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.