I knew I would still have issues with Stacey, because she wasn’t the type of person to bow out gracefully. I had made it clear to her that my heart was in Alena’s hands now, but if she needed a daily reminder, I would be happy to offer her one. Because I may not have seen Alena coming, but she had knocked my feet from beneath me, and I planned on spending the rest of my life showing her just how much she meant to me.
Four Years Later
Ryan
“Daddy!” High-pitched squeals rang out the moment I entered the house. Each time I heard the happy shouts of my twin boys, Rory and Rogan, I swear I fell in love with them all over again.
I bent down just in time to catch Rogan as he leaped into my arms. He was my linebacker—at least he felt like one when he collided with you. If he kept eating the way he did, he would be twice the size of his brother. Rory was smaller, but you couldn’t let his size fool you—he was a little trickster. On more than one occasion, I found my keys in the refrigerator, or, hell, even the bottom of the dirty clothes basket. And as I was rummaging around through the house with Amber trailing behind me, that boy would sit on the couch as if he had no clue what was going on.
I ruffed Rogan’s hair as I stood with him in my arms. “Hey, buddy, you been a good boy for your momma?”
“Yesh,” he said is his tiny, little voice as he bobbed his head. I looked up to see Amber enter the living room, holding Rory in her arms. He looked freshly bathed, and his hair was sticking up in all directions. She appeared disheveled and worn out, even though she smiled when she saw me standing in the doorway. “Hey, Daddy, you’re just in time.”
I arched a brow in question, because I knew that tone. She was about to pass a task on to me that she must have been dreading.
She lifted her hand and pointed to Rogan. “You get to bathe the stubborn one. I’ve spent the last hour trying to convince him the scent he’s sporting is not an appealing one.” She wrinkled her nose in the cutest way as she turned toward the kitchen, giving me the perfect view of her cute ass.
Almost five years later and I still couldn’t get enough of her. She walked around wearing the tiniest shorts and tanks, and I swore she only did it to torture me.
I shook my head to clear away thoughts I should not be having about my wife, at least not when the boys were awake. I leaned in and sniffed Rogan, and he giggled. “Damn, boy, you do smell.”
“Ryan,” Amber scolded me for my choice of words.
“Sorry, baby,” I offered as Rogan looked up at me with a big grin on his face. “Don’t you dare repeat my words.” I narrowed my eyes at him as I found an expression on his face I knew well.
Those little wheels were turning.
How I got two kids that were just as crazy as my brother Jackson was beyond me. I think it was a curse. Either that or some sort of punishment for giving him shit for all these years.
I slipped off my boots and walked toward the bathroom. Rogan began wiggling to try and escape, and I gripped him just a little tighter.
“Let’s get a bath, and then we’ll convince your momma to make us something sweet.”
At the idea of his mother’s baking, the boy instantly relaxed. We were all hooked on Amber’s baking—hell, the whole damn town was.
I worked fast to get Rogan clean and was just lifting him from the tub when Amber appeared in the doorway. “Liv called. I told her when you got home, I would have you call her back.”
I spun around with Rogan, who was now wrapped tightly in a towel and leaned in to give her the kiss I had yet to give her since I got home. With two toddlers, sometimes our time alone was limited. I would give just about anything to have twenty-four uninterrupted hours with my wife.
“Mm,” she moaned against my lips.
“I didn’t get the chance when I first got home. I was beyond desperate to feel those sweet lips.” I winked as I passed Rogan to her, and she narrowed her eyes.
“You just buttered me up so my defenses would be down,” she protested as she took our son.
Rory poked his head around Amber’s legs and smiled up at me. “Hey, little man, you wanna go call your sissy?” I asked him.
Rory adored Olivia; he had always been so fascinated with her. They’d bonded in the months after the twins were born because Rogan was colicky and required so much attention from Amber and myself. We would always find Olivia rocking Rory, and he was content to just be close to her.
Offering Amber one last kiss to smooth away the scowl she wore, I took Rory’s hand and we went to call Liv.
Hearing her sweet voice fill the phone made me smile wide. It was hard to believe my little girl was all grown up. She was now twenty years old and attending Texas A & M University, and I could not have been more proud of her.