“Let me see the one about us, Daddy,” Tressa pleads as she tries to push up the sleeve on my right arm to show the tattoo I had done right after the girls’ birth.
I unbutton my shirt at my wrist and slide the fabric up my arm to show the bottom of a tattoo that depicts an intricate pattern symbolizing both Diana and Tressa. Like the one on my left bicep, it’s a tribal design but this extends from my right shoulder down my arm to just above my wrist.
As Tressa runs her fingers over my arm, tracing the tattoo from the crook of my elbow to my wrist bone, Diana whispers in my ear, “Now the princess story, Daddy. Tell the princess story.”
“Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. She had long brown hair and the prettiest blue eyes. When the prince saw her for the first time, he saw nothing but those blue eyes staring at him. He took her for a ride in his carriage and got to talk to the princess, and he felt like he’d never felt before. She was sweet and gentle and just the kind of princess he wanted.”
Nina rolls her eyes and smiles. Diana whispers near my cheek, “Say her name, Daddy.”
“And then he found out the princess’s name was Nina.”
“The same as Mommy’s name,” Tressa says as she looks back at her mother.
“Yes, it was. So the prince asked the princess to come live with him and help him make his castle more beautiful. Thankfully, she said yes and she became the princess at his castle.”
Diana whispers again, “And then she painted the prince a picture, right, Daddy?”
“She did. And she made the prince very happy. Then one day the prince and princess had two little princesses.”
“Tressa and Diana!” Tressa screams, throwing her arms up in the air. “No fair, Daddy. That story’s about you and Mommy. That’s why the pirate story’s better.”
“Time for bed, girls. Say goodnight to your father.”
Nina picks Tressa up and carries her out of the room to the bedroom she shares with her sister. “Goodnight, Daddy!”
Diana remains silent on my lap, staring up at me. Looking down into her soft brown eyes, I ask, “Ready for bed, sweetheart?” as I lift her off my lap and place her feet on the floor.
“Are we princesses, Daddy?” she asks in the cutest little voice.
I look down at her beautiful face and see so much of her mother in her, far more than I ever do when I look at her sister. Tressa is a true Stone—much stronger than Diana, who is gentle and kind, like her mother. She’s also very much like Nina with her questions. Tweaking her on the tip of her nose, I nod. “Yes, you’re my princesses.”
“Will I be a pirate like you when I grow up?” she asks, her eyes wide with curiosity.
Picking her up, I hold her in my arms and kiss her cheek. “No, you won’t be a pirate, honey.”
She presses her forehead to mine and studies me before she says quietly, “That’s because I’m a girl, right?”
I have to laugh at her logic. “No, it’s just because there can only be one pirate in the family and I’m already one.”
Diana tightens her hold on my neck as I begin walking toward her room. “I love your stories, Daddy. Do the prince and princess live happily ever after?”
We reach her room and I gently place her on the floor in the doorway. Her little face turned up toward me, she waits for the answer to the question she asks me every night. With a smile, I nod. “Yes, they live happily ever after, honey. Night, night.”
I opened my eyes to see Nina next to me curled up like she always was in the morning. Rubbing the sleep away, I marveled at how real my dream had been. I almost wanted to walk down the hall to see if we were the parents of two little girls. As I struggled to remember the fine details that were already beginning to slip away, I shook my head as if to answer my own doubts.
Nina snuggled next to my side. I wrapped her in my arms and kissed the top of her head, still thinking about the children in my dream. Twins, just like my brother and me, they were as different as night and day.
“Hey, what’s up? You’ve been tossing and turning all night,” Nina said quietly. “You okay?”
Looking down, I saw her smiling up at me as she laid her head on my chest. “I’m fine. Just had a wild dream.”
“What about?”
“Well, we had twin daughters named Diana and Tressa, for one thing.”
Nina smiled a big grin. “Two little girls? I’ve always dreamed of having a little girl, but two would be even better. And twins? Wow!”
“Not feeling too rushed, are you? We’re still on our honeymoon and I’m already talking about kids. Or at least my dreams are.”
“Wait until I tell Jordan. Twins she can be an aunt to. She’s going to love it.”
“How do you feel about it? That’s the important part.”
She thought about it for a moment and smiled slyly. “I like it. I guess only time will tell.”
Rolling her over, I slid over her body and kissed her on the lips. “Time may tell, but I think for now, we should see what we can do to help it along.”
As she looked up at me with love in her eyes, she nodded. “I like the way you think, Mr. Stone.”
For now, it was just the two of us, but maybe someday we’d be blessed with those little girls I dreamed about. Until then, Nina was my princess and I was her pirate.
And we’d finally found our happily ever after.
THE END