Page 72 of It Must Be Fate

I turn towards the sound of the voice and find Rogue coming towards me. He was further out into the field and seemingly attempting to fly a kite with Rhodes, but he comes in when he spots me. He’s almost running towards me but is doing his best to keep his pace as nonchalant as possible.

“Did you hear the news?” he asks when he’s level with me. “We did it. We’re having a girl,” he says boastfully.

Bellamy is five months pregnant but I didn’t know she was having her gender scan this week. A rare but brilliant smile splits his face. This may be the happiest I’ve ever seen him.

“Congrats, mate,” I say. “Since we’re sharing happy news, Nera’s pregnant again.”

The smile wipes off his face and he throws me a glare before walking off, cursing under his breath the entire way to his wife. I turn towards mine and find her dark eyes on me, a smile curling her lips after listening to that exchange. I wrap my arms around her and pull her into my chest.

“Thank fuck you’re pregnant again. I can’t have as many kids as Rogue, that smug asshole would never shut the fuck up about it.”

She snuggles into me, laughing openly.

My proudest achievement in life isn’t cutting off my father and going out on my own, it’s not the restaurants, it’s not even my children.

No, it’s the fact that I make Nera laugh.

Constantly.

For years, my wife struggled silently with crippling but high-functioning depression. It would have been hard for most to spot that she was unhappy, but it was there. Right beneath the surface and quietly killing her.

Watching her laugh her way through our relationship together has been the most rewarding part of the last ten years. I make her happy and that in turn fuels my own happiness more than anything else ever has.

We rarely spend the night apart because I hate it — I’m sure a therapist would diagnose me with PTSD stemming from the four months we were broken up — but if we have to, I use a recording of her laugh as my alarm so I can wake to the sound of her voice.

“They could keep going and have as many as us,” she points out unhelpfully.

My face drops.

“They better not.Bellamy!” I shout.

“Oh my god, Tristan, don’t call her ov—”

“Yes?” Bellamy asks, walking up to us.

“Are you going to have more kids after this one?” I ask.

Nera elbows me in the ribs and I wince.

“What?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” is her pointed reply.

“Oh, yes, congratulations,” I say. “Very happy for you and all that. Are you going to have another kid after this one?”

“God, no,” she answers, horrified. “He wanted a daughter and he’s getting one. We’re done after she’s born.”

I smirk, looking down at my wife and pulling her closer into my side. “Nice.”

Bellamy watches the exchange with a small smile on her lips. “Any reason you’re asking?”

“Not a reasonable one, I’m afraid,” Nera answers for me. There’s a smile on her lips when she continues. “My oaf of a husband wants to make sure he’ll have more children than yours so he can rub it in his face until the end of time. Something for us all to look forward to.”

Bellamy laughs, then looks at Nera. “Morechildren though? Is there something you want to tell me?”

I squeeze Nera in my arms, pick her up and twirl her around. “We’re expecting!” I crow happily.

“Ourlastbaby. We agreed,” she calls out mid-twirl.

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