Page 29 of The New York Nighthawks, Vol. 2

ROAN

“Ugh,” Ava groaned as she rubbed her belly and licked the last crumbs of her s’more from her lips. “You’re going to have to roll me into the house.”

I knew better than to touch that comment with a ten-foot pole. At eight months pregnant, Ava was huge—probably due to the fact that I’d knocked her up with twin boys. “Did you eat too many?” I asked, dancing around her comment.

“Probably,” she moaned. “But these boys are always hungry, and I swear, they can’t get enough sugar.”

I stood from my deck chair, one of several situated around a built-in campfire. “I’ve got you, baby.” I scooped her into my arms, and she yelped.

“Put me down! I’m too heavy!”

I rolled my eyes and kept walking toward the glass French doors. “You could be carrying four babies, and you’d still be no heavier than a pillow.”

Considering how often I carried her places, she should have accepted that she wasn’t a burden. Sometimes, I wondered if she just liked it when I told her she wasn’t heavy.

“Don’t even put that out in the universe, Roan!” she muttered, lightly smacking my shoulder. I laughed because she was just so damn cute, then gave her a swift kiss before gently setting her on the couch in the den.

“I’m just going to clean up out there, then we’ll watch a movie.

” As I was picking up all the s’more stuff and discarding the trash, I shook my head in amazement.

I had no idea how we’d gotten those girls to sleep after letting them indulge in so much sugar right before bed.

Of course, they’d worn themselves out at the park first, so it seemed we’d gotten lucky at bedtime.

Or not…

When I went back inside, I found Cassidy bouncing on the couch next to Ava and talking a mile a minute. Glancing at the monitor on the end table, I sighed at the sight of Daisy running from end to end in her crib and laughing hysterically.

Ava glanced up at me and smiled happily. I couldn’t help returning it because I knew exactly how she felt. These moments reminded us we had an amazing life, the happily ever after that so many people search for.

I ran up to Daisy’s room and brought her down the stairs. Ava scooted over, and I set Daisy at her side, then I plucked Cassidy up and took her seat before snuggling her into my other side. I slipped an arm around Ava, and she laid her head on my shoulder. Damn, I was content.

“Let’s watch a movie,” I suggested. All three girls exclaimed in delight, and I laughed as they playfully argued over which movie. I sighed as I cued up the princess movie they chose. “It’ll be nice to have a little testosterone around here.”

Ava chuckled and rubbed her belly again.

“Are you okay?” I asked quietly.

She nodded but then went stiff and leaned forward over her protruding stomach. “Um…I think you might get your wish sooner than we expected,” she huffed.

“What the fu—” Even in labor, my wife managed to glare at me for swearing in front of our children. “—udge? Your C-section isn’t until next week!”

“Don’t talk to me. Talk to the overachieving football players you put inside me!” she snapped.

“How did Daddy putted my bwothers inside you, Mommy?” Cassidy asked with a giggle.

Ava and I both froze for a minute until she had another contraction, and we jumped into action. “We’ll talk about it later, sweet cheeks.” I called my sisters as I ran to the closet to get Ava’s bag, and they were there by the time I’d put shoes on my wife’s feet.

We kissed our girls and headed to the hospital.

Two hours later, we were each holding one of our infant sons. She’d gone into labor so fast that she ended up giving birth naturally. “You did good, baby,” I said, smiling down at Lucas sleeping in my arms.

“Yeah, we make pretty cute kids,” Ava said as she brushed a kiss over Foster’s head.

“Does this mean we can have sex again?” Ava had repeatedly told me during labor that I was never allowed to touch her again.

“What’s sex?” Cassidy asked as she skipped into the hospital room. “Can I hab some?”

Over my dead body.