Uncaged

“What?  How did the other sister get in there?  Is she magic?  Do I have a magic sister?”

I can feel Melissa’s body shaking with silent laughter, and I know there will be no help from her here.  “Uh, well…the doctor said she was playing hide and seek.”

Cohen starts smiling and nods his head.  “This is good, Daddy.  I knew my angels would give me sisters.  I asked them.”

Melissa stops laughing and grabs my hand.  “What do you mean, baby?” she asks on a whisper.

“I asked Nana, Mommy Fia, and Auntie Grace to give me a sister.  I said I wanted a sister more than anything in the world so I can look out for her like Daddy looks out for you.”

“Oh, Cohen.  You’re such a special little man.” she says, kissing his cheek.

“I know what I want to name my sisters.”  he says, clearly proud of himself for his prediction and making Melissa happy.

“All right, let’s hear it.”  I lean back, intertwine my fingers with Melissa’s, and wait.  I don’t realize I am holding my breath until his soft voice speaks the names.

“I want my sisters to have my angel’s names.  Lillian Sofia for Nana and Mommy Fia, and Lyndsie Grace for Daddy’s mommy and Auntie Grace.”

My breath comes out in a rush, and I can feel Melissa breathing heavily next to me.  Cohen just looks at us with his little smile and bright eyes, waiting for the moment when we confirm that he’s allowed to name his sisters.

“Lillian Sofia and Lyndsie Grace?  Cohen, I think those are perfect names for your sisters.  You’re already such a wonderful big brother.” she whispers.

He gives us a big hug before leaping off my lap and running through the house.  We can hear him talking to his ‘angels,’ telling them about his new sisters.  I pull Melissa closer, resting my lips against her temple and my hand against her stomach.  With all my girls in my arms and a full heart, I enjoy the moment of life coming full circle.

It’s times like this that I remember just how far I’ve come in the last few years.  After losing my sister, I questioned my path in life. I questioned every single relationship I had.  I wondered if having other people in my life was worth the pain if I was going to lose them.  It wasn’t until Melissa and Cohen came into my life, that I realized living in fear is almost the same as slowly dying.

From the day I met her, I knew I would fight every day to be the man worthy of her love.

Hearing my cell ringing from another room, I shake off my daydreams and follow the sound.

I let out a relieved breath when I see Axel’s name across the screen.

“What are you doing?”  No sense wasting time.  If I don’t have these cribs together when Melissa gets home, there will be hell to pay.

“Well, I was enjoying breakfast in bed, but when your ass wouldn’t stop calling, Izzy made me stop.  So, thanks for that, jackass.”

“Ha, yeah…sorry about that, but welcome to my world.  Just wait until Nate is a master at cockblocking like Cohen.  I swear, when that boy is home, he has some sort of sensor that goes off when I’m about to enjoy Melissa.”

“He’s already started.  Last night, just sunk into Iz and he’s screaming about turtles.  Do you have any idea what a two-year-old screaming about turtles will do to your sex life?  Iz started laughing so hard that my dick got the message loud and clear.”  He lets out a breath full of frustration, and the smile on my face grows.  Yeah, sounds like a normal day in the Cage house.

“As much fun as this little chat is, I need you to come over and help me get these damn cribs together.  I hold one end up, but then the second I go to attach something, the damn thing falls on my head.  If I want to enjoy my wife tonight, I have to get this shit done.”

“Yeah?  Poor guy.”  He starts laughing; I’m sure he’s picturing me in a mess of crib parts.

I let a laugh out remembering how the last bang on the head must have looked. “Laugh all you want.  The directions are in German, Ax.  Luckily I can read the damn things, but it’s been a few years, and my German is rusty at best.  It’s a shame Maddox isn’t here.  Damn fool would have this shit done by now,” I bait, knowing Axel won’t be able to resist the challenge of being better than Maddox.

“The hell with that.  I’m on the way.  Be there in ten.”

I laugh, throwing the phone down when I hear him disconnect in my ear.

Maybe if I’m lucky, he’ll do all the hard work and I can sit back and enjoy a beer.

Chapter 6 – Melissa

Exhausted.

That is the only way I can explain what I feel like being halfway through my seventh month of pregnancy.  Don’t get me wrong; I love almost everything about being pregnant.  Even the stuff I don’t love about carrying around an extra forty—cough, fifty—pounds of baby still brings a smile to my face every time I feel one of my girls kick my kidney, squeeze my bladder, or stick a head in my ribs.

Yeah, I love carrying around my girls.

The best part, the part that keeps that smile on my face even when I feel as though my body is about to split in two, is knowing that these two little princesses are a product of the love I share with their daddy.

There isn’t a single day that goes by that I don’t thank God that Greg was set in my path.  I was living a life that was half empty, and now, my glass is overflowing.

I finally pull my car into the driveway and smile when I see that the lights are on, flooding the yard with their warmth.

“Daddy isn’t going to be happy we’ve been gone all day, little ladies,” I whisper to my belly, running my hand across my hard abdomen, and smile when I feel my girls give some solid kicks.

It takes me longer than normal to pull my body out of the car.  I was driving around Greg’s truck until it became too hard to get in and out of the cab.  I miss driving that monster around, but it was impossible to heave my weight into the driver’s seat anymore.  I hate this damn car.  I feel like I sit so low to the ground that I’ll be run over by every vehicle that comes near me.  Luckily for me—or unluckily, considering I never pictured myself owning a mini-van—Greg promised we would go car shopping soon.

“Well, well… It looks like my wife decided she still loves her men after all.”  I smirk when I hear my husband’s deep voice coming from behind me.  I don’t turn; instead, I spend a second relishing in the soothing tones that wash over my tired body, firing alive every single inch.  Even with his teasing tone, my body recognizes its mate, causing my skin to pucker with tiny goose bumps.