SIX MONTHS LATER.

I smile at Rose as she pushed Toby's hair back. His thick mop of curls falls into his face, but he has a meltdown when we try to cut it. He has the most focused look on his face I've ever seen as he watches his brother move inside Rose's womb. His chubby hands come down over where a limb pushes up against her bare skin.

"Ka!" Toby shrieks excitedly, patting Rose's stomach.

Rose laughs and nods her head. "You found Luka's hand!" Toby looks pleased and pats Rose's belly again, searching for movement from his brother. I don't think he fully comprehends what's happening, but he loves watching her belly move. I do too, and I love watching the two of them together. I don't think my heart can get any fuller than it is now.

"Toby," Rose says ruffling his hair. He doesn't respond to her and keeps his eyes trained on her belly, but she tilts his head up. "It's bedtime, baby. We're gonna go have a bath," she says, shuffling forward to stand up from her spot, hitching him onto her hip.

"Do you want some help?" I ask getting up. Rose gives me an appreciative look and nods her head.

"Yea, I think I'm going to get in with him, so I'll need help getting in and out."

I chuckled quietly under my breath and went to get a change of pyjamas for Toby before heading into the bathroom. I crouched beside the tub while Rose undresses and play with Toby, pushing the rubber duck to him. This kid has laser focus when he sees something that he wants, so he zones in on the duck right away. Rose comes next to me and I help her in, watching her sink into the water with Toby.

"I can't believe how big he is getting," Rose says.

I hum and pull out the kids shampoo and start washing Toby's hair. Rose keeps him occupied so I can rinse his hair out and then work a little bit of conditioner into the ends of his hair. Without it, there is no running a brush through it.

"He is," I say as he plays with the water. I can see his eyes start to droop and I scoop him out of the water, wrapping him in a towel. Rose leaned forward and turned the hot water tap on, topping up the tub with water and relaxing back. I take Toby into our room and get him dressed before settling him in his crib. Toby goes down quickly and I head back into the bathroom to find Rose half asleep in the tub washing her hair. I get back down and take over for her, massaging her scalp.

"Looking forward to the baby shower this weekend?" I ask, rinsing the suds from her hair. Rose hums and hands me the conditioner. I work it into her hair and let it to sit, so I move to sit so I can look at her.

"I am, although I'm a little worried Lissa is going to go overboard. I think she's trying to make up for missing my pregnancy with Toby," Rose says, swirling the water with her fingers. I reach over the edge and rest my hand on her belly in the water, rubbing my thumb over the tight skin. I remember Rose being radiant when she was pregnant with Toby, but now she emits a glow that I've never seen. Pregnancy suits Rose so well, and I love seeing her heavy with my child. She runs her fingers over my hand and gives me a tired smile.

"I can understand that. She feels horrible about what happened," I reply moving my hand to follow the movements under the skin. Rose nods her head and rests it against the back of the tub.

"Alright, I need to rinse this out before I fall asleep," Rose mumbles. I move and rinse her hair out before helping her out of the tub and into the bedroom. Rose plops onto the bed in her towel and lays back but rolls onto her side. I chuckle and grab a shirt and some underwear for her. Rose sits up and gets dressed before crawling back into bed.

"I'll be in bed soon," I say kissing her head, but she's practically asleep already. I head into the living room and clean up the toys, putting away the books and straighten the throw blanket. I knock over one of the large books Rose is always looking at and find that it's not just a book, it's a scrapbook. I pick it up and look at the page its opened to and think back to the day that we found out we were expecting another baby.


SIX MONTHS PREVIOUS

I turn and look at Rose, trying to figure out how to defuse the situation with my mother-in-law. Rose groans and comes down the hall, tightening her housecoat around her.

"Toby is sleeping still, so keep your voice down. Come in and I'll explain," Rose says gesturing for her to come into the kitchen. I follow the two women into the kitchen and lean against the door before catching a glimpse of the test still sitting on the counter. I step forward and swipe it off, tucking it in my pocket just as Janine turned around with a coffee cup. Janine raises a brow at me before turning to look at Rose.

"Well?"

Rose leaned against the counter and explained the situation to her, giving the events to her in detail. Janine stayed quiet but watched the two of us under a heavy gaze. Rose finishes and heaves a sigh, looking from her to me. Janine sets her cup down on the counter and nods her head, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You both handled the situation well. If it were me I would have burned the city down looking for him," Janine states quietly. I shrug looking at Rose who seems both relieved and touched. She gets up and hugs her mom when we hear the telltale noise of Toby waking, and Janine pulls away.

"May I?" Janine asks. Rose nods and we watch Janine walk down the hallway and up the stairs. I wait until I hear the door open above us before pulling the test out and hand it to Rose. She scoffs and flips the test over, looking at the results. I watch her face, wanting her to be the one to tell me. I see the corners of her lips quirk up.

"Congrats Papa, you're gonna be a Dad again," Rose jokes showing me the test. Roes giggles and wraps her arms around me, resting her head against my chest. I smile and kiss the top of her head, mindful that her mother is just upstairs.

"I wonder how far along you are," I say softly, wrapping my arms around her. Rose shrugs and pulls away with a coy smile. "I can book an appointment after Mom leaves. But I think at least a month."

I pluck the test out of her hands as footsteps move overhead and I tuck it into her housecoat pocket. We both try to act like nothing has changed as Janine comes back in, but I have to hide my smile behind my cup.


PRESENT TIME (SIX MONTHS LATER)

Rose fans herself with one of the cards as she waits for Lissa to hand her the next gift. Early June and the heat is all but killing her. She had this problem when she was pregnant last time.

"How is it fair that Rose looks as good as she does pregnant when she's not?" Adrian asks, sipping his drink. I roll my eyes while Erik laughs with Christian. Traditionally only women come to baby showers, but Rose was having none of that. She wanted all her friends and family there as she won't be up to seeing people after her delivery.

"It's Rose, that's why," Amon pipes up handing beers to the rest of our group. The women all sitting with Rose while she opens gifts while the men sit in the sun. Well, Christian and Adrian are more in the shade. But Abe… Abe is right up in the gaggle of women helping Lissa with an excited smile. I think he is more excited than I am right now.

"Is Janine coming to stay with you two after the delivery? I remember Rose mentioning that she is having another c-section," Christian asks. I nod my head as I swallow my mouthful of beer. We discovered very early on in Rose's pregnancy that she would likely need another c-section. With that being said, we also have a toddler that will need attention too, so Janine offered to come and stay with us for a week or two to help us.

"That'll be helpful. When Emma had the twins it was so hard to keep up with Evie. You'll think you're going to be fine without her until you're up in the night twice as much for the two kids," Jasper pipes up from his place on the grass, hat tipped down over his face. I nod in agreeance and look up at Rose, as she opens another gift. I'm close enough to hear and see, but far enough away to pacify Lissa and her "women only" rule. Rose pulls up a set of onesies with zoo animals and marine animals. Lissa and Rose spent a whole day painting animals in the nursery last month, so I know that she is going to love those.

"What did Abe get the baby?"

I snort a laugh, "Abe went all out. He had a blanket made in Turkey with Luka's name embroidered in it. Turkish cotton I believe."

The group chuckle and shake their heads but understand just how excited grandparents can get over new babies, they all have kids bar Adrian.

"Why the lemon theme?" Adrian asks, batting one of the hanging streamers that hang over us. I chuckle because Rose has been obsessed with limes and lemons her whole pregnancy, eating them right out of the rind. Lissa took that into consideration and designed the whole baby shower to be citrus themed, right down to buy Rose a white dress covered in lemons and limes.

"Oh my god! These are so cute!" Rose squeals, pulling all of our attention back to her. She holds up a pair of pants that match her dress. They're so small, but I know that Rose is going to put Luka in them any chance she can get.

"You know what I don't get."

"What?"

"That we are all sitting outside in this weather, how is she not dying over there?"

"Because she's pregnant. Her body doesn't know what temperature it wants to be."

I roll my eyes and stand up, making my way over to Rose. I come to stand behind her and rub her shoulders as she opens a gift.

"Who is that from?" I ask. Rose frowns and shrugs and looks for the accompanying card.

"Oh," Lissa pipes up, "It's from Tatiana. She asked me to bring it on her behalf. There is something for Toby as well."

Rose makes a noise in the back of her throat but opens the bag. She pulls out two stuffed animals, an elephant and a monkey. Looking at the one of the feet on each, you can see Luka and Toby's names sown in. Rose awes quietly and rubs her fingers over the push fabric. Even looking at it I can tell that they're soft.

I dip my head down and kiss her head, but she turns and gives me a chaste kiss instead. Her smile is sweet and happy and I take a moment to take it in. She's been all smiles today which is nice considering that Lissa had brought up the topic of paternity for our baby. Rose had been vague about it and just said that we used the same donor, but I know that it bothers her that she can't tell Lissa the truth.

Rose smiles at me before setting the bag on the ground, stretching her arms over her head.

"Will you be an amazing husband and get me a bottle of water?" she asks sweetly, milking every ounce of servitude out of me today. I roll my eyes at her playfully and get one, cracking the seal for her before I and it to her.

"Is there much left to open?" I ask rubbing her shoulders. Janine snorts a laugh and points to the mountain of bright green wrapping paper. I raise my brows but Janine points at Lissa. Well, that explains that.

I catch Lissa's glance and she raises her brows at me, telling me that I either need to sit down here or sit down with the men. I squeeze Rose's shoulders and head back to my friends.

"Lissa kick you out?" Christian asks with a laugh. I laugh in response and sit down.

"I'm back here, aren't I?"


Rose opens the door and heads in before me, trying to be as quiet as possible not to let Toby know we are home yet. I follow behind her and set the carrier down and unbuckle Luka. He's surprisingly awake and looks up at me as I lift him out, kissing his little mouth as I do. I haven't gotten enough of him yet and it's been two days already. Rose giggles quietly behind me and wraps her arms around my waist, resting her cheek against my arm as she peers around me.

"I can't wait to see his reaction," she whispers looking at Luka. Delivery went a lot smoother than last time, but we had a date and time booked. Plus, we knew what was going to happen or we didn't feel the need to worry.

Rose slips around and holds her hands out to take Luka while I head further into the house. I make it up to Toby's bedroom where I find him and Janine reading books. Janine gives me a smile and taps Toby's leg, pointing to me when he looks. The look of excitement warms my heart when he sees me and he reaches his hand out for me. I cross the room and scoop him up and toss him in the air before catching him, kissing his cheek.

"Were you good for Nana?" I ask as I kiss his cheek again.

"He was perfect, as always."

I hum and perch him on my hip before turning to Janine. "Rose and Luka are downstairs," I say and walk out, bringing my little man to meet his little brother. Janine follows me and I hear her small intake of breath when her eyes land on Rose and Luka. Rose gives Toby a big smile and I lean over so she can kiss his head before I sit next to her.

"Toby," Rose says softly as she adjusts Luka against her shoulder, "Meet your brother."

Rose pulls Luka away and turns him over so Toby can look at him. Toby doesn't seem to know what he wants to do as he looks from Rose to Luka. Then he puts his hand out and pats Luka's leg and furrows his brow. It's quite comical because he doesn't really know what's going on, but a big toothy grin crosses his face and he flings himself forwards. I tighten my hold on him so he can't fall onto Luka, but he squirms and wiggles his little body, his arms stretched out as he babbles.

Rose moves a little closer and lifts Luka enough for Toby to make contact, and he rests his head on Luka's stomach, patting his arms.

"Ka?"

Rose bursts into laughter and nods her head, "Yes, that's Luka."

Toby squeals and continues to pat Luka's arms and talks to his brother excitedly as best as he can. Janine sits down across from us, a fond look on her face.

"Isn't that a sight," she says. I flick my eyes up to her and nod, returning the smile. Rose pulls Toby out of my arms while moving Luka so she can have Toby in her lap. It's a sight to see the three of them together, and it's something that will be burned into my memory forever. My little family.


Hello hello! I'm sorry for the delay on this chapter! Busy busy week(s). I finally got my Christmas shopping done and now I can relax a little bit. This chapter is not edited so if there are errors, I apologize.

This will be the last chapter before the epilogue. It's sad to see this come to an end, but all things must come here.

Let me know what you think!:)