“Couldn’t sleep. My sciatica’s acting up again.”
“Come lay on the floor. It’ll help.”
“Only if you hand me one of those babies.”
A moment and some grunting later, my father is lying on the floor next to me. I hand the baby over to him, laying her on his chest.
She snuggles her face into his robe and closes her eyes.
“You’ve missed your calling, Winston,” Tessa says. “You could have been a manny.”
A moment later, the front door to the palace opens, and in walks Arabella, in a gown. She stops when she sees us and says, “Okkkaaay.”
She crosses the floor, her heels clicking away on the marble, then lays down next to Tessa. “This is nice. Why are we doing this?”
“Just because.”
“The best reason.”
We lay in silence for a few minutes, then Gran comes by, still dressed in her pantsuit.
“Poker night?” I ask.
“Yes, I cleaned them out tonight.” She stops near our heads, staring down at us. “Have you all gone mad?”
“On the contrary,” my father says. “We’re just enjoying the artwork. Come join us.”
“Not bloody likely. You look like a bunch of morons. Well, not the babies.” With that, she makes her way in the direction of her room.
“Goodnight, Gran. Love you,” I say, surprising us all with my sentiments.
She turns and smiles down at me. “I love you, too, even though you’re soft in the head. See you in the morning.” With that, she disappears, chuckling to herself.
A few minutes later, with both babies fast asleep, we get up one-by-one, careful not to disturb them. I take back Flora in spite of my father’s quiet protests.
“You can come see them in the morning,” Tessa whispers, giving my dad a grin.
Arabella whispers, “Shall we have breakfast in your apartment, say around eight?”
“I’ll make eggs,” I say with a nod.
My father and Arabella go to their residences, leaving my girls, James, and me to go to ours. Tessa smiles up at me when we reach the front door, and it’s a smile I haven’t seen for a while. “Let’s get these two put in their cribs so we can have some grown-up time together.”
“You don’t mean...?”
Shrugging, she blushes a little. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
“I want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing, otherwise I’m going to be horribly disappointed.”
“Sex. Arthur. I’m talking about sex,” she says with a nod. “Unless, of course, you’re too tired.”
“Are you kidding? If I didn’t have a baby in my arms right now, I’d throw you over my shoulder and sprint to our bedroom.”
***
THE NEXT HOUR IS ABSOLUTEperfection. Well, I mean not exactly because Excalibur got a little too overexcited the moment he got in there and he may or may not have prematurely finished. Okay, he definitely did, but if you ask Tessa, I’m pretty sure she’d say he more than made up for it. Twice, in fact.
We lie together, our naked bodies pressed together under the sheets, smiling up at the ceiling.
