Two nurses approach with our bundles, and Olívia’s eyes shine brightly. Christ, they’re so tiny. Unlike Olívia and her sister, Gabriella and Alejandra are identical, and I think it’ll take me a while to tell them apart.
“Hey, sweethearts.”
At their mother’s call, both whimper.
One of the assistants places them in my wife’s arms, and if Nina were here right now, my world would be complete. She stayed at my mom’s place and seemed very excited when we left, repeating ‘babies’ about thirty times. I think she’s starting to understand we’ll have more kids at home when we return.
“A photo with the four of us?” I ask, and my wife nods. “Thank you for being mine. I’ll honor our love every day, I promise.”
“You bet. Don’t think I forgot our agreement about you being my sex slave.”
Epilogue 2
Two weeks later
“They look like two little calves,” Guillermo says, watching me breastfeed the second twin.
“Moooo . . .” Valentina immediately mimics, and we both burst into laughter.
My eldest daughter is at an age where we have to be careful about what we say if we don’t want to be embarrassed. She’s smart and pays close attention to everything she hears.
“Oops, looks like we have another little calf here. A princess calf—how is that possible?” he jokes, lifting her into his arms.
“The most beautiful calf for mommy,” I add, and she smiles as if she’s just won a big prize.
We’ve spoken with the pediatrician and read a lot about how to help her adapt so she learns to share our attention with her younger sisters. I absolutely don’t want my little girl to think I love her even a millimeter less because of the twins’ arrival.
Despite all our efforts to reassure her of how loved she is, she’s been needy lately. When Gabriella and Alejandra finishnursing and I put them in the crib, Nina immediately comes to my lap. Raised as an only child, I never experienced sharing my mother’s attention with another sibling, but Guillermo did.
It’s the daily details that make us realize she fears losing her place in our hearts. Every time I’m free, she brings her dearest doll to play or her favorite book for me to tell her stories. That’s why we’ve decided, in addition to the two nurses helping initially, to hire two nannies as well.
I want daily alone time with Nina. Playing, bathing, feeding . . . Genuine mother-daughter moments.
Another thing the pediatrician suggested which helps a lot is involving her when we’re taking care of the twins, assigning her small tasks like fetching a pacifier or a box of wet wipes. She always seems so pleased when I say I need her help.
I look at my husband, who is currently lifting her in the air.
“My God, I think I’m seeing a bird with its chick right here in my room,” I joke, and she smiles but corrects me:
“A fairy, Mommy.”
“Ah, of course. How could I forget fairies fly? And who’s that handsome dark-haired man holding you?”
“My slave.”
Guillermo nearly stumbles when she says that, and I suppress a laugh.
Yes, we really have to be careful about what we say around her.
We finally manage to be alone.
The house feels strangely silent with the babies sleeping in the bed, as well as Nina, whose usually endless energy seems to have run out.
Something funny about the twins is that they act in sync: if one starts crying, the other follows suit. I never thought I could multitask, but life is teaching me that when needed, we can juggle, quite literally, three things at once. Or four, in this case, because I can’t neglect my handsome CEO.
I look at the three little ones.
Guillermo is adjusting their blankets, checking the pillows, glancing at the baby monitor, simply because that’s who he is.
