Family Forever (Book 5 in Nemi Forever series)

Chapter 3

Demi

We didn't take the babies out of the house for the first few weeks of their lives. Our first venture out was to their doctor appointment & we were pretty sneaky with the babies. The paparazzi wasn't at the doctor's office, thankfully & the car we drove had heavily tinted windows, so the papperz didn't even know it was us, when we left our house. The doctor visit was great & both babies were perfect according to their doctor. We went straight home after that, Nick not wanting the babies out in public just yet. I couldn't blame him really. They were still so young yet. 

Nick & I were like a well oiled machine when it came to caring for the twins. We had a system, a rhythm & it was amazing. We so had this. I was extremely proud of how well Nick & I managed parenthood so far. We revelled in all of the first moments. Their first bath was fun & Nick & I ended up pretty drenched trying to hold two slippery babies while we washed them. Thank God there were two of us & we didn't drop either one of them. We came close, probably because we were laughing so hard at how slippery they really were.  

Nick made me laugh when Mercy's umbilical cord fell off when she was 9 days old. He didn't know what it was when he found it inside of her onsie. I laughed so hard at his freaked out face when he held it in his hand, thinking it was something awful that had come from her. Then I laughed even harder when he made a face of disgust after he found out what it was. 

The twins were four weeks old, when something occurred to me, one late afternoon, while I was relaxing, with Nick & the babies, in our family room. Besides a few kisses & hugs, Nick & I hadn't gotten hot & heavy since the twins came along. I had been so busy & tired that I hadn't really noticed or cared for that matter. But now, I hadn't bled in a few days, my body was gradually slimming down, my boobs weren't aching & I was watching my husband, thinking how sexy he was.  

I was holding our issue of People magazine in my hand. It was delivered a few hours earlier & I anxiously opened the envelope to check it out. The title made my throat close up as I read it, "The family that almost wasn't." The photo of the four of us on the cover was gorgeous, I had to admit. I told them I didn't want any crazy photoshopping & they didn't do anything except maybe soften the overall image. I didn't particularly like myself in the picture because I still had some weight to lose. My face was a little slimmer than it was when I was pregnant, but the rest of my body still looked pregnant in some areas. In the photo, Nick was sitting in the grass leaning against the huge tree in our backyard, with one leg up & the other leg folded in front him. He held Mercy in one arm as she leaned on his shoulder & I was sitting in between his legs, holding Jerry in my arms. Thankfully, the babies were covering up my gut. Nick's other arm was around my waist as our heads leaned toward each other. I did love it. Nick looked so sexy in white, with his dark hair & brown eyes. He had a slight tan he got from swimming with me during the last few weeks of my pregnancy. The smile on his face exuded pride & happiness & the professionals managed to rid our faces of any signs of exhaustion. I read the article, while Jered slept in his bassinet next to the couch.  

When I looked up & saw my gorgeous husband, sleeping on the other couch, Mercy, sound asleep on his chest, my heart melted. Her little head was just centimeters from Nick's mouth as I imagined he kissed her several times before he fell asleep himself. I watched them for several moments, my heart feeling so full. That's when it hit me. I was horny all of the sudden. It surprised me, actually. As I watched Nick sleep with his arms protectively around our tiny daughter, not moving those arms at all during his sleep, I felt something stir below my waist. It hit me, then, that it had been weeks since Nick & I had done anything other than kiss. Did he not find me attractive or was he just as tired as I was? I got up & went to Nick. I moved Nick's hand from her back & his eyes snapped open, startling me. Whoah, someone was protective. I smiled at him.