Perry let loose with a perfect stream, hitting me square in the face. I sputtered, wet-faced and stunned.
“See?” Aris was laughing, reaching over with some wet wipes to clean my face. Meanwhile, Yianna continued drinking her bottle, unbothered.
I snatched the wipe from him and cleaned my face, half-groaning, half-laughing. “You could have warned me before I changed him.”
Still laughing, he shrugged. “Everybody gets baptized eventually, yes? Now you will not forget.”
“I want to switch babies. Give me the one that ain’t trying to attack me.”
“Come here, little assassin,” he said with that smirk. He traded babies with me carefully, taking Perry. “At least now he is done, yes?” he said, finishing up the diaper change like a pro.
With Yianna snuggled against my shoulder, I patted her back. She rewarded me with a tiny burp after a few soft pats.
I shifted her down into my arms and leaned back into the pillows. When I looked up, Aris was watching me. The love in his eyes was unmistakable.
“This is our life at forty, yes?” he whispered with an even bigger smile.
“It’s your fault we’re doing this at forty, you know.” I couldn’t help smiling. “Best thing you ever did was kidnapping me from that gala.”
“Kidnapping, it implies you were unwilling, yes,” he said with a grin. “As I recall, you came willingly.”
“You literally covered my mouth with your hand and dragged me away,” I reminded him. “Pretty sure that’s the textbook definition of kidnapping. I just decided not to press charges.”
He leaned across the bed and kissed me. “And you never will,” he said against my lips. When he drew back, the playfulness was gone. “We need to talk about our living situation. This…” he gestured around the bedroom, “…it is not sustainable. Your life, it is in Montrose. Mine is in Athens. We need to decide which continent to call home.”
I’d been thinking about it before the twins were born. Every time I pushed the thought away, it came back stronger.
Aris’s life was here. Not just his business, but his mother who’d nearly died, his brothers, the family legacy he’d spent decades building.
Mine was in Montrose. Mama Nettie, who’d been like a mother to me. My church family, who’d held me up throughoutTia’s cancer treatment and my divorce. Kandi, my sister in everything but blood. The house I’d bought with my money and credit. The first place that had ever truly been mine.
Yes, Tia lived here now. Yes, my business could operate from anywhere in the world. But that didn’t make the choice simple.
I looked down at Yianna, then back at him. “I know. Trust me, I know.”
His phone buzzed on the nightstand. We both looked over.
Aris reached for it, reading the text, and his whole body went stiff.
Alarm shot through me. “Is your mama okay? The kids?”
He glanced at me. “Mother, she is fine, yes. The kids as well.” He looked back at his phone.
“Then what’s going on?”
Aris stood with our son in his arms. “Work. I need to leave.”
“But—”
He laid Perry in his bassinet, making sure he was settled. “I hate leaving you alone with them like this.” He was already moving toward the closet. “We need to hire nannies soon.”
The concept of hiring someone to help care for my babies felt foreign to me. When Tia was born, it had been me changing every diaper, walking the floors at 2 AM, figuring it all out alone except for the days she spent at Mama Nettie’s while I worked.
Kevin had refused to change a single diaper, refused to care for Tia on his own while I worked. I’d been nineteen, married, and somehow more alone than if I’d been single.
But this time was different. Aris had handled every diaper change since the twins were born, fed them, held them through the night—all while running a billion-dollar company. But even with a partner like him, I had a business to run, and we needed help to make it all work.
The twins deserved the best care, and I deserved not to run myself into the ground trying to do everything alone. Besides,with my laptop, I’d never be far. I could work from the nursery, the bedroom, or the garden. I’d still be their mother. I’d still be present.
