Page 101 of Samuel

“Hmm, she fought it, but mummy won. Yay go me.” Maisie grinned and fist pumped.

Our nine month old, Dotty, was not a good sleeper and kept both of us on our toes. We tried to share the night feeds, but as I worked long days, Maisie insisted that I slept, but without her in bed next to me I couldn’t always settle anyway. It was weird, for a man who was adamant he wasn’t settling down and didn’t want a wife or a family, I was fucking lost if they weren’t close by. I was totally gone for all three of them to the point of being a pussy about it. I’d even added an amazing 3D pretty pink Princess crown with Dotty’s name in it, to the collection of tattoos on my chest. Yeah it looked girly, but I didn’t give a shit, I adored my baby girl.

“What are you doing, sweetheart?” Maisie asked Frankie.

He pointed at the sheet of paper. “Maths and Dad is no help.”

“Well don’t look at me,” Maisie sighed. “Maybe we should call Auntie Amy.”

I shook my head. “You try getting her out of the house without my brother putting a stop to all non-essential movement. He’s a real daddy bear at the moment.”

“Poor Amy.” Maisie giggled. “She’s got three weeks to go until she has the baby, he can’t keep her inside until then.”

Amy had almost lost the baby at three months, but after bed rest for a few weeks everything had been okay, and we’d soon have another strong and healthy Cooper boy to add to the mix. To say Elijah was excited and worried was an understatement and he was counting the hours until the safe arrival of Jacob Elijah Cooper.

“He can and he will,” I replied, remembering how protective I’d been when Maisie was pregnant with Dotty. I would never forget how I’d missed out on Frankie, through my own stupidity, so when we found out Maisie was pregnant, just two months after we got married, I was determined I wasn’t going to miss one minute and I was going to make sure Maisie knew how lucky I knew I was.

“Can we go there, to ask Auntie Amy?” Frankie asked. “Because you two really are rubbish.” He looked up at us and grimaced. “And please stop cuddling all the time.”

Maisie and I laughed and I reached out for my boy, pulling him into the hug with us, almost dragging him from his chair.

“Dad,” he groaned, but with a huge smile and a giggle.

“We’re having a Cooper hug,” I replied.

“Well we don’t have Dotty with us, so it’s not a proper one,” Frankie said, getting off his chair and wrapping his arms around both our waists.

“This is a special one for our first baby,” Maisie sighed, kissing the top of Frankie’s head.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and kissed her softly as she raised her gaze to me.

“Do you know how much I love you?” I asked.

“Ugh no,” Frankie howled, but not letting go of us. “It’s gross.”

“Yeah, I think I do.” Maisie snuggled closer. “I love you too.”

And then as if on cue, a loud, demanding cry rang out through the baby monitor as Dotty let us know she wanted in on the action.

“I’ll go,” I said, kissing Maisie again before doing the same to the top of Frankie’s head.

As I left the room to go and get my Princess, I turned to watch them for a few moments. They were my life and I loved them more than I could ever show and I was just glad I’d been given a second chance, because without them I was nothing.

The End