I am so sorry it took me this long to upload chapter two. I have no real excuse, considering this was written in December. I've just been insanely busy and it took me this long to remember/find the time to edit it and upload it.
Again, I'm really sorry, and I hope you enjoy chapter two of "Daddies," in which you meet Lily and Justin, the Amos-Brightman twins.
"Dad! Make waterfall!"
"Again, again!"
Charlie grinned down at the small blondes splashing and giggling in the bathtub. They paused occasionally, staring up at him with pale, twinkling blue eyes that were mirror images of their fathers'. He quickly gave in to their request, scooping water into a cup and pouring it gently over their curly heads, laughing when they squealed with delight.
"Again," two-year-old Justin giggled, splashing at his twin sister. "Lily me want again!"
Lily nodded happily, grinning up at him. Chaz shook his head and smiled, pouring them their "waterfall" for at least the tenth time since he'd put them in the tub. They chattered cheerfully to each other, playing with their tiny boats and dolls and washcloths. Their antics accounted for the large, dark splotches of water covering Charlie's front.
"Dad?" Lily asked suddenly, blinking up at him.
"Yes, Lil?"
"Where Daddies?"
"Daddies are in the living room trying to get Lucy to go night night," Charlie smiled.
"Lu go night night?" Justin echoed, pausing his game of making whirring noises at his toy submarine.
"Yes, Lu's going night night," Charlie repeated, kissing their wet curls. "And in a minute, you and Lily are going night night too."
"No!" Lily cried loudly, eyes wide.
"Lily me no go night night!" Justin insisted, determination etched onto his little round face.
"We stay up with Daddies!"
"And Dad!"
Charlie chuckled, grabbing soft towels and scooping them both out, bundling them up tightly.
"You two are going to bed, just like me and Daddies and Lucy." The tiny balls of energy in his arms squirmed and wriggled weakly, still protesting. He easily carried them the ten or so feet from their bathroom into their bedroom, laying Lily in her crib and expertly diapering, lotioning, and wrestling pajamas onto Justin before quickly doing the same to his youngest daughter. When they were both in bed and glaring up at him, he grinned and rubbed their damp heads.
"You have to go to sleep, jelly beans. If you don't sleep, you won't wake up, and in the morning we're going to the zoo, remember?" Their expressions went from dark to sunny in five seconds flat.
"Aminals?"
"Bear?"
"Pengins?"
"Tigers?"
Charlie laughed, gently laying the twins back against their pillows, tucking them in.
"Yes," he agreed softly, "we'll see all the animals. But first, bed."
"But Dad," Justin began.
"Firsty," Lily continued.
"Need milk!"
"Alright, I'll go get you some milk, and then you are going to go nuh-night," Chaz told them, clicking on their night light, small blue stars suddenly being projected onto the soothing green of their walls and ceiling. They nodded happily, and he headed down the stairs, grinning when he saw his husbands beginning to carry Lucy upstairs. The four-year-old was lying limply in Evan's arms, her long, fine brown hair spread all over her face and her father's chest. Her usually bright and curious eyes were closed peacefully.
"J and Lil asleep?" Ethan whispered softly, smiling at Charlie.
"Just about," the ex-Prefect breathed. "They're 'firsty.'" Evan and Ethan chuckled quietly, continuing the careful walk to their oldest child's bedroom. Charlie watched them, smiling to himself. The twins looked almost exactly like Eth and Ev, with the exception of their soft ringlets, and it made him foolishly happy. They acted almost exactly like their fathers, too, though they did not seem as hell-bent against separation as the Tweedles always had been. His heart nearly burst from pride and joy every time he thought of them, Lucy, or his husbands, which, he wouldn't hesitate to say, was a large part of the time.
Charlie padded softly to the kitchen and warmed up two sippee cups of milk, leaning against the counter. While he waited, he looked around, eyes going soft at the crayon drawings, finger paintings, pre-school worksheets, and many family pictures covering their fridge and the large bulletin board that hung next to it. While the house was large and impressive (though small by the standards of Colin and Helen and some of their old Dalton schoolmates), the result of the ridiculously enormous Brightman fortune and his own salary as a player for the Chicago Fire, he and his husbands had decided when they had it built that they'd make it as homey and comforting and normal as possible. None of them wanted their children to grow up in a cold, vast estate or a show house that felt like a hotel. However, their home naturally had some Brightman flair throughout it, in the form of a hidden ball pit, (accessed by tube slide, just like in their old room) a swimming pool with its own lazy river and waterfall, and a garden Wonderland filled with roses, lilies, and all kinds of wildflowers, a maze, and a small cottage tucked away right in the thick of it (which the kids had no knowledge of and hopefully never would, as Charlie, Ethan, and Evan used that for much needed alone time).
He noted there were a few dishes in the sink and made a mental note to do them when the kids were all asleep. Another thing they'd agreed on was that they'd raise their babies and take care of their house by themselves, with no help (alright, except for the pool boy and the occasional babysitter) until it became too difficult to manage or stopped being what was best for the family. Charlie doubted it would. However, getting the admittedly spoiled Brightman twins to clean a house and pick up after themselves wasn't easy at first, and the initial months after their wedding and subsequent move into the house had been filled with a fair amount of spats over the matter. Of course, they never lasted long, and it was only a matter of time before the three were kissing (and… "kissing") all over the place once more.
The insistent beep of the microwave snapped him out of his reverie, and as he put the tops onto the kitty and puppy sippees, he heard Evan and Ethan step into the kitchen.
"We peeked at Lily and Justin," Ethan said.
"They're very nearly asleep," Evan continued.
"They'll probably be out like lights as soon as you give them their milk."
Charlie smiled and kissed them sweetly.
"I'll be right back, then."
"Don't be long," they winked. He grinned and headed upstairs, face softening and heart melting as he noted that both his daughter's and his son's eyes were heavy, their little hands clasped through the bars of their cribs. He gently handed them the milk, smiling as their eyes closed completely the moment they started drinking, soft sucking noises filling the otherwise peaceful room. He leaned over, pressing feather-light kisses to their foreheads, before walking out of their room and down to his waiting loves. The Tweedles grinned.
"So, the kids are asleep?"
Charlie nodded, eyes twinkling.
"What should we do now, your majesty?"
"Why don't we take a bath?" Chaz suggested, pulling them close.