Page 252 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

“We know it’s what you want.” his father said with an arrogance Matt couldn’t dispute as it was the truth.

“Dad.”

“Fine, we won’t speak of it again.” William conceded, wholly querulous in his manner. “We only want what’s best for you, well, for you both.”

“As do I,” Matt retorted. “I want what’s best for us and our children but I’m not going to coerce Madison into something she might not want.”

“Coerce? Why wouldn’t she want to remarry you? You’remyson and a damned good catch. What about Ethan and Eva?”

Matt stiffened, the tension already building in his body as he asked in an empty voice. “What about them?”

“Whose surname will they have? Will you need a custody agreement? What provisions have you put in place for your family? What if Madison meets someone new…you’re not married so there’s no obligation to-”

“Willie,” Portia interrupted him in a calm voice which warred with her irritated expression. “Matthew is fully capable of making his own decisions. I would like to enjoy spending time with our new grandchildren without it descending into a fight.”

“I’m not fighting,” William explained as he held Ethan close. “These things matter, they really do-”

“William, we’re the last people to counsel our son on marriage.” Portia’s sharp reprimand halted William in his tracks. “They’ll work it out between them.”

A deep flush crept up his face and he avoided their eyes for a few minutes before he forced a smile to his face and gestured to the sleeping baby his wife held. “Shall we swap now? I haven’t held Eva as yet.”

Matt rubbed the back of his neck, trying his best to retain his good mood. He looked on as his parents swapped babies and whatever annoyance he felt simply melted away. They left not long after, the babies were now in the crib and lying as close to each other aspossible. Matt stood over the crib and fell back into a state of pure wonder as he watched them sleep. They were perfect, and he had never been this happy before.

I was in love with Matt. Completely and understandably in love. It was some ungodly hour in the early morning and Eva refused to go back to sleep. Matt had been trying to get her to settle for the past couple of hours. Patiently walking the length of the nursery with her in his arms while he hummed under his breath in an attempt to calm her down. I sat up against the pillows and observed him through the adjoining double doors that linked the master bedroom to the nursery. Matt had gutted and redone the two rooms closest to the master bedroom of his Kensington home into one huge nursery for the twins. Neither one of us wanted to be too far from them.

At ten weeks old the babies were much bigger now in terms of size, as were my boobs. I grimaced and glanced at the offending glands sticking out under my top. Who’d have thought that after years of boob envy, I would despise big boobs on myself? Breastfeeding was hard work and I didn’t know how much longer I could keep it up, but Matt was so proud of me. He still got that mushy look on his face whenever he watched me feeding them, and it still freaked me out.

We were co-parenting, co-habiting, and since last week, co-sexing, if that was a real word. Yay! Of course, it hadn’t gone exactly to plan. My loaded boobs had squirted a stream of milk directly into his face when he started fiddling with them. I hadn’t been keen for any boob play, they were a source of food now and I mentioned my unease to Matt, but he begged and I conceded, then he got milk in his eye. To his credit he hadn’t freaked out, but his ‘bloody hells’ were a tad sharp. I had laughed until the tears ran from my eyes. After cleaning off the milk, we resumed our eager lovemaking but I got nervous when it came to the final act and Matt had to spend some time assuring me it would feel the same. The words ‘kids destroyed my vag’ kept flashing before my eyes. The babies had woken up by then for a feed, so I did my motherly duty and popped them on my boobs. I ended up dozing off with them on the boobs, Matt woke me up and we put them back in the nursery. They were darlings when they slept, that meant we both stood gawping at them for a while beforeheading back to bed and our interrupted sexing. Not wanting to waste any more time, Matt and I got straight down to business. It was quick, a bit uncomfortable, and slightly disappointing. Matt had collapsed by my side, frowning as he apologized for my lack of climax. Two days later he came home from the office earlier than expected and wearing a determined expression. He helped me get the twins settled then spent the next two hours with me in bed. Two delicious, uninterrupted hours of reacquainting ourselves with each other’s bodies. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and came all over the place. Matt had laid his head on my stomach afterwards and smiled in satisfaction. It was wonderful, he was wonderful, and I wanted things to never change for us.

I slid out from under the warm sheets and tiptoed through the adjoining doors and into the nursery. Matt sent a tired smile my way while he rubbed Eva’s back. I checked on Ethan who continued to sleep but it was fitful. His stirring meant we probably had twenty minutes tops before he woke up screaming.

“Matt?” Moving away from the crib, I stood in his way and squinted up at him. “Do you want to get married?”

Matt arched an eyebrow at me, pressed a light kiss to Eva’s head and grinned. “If that’s a proposal,” he whispered back. “I’ll be honest and admit it’s a bit flat.”

My squint turned into a proper scowl and he leaned over to kiss my nose, mindful of Eva in his arms.

“Do you want to get married, poppet?” he asked.

Ethan let out a tiny snuffle and Matt grimaced. He took Eva back to the crib and settled her down next to her brother then beckoned me over. I made my way to his side and he slid his arms around my waist in a loose hug. I couldn’t resist rubbing my face in his bare chest before leaning back to see his face.

“I don’t know.” I really didn’t. “Do you think we should? Things are good the way they are right now.”

Matt pursed his lips, then chewed on the bottom one. “They are. What do you want to do? I’m happy with us,” He glanced at the crib. “As long as the four of us are together, I don’t care one jot either way. Did my parents say something?”

I shook my head. It wasn’t his family, but mine. My aunt to be precise. Aunt Cleo and Uncle David had flown over to England when the twins were only a week old. They stayed for three weeks and Iloved every moment of having them here. Even the initially strained get together Matt’s parents had arranged a few days after their arrival. Grumps was on his best behaviour, I was certain Matt had threatened to kill him in his sleep if he insulted my family. Portia and Aunt Cleo had a tense moment over cuddling the twins. A really tense minute where they side-eyed each other until Natty and Nicki jumped the queue and picked up their cousins. I quietly reminded Aunt Cleo there were two of them and to stop using her death stare on my ex-mother-in-law. The next thing I knew, they were laughing and chatting while swapping babies every fifteen minutes. Aunt Cleo later told me she felt sad for Portia and when I asked her why, she had just shook her head and patted my shoulder. The night before they left, Aunt Cleo had helped me give the twins their bath and took the opportunity to question me about the future. I didn’t have any answers for her. She asked if Matt and I loved each other and when I confirmed we did, she smiled and told me not to be so afraid to be happy. Aunt Cleo was the perfect example of how to forgive and forget, she had done so with Matt and he had gone out of his way to be the best ex-nephew-in-law…was that a real title? Painstakingly working with a determination to reinstate himself in the ranks of my family. Forgive and forget. I still brought up the ‘theft’ of my memory box whenever he irritated me, it usually ended any arguments in my favour. If I really wanted to shut him up, or wanted to get away with murder, all I had to do was refer to his ex. I could trade on his mistake for the rest of our lives perhaps. Was it terrible of me? Yes, it was. Did I worry my inability to completely let it go now we were together would cause future problems? Of course I did. Would I ever stop bringing it up when it served my purpose? Who the hell knew, sometimes punishment was good. Spare the rod and spoil the child…the man…look, I’d get over it when I was damned well ready. But back to the proposal.

“What do you want to do?” I asked.

Matt grinned then shrugged his broad shoulders. “If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”

“You don’t want to?” The slight edge of disbelief in my voice didn’t go unnoticed by Matt.

He shrugged again and unhooked his clasped hands to rest them on my hips. “What I want doesn’t matter-”

“It does.” My interruption was a bit loud and Matt shushed mewhilst glancing nervously at our babies. Eva was finally starting to doze off next to Ethan. He had wriggled around in his sleep so they laid with their heads together. So very sweet.

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