Quadruplets Make Six

“You’re pregnant,” I said with a smile.

“I am,” she said with a grin.

“We’re gonna have a baby.”

“‘We’?” she asked.

“You didn’t think I was going to let you do this alone, did you?” I asked.

“I wasn’t sure what to think. I figured with three kids of your own you’d-”

I silenced whatever she was going to say with a kiss. I felt her body fall into mine as my arms wrapped around her back. I pulled her into my lap, her legs straddling me as her hands wound tightly in the tendrils of my hair. I felt her tongue lapping at my lips, begging for entrance as my hands roamed her body.

Libby was pregnant. With my child. I felt my head spinning with excitement. I deepened the kiss, allowing the fire sparking in my toes to run up my legs. I laid us down onto her bed, rolling her over so she was pinned underneath the strength of my body. I had missed her kisses. I had missed her touch. I had missed the way her body felt underneath mine as her legs spread willingly to accommodate my body.

“We’re going to have a baby,” I said, whispering.

“So… you’re not angry?” Libby asked.

My eyes connected with hers as my hand traveled down her body. I watched her eyes flutter closed as her body betrayed her true want for me. I pressed a kiss to her neck, then her shoulder, then her cheek.

“I could never be angry with you,” I said.

Our lips connected again and that was it. I knew Libby was the one. I didn’t know how things were going to turn out and I didn’t know how we would integrate her into the family, but she wasn’t going anywhere. I wasn’t going anywhere. This past month without her had been a nightmare, and every morning I woke up and wished she was there. I was excited to start a family with her. To raise a child with her and introduce her to my kids. I knew they would love her. I knew they would adore her.

Just like I did.

But I had to get her to trust me again. I felt Libby’s hands planting themselves onto my chest and I rose up from her body. There was hesitancy in her eyes when there should’ve been happiness, and it killed a part of me. She didn’t trust me any longer, and I couldn't blame her for that. But that didn’t mean it had to stay that way.

I had to earn Libby’s trust back. No matter what it took.

Sixteen

Libby

I woke up one morning with a very sick stomach. Pulling myself from my bed, I sighed. It had been a week since I told Graham I was pregnant and he was acting like he had to make up for lost time. He was constantly text messaging me and calling me in the evenings, and now that I knew he had children I was wondering what they thought. When he was spending an hour on the phone with me, I was wondering what they were doing. When he was messaging me in the morning, I would wonder where his children were. How did he have all this free time to talk with me? He was a business owner and a father of three very small children. What was going on with them while he was talking with me?

I didn’t like that. I tried to keep my messages short and clipped so he didn’t feel the need to talk with me. I wasn’t going to allow him to neglect the children he had simply because I was pregnant with another one. In the grand scheme of things, my child wasn’t going to be special to him. It wasn’t going to be his first child, or even his first son or daughter. I was just some woman he’d accidentally gotten pregnant, and I wanted him to know I didn’t expect much from him.

I didn’t expect anything from him.

I broke the news to my bosses at the law firm and they understood. They both had kids at home. They were truly happy I had finally found someone to share my life with. I didn’t have the guts to tell them I wasn’t walking down the aisle with anyone just yet.

I felt lost in a sea of emotions, between happiness and stress. Graham blowing up my phone wasn’t making anything better.

Part of me wanted to tell him what was going on, but I knew he had plenty on his plate. Between raising three children and dealing with his company, he had enough stress in his life. I didn’t need to be adding to his plate or start assuming I was special in any way.

After all, I wasn’t even the first woman he had done this with.

I was lying in bed after calling out sick again and my phone kept buzzing. I picked it up as I rubbed my eyes, seeing the messages rolling in from Graham. Everything from ‘how are you feeling?’ to ‘how long do you have to work today?’ had been sent, and I almost tossed my phone into the corner.

Until a very specific message came in.

My daughter has a ballet recital tonight at seven. Would you like to join us?

He was inviting me to one of his daughter’s recitals? Were his sons going to be there? I laid there in bed, reading the message over and over again. Why would he be inviting me to a family function? Didn’t he want to keep these parts of his life separate? That was what he said a week ago. Had something changed?

My fingers hovered above the keypad for what seemed like hours before I drew in a deep breath. If he wanted me to come to his daughter’s ballet production, then maybe this was him trying to show me he was in this for the long haul. Maybe he didn’t care about me, but this might’ve been his way of trying to show he was going to be there for this child. And who was I to deny the presence of this child’s father simply because I didn’t know where I stood with him? That was selfish of me, and I didn’t want to start motherhood by being selfish.