Abby’s blonde brows furrowed. “And why not? She’s a part of our lives and now the twins will be a part of hers.”
Laura’s forehead crinkled with worry. “I just think it would be best not to have a dog around the babies until they’re a little older. Angel can just stay down at the barn with us.”
“But I worked hard before the twins were born to get her used to the idea of a baby in the house, and she’s the sweetest dog ever, so I know she wouldn’t do anything to hurt them,” Abby protested.
Andrew glanced over to me as if expecting me to put my foot down. He should have known that there was no way in hell, when Abby was less than two weeks off birthing two kids, that I was going to tell her no on anything, even if I thought it was the best not to have an eighty-pound dog slobbering over our newborns. When I just shook my head at him, he sighed. “Fine then.” He unhooked the leash off of Angel’s collar.
She made a beeline for the twins. My breath hitched when she stuck her nose into Jax’s face. But she didn’t try to bite his head off or anything crazy like that. She gave him a small lick on his hand before moving on to Jules. After she did the same thing to her, Angel hustled over to Abby. “Did you miss me?” Abby cooed.
Angel’s tail went into a frenzy at the attention, and Laura and Andrew exhaled the breath they had been holding. With the worry of Angel out of the way, Andrew bent over Jax’s carrier. “Mind if I hold my grandson?”
“Go right ahead,” I said.
Andrew smiled as he unhooked Jax and then picked him up. As he gazed down at Jax, he smiled. “I think he looks a little bit like his mom.”
“He does.”
Laura grinned as she peeked at Jules. “But this one is going to be the spitting image of her daddy, I think.”
My brows rose in surprise. “Really?”
Laura nodded. Abby abandoned Angel to come to my side. She snuggled against my chest and then jerked away. “Oh babe, you stink.”
I laughed at her honesty. “Yeah, Jax puked on me this morning as I was getting him in the carrier.”
“Why don’t you go grab a shower?” When I opened my mouth to question her, she shook her head. “I think between the three of us, we have the twins covered.”
“I want you lying down. Now,” I commanded.
“Fine, fine,” she muttered, before waltzing over to the couch. She made a big production of putting her feet up.
“Good. I won’t be long.”
Andrew patted Jax’s back. “Take your time. We’ll be fine.”
I had just stepped out of a long, luxurious shower when Jules’s piercing wail stopped me cold. I grabbed a towel and slung it around my waist before hauling it out of the bathroom. When I got into the bedroom, my gaze spun around the room before honing in on Laura who hovered over Jules on the bed.
“What are you doing to her?” I demanded over Jules’s cries.
Laura jumped at my voice. With one hand still on Jules, she turned her head to look at me. “I’m only changing her diaper. Abby’s feeding Jax.”
“Then why is she crying like that?”
“I don’t know.” She gave me a knowing look. “Babies sometimes cry for no reason.”
Even though I was still wet, I marched over to the bed. “Hey little girl, what’s wrong?” As Jules kept crying, pain radiated through my chest. As soon as Laura taped up her diaper, I reached over to take Jules in my arms. She was so tiny that her butt fit into the palm of my hand as I cradled her against my damp chest. “Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart. Daddy’s here,” I murmured into her ear.
Her cries began to quiet as I patted her back. As I rocked back and forth on my feet, Jules gave a contented little sigh. When I pulled my head back to eye her on my shoulder, I saw she was fast asleep.
“Guess she just wanted her daddy, huh?” Laura asked with a smile.
“That was…intense.”
“Jake, you have to get used to their crying. They might keep you up all night with tummy troubles or teething.”
“I know. It’s just…” I was kinda afraid to tell Laura about how detached I had been feeling from the twins.
“It’s what?” she pressed, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I think my paternal instincts finally kicked in.”
“What do you mean?”
“Since the twins were born, I haven’t felt as connected to them as Abby has. I’ve heard Brayden and AJ talk about that fierce, protective love they felt for their children, and I didn’t exactly have that.”
“Maybe you just had a delay.”
My brows rose. “You think?”
She nodded. “With the twins in the NICU, you haven’t had a chance to be around them like normal babies. After what happened with Jules in the delivery room, it’s only natural that you’ve had your guard up worrying about them. That worry also erected somewhat of a wall to where you couldn’t allow yourself to feel as much for them as you would like.”
“It was Abby, too,” I murmured.
Laura’s forehead crinkled. “You were worried about something happening to her?”
“I was worried that if something happened to one or both of the twins, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. I guess at first, I wanted them to live for her, not necessarily for me. Now that’s changed.” I gazed down at Jules and felt like my chest would explode from the overwhelming emotions coursing through me. “Everything’s changed.”
The old me would have been freaked out by that thought, but the new me—the one who was now a father—was pretty damn content. I didn’t know how it would all work out, but deep down, I knew we would be fine. We’d be perfect.
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.