A Little Bit of Everything and Everyone

Twins (Derek Luh)

My alarm goes off at five in the morning so I can get ready for work. I groan, it's Saturday and I don't even have to be up this early. I reach over to unlock my phone and turn it off before my boyfriend wakes up next to me. I turn over, expecting to snuggle into him only to find an empty bed. What the hell?

The air is cold and bites through my thin t-shirt. I throw a sweatshirt on and walk out of my bedroom to see if I can find my guy. Derek has a habit of sleepwalking so I wouldn't be surprised if I found him somewhere other than the bed. I look on the couch, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, no sign of him anywhere.

"Derek! This isn't funny! Where are you?!" I whisper-yell so I don't wake up our twin daughters. The last thing I need is for them to wake up and freak out because he's gone. Derek isn't their dad, but he treats Kaya and Kiara as if they were his flesh and blood. The girls' real dad ditched as soon as he found out I was pregnant, said he was too young to be a dad blah, blah, blah. I met Derek through my cousin Adriana's boyfriend Nate a couple of years ago and we hit it off right away and started dating. He proposed a couple of months ago but we haven't even set a date for the wedding yet.

"Derek! Where are you?!" I whisper again. I push open the girls' bedroom door and see him in Kaya's bed with the two. He's scratching Kaya's back lightly and playing with Kiara's hair as the two girls sleep soundly on him. I smile as I see them. I walk over and gently lift Kiara off of him, putting her back in her own bed. We silently walk out of their room and I close the door.

"Why are you awake babygirl?" Derek asks quietly.

"I forgot to turn my work alarm off. And then I couldn't find you and I thought you were sleepwalking again," I tell him. We walk back into our bedroom and crawl under the covers. I snuggle into him for real this time and his fingers lightly scratch my back. I smile to myself at the feeling.

"Kaya had a nightmare. And her crying woke up Kiara. I heard it when I got up to pee and wanted to make sure she was okay."

"Poor baby. Did she say what the nightmare was about?" I ask.

"No, she just kept crying. I told her I would stay with her until she fell asleep. And then Kiara of course didn't want to leave Kaya's side so I laid with both of them."

"Those girls adore you," I tell him.

"They're my world Mia. You three are. I'd do anything for you all." I feel Derek's lips on my forehead.

"Thank you," I whisper to him.

"For what mama?" he asks.

"For treating my girls like your own. For being there for the three of us. For supporting me. For not running away when you found out I was a single mom with twins. For asking me to marry you. For loving me." I tilt my head up and kiss him and he smiles into the kiss.

"I'd do anything for you Mia. I'd give my life for yours or the girls. I promise to always protect you three. From the nightmares. From the bad guys. From the monsters. I'll be there to fight your fights with you. I wouldn't want to be with anyone else for the rest of my life. I love you." Derek kisses me again.

A few hours later we are woken up to Kaya and Kiara jumping in bed with us. Well, I'm woken up. I'm convinced Derek could sleep through an earthquake.

"Shh, guys don't wake Derek up," I tell the two girls.

"But it's morning mommy! It's time to wake up!"

"Aren't you two forgetting something?" I ask the two. Their eyes widen for a second as they remember our morning ritual.

"Morning kisses!!!" Kaya and Kiara shout. They smother me with kisses and it makes me laugh.

"Can we wake daddy up with kisses?" Kaya asks. I nod.

"That's the best way to wake up," I tell the two girls. The start attacking Derek with kisses and I join in.

"Time to get up Daddy!!!" Kaya and Kiara yell. Derek's eyes open and a smile blossoms across his face.

"I'm up I'm up!!!" he exclaims. We get off of him and he leans over to kiss me.

"Good morning baby," he says to me. The girls stick their tongues out.

"Cooties!!!" they yell before jumping off our bed and running out of the room.

"Morning D," I say in return before kissing him again. We walk out of the room and find the girls in the living room, looking for the remote.

"Looking for this?" I ask, grabbing it off of the counter and plopping on the couch.

"Yes! Can we watch Sofia?!" Kiara yells. I turn the TV on and press play on one of the episodes of Sofia the First that we have recorded for moments like these.

"I got breakfast Mia," Derek says from the kitchen.

"I'm going to jump in the shower!" I leave the girls in front of the TV and head into my room to grab clothes. After a quick shower I walk into the kitchen to find my little family eating pancakes and sausage.

"What's going on today mama?" Derek asks, passing me a plate so I can scoop out some food.

"I don't think we have anything going on...." I say. Derek's phone starts ringing a second later with a text.

"I guess Gilinsky is cooking out. We could go over there?" he says after reading the message.

"YES! LET'S GO!!" the two girls yell.

"Fine with me. What time?"

"Not until like five. Wanna go over Nate's for a bit?" I nod.

"I'm good with that. Let's finish breakfast and get the girls dressed and then we can go," I tell him.

"Uncle Nate?! We're going there too?!" Kaya yells.

"If you finish breakfast we are," I tell her. The girls finish eating quickly.

"I want Daddy to help me get dressed!" Kiara says as soon as she's done.

"I want Mommy to help me!" Kaya shouts. I look at Derek.

"Team work makes the dream work," he says.