the worry in his eyes eased. “I will absolutely make taking care of her my priority. No worries there.” Another pause, then he rolled his eyes but his grin widened. “Yes, sir.”
Call over, he lowered the phone and stared at me. There was so much love in his eyes that it soaked through me. Every single day with them had filled me to the brim…
“I love you,” I whispered and he tossed his phone in the vicinity of the love seat. Our room boasted a couple of extra bedrooms as needed, a sitting room, then our bedroom, the one all of us shared.
“You going to cry all over me, Babe?” The softness in his voice summoned the tears like they were just waiting for him and he chuckled. Cupping my face, he swiped away the tears with his thumbs. “Twenty years ago, you crying like this would have terrified me.”
A laugh escaped me. Twenty years. That seemed—forever and at the same time, just a drop in the bucket. “Not anymore?”
“Nope,” he said, then nuzzled a whisper soft kiss to my lips. “No, these tears—they remind me how much you trust me. How much you trust all of us. They’re tears of joy, and longing, and hope…”
Another laugh escaped me as I clasped his arms where he cradled my face. “I do love you.”
“I’m the luckiest man on the planet. The most beautiful woman in the world is in love with me and she’s having our babies again—babies.” He paused and shook his head. “Wow…”
“Still getting used to it?” I teased as I slid my hands along his arms and when I threaded them up to wrap around his neck, he dropped his hands to my ass and then lifted me like I was still a svelte teenager.
He gave me a look, the corners of his mouth quirking. “Like you’re any more used to it yet than I am.”
Hitching my legs to his hips, I nuzzled a kiss to the corner of his lips until he sealed his mouth to mine. The first brush of his tongue had me opening to him. I loved kissing Archie. We could kiss for hours and I’d never get tired of it.
Another laugh escaped me and he pulled his head back, amusement filtering through his expression. “It’s going to be one of those times.”
Delight curved through me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Uh huh.” He turned, moving easily through our sitting room and into the bedroom. He pushed the door closed with his foot and then stalked toward our bed. It was even larger than the one we’d had in the Brownstone. If we had to all crawl in here with the kids, we could and still have room.
I loved it.
It made my birthday and the games they played so much more fun.
A shiver of anticipation went through me as Archie set me on the bed. When I would have reached for him, he caught my hands and kissed them.
“I want to undress you and play first, Mrs. Standish. There was a request on the table and I think you need the first of three sooner rather than later.”
All at once my laughter and tears went up in flames at the liquid heat in his voice. He kissed my hands again before releasing them. Then he took his time undressing me. He started with my shoes, then my socks. When he unbuttoned my shirt, I swore my nipples went on point and the ache in my breasts increased.
They’d been especially tender this time around and now I knew why. Twins… excitement fountained through me as he paused to trace the line of my bra before he unhooked it. They were already swollen. They’d gotten bigger with each pregnancy and as self-conscious as it had made me at first…
“Fuck,” Archie whispered. “I always forget how much more beautiful you get every single day.” It was ridiculous and yet love washed through me at the declaration.
“I always feel fatter,” I admitted.
“I know you do,” he said, then cupped my breasts with such exquisite gentleness it pulled tears to my eyes again.
