Epilogue

 

August 2022

 

Lena grumbled sleepily at the sound of the smartphone buzzing on the nightstand, alerting her that it was time to leave the perfect warmth of her husband’s arms. She silenced it without actually looking at the screen and allowed herself to pout a little. She was completely comfortable for once, and the thought of moving was unappealing. Owen was spooned against her back, and her enormous belly was resting on a pillow. In fact, between that pillow and the one that separated her knees, the only way he could get close to her at all was from behind… which he did quite often. It had become one of their favorite sexual positions, and if the slight pressure she could feel against her backside was any indication, his hands would be roaming her body any minute.

“Mmmmm,” Owen moaned into her hair, caressing her bump lovingly. “You sleep okay?”

“With these two playing kickball with my internal organs? Sure…”

“It won’t be too much longer now, baby.” His tone fell a little short of the encouragement he was going for, and she gave an unladylike snort.

“I’m not even seven months along, and I’m already bigger than I was with either of the other two. I don’t even want to think about what I’m going to look like when I finally go into labor,” Lena sighed.

“You’ll be just as beautiful as you always are.”

She smiled a little, knowing he was actually being sincere. Owen had a hard time keeping his hands off her under normal circumstances, but when she was pregnant, they were almost always attached to her in some manner. He went out of his way to rub her shoulders, her back, or her feet. He was constantly running his fingers through her long hair or over her cheekbones, and he practically worshipped her belly on a daily basis.

Owen nuzzled his face against her neck, kissing the spot beneath her ear that seemed to have a direct connection to her core. Lena moaned with a mixture of appreciation and chagrin.

“No time for sporking today, Mr. Langford. We need to get the kids up. First day of school.”

“Ah, but maybe you didn’t notice that I reset your alarm after you fell asleep last night,” he crooned seductively. “The kids don’t need to be up for another half an hour.”

“That was very sneaky of you,” Lena grinned, turning her head to kiss him. “But I approve.”

He slipped his hand between her legs and groaned appreciatively at the wetness he found there. She was always ready for him, especially when she was pregnant. With twins this time, she seemed to be even more hormonally charged, and it was enough to make him wish she could be pregnant all the time. However, Owen wisely kept that particular thought to himself.

“Always so wet for me, Mrs. Langford.” He snaked an arm beneath her neck and curled it around to tease her tender breasts. He couldn’t wait for her milk to come in, and the thought of tasting it again made him harden almost to the point of pain.

“Yeah. No wonder I’m always—” she gasped as he adjusted her hips and filled her swiftly, “pregnant.”

Owen grinned and thrust into her gently, matching his rhythm to hers. He couldn’t get enough of her, and the only thing he disliked about this position was that it made kissing her difficult. He wanted to watch her chin tremble as she approached her climax, to look into her eyes and watch them darken when she shattered around him. Still, being able to make love to her with a hand on the physical proof of their love was an incredible sensation.

Lena began to whimper with each thrust, and he could feel her walls starting to flutter. Owen knew he would explode within her the second she came, and there was no point in trying to hold back. He moved his hand from her belly to her clit, applying pressure to the swollen nub until Lena’s thighs began to shake.

“That’s it, baby. Come for me.”

Her mouth fell open as her entire body tensed, and the delicious spasming of her center triggered his own release. Owen remained buried inside of her as their heart rates slowed, and he tilted her chin toward him to gain access to her lips.

“I love you,” he murmured between kisses. “So much.”

“I love you too,” Lena smiled. After a few minutes of cuddling, one of their daughters landed a swift kick to Lena’s ribcage, and she winced slightly.

“I take it they’re awake?”

“Well, they’re not likely to have slept through that,” she giggled.

“Come on then, Mama. Let’s get you cleaned up.” Owen slipped reluctantly out of her warmth and quickly retrieved a warm washcloth from the bathroom for her.

Most people would probably take one look at their busy schedules and wonder how they had time and energy for sex, especially with two young children, but they always made an effort to find time for each other. Aside from the six-week postpartum period after each birth, they hadn’t gone more than a few days without making love since Lena had recovered from her injuries after the explosion. They’d started their adult relationship hot and heavy, and although much of their lives had changed since then, their intense chemistry and hunger for each other had remained constant.

Owen showered first while Lena headed down the hallway to rouse their children gently, hoping for a hassle-free first day of school. At age seven, Marianne was still young enough to be genuinely excited for school. She had helped choose her outfit the night before and had meticulously organized her school supplies in her backpack twice.

“Time to wake up, Mari. First day of school!” Lena greeted her, speaking softly but with excitement.

Marianne rolled over to smile up at her mother and held out her arms for a hug. Lena chuckled and bent down as carefully as possible to hug and kiss her good morning. The little girl’s body was still warm with sleep, and Lena sighed happily. Bending over was a chore in her current state, but she couldn’t resist a sweet morning hug.

“Let’s get moving, alright? Breakfast first, then clothes.”

“Did you wake up Liam yet?”

“Not yet. Why don’t you go pick out what you want for breakfast while I get him up?”

“Okay!” she grinned, all trace of sleepiness gone from her pale blue eyes.

Marianne slid out of bed and practically skipped from the room, leaving Lena to shake her head with longing for just a fraction of her children’s energy. She went into Liam’s room next and was unsurprised to see him already sitting up with an eager expression on his face, his red hair standing on end.

“And how long have you been awake, Mister?”

“Forever! Is it time yet?!”

“Yes,” Lena laughed, holding her arms out. “Come give me a hug and then go to the kitchen for breakfast.”

Liam obliged happily and scampered from the room, his little feet making much more noise than his sister’s, regardless of his smaller size. It was a wonder they’d managed to get him to sleep at all last night. Lena had worried that, like Marianne, he might be nervous for his first day of kindergarten, but Liam’s excitement was only a few degrees off of his usual enthusiasm for Christmas morning.

They’d toured his classroom and met his teacher, then walked him through the hallways to the bathrooms, cafeteria, and gymnasium. His naturally outgoing personality seemed to overrule any anxiety he might be feeling, which made Lena feel quite a bit better about the prospect of saying goodbye to him that morning. She hoped she might be able to skip the crying as she left the school building this time.

Yeah, right, Lena. Pregnant with twins and no tears today? Dream on.

She sighed and waddled her way downstairs to the kitchen, pleased to see both of her children already sitting at the table. They’d moved from their penthouse to a larger home in Medina before Marianne had been born, and while Lena was grateful for the space with a growing family, the walk from one room to another seemed more tiring when she was pregnant.

Owen had finished his shower and was now scrambling a few eggs for breakfast, having given Millie the morning off. He enjoyed their family time immensely, particularly on the first day of school. Lena kissed his cheek and inhaled his scent discreetly, unable to resist the smell of her husband fresh from the shower. He grinned knowingly and gave her a wink.

“Why don’t you go take your shower while I get them fed. I’m sure Mari will want you to do her hair and all that, but I can get Liam ready.”

Lena nodded in agreement and kissed the heads of her children as she passed them on her way to the master suite. Everything took longer when she was heavily pregnant, and by the time she emerged, the kids were getting dressed in their rooms. Owen was still in the kitchen, and she smiled when she noticed that he’d started to pack their lunchboxes. Since he had to be at GC before the start of the school day, it was usually Lena who made the drop off. Packing lunches was something he tried to do each morning as a way of compensating for that, and the first day of school lunch always promised a special treat.

“No one would guess that you survived most of your time in college on takeout,” Lena teased him, eyeing the spread on the counter.

“And you’re not going to tell our children.”

She smiled and shook her head. Owen usually insisted on healthy foods for the whole family, and he’d been on an organic kick lately. Lena wasn’t at all surprised to see that he’d made sandwiches with organic peanut butter and filled small plastic bags with carrot sticks and apple slices. Organic juice pouches went into each lunchbox next, followed by…

“Fruit snacks?” she asked, raising her eyebrows at him in amusement. Owen shrugged, looking a little sheepish.

“I always put them in Mari’s lunch for the first few days of school. Now Liam will need some too.”

“Why fruit snacks?” Lena pressed. His smile was loving and nostalgic, and his answer triggered her first round of hormonal, first-day-of-school tears.

“You never know when they might meet a new friend to share them with.”