Forever & Always

29. Family

Isla POV

"Joe I swear if you drop our babies I will drop you" I say in full panic mode.

We were doing the photo shoot he had suggested and everything was fine until he came up with an idea for a photo of him and the twins that damn near had my heart on my throat at the thought of it.

"Relax butterfly it will be fine" he says pecking my lips

I watch as he removes his shirt and then stands with his back to the camera. He raises his arms flexing his biceps a little and then under my watchful gaze one baby is placed on each of his arms, their heads tucked into either side of his neck as they lay along his arms, both of them fast asleep.

He places an hand on each baby and the photographer starts snapping away, all the while I'm looking for any hint that they are slipping or Joe is losing his grip.

Once they are done and the twins are safely back in their pram I relax. I walk over to see the pictures that have been taken and I almost forget to breath. As crazy as his idea was the photos are beautiful.

"See I told you they'd be fine" he says kissing my cheek "they will always be safe with daddy"

I lean up and press my lips to his in a brief loving kiss before turning back to the screen. We had taken so many pictures today it was going to be hard to choose.

"Alright flutterbug it's time for you to have some pictures with daddy" Joe says picking up Maddie and she beams at him

I watch as he carries her over to where he was stood before, he lays down on his back and holds her up above him, as she giggles he smiles up at her, the only other sound is the clicking of the camera.

They take a few fun pictures together along with some sweet loving ones, it was clear that Maddie was revelling in being the centre of his attention for the moment.

Unfortunately we had had some jealously issues with her when we brought the twins home, she didn't seem to want to share Joe with them, in her eyes he was her daddy and no one else's.

Joe made sure to give all three children equal attention, the four of them did everything together and eventually Maddie began to see that sharing him didn't mean losing him, that he was just as much hers as he was theirs.

"How about a few shots of mommy and daddy?" The photographer asks

"You've taken so many of us already" I say as Joe wraps his arms around me from behind

"Not on our own" he says in my ear "come on butterfly let's take few pictures" he says kissing my shoulder

"Alright" I smile "but just a few, the twins will want feeding soon"

Joe POV

Little did Isla know the photos of the two of us were my idea not the photographers. When I thought about the photo shoot I had remembered the scrap book she had given me and all the empty pages we still had to fill.

Since every section had pictures of just the two of it only seemed right that the next section did too. In such a short space of time Isla had given me everything, love, children, a purpose in life and I couldn't be more grateful that we found each other again.

Maddie, Kai and Willow were an absolute blessing and never in my life have I ever been as proud of anything as I am of them. They are my greatest achievement.

As Maddie grows I see more and more of Isla in her.

As the photographer snaps away we change poses, Isla stands infront of me her hands placed lightly on my chest, I wrap my arms around her waist and she looks up at me and smiles. For a moment I forget how to breath, how to think, how to speak. I don't know how she does it but this incredible woman manages to take my breath away everyday.

"You ok superstar" she asks and I realise I'm staring

"I can't remember if I've told you today but I love you butterfly" I say softly

"You have but I always like to hear it" she smiles "I love you too"

I lean down and press my lips to hers and kiss her softly, she returns the kiss and her hands move up until her arms are around my neck. For a moment I completely forget where we are until I here the sound of the camera clicking.

I look up at the photographer and he smiles

"Sorry I couldn't resist, it was too beautiful of a moment not to take a picture" he says "I can delete it if you want"

"Let me see it" Isla says walking over to him, he shows her the screen on his camera and the biggest smile crosses her face "You're right, we need to keep that picture" she says

"Let me see" I say walking over to her "wow, man my wife is all kinds of beautiful" I smile and she blushes lightly

"What can I say, loving you looks good on me " she smiles