I take a moment to really look at him, noticing the changes in his body, the quiet strength in the way he holds her. He senses me there.
He turns his head and flashes a wide smile. “Good morning,” he says.
“Good morning. Busy?”
“You know, just getting more of the details from the last year from these two,” he says, glancing between Julian and Victoria.
“Oh? And what have they been telling you?”
“Just that their mother’s been doing a lot on her own, and they want her to take a break. If she wants to, of course.”
“Wow. They told you all that?”
“Yeah. They also said you haven’t had breakfast made for you in a while, so I thought I’d do that for you.”
I walk over and press a grateful kiss to his lips. “You could have woken me up to help.”
“Nah. You were out,” he says easily. “And I think we did pretty good on our own this morning.” He looks down at the babies beside him on the couch. “I also made some bacon and eggs. They are staying warm on the stove.”
If it were possible to fall in love with someone all over again, I’d be doing it right now. “Have you eaten yet?”
“No. I was waiting for you.” He smiles again at me.
He stands, lifting Victoria with him. I lean over the couch and scoop Julian into my arms, then follow Mateo into the kitchen. He grabs two plates loaded with bacon, eggs, and English muffins, setting one on the counter before placing the other beside it.
I sit down in front of the plates, and he takes the seat beside me. With a baby in each of our arms, we eat quietly for a moment.
“How did you do this by yourself every day for the last four months?”
“Juliet, Gino, and the guys have been helping me with everything.”
“Really? Everyone?” he asks, surprised.
“Yeah. Why?”
“No reason. I just didn’t know if everyone was going to help.”
“I was sitting around the house sulking, and Alonso was the person who could get through to me. He listened to me complain, cry, and get angry about you being gone.”
I take a breath before continuing. “There were days when all I did was go to Gino’s and sit at his dining room table while they tried to find you. He helped me refocus. On the kids. On making sure I was healthy.”
“Who knew Alonso gave a shit about my kids.”
I snicker at the comment. “Well, yeah. He’s their uncle. All the guys are.”
He exhales. “I feel so out of touch with everything that’s happened.”
“You shouldn’t,” I tell him. “Everyone’s helped, and they’ll keep helping even though you’re back.”
“Then why aren’t they here right now?”
“Probably because they want to give us time and space. You just got home after a year.”
“Alright. So what do you normally do?” he asks.
“Most days I go over to Gino’s to listen to them try to find you. But since you’re here, we don’t need to do that.” I smile at him. “Juliet will probably come over at some point today, and Alonso will stick around for a bit.”
I can feel him tense at the mention of another man.
