The moment his eyes found hers, the smile on his face brightened, his eyes widened with an awe she would never tire of as he took in her, once again, rounded form.
‘We’re going to have to stop at three, you know,’ she warned in a voice still low from trying to settle her unruly daughter.
‘Why?’ he said, as if he would never tire of seeing her pregnant, of meeting the children they bore, of increasing the amount of love each time within their family. It seemed in almost never-ending supply.
‘Because I want you to myself for a while,’ she mock growled as he pressed a kiss to her cheek.
‘You can have as much of me as you like, for however long you like. I am here, yours, always and for ever.’
‘It’s words like that that got me in this situation in the first place,’ she moaned, her hands sweeping down around her bump. Their third child was due in a few months’ time and neither parent could wait to meet the new addition to the family.
‘I will keep saying them until they stop working,’ her husband insisted.
‘I want to see Auntie Célia and my cousins,’ Tatiana announced, jumping up and down, despite the late hour.
‘And we will, but tomorrow, sweetheart. Now, it’s time for bed.’
‘Nope. Not time for bed.’
‘Yes, time for bed,’ Roman chimed in, walking into his daughter’s bedroom and sitting at the bottom of her bed. ‘And you know what that means?’
‘Story, story, story,’ exclaimed Tatiana as Adeline clapped her hands together with as much co-ordination as an eighteen-month-old could manage.
‘I believe it’s your turn, wife,’ Roman announced with a smile full of satisfaction and happiness. Ella believed that he loved this nightly routine almost more than the girls did.
‘No, surely you’re mistaken. It was my turn last night.’
‘No, Maman, last night was The Frog Prince. It’s your turn tonight.’
‘And what story would you like to hear?’
‘My favourite one, silly.’
Roman growled softly, and Tatiana looked apologetic enough for long enough, before reaching out a hand towards Ella to pull her on to the bed. Dorcas stalked over to her doggy bed in the corner of the room, seemingly content that she had successfully herded her entire family into one room.
As she sat down on the edge of the bed, next to her husband and children, Ella felt wrapped in a cocoon of unconditional love. Her family, all joyous, beautiful, beaming, happy and safe.
‘Once upon a time, there was a sweet little maiden and whoever laid eyes upon her couldn’t help but love her, nor help but remark on the beautiful red velvet cape her grandmother had given her...’
She looked at her husband and he didn’t need to hear the words that cried through her heart straight to his. For Ella did believe in fairy tales now that they’d both found their happy-ever-after.
* * *
Wrapped up in the drama of Taming the Big Bad Billionaire? Enter Pippa Roscoe’s passionate world with these other stories!
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Claimed for the Greek’s Child
Reclaimed by the Powerful Sheikh
Virgin Princess’s Marriage Debt
Demanding His Billion-Dollar Heir
Available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from The Flaw in His Marriage Plan by Tara Pammi.