Page 8

Visiting the Penguins

April 1 st , 2027

“Any ideas for today?” Nate asked while the entire Sheppard family was gathered around the dinner table, munching delicious pancakes that he had made with Luna. Well, it was more like Luna giving him instructions, while he was the one actually working. He only intervened when Luna tried to make him put double the amount of sugar into the pancake batter. He knew the girls would either put strawberry jam or Nutella on the pancakes anyway, so they definitely had enough sugar for the day.

Luna was still munching her pancake, unbothered by Nate’s question. Ann hurried to swallow her bite of breakfast, her eyes wide and her legs jiggling up and down under the table. It was obvious she had something to suggest but knew that she was not allowed to speak with food in her mouth.

Nate watched a few more seconds of Ann fighting with the food in her mouth before she gulped it down and blurted: “I want to go to the zoo!”

Her exclamation made even Luna turn her head around and her eyes widened with excitement. A wide grin spread over her face and she nodded enthusiastically.

“What do you think, Darling?” Nate asked his wife, sitting in front of him.

“That’s a good idea. I haven’t been to a zoo for a long time. You could call Marta and Oli, too.”

“What do you mean? ”

“Oli’s on PTO this week and Marta has today off as well, if I remember correctly.”

“Oliver, Marta and you having the same day off? What are the chances of that? Wow. Is the CIA even able to operate today without their most important employees?” Nate chuckled and Lynn only rolled her eyes.

“There’s a couple of hundred other people working at the CIA and I’m pretty sure they’ll survive one day without us.”

“I doubt that. I wouldn’t survive a single day without you, Darling.”

Lynn copied the smile he was shooting at her and reached out over the table to grab his hand and caress her thumb over his soft skin.

“I love you,” she mouthed at him while the girls started a conversation about their favorite animals.

“I love you more,” Nate returned.

“What’s yours, Daddy?” Luna asked, her head turned into Nate’s direction with wide, expecting eyes.

“My what?”

“Favorite animal!” Luna exclaimed, excited. It always amazed Nate how the girls could be so overly excited about the smallest things. He hoped they would never lose this ability.

“Oh, that’s a hard one. I always thought wolves were cool because they’re strong, independent, but also loyal.”

“And they look like huskies!” Luna added.

“Well… I think it’s the other way around and huskies look like wolves,” Nate added with a laugh.

“And I think you’re wrong, Daddy.” Luna looked at him with narrowed eyes. Lynn giggled from the other side of the table.

“What’s yours, Mama?” Ann asked, causing Luna’s scowl to fade and turn her head so she could judge her Mama’s answer too.

“I love elephants. They’re gentle giants,” Lynn answered while spreading cream cheese on the rest of her bagel .

She always preferred normal breakfast and not a too-sweet one like Nate and the kids, so she wasn’t into pancakes this morning.

“I like elephants too,” Luna nodded in agreement, approving her Mama’s choice.

“What are yours, girls?”

“Huskies!” Luna squealed so loud that Nate had to turn his head to the side to hide his scrunched face.

“But there won’t be any huskies in the zoo today, Babygirl,” Lynn answered carefully but Luna wasn’t sad.

“I know. I still love them most.”

“I like zebras, because they look so funny,” Ann said, giggling a little.

“You think they look funny?” Nate asked, curious.

“Like a horse with stripes.”

Both girls started to laugh and Lynn only shook her head with a smile.

“Okay girls. You go upstairs and choose what you want to wear today and Daddy and I can clean the table and call Uncle Oli and Aunt Marta to meet us at the zoo.”

“Yeeeeeeeeees.” The girls jumped off the table and ran up the stairs, the loud thuds of their steps echoing through the hallway.

Nate grabbed their plates and placed them in the dishwasher, while Lynn stashed the toppings back in the cabinet.

“Wolves, huh?” She playfully nudged her shoulder into Nate’s.

“What?” He grabbed her by her waist and pulled her towards him, turning her so that she was forced to look him in the eyes.

“You used the exact same description as Oliver when he told me his Navy SEAL name. Don’t think I’d forgotten that he was “Wolf” back in the day, and it’s a nice little coincidence that it’s your favorite animal, Honey.”

Nate’s mouth curled upwards into a shy smile before he leaned down to connect his lips with Lynn’s .

“Just. A. Coincidence.” He underlined every word with another kiss, his breath warm on Lynn’s lips and a tingling sensation went down her spine. With the kids sleeping in their bed more often than not, their couple’s time had been reduced to a minimum. It had taken them a while to get used to it, especially when Lynn’s shifts were longer than expected and she was exhausted in the evening. But they found a way of dealing with all their different roles without losing their connection as a couple.

Nate’s hand cupped the side of Lynn’s neck and his thumb caressed over her jawline.

“If you don’t stop now, we’ll need to postpone the trip to the zoo for another time.”

“And tell the kids what?” He didn’t stop kissing her, even pressing her body closer to his to increase the heat in both of their lower bellies.

“That Mama and Daddy need some time for themselves,” she whispered, her hand gripping into his messy bed-hair while she started to nibble on his lower lip, drawing a moan out of his throat.

“We have time for this tonight. Gives you all day to fantasize what you want me to do with you later,” he whispered as his hands carefully lifted her chin so that their gazes met.

His cerulean eyes were almost blown out by his dilated pupils, showing how much he wanted to rip her clothes off and fuck her right there in the kitchen. But they had to wait.

“Oh, I have plenty of things I want you to do with me tonight. I hope you can wait that long to be inside of me, Honey.” To make things even harder for Nate, she reached between their connected bodies and let her finger caress along his hardened shaft, and then stepped away from him to finish cleaning the breakfast table.

Nate groaned, adjusted himself in his pants before leaving the kitchen with a mumbled “I’m gonna call Oliver and then take a cold shower. ”

An hour later Nate pulled into the parking lot of the zoo, both girls already squealing in anticipation.

“Who’s ready for the zoo?” Lynn asked loudly.

“Meeeeeeee!” Ann and Luna screamed from the top of their lungs, while they tried to get rid of the seatbelts in their kiddie seats, but a warning grumble from Nate made them stop their movements.

“Stay in your seats until we come and get you out,” he ordered, not wanting the kids to open their seatbelts alone at any time. Safety was the most important thing for him, especially when it came to Lynn and the kids.

They stepped out of the car, opened the back doors, and freed the kids from their seats, warning them to not start running even when they saw Oliver and Marta. The kids’ over-excitement could cause a lot of problems, as they had seen with Ann’s little accident at headquarters. Handling the kids’ energy was always a challenge.

After grabbing the different backpacks they had prepared as well as the girls’ stroller and their favorite plushies, the family was ready for a day in the zoo. There was no way the kids would sit in the stroller right now, so Lynn pushed it in front of her, while Nate had the girls in each of his hands. Watching her husband with the girls in front of them, Lynn picked up her phone and shot a photos as memories of their first time visiting the zoo with the kids at an age where they would actually understand what was going on around them. They had been here before when the girls were younger, but she was sure they wouldn’t remember.

Lynn saw Oliver and Marta waiting for them in front of the main entrance, and her trained doctor’s eye picked up on Marta’s pale skin even from that distance. She didn’t look well and Lynn wondered why she’d even agreed to come to the zoo with them when she wasn’t feeling great. She hoped whatever was bugging Marta didn’t have any effect on her pregnancy .

When Nate and the girls were a few arm lengths away, he allowed them to run towards their favorite uncle and Oli squatted down to welcome them with open arms but Marta only shot them a forced smile. While Nate, Oli, and the girls started to have a conversation, Lynn abandoned the stroller and stepped up to Marta, engulfing her in a careful hug.

“You’re okay?” she whispered in Marta’s ear.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t think the nausea would get worse after 12 weeks. I thought the worst part would be over by now,” Marta sighed when the two women let go of each other.

“Hold on,” Lynn instructed, jogging back to the stroller and grabbing the emergency med kit that she;d put together herself, before returning to Marta. She held a small glass bottle up to Marta’s face, who narrowed her eyes to read the inscription.

“Peppermint oil?” She asked Lynn with a raised brow.

“Open the cap and smell it. I promise, it’ll help.”

Marta looked at Lynn as if she had horns growing out of her forehead, but in the end she trusted her and did exactly as instructed.

The minty smell hit her nostrils hard and a shiver ran up her spine before her body got used to the crashing wave of the new scent. At first, the scent made her stomach turn but, after a few more sniffs, suddenly the nausea became better until it almost completely subsided.

“You genius little witch,” Marta commented before giving Lynn a relieved grin. The color returned to her skin a little and Lynn knew it would take a few more minutes for her to feel better, but she was happy that this little trick had helped her friend.

“That’s why you hired me.” Lynn winked at her before pressing the glass bottle into Marta’s hand as a signal that she should keep it. Marta nodded a silent thank you and stored the bottle in her bag.

“Technically, Director Burns hired you. ”

“But you did a good job in convincing him to not fire me after the incident .”

“That’s true.”

“And I will forever be grateful for that.” Lynn gave Marta another smile before grabbing the stroller and moving towards the entrance where Nate, Oli, and the kids had already run off to.

Every time the former SEALs were with the girls, it was like Marta and Lynn were taking care of four kids instead of two, but it warmed their hearts to see their men so carefree. They deserved it after all the obstacles they’d had to fight through over the past decade.

They bought tickets and a map and entered the zoo.

“So if we follow the red route we should end up at the penguins around the time when they get fed. I think that would be cool to watch, wouldn’t it girls?” Oliver asked, after studying the map like he was preparing for an operation.

“Sounds like a plan,” Marta added and the girls jumped up and down in excitement before running off to the first enclosure.

“What did I say about running away?!” Nate shouted after them, falling into a jog to follow them and make sure they were okay.

“So he’s on kids’ duty today?” Marta asked after she had found her position next to Lynn and they slowly made their way to the first enclosure - dromedaries - as well.

“We didn’t talk about it, it just naturally happened. We work best like this. He really enjoys being the center of the girls’ universe.” Lynn smiled while watching her husband scooping up Luna to place her on his shoulders so that she could look over the barrier to watch the animals. Oli did the same with Ann, who was already standing in front of him, arms reached up high and squirming.

“And you’re okay with this? You carried them under your heart for so long and now they’re Daddy’s girls?”

“I wasn’t in the beginning. It broke my heart to see them always preferring cuddles with Nate. After I started back at work it was the worst as the girls didn’t even calm down in my arms anymore. It was almost like they didn’t even know me anymore. But you get used to the new dynamic and I eventually understood that it’s not that the girls love me less than Nate. He’s just with them 24/7. That’s normal.”

“Mhm.”

“Are you scared about that?”

“Oh yes. Oli’s so good with Luna and Ann and I… even when I was pregnant the first time I didn’t really know if I would be a good mom, or if I could ever give my child everything it needs in life without being a helicopter mom or doing things wrong. And I’m even more scared now after losing my first child.”

Lynn turned around to look at Marta with a reassuring expression.

“What you’re feeling is completely normal, Marta. And, believe me, things will get better when you start feeling the baby move, because then you know it’s fine. Give it a few more weeks and you’ll both figure it out. Talk to Oli about your fears and you can work on them. I’m sure he’ll reassure you that you’ll be an amazing mom. You have all the qualities to be one. Don’t be scared. I’m always here if you have any questions, both as your friend and as your doctor.”

“Thank you, Lynn. I really appreciate that.”

The two women had reached the camel enclosure and heard Oliver explain,

“A dromedary has one hump and a bactrian has two, that’s how you can separate the two species.”

Nate turned his head around to look at his best friend with wide eyes.

“For real?”

“Yeah. You didn’t know that, pal?”

“Nooooo. Oh my God, I never thought I’d learn something today,” Nate laughed and Oliver joined him while the girls focused on watching the giant dromedary slowly move towards the ball of hay hanging off a tree in the middle of the enclosure.

They followed the red route through the zoo, passing the enclosures of different species of deer, black bears, red pandas, antelopes, and finally the zebra enclosure.

“See Ann, there are the zebras,” Nate said, pointing with his finger to the huge grassy area that was supposed to imitate the savannah that was their natural habitat. They even had carved stones and trees that looked like they were straight out of Africa.

“Look Luna. My favorite animals!'' The little girl squealed and wriggled so much on Oli’s shoulders that the Agent had to move his arms from Ann’s legs to her waist to stabilize her and make sure she wouldn’t fall off.

Lynn’s heart stopped beating when she saw the girl wiggle on Oli’s shoulders, but he had it under control and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Daddy, why do they have stripes?” Luna asked, curiously.

“I don’t know, Little Moon. Maybe Uncle Oli has some answers, he’s the animal expert here.”

But Oli didn’t.

“We can look it up as soon as we’re home,” Nate suggested.

“I don’t want to be a party pooper, but we have to hurry if we want to see the penguins being fed. It’s in 20 minutes but we’re not quite there yet,” Marta announced, studying the zoo map closely.

“Okay, let’s keep going. Luna, can you walk for a bit? Daddy’s neck needs a little break,” Nate groaned, grabbing Luna by her waist and lifting her to the ground.

The girl pouted for a moment but, when she saw that Oli had done the same with Ann, her mouth turned into a smile. Marta pointed her finger along the route they needed to take to the penguin enclosure and the girls ran off. Nate sighed slightly, his eyes never leaving their backs .

They reached the penguins in time to see someone with a microphone stepping into the enclosure with a bucket full of fish. They had a special barrier made of glass on one side of the enclosure so that even younger kids could watch the chaos within. And chaos was the absolute perfect word to describe what was going on, as multiple penguins swam around the pool in anticipation of their imminent meal. One swam past the glass that the girls had pressed their tiny hands against and they both squeaked in happiness. Oli was kneeling between them, making sure that the other kids could still see the feeding past his broad shoulders. Nate and Lynn stood behind the crowd of kids and he’d wrapped his arms around Lynn’s waist while she leaned her head against his shoulder. Marta was standing next to them, her eyes darting between the penguin feeding and her boyfriend taking care of Luna and Ann.

“I bet you can’t wait for this chaos to move in with you, right Marta?” Nate chuckled.

“I hope it’s a bit easier with only one child, but it’ll be exciting nonetheless.”

“When do you plan to move into the house next door?” Lynn asked.

“The house needs some renovations, as the bathrooms are still very out-dated and we wanted to modernize the kitchen. But we’re only doing the basics so that we can move in before I’m a wandering whale,” Marta laughed in response.

“Be happy that your stomach doesn’t look like you swallowed a pumpkin from one of those festivals where they battle for who has grown the biggest vegetables,” Lynn whined, remembering the huge size of her belly at the end of her pregnancy.

“You still looked beautiful, Darling,” Nate quickly reminded her, pressing a light kiss to her nose.

“You have to say that because we’re married and I was carrying your children.”

“ Our children and I meant every word.”

“Charming,” Marta commented before making a fake gagging noise. All three of them started to laugh.

“Let me know if I can help with anything. We would need to find a way to work around the girls, but I think we can manage something,” Nate said to Marta, returning to their original conversation.

“The biggest problem for Oli is to get PTO at the moment. They’re working on a big thing and it’s hard to just take days off as team lead. We’re still understaffed in that task force since Eliana…” her voice trailed off at the end of the sentence and she averted her eyes from Nate’s.

“It’s been three years. You still haven’t found another Agent for the task force?”

“No one is good enough to fill yours or her spots. You’re both very missed, you know.”

Nate knew it, Oliver tried as often as possible to persuade him to come back to the CIA, but he enjoyed his life now. He wasn’t sure if he would survive being triggered again after having lived in peace for so long.

When the feeding was over, the crowd of kids sprawled out to move on but Oli, Luna, and Ann stayed in their position.

Ann turned around to look for her parents and her eyes lit up the moment she met her father’s gaze. Her small hand raised and she made a waving motion to make him come over.

“Please excuse me. My baby is asking for me,” he said towards Marta and Lynn, placing a kiss on his wife’s nose, before stepping towards the enclosure.

Ann held her arms out to him so Nate picked her up and placed her on his hip. She pointed to a penguin standing on one of the rocks, a bit outside of the group of penguins that was occupied with cleaning their feathers after their lunch.

“Holger,” she simply said .

“You think this one’s Holger?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you think this?”

“He looks scared, Daddy.”

“Does he?”

“Yeah.”

“What can we do to make him feel better?”

Ann turned her head around to look at her father, a smile slowly dancing on her face.

“We can bring him orange juice.”

“I don’t think penguins like orange juice, Ann.”

The girl fixed her gaze on the penguin again, leaning a little forward before calling into the enclosure,

“It’s all okay, Holger. You just need some cuddles.”

Nate smiled softly at the penguin, then at his daughter, and finally at his wife, who was watching them interact with the animals.

Maybe the penguin didn’t need a hug or a cuddle, but the empathy their kid showed to an unknown animal at that young age was something both parents were absolutely proud of. Ann would grow into an amazing adult one day.

April 3rd, 2027

“Uncle Oli is coming over tonight to build up your new swing,” Nate announced while he and the girls were in the twin’s play corner in the living room, pretending to have a tea party at Princess Ann’s castle.

Oliver had texted him to ask if he was available that day as he had still a few days off, but tended to work when he stayed at headquarters. He deserved to have some time to clear his mind, so of course Nate suggested that Oli come over to Langley and enjoy some time with his god-children. He’d been the best godfather Nate and Lynn could’ve wish for. The girls not only loved him with their entire heart, but they also felt safe around him and Marta; something that was especially important for Lynn.

From early on in the girls’ life, Oli and Marta had come over to babysit them and give the new parents some much needed time off. Nate had bought a queen-sized bed for their guest room so that they were even able to stay overnight, cuddle with the girls in bed, and read them bedtime stories. Oliver was the best in making up new stories, he never needed a book for the girls. Nate hadn’t known he was so creative but he enjoyed it when the girls told him Uncle Oli’s newest storyline the morning after.

When the girls were babies, Marta and Oli even had them at headquarters overnight but, as the security protocols had been increased over the last couple of years, that wasn’t possible anymore .

“Can we have a tea party with Uncle Oli as well?” Luna asked, re-filling Nate’s ridiculously small teacup with invisible liquid.

“I’m sure he will agree to a cup of tea as payment for helping with the swing,” Nate answered, a wide smile on his face.

Ann had made him her bodyguard today, a knight that had the sole job of protecting Princess Ann from the dark witch. Of course this witch was portrayed by Luna, who had changed into a vampire costume they bought in a Halloween store.

As the girls were still only a little older than three, it was hard sometimes to keep up with the storylines, as their brains were still very jumpy. One second Nate, as Ann’s personal knight slash bodyguard, had to fight the dark witch Luna with a tickling attack and the next second Ann invited Luna for the tea party they were currently having. It somehow made sense in Ann’s head and Nate just rolled with it. He was happy with being involved in the girls’ fictional worlds and, thankfully, all his roles so far had been noble.

“He can be my prince,” Ann suggested, but Luna groaned immediately with her brows furrowed.

“No, he’ll be on my side”, she commanded, unhappy with the fact that Nate was already included in their game to fight her off.

“No, he’s my prince.”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“NOOOOOOOO!”

“Girls!” Nate said in a loud and stern voice, letting both girls turn her heads to look at him.

“If you keep on fighting, Uncle Oli will not be playing with you later. It’s not fun for him if you scream at each other the whole time,” he explained calmly.

Both girls nodded and continued their tea party until it was time for their afternoon nap. Nate settled them in their own beds, placed a kiss on each of their foreheads, and went downstairs to get some cleaning and cooking done. Oliver never expected anything when he came over to spend time with them, but Nate wanted to at least cook dinner for him.

To his surprise he got a message from his best friend that he was on his way earlier than expected, so the pasta was still boiling. He had made Spaghetti Carbonara for them and some tomato sauce with veggies in it for the girls. He texted Oliver to let him know when he arrived, so the doorbell wouldn’t wake Luna and Ann.

Ten minutes later his phone rang, signaling to him that Oliver had arrived, so he went to the front door and opened it. Oliver grinned at him, a tray with two Starbucks coffees in one hand and a brown bag in the other.

“What’s that?” Nate asked before giving his friend a hug.

“Vanilla latte and chocolate chip cookies. I know you love that combo,” Oliver answered as the two made their way through the hallway and into the living room.

“You’re the best. I made dinner though.”

“It’s 5pm?”

“Yeah, I thought you’d come later and I panicked.”

Oliver burst into laughter, clapping his friend on his shoulder before making himself comfortable on the couch.

“We can reheat it later and eat it after we’ve built the swing,” he suggested before Nate collapsed next to him.

He leaned forward, grabbed the cup with ‘Butch’ on it and carefully sipped on the latte. Vanilla latte had been his favorite ever since Lynn introduced him into the world of fancy coffees. He hardly ever had one outside of the weekends when Lynn was at home and in the mood for it, because he mainly drank coffee for the caffeine, not the taste.

“How come you’re out of headquarters early?” Nate asked after grabbing the brown bag and inspecting the cookies inside .

Traditional chocolate chip cookies were his favorite; they reminded him a lot of his mom as she often brought them home on her way back from her day job.

“We’re preparing for an overseas mission in Ghana so I gave us the rest of the day off to spend with our families before we fly out tomorrow.” Oliver shrugged his shoulders, like it was the most normal thing in the world to fly to a completely different continent in the middle of the week.

“Ghana, huh?” Nate asked before biting into the soft cookie.

“Yeah. I would talk to you about it but, you know, strictly confidential.”

“I get it.”

Silence lingered between them for a while but Nate knew that Oliver wasn’t done talking about the mission. He watched his best friend’s side profile, who was trying very hard to look at the twin’s play area as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Nate saw his chest rising when Oliver took a deep breath and sighed in anticipation of what would inevitably come next.

“We need you, Nate.”

There it was. For the three billionth time Oliver tried to get him back to the CIA. And he even used Nate’s name instead of the nickname ‘Butch’ he normally used for him. Things were serious.

“I know.”

“Then why don’t you start working again? Marta and I talked to HR and Director Burns already. We can provide you whatever you need. Part-time job, home office, a salary way above average, a nanny, someone to help in the house. We have it all covered. We really need you, Butch.”

It sounded all too good to be true. Oliver was serious when he said he and Marta had already checked everything with Burns and HR and Nate was sure all the things he brought up weren’t empty promises to get him back on board. He was sure the CIA would do everything they possibly could so that he would be able to combine work and family. He’d seen it with Lynn as they had been more than cooperative when she wanted to reduce her working hours after the girls were born.

“Oliver…”

“No, I’m not done yet. Your contract is very family-friendly. HR’s done everything they could. On days where you have to work outside of regular working hours, Lynn will be off so that there’ll always be one of you with the kids. Your’s and Lynn’s schedules will be aligned so that you have the weekends off for family time and it’ll only be in emergencies that you don’t see each other in the evenings. There’ll also be a huge family room for you and the girls at headquarters, in case you want to stay there overnight when an operation needs you. It’s 15 minutes to the girls’ daycare from there and we’ll make sure there’s always someone to take them or pick them up in case you’re both occupied. And you still have Marta and me around, we’re up for helping out as well.”

“What do you even want me to do in the task force? That doesn’t sound like an active field job.”

“No, not at all. You won’t go out in the field anymore. I know you’re worried about being triggered again, so of course we don’t want to put you or your family at risk. You’d be the Operations Lead for the task force, leading us through operations and helping me recruit and train new Agents.”

“This… I have to think about it, Oliver.”

His hand was weaving through his curly hair, elbows propped on his knees while he tried to focus on his breathing. Listening to the extent of Oliver’s preparations to make sure Nate would feel as comfortable as possible and that they could still have their family time, made his heartbeat increase. It’d be a great opportunity and everything he had dreamed of before the girls were born. Three years ago he wouldn’t have hesitated to accept Oliver’s offer, but things were different now .

He let his eyes wander over the different toys, books, and plushies in the twin’s play area in front of them, feeling Oliver’s gaze bore into his side.

“Take all the time you need, Butch. I’d be happy if you came back, but don’t feel forced into it. We’ll be neighbors soon, so I’ll see you as often as I want to,” he chuckled, obviously trying to lighten the tense silence between them.

“I’ll have to talk to Lynn about this. It’s not a decision I can make alone, you know.”

“Of course, I totally understand.” He clapped his friend’s shoulder once more.

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity. I’m grateful for how much you and Marta have already worked out with HR before even knowing if I would even hear you out. That means a lot, Oliver.” He turned his head to give his best friend a smile that Oliver returned.

“Anytime, pal. You know we’d be a good team and, when I see you with the girls, I know you’d be a great instructor.”

“I know. Like I said, the opportunity is amazing, but I have to talk to Lynn about it. We make all the decisions for the family together. You should start doing that too as soon as Marta’s hormones start to go haywire because of the pregnancy,” Nate chuckled, changing the topic in an elegant way.

“Oh God, that bad?” Oliver scrunched his face.

“You have no idea. Pregnant women are one of a kind. Learn from my mistakes and never argue with them. They’re always right and you’re always wrong, no matter if she tries to convince you that the sun is actually green instead of yellow. Don’t argue. She’s growing a human inside of her. Your child. The least you can do is make her life as comfortable as possible.”

“It’s so crazy, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s growing a damn human in her belly. Like, what the hell, Butch? How is that even possible. ”

“That’s biology, pal,” Nate laughed and leaned back against the soft fabric of their couch.

“I know that. But it’s so… unbelievable. Surreal. You know what I mean? She barely has a belly yet, but I know that our child is growing inside of it like it’s nothing for her. She has a full-time job as Deputy Director of the fucking CIA and is creating a human from scratch at the same time. That’s so wild.”

“It truly is. Have you been to ultrasounds with her?”

“Not yet. She’s done them secretly with Toby in the med-bay so that Lynn didn’t find out until after 12 weeks. But she’s having one next week and, if we’re lucky, we’ll find out the gender.”

Oliver’s eyes shone with anticipation and love for their unborn child. He’d always wanted to be a father, but he understood that Marta had had different plans for her life after what had happened to her first child.

“Try to go with her. Seeing your baby on the ultrasound makes it all real, believe me. I almost freaked out the first time I could see their little noses on the screen. And the 3D ultrasound was when I totally lost it. This is absolutely insane.”

“I can’t freaking wait for it. I thought I would maybe finally understand it when I could feel the baby kicking but that’ll take a few more weeks, right?”

“Yeah, I felt them very late which is unusual for a twins’ pregnancy.”

Small thuds from the hallway interrupted their conversation and two little girls with their hair standing in all directions stood in the doorway, rubbing their eyes sleepily. Whilst Luna yawned widely, Ann was already a little more awake after their late afternoon nap and her eyes widened when she saw Oliver.

“Uncle Oli,” she squealed, and ran towards him on the couch, her stuffed penguin in her hand. Luna jumped a little next to her and rubbed her eyes one more time before she also realized that they had a guest. Her small feet brought her to him and Oli placed his coffee on the coffee table to welcome both girls onto his lap for a cuddle.

“Did you have a good nap?” he asked and both nodded.

“Is the swing done already?” Ann asked excitedly, and Luna started to jump up and down on the couch next to Oliver in anticipation.

“Not yet, girls. You go change into some outdoor clothes and Uncle Oli and I will start working on it. Deal?”

“DEAL!” they squeaked before running off towards their room again.

“Let’s get to work then, shall we?” Oliver gulped the rest of his coffee down and placed his own cookie in his mouth while pushing off the couch. Nate sighed but did the same and they grabbed their jackets to head out in the garden to the large tree where they'd planned to set up the girls' longed-for swing.