by Sadie Grubor
I shook my head, still unable to speak as I buried my face into Aidan’s chest, tears streaming down my face.
Pregnancy exhaustion had finally won out while reminiscing and pulled me into a restful slumber. I stretched when I felt kisses pressed against my face. Opening my eyes, I was met by two beautiful green orbs.
"How late is it?" I asked and sat up.
"I’m home early." He smiled and sat up with me. "It’s only just going on six."
"I’ve been asleep for almost three hours?" I looked at Aidan surprised at myself. "I should go check on…"
"Kimberly has them and they are all fine. Rest." He moved next to me, lying down.
"Kimberly shouldn’t have to take care of everything when I am home."
He shook his head. "You’re pregnant and need your rest, she knows that. Besides, she loves those kids almost as much as we do."
I smiled and nodded. Aidan buried his head into my hair and breathed deeply, his words still swirling in my head.
Yes, Aidan adored and loved the twins, they were his angels. However, Cole was a different story. I could sense a resistance in Aidan. I understood the struggle, but I couldn’t help but feel sad when I watched it in action. Cole still struggled with Aidan and I was sure it was because he could feel the same tension I could.
I had tried to help them bond multiple times, but it never works out the way that I would like. We only talked about it once and, after Aidan shrugged it off, I didn’t want to bring it back up to him again. I could only hope that someday it would happen on its own.
Two weeks later that moment finally arrived. Cole had picked up calling me ‘mumma’ from the twins and he used it frequently. We were all in the newly designed playroom, where all of the toys had been moved, when Aidan arrived home one Friday evening.
I was quite large but nowhere near the size I’d been with the twins. As I was trying to stand up to greet him, he rushed over to me.
"Don’t get up." He ordered and kissed the top of my head as he sat down next to me.
Once he was seated, I pulled his face to mine and kissed him fiercely.
"Mmm…Mrs. Iverson, don’t start what you can’t finish." He laughed out.
We both knew that we could finish, but I was so uncomfortable at this point that it wasn’t a very pleasant experience. I may have been smaller this time, but my body seemed to be out to get me. First it was the morning sickness that lasted up to my seventh month. Second, was the extreme constipation that hit me at eight and a half months and, third, was the sciatic nerve pain that I would experience when the baby would shift into a certain position.
Seated on the floor, he held me as we watched the twins push Cole around in his riding car. We laughed as Livy argued with Walsh about something not being right and Walsh hanging his head in defeat. Livy was a quiet, shy girl, but if you made her angry she would unleash a can of whoop ass so fast it was mind boggling.
Unfortunately, during their argument, we didn’t notice Cole trying to crawl out of the play car until Livy went to push it again. I tried to move but that was a joke. Aidan got to him first, right before his head hit the floor from the jarring movement. I sighed in relief as I climbed onto my knees. Aidan held him in his arms. Cole was giggling like it had been a game and Aidan just shook his head laughing at him.
"Ded." Cole blurted out and patted Aidan’s chest with his hands.
I froze, waiting for Aidan’s reaction. A few long minutes passed before Aidan smiled and ruffled his hair. He put him down and walked back to me. The next thing I knew, Cole was pulling himself up on the car and holding on as he walked something he had been doing for weeks. However, he took a step away from the car and I gasped. Aidan turned around quickly and watched wide-eyed as Cole wobbled over to him, taking five steps.
"Ded." He said with his arms up.
"Mumma…Cowl say Ded." Walsh ran over to me jumping, smiling and clapping.
"Cowl walk to ded." Livy ran to me and pointed with excitement on her face.
"I know." I smiled back at them. "Isn’t that exciting?" Clapping with them, we bounced a little.
I turned back and saw that Aidan had picked up Cole and brought him over to our little group. He sat down with Cole on his lap.
"Good job, Cole." I cooed at him.
"Goo jub, Cowl." Livy said sternly. I kissed the side of her head and smiled. Walsh climbed onto the other side of Aidan’s lap. A little jealous, I assumed.
Watching Aidan kiss Cole on the top of his head seemed to be the point that drew us together as one big family.
Chapter Eleven
New Beginnings
Aidan
It had been difficult for me to connect with Cole. Yes, he is my biological son, but, in my mind, he wasn’t my child. My Lilli had not given birth to him, Loreley had. It was tough to accept that. I tried to relate to him as I did with the twins, but I still didn’t feel the bond a father should. I felt affection toward him, but I was terrified that the love only a father could have for his children would never come.
The moment that Cole walked to me, I relived the moment that Livy had walked to me for the first time. I couldn’t help but let my heart swell with his actions to come to me and call me dad. Sitting together in a group as the twins cheered on Cole and praised him, finally I felt like we were a family.
Everything with Loreley stayed fresh in our minds for weeks and I was pretty sure that Lilli would always think about her. I knew that deep down Lilli wished that she could have talked to Loreley or gotten to her before she went to Gideon. In some weird way, she felt as if she were partly to blame for her death.
I watched Lilli pad around the bedroom getting dressed for dinner. Her stomach was in full bloom, yet still nothing compared to when she was carrying the twins. She looked as beautiful as always.
"Are you going to get dressed or are you going to stare at me?" She lifted an eyebrow at me and smirked.
"Can I help it if you are so amazingly beautiful?" I climbed off the bed and headed toward her.
"Yeah, okay, cause an elephant is so hot!" She snorted.
I rolled my eyes.
"Do we have to go through this again?" I wrapped my arms around her from behind, my palms on her firm belly. "You are not an elephant. You are my very pregnant wife and, if I wasn’t scared that you would beat the shit out of me, I would bend you over that chair and take you over and over again." My voiced had dropped into a low growl.
She groaned.
"Don’t talk like that." She attempted to pull away, but I pulled her back to me. "You know how horny I am right now and you are killing me." She giggled.
"Hmmm…you’re horny, huh?" I pulled her back around so that her back was against my chest. My hands slipped down to her hips and I rotated my hips into her lower back.
She gasped.
"Aidan…stop." She breathed out.
Moving her hair from her neck, I ran my tongue up the side until I reached her earlobe. I sucked on her lobe and nipped at it, causing her to press her ass firmly into my erection. That was the green light I needed.
Quickly, I walked us to the bed, laying her down.
"Aidan." She tried to protest. I pulled her robe open and began sucking on her large swollen breasts. "Oh, fuck…" she growled.
I ran my hand over her stomach, caressing her skin, before I trailed kisses over the bump and rested between her legs. One lick, two lick, and she was moaning my name. Needing to be buried inside of her, I pushed down my pants and boxers. Positioned at her entrance, I slid into her swiftly but gently.
"Ohhhh…." She breathed out heavily.
"Shit baby, you…uh…yes…" I growled as I thrust in and out of her tight center.
I could already feel her reaction to my motions and knew that she would soon be pushed to her release. This was a good thing. It had been so long that I knew I couldn’t control myself much longer. The moment her hot, wet walls clenched around my throbbing erection I screamed out her name. A few more thrusts into he
r orgasm and my release flooded my senses and took control of my body. Lying beside her as we both caught our breath, there was a knock at the door.
"Mr. and Mrs. Iverson, your guests are arriving." Jay’s muffled voice made Lilli giggle.
"Poor guy is always subjected to our indiscretions." She laughed and started to pull herself up.
I got up quickly and helped her. She gave me a quick kiss and headed into the bathroom. I followed and jumped into the shower to rinse off before getting dressed.
Lilli was dressed and out of the bedroom before me. Once I was dressed, I looked at the crumpled blankets on the bed and smiled widely.
I could hear our guests before I reached the living room; Dixon’s loud laugh, James yelling at Dixon, the girls giggling, the sound of the children’s noises. Standing in the doorway of the living room, I took the whole scene in. It was truly the picture of perfection, even if a lot of craziness had just passed through our lives.
Phoebe, Celia and Elora were all rubbing Lilli’s stomach as she swatted them away. Lilli reached over and rubbed Elora’s stomach in retaliation. Elora simply laughed.
"You can rub Celia’s too." Dixon smiled widely at Lilli.
"What?" Phoebe sat up straight, looking at Dixon.
Lilli turned her eyes on Celia.
"Really?" Celia nodded nervously and Lilli pulled her down into a large hug.
"Congratulations, Big Man." I entered the room.
"Well, it’s about time you got one in there!" James goaded with a chuckle.
"Hey…perfection takes time to create." Dixon boasted. "Just because you fuckers are reproducing like bunnies, doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t know how to use a condom." Dixon smirked at both James and me.
James scoffed.
"Why the hell would I use a condom? I’m married. And, fuck, if my wife isn’t hot when she is pregnant." James smirked back at Dixon.
I laughed and shook my head at them. Then I turned my head toward Lilli, catching her eyes on me. With a small knowing smile, she turned back to Celia. She knew that I felt the same way, having just taken her upstairs in our room as everyone was arriving.
Soon, Liam and Viola entered with Abby, Ryan, Maggie and Jason. Okay, I had been taking the whole Jason situation lightly, but he seemed to be working his way in as a permanent fixture with Maggie. I didn’t know if this was something I should just accept or if I should intervene. The problem is, I’m not sure that I like the idea of her being in such a serious relationship already. Lilli had had to calm me down the last time we went to Viola and Liam’s for dinner. I walked in on Maggie and Jason’s full on tongue battle.
I eyed him sternly and felt a little smug when I could physically see him squirming next to Maggie as she talked to Lilli and then to Celia. Liam was quickly a part of our little male group and had a drink in his hand.
"So, Uncle Liam, you really approve of this Jason kid?" I sneered.
He chuckled. "Aidan, I assure you I have given that boy the ‘I have a shotgun and a shovel’ speech enough times for you to calm down a little."
I shook my head. "Still…"
"Dude, Maggie is almost freaking eighteen, would you prefer that she was dating a different guy every week? Think about that!" James snorted out.
"No, but…"
"Think about you at that age." Dixon raised a knowing eyebrow.
"Okay, I get your point." I grumbled.
Liam laughed and patted my shoulder. "Just wait till it’s your daughter."
I sighed at the thought and looked down at the kids as they all played on the floor. Walsh and Livy always close to each other, even if they were playing different things. Walsh was playing cars with Jimmy and Livy was playing with her doll. Cole was playing blocks with Adeline. Then, I glanced up one more time to the women across from us. All of them attractive, smart, having created one of the little people on the floor and a few that were currently carrying children. A content sigh escaped my lips as I turned back to the conversation James and Dixon were carrying about college days.
Rachel announced dinner and, as we were heading to the dining room, Aunt Anne and Uncle Henry arrived.
Everyone sat down and started passing food around the table. The conversation was pleasant and sometimes funny. Maggie spoke of the colleges she and Jason had applied to. I internally did a happy dance when I realized that there were a few that were far away from Maggie. Lilli had made sure that Jay, Rachel, Alex, Kimberly and Peter all ate with us, since they were a part of the family too.
After dinner, everyone headed back to the living room. It was the most cleared out area for the children to play. We all sat, continuing our former conversations; baby names, birthing plans, bottle or breast. This was, of course, when Dixon jumped into the baby conversation.
"I have always preferred breast." Celia smacked his shoulder. "What? It’s better for the baby." He smiled slyly. She eyed him, letting him know she wasn’t buying it.
After sitting, talking, and some of us having a few drinks, the night began to wind down. The kids were getting tired and Kimberly took the twins to bed, I followed with Cole. Lilli protested, but finally agreed to just stay with our guests and relax.
One my way back to the living room, I heard a crashing sound and quickened my pace. I got closer to the spare room on the second floor and heard a knocking noise. Moving quicker to find out what, or who, was in our house, I got to the door and threw it open.
"Who’s—?" I froze and then the sight in front of me registered. "Oh, Fuck no!" I slammed the door shut and walked away rubbing my eyes.
Before I could get down the hall, I came face to face with James and Dixon.
"What happened?" James asked.
"You don’t want to know." I shook my head.
"Dude, you alright?" I shook my head and then heard a loud thud. I groaned again and rubbed my eyes.
I felt movement but, before I could stop him, James had headed toward the spare room.
"James…" I warned. It was too late.
"Fuck! Mom! Dad! What the..? Oh God, I’m gonna throw up!" James ran to the bathroom.
"I tried to tell you!" I shouted.
Dixon burst laughter. Tears forming in his eyes.
"It’s not funny! I think my corneas are burnt now!" I scowled at him.
"Oh…fuck…yes!" He exclaimed in between fits of laughter. "This is the freakiest fucking family, I swear. He lifted one hand in the air like he was swearing in and laughed louder. I couldn’t help but join in laughing when I heard James throw up.
"What is going on?" Elora appeared in the hallway. "Is that James?" Her eyes widened and she headed toward him.
Dixon put an arm around my shoulder and we headed back to the living room. On our way down the stairs we could hear James and Elora in the bathroom.
"Baby, are you okay?" Elora’s voice was full of worry.
"No, baby, come here. Please, just make it all go away." He groaned.
Dixon was biting back more laughter. By the time we got to the bottom step, we both burst into laughter again.
"What the heck is going on up there?" Lilli asked me from her lounged position on the couch.
"Ummm…." I rubbed the back of my neck.
"Aidan and Jimmy boy both walked in on Anne and Henry doing the horizontal mambo." Dixon chocked out with laughter.
Lilli’s eyes widened before she covered her mouth and started laughing.
"Really?" She looked at me and laughed out. I nodded and moved to sit next to her. Her body was shaking with giggles.
I could hear Oz snort and Phoebe laughing her tinker bell laugh. Celia was chuckling with Dixon as he hung onto her, laughing uncontrollably.
Liam snorted and started to laugh.
"It’s about damn time she listened to me!" Viola blurted out and sipped her wine with a sly smile.
"You put them up to this?" Liam looked at her with a smirk on his face.
She shrugged. "They really needed to get laid, and I don’t mean ‘soft, m
ake love to me sex’. I mean dirty, hot, fuck me sex!"
"Viola!" I groaned loudly and put my head on Lilli’s knee, she ran her fingers through my hair as she laughed.
"That’s my girl." Liam leaned over and kissed Viola’s cheek.
I didn’t think Dixon could laugh any harder, but I was wrong.
"I’m gonna pee my pants!" He laughed out and, with that, I had to chuckle.
James and Elora returned to the living room, James still white as a ghost and Elora trying not to laugh too hard.
Aunt Anne and Uncle Henry appeared briefly to say good night, their clothes disheveled and wrinkled. The image that flashed through my head was like torture. I groaned and covered my face.
"Have a good evening." Liam spoke with and evident smirk.
"I believe we already have." Uncle Henry quipped back. James groaned and Dixon kept laughing.
"Well, if your night is already through then what the hell are you leaving for?" Viola snorted.
"No one said it was over." Anne blurted and then turned red before excusing themselves for the evening.
"Baby, we need to go home too." Elora said softly to James. "Jimmy is already asleep."
James nodded and stood up.
"True, plus your job tonight is to fuck that image out of my head." He growled and Elora gasped. Turning bright red, she went to the nursery to get Jimmy.
"Now, that’s my nephew!" Viola cheered and laughed loudly.
"My entire family is made up of freaks!" I exclaimed and put my head back on the couch. I felt Lilli pat my knee.
Then she whispered, "But, you have to admit, it is highly entertaining." She laughed quietly.
"Maybe for you." I winked at her.
"Viola, I do believe that we should retire for the evening." Liam stood up and offered his hand to Viola.
She took it and stood, bringing her body close to his.
"I hope that little Liam isn’t too tired for a ride tonight…" she pouted at him and I choked back the urge to throw up.
"Never, you know that you—"
"Alright, enough!"
"Fuck man. Let them continue…it’s like foreplay for Celia and me!" Dixon laughed out and Celia covered her mouth.
