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sabel tiptoed into the play room. She had a feeling what she would find since it was too quiet, and sure enough she’d been right. Romero had fallen asleep with the baby on his chest on the sofa. Mandy had fallen asleep, sitting up at the end of the sofa, and Romeo had wedged himself between Romero’s body and the sofa.
They’d had a long weekend, and this was how their long weekends usually ended. Almanzo’s first birthday party had been over the top as expected. With Manny and Max asking to throw it, she had a feeling it would be. But how could she and Romero say no? They called it the day he was born.
She’d never forget the day they walked into the hospital room and Romero introduced them to Almanzo Maxim Romero. As expected, Manny had been immediately choked up.
“You named him after us?” Max asked, since Manny wasn’t even able to talk.
“Yep,” Romero said, handing the baby over to Manny, who could barely hold it together. “You two raised me like your own—”
“You were ours.” Manny had jerked his face from the baby to look at Romero. “Still are.”
“I know.” Romero smiled. “I just meant I never missed out on having a dad. I always felt luckier than most because I had two instead of just one. So me and Izzy thought it’d be an honor to name our baby after you two.”
Of course that had only made Manny a bigger mess. Isabel also remembered how later she’d overheard Manny saying, unlike the other one, this one had a better chance of not being such a momma’s boy with a name that started with the words “All” and “man.” She’d quickly axed any chance of him repeating that same comment over and over by threatening to change the baby’s name to Francis after her grandfather.
“Frances?” Manny had looked absolutely horrified. “That’s a girl’s name.”
“Not when it’s spelled with an “i” and that was my grandfather’s name, so obviously, it’s unisex.”
“All right, all right,” he said, all overwrought and animated about it. “Let’s not get crazy about this. It’s bad enough Romeo’s gonna get teased mercilessly about his name when he gets a little older. Let’s not get his underpants wedged all the way up his ass when he has to admit he has a brother named Francis.”
With another stern look, Manny promised not to make any more comments like that. Though Romero had warned her and she knew he was probably right, these boys and even Mother Theresa were in for a lifetime of this with these two. But he also assured her now that no matter what, just as he knew it growing up, no matter how much his uncles busted his balls, the one thing he’d never questioned was how much these two big lugs loved him.
The way these two fawned over her kids now was absolute proof. And that day right there in the hospital Manny said they’d be throwing this kid’s first birthday party, and they’d been talking about it ever since.
At the very least, it saved Isabel a ton of work because they insisted on getting it all together and even cleaning up afterward so Romero and Izzy could go home and put the exhausted kids to bed. This morning they’d all woken up early to play with all of Almanzo’s new toys. They’d all spent most of day here, playing and watching TV. Romero had been there the entire time while Isabel took breaks to fix them all lunch and then dinner. She’d been in the kitchen cleaning up when she noticed how quiet things got suddenly.
Isabel lifted the baby from Romero’s chest. Romero instantly opened his eyes. “Shh,” she said, bringing the baby over her shoulder and motioning to Romeo sound asleep next to Romero.
Romero lay very still at first then started making his move. As tired as the baby was, Isabel knew he’d sleep right through a diaper change, and he did. She was just putting him down in his crib when Romero walked in quietly. The second the baby was down and out of her hands, Romero hugged her from behind, leaning his chin on her shoulder, and they both stared at the baby.
“Are the other two out for the night?” she whispered.
“Sure are,” he said, still staring down at the baby. “Isn’t he perfect?”
“Yes,” she agreed with a smile. “Hard to believe such a perfect little angel could be such a handful.”
“He’s not so bad,” Romero said immediately as she knew he would.
Ever since Almanzo had been born, she’d noticed they both had avoided the topic of making any permanent decisions about closing out this chapter of their lives. Having another baby in the house had made Isabel remember how much she missed it—all the exciting firsts—and it really wasn’t as much work as she imagined having three would be. The other two were actually a big help when it came to playing with him and keeping an eye out for him. When Amanda had been the baby’s age just starting to walk around, there was no way Isabel could even use the restroom or take a shower if no one else was home. This time was different.
Amanda was such a little mother herself. She’d been helpful with Romeo, but now that she was a little older, she was an enormous help when it came to keeping an eye on both her brothers for short periods of time while Isabel used the restroom or took a speed shower.
“It’s gonna get tougher before it gets easier,” she reminded Romero. “He just started walking on his own. You know how boys are. Amanda took her time and eased into it, but Romeo was running before he fully learned to walk. Remember all the bumps and bruises on my poor baby?”
“Remember?” Romero laughed. “He just got another one today.”
Isabel turned to look at her husband, whose smile quickly flat lined. “It wasn’t so bad,” he said. “He hardly cried.”
She elbowed him playfully. “You’re supposed to call me when that happens so I can make it all better.”
“And that’s exactly why half the time I don’t,” he said immediately. “When I tell him to shake it off and that’s it nothing, he gets over it just like that. He sees Mommy coming at him with her pouty face, and he’s crying for a half hour.”
“Well, that’s what mommies are for,” she insisted with a pout. “Was it bad?”
“No, not at all.” He laughed, kissing her neck. “I’m just glad he has a brother now, who he can rough house with. He really needs that, babe. And he loves it. It just would’ve been cool if they were closer in age like when he and Amanda were little. I can tell already this one is going to be the tag along. He gets bored halfway through the movies the other two are into.” Romero laughed. “So he starts bugging them.”
“Yeah, it’s easier when they have a sibling closer in age, I guess,” she agreed. “Maybe if he had a younger one that was closer in age? That’s how it was when I was growing up. Pat and Art were always closer because they were closer in age while Gina and I, the younger two, were always closer.”
Romero didn’t say anything for a moment then seemed to take a deep breath. “So are you saying you wanna try for another one?”
“No, no, that’s not what I’m saying.”
He exhaled a bit exaggeratedly, and she turned to look at him. “Why? Did that scare you?”
“No.” He kissed her. “It excited me, actually.”
“Really?” She could feel her eyes well up and the emotion begin to suffocate her.
The concern in his eyes was instant, and he turned her around all the way to face him. “What’s wrong?”
She smiled, not sure how to say it. She’d only known for sure for a couple of hours, but this time she had no intention of keeping it from him.
“What’s wrong, baby?” he asked again, still searching her eyes.
“Nothing’s wrong.” She smiled then glanced down at her belly and back up at him.
A laugh escaped her the moment she saw it in his eyes. The moment she knew he knew and his eyes grew wider. “You’re pregnant?” he whispered, and the moment she nodded, he pulled her to him and hugged her hard. He pulled back and looked at her. “And you’re sure about this?”
Suddenly the expression in his eyes went a little hard and she knew why. After the last time, even though the plan was Almanzo was the last one, he’d made her promise that if by any chance she ever got pregnant again, she’d tell him immediately. He’d been absolutely adamant.
No surprises.
“I just found out today,” she said quickly, “a few hours ago, actually. I was waiting for the kids to go to bed. I haven’t told anybody else.”
The beautiful smile was back, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She’d been so scared all week when she’d begun to suspect. As much as he loved the kids and insisted he could more than handle the three of them even when she took off to the market and left him with all of them, she knew how exhausting it could be sometimes. She wasn’t sure if maybe he’d changed his mind and would freak out about another one.
Pulling back to look at her again, he smiled. “Another one,” he said simply.
She nodded a bit apprehensively. “Another one. Call me Fertile Myrtle.”
He laughed, cradling her face in his hands. “No, I’d rather call you perfect because you are.” He kissed her softly then looked in her eyes. “Thank you, baby,” he whispered. “Thank you for making my life so perfect.”