It Goes On - Book l

Gold Coast

Simon's Point of View:

The following September, my twins' birthday was coming up fast, and so was the "honeymoon" vacation Johnny and Teeter invited us on. With that being said, here we were – in Long Beach, California. He must've known I wasn't a fan of highly-populated cities, because he had a stupid grin on his face for the entire flight because he knew I wouldn't find as much joy on this vacation.

Jacob and Evie were high-strung when we got to the hotel, the both of them nearly driving me crazy because they wouldn't just calm down for a few minutes. Kiera was nearing the first stage of her third trimester, and I could tell it was taking a toll on her by how tired she looked. "Daddy! Daddy!" Evie shouted at me, her little feet thudding against the tile floor of the hotel room.

"Hey, don't run, please!" I pleaded with her. "You're going to—" Sure enough, she did. "Fall."

A few seconds went by before she started to cry, and I immediately hated myself for not getting to her in time to prevent her from falling. "Are you okay, love?" I cooed at her, holding her close against my chest, using my other hand to pull her little hand away from her face to see if she had injured herself.

Fortunately, she was fine.

More than likely, she was being a bit dramatic.

"No," She whimpered, hiding her face against my shoulder. "I hit my face, daddy."

"Love, I watched you fall. You fell on your bum because of those socks you have on." I couldn't help but chuckle at her.

"I-I fell on my face!" She pouted, and it was absolutely adorable.

I shook my head as I continued to coddle her, knowing that she was now being dramatic about a little stumble. "What happened, Simon?" Kiera asked me from the doorway of the other room, her baby pump prominent and her hair now up in a messy bun.

So fucking beautiful.

"She slipped on the floor because of her socks and fell on her bum," I explained, rocking Evie against my chest while I explained, her free hand clutching around the chain of my dog tags – something she had done since she was a baby. "She's fine, though."

"Okay, good. I heard her crying from the other room and I came rushing in—"

"I've got it, love. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. Still have a headache."

"You should try to lay down and take a nap, love."

"I will eventually."

Kiera was always stubborn when it came to how she felt, and I knew that she was waiting for our twins to settle down before she could get some rest.

"Mommy? Can we go to the beach?"

"Not today, honey. It's late in the afternoon and we all should get some rest."

Evie pouted at Kiera's response, proceeding to hide her face against my shoulder. Jacob was nearly hugging her leg, looking up at her as if he was begging to be picked up, although he was unaware that she couldn't physically pick him up due to her pregnancy.

"Please, momma?" Jacob asked, his eyes big and hopeful.

"We will tomorrow, okay? We have a week to enjoy where we're at. How about we get some food with your aunt and uncle?"

"Uncle Johnny?!" Evie blurted suddenly, her tears magically drying up at the mention of his name.

"You like the sound of that, huh?"

"Johnny would let us go to the beach right now!"

"No, he won't, lass," I corrected her, shaking my head. "We all will tomorrow, okay? You seem hungry, yeah? How about we get some food and have a look around?"