Somebody To Hold (Book 0.5) (AU series) - INTERSEX

Chapter Fifty

"Jump! Jump! Jump! Aaaaaaaaaawwww"

Both the kids are screaming as we all play Donkey Kong, the tropical freeze version. Everyone is here except for Alex; she still isn't back yet. I remember playing this before in my youth, but not on this Nintendo switch shit. These gadgets are neat. I've been away for too long. Granted, it wasn't my choice, but learning about all these new things I missed coming out is pretty cool.

"Okay, that was the last game, kiddos!" Elliot tells the kids.

"Nooooo! Come on Mommy!!" Camden cries. He's hyped up on candy. My doing... for all of them. Including their mother.

"Yeah Josie! Please beg Mom for us to stay up longer," Adelaide adds.

"Hey, I have no say in this. She's your mother," I say, raising my hands. Elliot chuckles.

"Yea, but you're mommy number 2!!" Cam screams. He still hasn't let up on that name.

"And she's number 1. Which means what? One comes before two! Gotta listen to her," I say, picking Camden up and flipping him over my shoulders.

"Ughhhhh," they both groan, upset.

"Babies, it's almost one in the morning!! You got to be tired," El says.

"Nooooooo!" they scream. Elli looks at me. She is pleading for me to get them to bed with her eyes. But her plea has more behind it... she's horny and wants these little people to go to bed so she can get some. It's like an every other day thing with her. Not complaining, though.

I tickle Camden's side while he's still on my shoulder, walking up the stairs with him. "It's bedtime Princesa! Come." she sighs but follows behind me. We make it upstairs, and Elliot walks away to her room, while I put the kids to bed.

I put Camden in bed, and he crosses his little arms, making it clear that he's upset. "Hey, the faster you go to sleep Principito, the faster tomorrow comes so you can wake up again. Okay?" He grins like I just gave him a magical cheat code that makes going to sleep a lot better. Kids, they're so naive. So precious. But... nonetheless gullible. I kiss his forehead and turn his light off.

I walk towards Adelaide's room, and she's already in bed with the lights off. The hallway light shines in just enough to see her. "Josie?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you love mommy?" I'm taken aback by the question. I haven't thought about it. What even is love? I have never really experienced it. Not from my parents. Not by any partner of mine. A part of me believes I loved Kelsie too, but we never had enough time together. The only true love I had was the day I had my daughter, and that love was soon snatched from my arms three days later.

"Because she loves you," she says, breaking my thoughts. I walk into the room and sit on the bed next to her.

"How do you know that?" I ask. She might think I'm dodging her question, but I just don't have an answer for her.

She yawns and rolls onto her side. "I see the way she looks at you. It's the same way she looks at Daddy. Maybe she hasn't said it, though... I don't think she needs to. Macy says when two people love each other. Their actions will display that love more than their words ever could." I smile at her response. I take it back. Some kids are pretty wise, like Addy. She knows more about love than I do.

"Hey Josie?" her eyes begin to shut as I gently rub her back to sleep. I hum again, not wanting to wake her up. "Were you hurting a few weeks ago?"

I furrow my brows. "What do you mean?" Her eyes are closed, but somehow her mouth is still moving.

"Daddy says Mommy and I are connected. I had a feeling Mommy was hurt... but she wasn't. I think it was you. I felt you hurting." I look down at her and move her hair out of her face.