Quadruplets Make Six

“Just listen. I promise it’ll make sense,” Libby said.

I had to admit, I was intrigued with where she was going as well.

“This handsome prince was trapped in his castle, pulled between his duties and his loneliness. He felt trapped, alone in his world with nothing to do but work to pass his time. Then one day, a beautiful woman comes stumbling into the castle from the cold. The King is harsh to her. Tries to turn her away and send her back out into the snow.”

“Stupid king,” Deacon said.

“Beat him up!” Daniel said.

“And that’s what the prince wanted to do,” Libby said. “He was appalled. He told his father he couldn’t simply turn a young woman back out into the cold. She’d get sick! But the King still washed his hands of it, telling his son that if he wanted to bring her in, she was his responsibility.”

“Next?” Deacon asked.

“What happened next was this,” Libby said. “She came into the castle and went up to the prince’s tower. She saw how lonely he was and how hard he worked. So, she decided to try and get the prince to have fun. And they had lots of it. Playing tag in the dark corridors. Eating way too much food. Pillow fights.”

“Pillow fights!” Daniel said.

“Snack?” Deacon asked.

“In the morning when you get up,” Libby said with a smile. “But the prince and the woman from the cold? They had a lot of fun. So much fun, in fact, that the prince wanted to keep her around. Forever.”

“Trap her?” Daniel asked.

“No, he didn’t want to trap her. He wanted to marry her,” Libby said.

“Like you and Daddy,” Deacon said.

“Like me and Daddy, yes,” she said. “The prince proposed, the woman from the cold accepted, and despite anything and everything people told them, they lived happily ever after.”

“‘Nother one?” Daniel asked.

“Sorry, boys. Now it’s time for bed,” Libby said.

“Please?” Deacon asked.

>

“I thought I heard something about Daddy reading you two stories tomorrow night. I’ll make sure to hold him to it.”

Libby looked back at me and winked as I gazed upon her beautiful form. She kissed the boys goodnight and walked to me, her eyes sparkling with delight. She switched their light off and closed the door behind her, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

“Interesting that you didn’t make the woman a princess,” I said.

“Why would she have to be a princess in order to marry a prince?” she asked.

I went to dip my lips to hers just as Charlotte started crying. I snickered and shook my head, then placed my forehead against Libby’s.

“Is Lizzie in bed?” I asked.

“Out like a light, cuddling with Mozart as usual,” she said. “But Charlotte’s being a little difficult tonight. I don’t know if we should leave her.”

“I heard that,” the nanny said. “And the two of you are fine. Get out of here before you miss your reservations at the restaurant.”

“But what if Charlotte needs me?” Libby asked.

“She’s always going to need you. You’re her mother. But I need you, too. Charlotte’s almost a year old and you need time to decompress. She’s been a difficult child.”

“What if she gets sick again, Graham?”