Epilogue
Instead of my usual morning wake-up call of one or both of my babies crying, Jake’s warm, moist lips kissed a trail up my neck and then over my chin. At the same time, his hand snaked over my hip to dip between my legs. Working me over my thin panties, I moaned and pressed myself back against him, feeling his heated desire burning against my leg.
Flicking my gaze to the antique clock on the nightstand, I knew we had about a ten minute window before the twins were awake and needing me. Turning over, I met Jake’s frenzied kiss, his tongue darting eagerly into my mouth. When he pulled away to give me a wicked grin, my heartbeat accelerated in my chest. “Will you be okay with a quickie?” I murmured against Jake’s lips.
“I’ll take whatever you can give me, Angel.”
“Hmm, then give me all you got.”
So we wouldn’t waste any time, Jake didn’t even bother removing my pajama top. Instead, he did a one handed removal of my panties and tossed them over the side of the bed. He was out of his boxers in a flash. Since his hand had done a pretty good job getting me ready for him, he spread my thighs and nudged his erection at my center.
“Oh Angel, I love when you’re so wet for me,” he murmured, as he nuzzled his face into my neck.
I widened my legs and brought my hand between us to ease him home. When he was buried deep inside me, we both groaned with pleasure. While the twins continued sleeping soundly in the crib across from our bed, Jake pumped hard and furiously in and out of my body. Our roles of husband and wife were momentarily taking precedence over those of mommy and daddy. As I ran my hands over Jake’s bare shoulders and back, our eyes remained locked on each other. The frequency of sex had certainly changed with the arrival of the twins, but when we were together, our connection was still as strong. It was something I knew I wanted to work on—I was a mother, but I was still Jake’s wife. Since we had always had such a deep, physical connection, I wanted to continue making love to him as much as possible.
Although I knew Jake was close, my mind kept overriding my pleasure whenever I would feel the tingles begin. Sensing my need, Jake’s hand reached between us, and his deft fingers sought out my swollen *. He rubbed and tweaked it until I no longer trapped by my mind—I was completely surrounded by pleasure. “Jake!” I cried, as I tensed and came. He followed shortly with me.
After he was finished, we lay entangled in each other’s arms. I drew lazy circles with my fingers over his taut back muscles. “Pretty good way to start a morning, huh?” he asked, breaking the silence.
I giggled. “I’d say so.” Grasping at the strands of his hair, I tugged, pulling his face up to look at mine. “I love you, Jake.”
“Mmm, I love you, too, Angel.” He brought his lips to mine. Just as we were getting carried away again, Jax’s agitated grunt came from the crib. It was shortly followed by a wail, and then Jules started in with him.
“Guess that’s our cue,” I said, after I broke off the kiss.
“You go get cleaned up from our morning exertions, and I’ll get the hellions changed,” Jake said.
I laughed. “Okay.” As he rolled out of bed, I took in an appreciate eye-full of his delicious ass as he slid on his boxers. I then got up and padded over to the bathroom as Jake headed to the crib. For the moment, our bedroom was doubling as a second nursery. It just made more sense to have the twins close to us, rather than upstairs.
After I finished my morning business and cleaned up, I went back into the bedroom. My heart warmed at the sight of Jake standing over the crib, singing to the twins as he changed diapers. He was truly a sight to behold with all his muscles and tattoos. Of course, the twins were not appreciating his performance. Instead, they were wailing so loud that Angel began to howl along with them.
“Don’t encourage them,” I said to Angel, patting her on the head.
Once I was back in bed, I started unbuttoning my pajama top. Jake’s singing ceased as he leaned over the crib’s edge. “Shh, it’s okay. Daddy’s here, and he loves you,” Jake murmured. No matter who was closest to the edge, he always picked Jules up first. I don’t know if it was because she was tinier, the youngest, or he felt that protective Daddy vibe because she was his baby girl.
“That’s my pretty little angel,” he said. He tenderly kissed the top of her head before passing her over to me. We had two weeks to go before we were back on the road, and I had no idea how I would be able to keep breast feeding like this. At almost four months, I felt they were more than ready to be weaned, but Jake was pretty insistent that at least Jules keep on as long as I could.
Once Jules latched on and nursed heartily, Jake picked up Jax. “Okay, chunky monkey,” he said, with a grin to Jax’s scrunched red face.
“Hey now, don’t be giving him a weight complex,” I chided.
“Ah, he’s pure muscle, right Jaxy?” Jake asked, kissing our son’s chubby cheek.
Since Jake had nothing to do with his feeding, Jax continued wailing as he strained for me. He outweighed Jules by a good five pounds. Whatever he’d had on her in the womb, he had maximized it now that he was out. Usually, we had to give him some formula after a feeding because he just never seemed to get enough. He was going to be built just like his dad when he grew up. But regardless of his size, he was terribly protective of Jules. Whenever they slept, he always laid as close as he could to her, and he wasn’t satisfied unless he could touch her with his fist or feet.
Once Jax was in my arms, his cries quieted, and he snuggled in beside Jules to start feeding. Jake eased back into the bed. Lying on his stomach, he propped his head on his elbow and stared up at me. “You sure about going out on the road?”
I smiled. “Never more certain about anything. I can’t wait to prove that I really am Wonder Woman, and I can be a Grammy-award-winning songwriter and performer, as well as a mother.”
“Can I get you to wear a sexy Wonder Woman costume?” Jake teasingly asked.
“Maybe. If you play your cards just right,” I replied, with a wink.
“I’ll try my best.”
“Keep doing what you’re doing when it comes to helping me with the twins, and you’ll get lots of nice rewards.”
His brows then furrowed. “Do you really think Allison is going to be able to handle Jax and Jules?”
I laughed. “I think she’s going to do the best she can. I mean, sometimes we have a difficult time handling them.”
Jake’s expression lightened. “That’s true.”
It had been hard deciding on a nanny or a babysitter for the twins. Jake and I both had been raised by very hands-on mothers, and I planned to be the same way, even when on tour. Having Allison along with us for the summer tour happened almost too divinely to believe. Since she was about to finish up her last semester at SCAD, or the Savannah School of Art and Design, she needed some internship and field experience in her major—fashion design. What better way to have her kill two birds with one stone than to have her work on costumes for Jacob’s Ladder and Runaway Train while watching the twins during rehearsals and shows.
“I just hope your brothers don’t get any ideas about her,” Jake said, his fingers rubbing over one of Jax’s crocheted booties that Mia had made him.
“I think they value their manhood too much to mess around with your baby sister,” I replied, with a smile.
“They sure as hell better.”
As I shifted Jax onto my shoulder to burp him, I resisted the urge to tell Jake that it wasn’t my brothers and Allison he should be worried about. At the twins’ christening, the unresolved sexual tension between Allison and Rhys was palpable. Something had definitely happened between them, but there was also a hell of a lot unsaid and unspoken going on. They worked their hardest to stay away from each other, but at the same time, they were constantly looking at each other. Since I wanted her along with us on the tour, I didn’t dare pry. I knew the truth would come out when the time was right.
“What are you thinking about?” Jake asked.
“Nothing,” I lied, diverting my gaze to Jules who had just finished eating.
“Oh, no, I saw that expression of yours—the one you get when the wheels in your head are turning.”
“I’m just excited and nervous about the tour, that’s all.”
“We’re going to be a full house on the bus with Allison and the twins.”
“And Angel,” I said. Hearing her name caused Angel to raise her head and wag her tail.
“You really think it’s a good idea bringing her along?” Jake asked, as he took Jax from me, so I could burp Jules.
“I couldn’t bear leaving her behind. Do you know what that would do to her if she saw us and the twins leaving her?”
Jake grimaced. He knew as well as I did that Angel was so attached to Jax and Jules. She slept at the foot of their crib every night. If we let one of them cry too long while trying to get their diaper changed or bottle ready, she started howling and barking. “Fine, fine, we’ll bring Angel.”
As Jules emitted a giant burp, I laughed. “Thank you, babe.”
He shook his head. “I have no willpower when it comes to you.”
“I know, and I love it,” I teased.
Jake laughed. “Now that the little hellions—”
“Angels,” I corrected.
“Fine. Now that the angels are fed, what’s on tap for today?”
“Hmm, maybe baths for all of us, and then a nice, lazy movie day?”
“I like the sound of that. I bet I could get Papa to run down to Two Brothers for some BBQ for us.”
My stomach growled appreciatively. “Yes, please.”
Jake grinned. “Who would have ever thought my favorite things in the world would be lounging around in bed with my wife and kids?”
“You’ve come a long way since I first met you.”
“And I have you to thank.” He kissed Jax and then Jules. “And you two.” Jax grinned while Jules seemed to reach out for Jake. As he took her into his arms, I couldn’t help the happy tears that filled my eyes at the sight of Jake with his son and his daughter in his strong arms.
Jake sucked in a harsh breath. “What is it?” I asked.
He closed his eyes. “I’m getting another melody…oh yeah, definitely a new song.”
“I’ll get your guitar and notepad,” I said.
This was our lives, after all. The music of our heart and soul.