When Pollyanna gave birth to the twins, both of them were awed. Neither of them had been the type to dream of having kids, Pollyanna because she had still been young and Kyr because he had used to associate the idea of marriage with Ana.

But the arrival of Dio and Ella changed them, in good ways, but also in ways neither of them expected.

Kyr started coming home earlier than usual, eager to spend more time with his wife and babies. It was his favorite part of the day, coming home and hearing the familiar sounds of his family. At first, it had just been Pollyanna, humming a nursery song as the twins fell asleep in their cots or reading them bedtime stories, switching between English and Greek. When the twins grew to several months old, the routine started to change as well, and more often than not, Kyr would come home hearing Pollyanna making the twins gurgle in laughter or the twins babbling nonsense.

One day, over breakfast, Ella and Dio started speaking baby talk to him, which left Kyr raising a quizzical brow even as a grin tugged at his lips.

Seeing the look on her husband’s face, Pollyanna interpreted, “They said, Kalimera.”

“Really?” he drawled.

The twins babbled some more.

“They also said you should talk to them, too,” Pollyanna added solemnly. She expected Kyr to tease her for being childish but to her surprise, her usually serious husband only gave her a long, thoughtful look.

“Umm…” She started to feel uneasy without knowing why.

And then Kyr turned back to the twins and said, “Xfingchergriwz.”

Oh.

Laughter threatened to bubble out of her as Kyr, the billionaire famous for his ruthlessly pragmatic style of doing business, continued speaking nonsense to Dio and Ella. Seconds passed, and she could no longer stop herself from laughing.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she saw that Kyr was staring at her, and the look on his gorgeous face made her gulp. Oh, dear Lord. Why was he looking at her like she was so precious to him? Even now, it still didn’t make sense. When would he realize it was the other way around, and she was the one lucky to have someone like him?

And then he was saying her name, his voice low and seductive, and her heart slammed so hard against her chest she was worried he would hear it.

Clearing her throat, she asked, “What is it?”

“Thank you,” he said simply.

“What for?”

“For giving me the twins.” His lips formed a crooked smile. “And for giving me the kind of life I should have dreamed of but didn’t.”

* * *

On the twins’ first year birthday, Pollyanna threw her first party as Mrs. Gazis. She went all out in the preparation, taking craft courses available on the island, reading up on party styling and spending countless hours on Pinterest and Instagram for party pegs. Since this was her first official outing as wife to Kyrillos Gazis, Pollyanna was determined to live up to everyone’s expectations. But more than that, she didn’t want to give her husband any reason to feel ashamed of her.

She had two months to prepare, and every day she worked tirelessly, using every spare moment she could when the twins were sleeping or playing. Kyr would often ask her if she needed help, but she always turned him down, telling him firmly it was a secret, and she wanted him as surprised as all the guests were. The only person she coordinated with was his secretary, who took care of issuing payments. This, too, Kyr had offered to change, saying, “You’re my wife. Naturally, everything I have is yours, too.”

But she had shaken her head, saying, “I know I only have to ask, and you’ll give it to me.” The truth was, she wanted the staff and everyone to know that she wasn’t and would never be after Kyr’s money.

When the day of the party came, the guests were driven to the venue in golf carts, and on the way they were treated to a visual spectacle. The locals had helped Pollyanna with this, using island-sourced materials to put up colorful DIY signage and posters that shared trivia about the twins. Every piece was unique, beautiful, and Instagram-worthy, so much so that even after the party, Pollyanna had been told that her world-famous guests had asked their drivers to make regular stops so they could have their photos taken next to it.

As for the venue, Pollyanna had decided to take a risk by opting for the outdoors even though she knew that, with summer fast approaching, the weather might be too hot and humid for her guests.

But more than that, she wanted everyone to see how much her husband had worked to make Teleios beautiful, and how could she do that if they were cooped up inside an air-conditioned function room?

And so as a compromise, she used the Floros’ flower farm as the venue, and on the day of the party, it turned out to be the perfect choice. The weather cooperated, granting them blue skies, gentle sunlight, and a cool breeze that teased the guests with the scent of the sea and made the colorful blooms dance to their tune.

Because they were on top of the hill, the guests were also treated with a breathtaking bird’s eye view of the island. Taking this a step further, she had created pamphlets made from recycled paper and hired local calligraphy artists to pen the content. For each island attraction, one half of the page would be devoted to photos of Dio and Ella at the said place while the other half of the page featured handwritten descriptions of the attraction.

Everything in the party, from the décor to the food and souvenirs, was locally sourced, and so was the staff.

It was an overwhelmingly successful event overall, and even when they had made it back to their bedroom, with the twins fast asleep and looked after by their nanny, Kyr could see that his young wife was still basking in the aftermath of their guests’ pleasure.

Drawing her to him, he looked down at her with a warm smile. “Congratulations, Mrs. Gazis.” His lips curved as she blushed and beamed up at him at the same time. “You did very well.”

She bit her lip and then, as if unable to help it, she blurted out giddily, “I did, didn’t I?”

He nodded.

“And did you see the look on their faces when I answered everyone in fluent Greek?”

“You absolutely fooled them all,” he said wryly. “Not one of them would have thought that I had to practically drag you kicking and screaming to your classes.” It had been one of his more startling discoveries of her, actually. He had pegged her as the ideal student, but as it turned out, Pollyanna was only happy to attend classes that had to do with arts and crafts. Anything else – like her Greek lessons – and Pollyanna had proven to be very creative in making up excuses to escape them.

“I wasn’t that bad,” Pollyanna was arguing.

“Oh, you were,” he countered, recalling the times she had tried to pretend she was so heavily asleep she couldn’t be roused for her morning lessons. “I’m frankly amazed that you managed to finish high school the way you are.”

“You’re exaggerating,” she said primly, “and that’s that.” But the mention of school had stirred an idea inside her, one that had been dormant for a few years but now was beginning to have appeal again.

If there was something she had learned about herself while organizing the twins’ party, then it was not that she could actually feel at ease while talking to people who had been rich and famous all their lives, people who were so much more beautiful and accomplished she was.

Rather, it was how happy she was at making people happy. In hindsight, she realized that her original choice of major in university had been brought about by peer pressure. Everyone in her old high school had chosen something “serious” to study, and so had Pollyanna. But now, she realized what she really wanted to do – what she might even be destined to do.

She thought about helping other people organize celebrations, small or big, to bring smiles to their loved ones’ faces, and she couldn’t help smiling.

Beside her in the bed, Kyr noticed the smile playing on his wife’s lips and asked, “What are you smiling about?”

She hesitated then said, “If I tell you I want to study…”

Kyr could feel his insides freezing at the words, and the worst sense of déjà vu hit him, causing cold sweat to envelope his body. In an instant, he realized that his perfect little world wasn’t as secure as he had once thought.

“You’re seriously asking that?” he asked evenly.

She gave him a small nod.

Turning on his side to face her, he said, “I’d seriously ask you to wait.”

Her eyes widened. “F-for what?” She couldn’t help thinking that this was exactly the same thing that had happened in the past, when they found out about her pregnancy and he had asked her to wait. It was almost like he didn’t want her to follow any of her dreams, she thought, but Pollyanna squashed the thought as soon as it occurred.

Kyr loved her, she told herself fiercely. He wouldn’t have any reason not to support her.

“I want to continue building the business---”

“But you’re already rich,” she couldn’t help pointing out, bemused. “You’re richer than 99% of the human population.”

“It’s not enough,” he said flatly. “I was almost impoverished once, and I wouldn’t want that for our children.” He paused. “I just need a few more years, to be sure that their futures are secured.” His gaze held hers. “Would you give me that?”

And of course, when Kyr put it like that, what else was there to say but yes?