It was six in the morning on a Monday, and I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom. I’d done this five days a week for the last eight months, and I still couldn’t believe this was my life. Somehow, in the pits of darkness, I’d found a light.

And her name was Jade.

“Your tie’s crooked.” My wife’s voice flooded the room before her reflection appeared in the mirror. And once again, I questioned how I’d gotten so lucky. Her hair was wild from sleep, and it drove me crazy. In her arms, she carried our son, cradled to her chest. His thick head of raven hair was just as untamed as his mother’s.

“Would you like to fix it for me?” I turned around and took the sleeping boy from her arms so she could straighten my tie. I could’ve done it myself, but every morning, I’d do it wrong just to make her adjust it. It was one of my favorite parts of the day. “Did Clay wake up, or did you get him up?” I asked as I smoothed his soft mane back.

“He was starting to stir, but my boobs were killing me, so I went ahead and got him up to empty them a little.” Just the mention of her breasts had me staring at them, their fullness filling her shirt. It’d only been two weeks since she’d given birth to our son, and the thought of waiting another four before I could touch her again nearly drove me insane.

I’d already mentioned the idea of having more, but then she pointed out the need for a bigger house. And she wasn’t ready to give up the ocean in our front yard. So I figured we’d keep practicing, and if we ended up needing something bigger, we’d discuss it then. Jade had laughed at me when after coming home from the hospital, I’d added to the bottom of our “More Than Roommates” agreement: More babies.

“You going to the ranch today?” Nothing—not even labor—kept her from at least visiting her mom’s land and seeing the horses. Bryn and Lindsey had been an amazing team, and I knew they would be able to help so many.

“I think I’ll stop by this afternoon. I hate leaving Clay behind for long.”

“You know my mom loves it when you drop the kids off with her.” Two months ago, my parents had bought a condo near Lindsey’s. They hadn’t made a permanent move just yet, but they liked the idea of having a place to stay when visiting. So far, they hadn’t gone back home. It became a running joke with Jade that they never would.

She took Clay from me so I could leave for work. I bent down and pressed a kiss to his soft forehead, then to Jade’s lips. I hated leaving them every morning, but I couldn’t complain, because I got to come home to them every day.

I barely made it out of the bedroom before Aria ran to me. I picked her up and snarled into her neck, relishing in the giggles she gave. “You be a good girl for Mommy, okay?”

She nodded and then squeezed my neck. I squeezed her just as tight.

“Bye, Daddy,” she said when I set her down.

Jade shook her head and laughed. “You do this every morning, and every morning your shirt gets wrinkled before you leave the house.” She ran her palm down my work shirt to press it flat again.

“Maybe I do it just so you’ll touch me.”

She shoved me toward the back door. “Oh, and before I forget, at two o’clock this morning when I was feeding Clay, I added something to the agreement.” The look on her face told me being late to work would be worth the detour to the kitchen.

Right in front of me, hanging on the fridge, was our paper. At the top, just beneath “More than Roommates,” she’d added a subtitle: Agree to “dis” Agreement. Regardless of what it was called, it was ours. It’d been changed out over the last year for new ones, each list growing longer and longer as time passed. But on this one, at the very bottom, in her neat handwriting, I found: I get to name our next kid.

I glanced over my shoulder and found her smirking at me. “What’s wrong with Clay?”

“Had I thought about it at the time, I would’ve realized what you’d done, Cassius.”

I couldn’t hide the grin. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Cassius Clay? Didn’t we agree no oddball famous people’s names?”

I didn’t pick it because of that. Honestly, I liked how it sounded when our names were put together, like an unstoppable team.

I shrugged, feigning ignorance. “But if we have another girl, imagine how awesome it’d be to name her Ali.” I winked, letting her know I was only kidding. My dad was the Muhammad Ali fan, not me. “Fine. If you’d like to name the next one, feel free.”

That just meant she’d give me another. And I had it right here on the agreement. She wouldn’t be able to argue with that.

“I love you, babe.” I kissed her on the lips.

She mumbled back, “Love you, too,” which was echoed by Aria.

“Love you, too, Tyke.”