Here is a short (maybe) little story to hold you over while I work on the MusaxRiven story. Thank you for all of the kind words on The Teacher and I hope that you enjoy this nice, fun, story.

Brandon and Stella- Joys of Parenting

The sound of screaming babies filled the house as Stella and Brandon each held one of their twins.

"Why won't you just sleep?" Stella groaned and whined as she rocked Lucia in her arms. She looked over to Brandon as he was busy trying to quiet Ciaran in his arms. It was like the twins had a joint plan to send their parents over the edge.

Stella ran her hand across the top of Lucia's little head, her short blonde hair soft against her fingers as she tried to soothe her daughter. "Please, my sweet, beautiful, precious, LOUD daughter, sleep!"

"Stella I don't think that is going to work." Brandon gave an exhausted sigh as he bounced Ciaran.

"I'm just so tired," Stella whined as she threw her head back, her matted blonde hair falling back from its loosened bun, "I am willing to try anything. With how loud they are, I thought that they were Musa's children."

"Musa is not the only loud one of you girls." Brandon narrowed his eyes towards his wife.

"Are you saying that I am loud?" Stella glared at Brandon.

"I am and that is one of the countless reasons that I love you. At least our kids get their loudness honestly." Brandon chuckled.

Stella turned back around and rolled her eyes. While she would deal with her husband and his smart mouth later, all she wanted was to get her children to sleep so she could get some herself.

"Stella," Brandon closed the space between him and his wife as he held out the free arm that wasn't holding a screaming Ciaran, "I'll take Lucia. You go and get some sleep."

"I am their mother and you know that I cannot sleep with them screaming. Something about a woman super sensitive hearing to a child's cry." Stella sighed as she continued to rock Lucia.

"You need the sleep, Stella." Brandon gave his wife a sympathetic look.

He felt bad that while he was at work, she was at home with Lucia and Ciaran along with working from home on her designs. Brandon longed to be more useful but it was hard when Stella was so determined to be the perfect mother. But he kept trying to tell her that it was important for her to take a break.

"Brandon, I have to-"

"What you need to do is get some sleep." Brandon's voice turned serious as he looked at his wife and held out his arm again, "Now give me my daughter, march upstairs, and get your cute butt to bed."

"Oh, so now she is your daughter. Just a few hours ago when she was spitting up on you she was my daughter." Stella teased as she handed over a screaming Lucia who was now holding both babies.

"Of course." Brandon chuckled as he began to rock and bounce both of the children.

"I guess she does make the same stupid face that you make when you both are frustrated." Stella laughed causing Brandon to purse his lips and squint his eyes.

"Just get to bed."

Brandon watched as Stella begrudgingly made her way up the stairs, reluctant to leave her two babies with her husband. When he heard the door shut, he turned around and made his way into the kitchen where he balanced the babies in his muscular arms and pulled out the extra formula from the refrigerator. Warming up the bottles, Brandon rocked the twins in his arms and prayed that Stella could not hear their screaming. But knowing her attachment to them as a mother, Brandon knew that Stella was doing everything in her power not to charge down the stairs and steal away with her children.

The bottles were now warm as Brandon took the bottles and the babies back into the living room. He placed Ciaran into his small bassinet as he seemed to have calmed down a little bit and sat in the large plush chair that Stella had gotten as a gift from Aisha at the baby shower. Holding Lucia and her bottle, Brandon began to feed the screaming baby.

He smiled as Lucia quickly latched on and began to feed. The screamings stopped and the house was filled with only the sound of her suckling and Ciaran's quieted cries. Much better than screaming.

"You know," Brandon smiled as he looked down at his blonde daughter, "if you were hungry you should have just told me and I would have been on top of it pronto."

Lucia slowly began to close her hazel eyes and it was then that he saw the immediate resemblance to his wife.

"I'm going to have to beat the boys off of you aren't I, little one? Or girls, I wouldn't judge because you are my daughter and that makes you perfect and too good for anyone." Brandon chuckled.

He then looked over to his son and smiled as he was glad that he had gotten his brown hair but everything else was Stella. His eyes, his nose, his smile, and his full cheeks were all Stella. And Brandon was glad. Glad that his children looked more like their mother than him because Stella was the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen. He counted himself lucky everyday that she had said yes to him and was his wife, had his children.

Lucia stopped sucking at the bottle and fell asleep. Pulling the bottle gently out of her mouth, Brandon set the bottle on the table and slowly rose to his feet. He placed Lucia in her bassinet and pulled Ciaran out of his where he returned to his seat and began to feed Ciaran.

Finally, it was silent, save for the suckling coming from Ciaran. Brandon felt himself relax as his son ate and kicked his feet around in excitement. He really loved to eat, just like his mother. Stella told Bradon that Ciaran was going to be a big boy like him but Brandon secretly wished that both of his children would stay little forever. Anytime he thought about any of them growing up, Brandon could just imagine the gray hair and the arguments that he would get into with his children.

The feet kicking and the sound of suckling stopped as Ciaran eventually joined his older by thirteen minutes sister in sleep. Brandon removed the half full bottle from his mouth and stood up and placed Ciaran back into his bassinet. With both babies asleep, Brandon retreated back into the kitchen to put away the bottles and he pulled out his phone.

Scrolling through his contacts, Brandon pressed on a name and held the phone up to his ear.

"Hey, Sky, it's Brandon."

Brandon walked through the front door of his house on a late Friday afternoon to be welcome to the common sound of two crying babies. It was like they knew when he was coming home.

"I'm home!" Brandon called out as he shut the door behind him. The sound of footsteps and crying intensifying approached as Stella came into view with Ciaran in tow. "Where is Lucia?"

"Currently crying in her bassinet." Stella sighed as she bounced a crying Ciaran.

Brandon loosened his tie as he gave Stella a kiss on the forehead and made his way over to his daughter. The minute that he had picked her up, she stopped crying and Lucia melted into a deep sleep in his arms.

"Oh, of course she falls asleep for you." Stella rolled her eyes as she continued to rock a crying Ciaran.

"What can I say? She's a Daddy's Girl." Brandon smirked as he looked down at Lucia's sleeping face.

"Too bad Ciaran is not a Mama's Boy. He has been crying all afternoon." Stella sighed, "I didn't even get a chance to shower. Or get dinner started."

"I know that you have your hands full with these two."

"I just...I feel...I don't...I just feel like I can't do anything right." Stella groaned as she looked down at Ciaran. "They sleep for you and all they do is cry for me. They love you and I just feel like a terrible mother. None of the other girls had this problem."

Brandon took a step over to his wife as she looked to be on the verge of tears.

"I am just so tired, Brandon."

Brandon set Lucia into her bassinet before wrapping his arms around Stella and a crying Ciaran.

"I can't even imagine the stress that you are under but you are an amazing mother. I don't ever want to hear you call yourself a terrible mother again. Do you understand?"

Stella looked up at Brandon, her amber eyes filled with tears. She nodded her head and Brandon smiled at Stella and took the small boy from her arms. If as on cue, Ciaran stopped crying.

"Now you are just showing off." Stella wiped her eyes and let out a small laugh.

The doorbell rang and Brandon walked to the front door, a large smile spread across his face as he opened it to see Bloom and Sky standing there.

"Oh give me my godson!" Bloom grabbed Ciaran from Brandon as she stepped into the house.

"Well hello to you too, Bloom." Brandon rolled his eyes as Sky placed a hand on Brandon's shoulder.

"You know how she gets around babies." Sky sighed as he walked into the house. Sky looked over at his wife who was beginning to show, pregnant with their second child.

Brandon and Sky walked into the living room where Bloom was sitting in the large chair with a sleeping Ciaran in her arms.

"As much as I enjoy seeing the both of you, what are you doing here?" Stella asked as she looked at her best friend and her husband.

"I called in a favor." Brandon answered.

"A favor?"

"We are taking the kids for the night." Bloom smiled as she rocked Ciaran.

"What?!" Stella exclaimed as she marched over to Brandon. "Taking the kids for the night? But-"

"Stella, relax. Everything will be alright." Brandon placed a hand on his wife's arm and began to rub it up and down.

"Brandon, I haven't been without my children. I am always with them." Stella sighed.

"And it has been nearly nine months. You deserve to have a night where you can and Brandon can relax together." Sky said.

"And you two don't mind? What about little Michael?" Stella asked, knowing that Bloom and Sky were usually busy with their two year old.

"Spending the night with Aisha and Nabu. You know how much Michael loves Darya." Bloom rolled her eyes.

"And here I thought that our children would end up together and we really would become family." Stella giggled.

"Well," Bloom looked over to Sky, "we are having a little girl."

"A girl?!" Stella exclaimed as she ran over to Bloom.

"Yeah, we just found out a few days ago. We were going to tell everyone at Tecna's birthday celebration in two weeks but I thought that we would tell you right now. I just couldn't hold it in."

"Congratulations, Bloom." Stella smiled and then looked over to Sky, "You too, Sky."

"Thanks, Stella. But I have no idea what to do with a girl." Sky sighed.

"Oh, Brandon could teach you and then you will be raising a Daddy's Girl in no time." Stella teased as she turned her attention to her husband.

Brandon scoffed and looked toward Sky, "She is going to have you wrapped around her little finger."

"Especially if she's anything like her mother." Sky smiled as he looked at his wife.

Brandon gave a small nod of understanding as he looked at his wife, "Stella, I am going to head upstairs and grab a bag for Bloom and Sky."

"Are you sure that-"

"Stella," Brandon made his way over to the stairs, "they are going and we are going to have an amazing night."

"Stella!" Brandon called out from their bedroom as Stella was getting ready after a shower in their bathroom, "Are you almost ready?"

Brandon adjusted the collar on his gray button up when he heard the faint sounds of crying coming from the bathroom. He immediately turned on his heels and barged into the bathroom where he saw Stella sitting on the closed lid of the toilet, the towel still wrapped around her body. She was crying as she held her head in her hands.

"What in the world is going on? What is wrong?" Brandon asked as he crouched down on the bathroom floor.

"I am so ugly." Stella responded through sobs.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Look at me, Brandon. Dark circles and bags under my arms, my stomach is riddled with stretch marks, my ass is huge, and my breasts...I don't even want to talk about my breasts. I don't know what you see in me anymore."

"Stella, you are just as beautiful as the day that I met you. Maybe even more beautiful knowing that the changes in your body are because you have given me two wonderful, beautiful, and perfect children. You are radiant, Stella and I am so lucky to call you my wife."

Stella looked at Brandon, her eyes red and her face puffy. He had been so patient with her and everyday that she was with him, the more she questioned whether she deserved him. He had been the perfect husband and father, she just wished that she could be half as amazing as he was.

"When I married you, I promised you that I would love you in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, and until death do us part. I love all of your stretch marks, the bags and dark circles under your eyes, the way that you nearly tore my head off when I said that Ciaran and Lucia were going to be spending the night with Bloom and Sky. And I will never complain about your ass getting fatter. If I do, assume something is wrong with me."

Brandon rose to his feet and held out his hands towards his wife. Stella grabbed on and Brandon pulled her up from the toilet.

"Brandon," Stella sighed, "I don't want to go out tonight. I hope you aren't too upset."

"Who are you and what have you done with the real Stella?" Brandon teased.

"I'm serious." Stella rolled her eyes and slapped Brandon on the chest, "I would rather just stay in. I just want to enjoy a quiet house for as long as I can."

"Alright, Stella." Brandon placed a kiss on her cheek, "A night in sounds lovely."

Brandon and Stella made their way out of the bathroom and back into their bedroom where Stella put on one of Brandon's large t-shirts and a pair of her underwear. As Brandon began to strip out of his button up shirt and his slacks, Stella couldn't help but to stare.

"What?" Brandon chuckled.

"It's just not fair." Stella pouted.

"And what is not fair?" Brandon asked as he pulled the shirt from his body.

"That you managed to stay that good looking while I look like this."

"I am also not the badass who pushed two children out of me. Nothing could be hotter than that."

"Even when I was cursing and screaming at you?" Stella teased.

"Don't forget when you nearly tore my hand from my wrist when you were pushing."

"Well I needed something to hold onto when I was pushing." Stella crawled across the bed and wrapped her arms around Brandon.

He sighed as his arms wrapped around her waist, "So you think I still look good then?"

"Of course I do, Brandon. Just as cute as the day I met you. Well, you definitely are a lot hotter than you were at sixteen."

"Now look at us, old and we are parents. Who would have thought?" A laugh escaped from Brandon's mouth.

"Well, if it is any consolation, we do make some pretty cute kids."

"What else would you have expected? Their parents are super hot."

Stella smacked Brandon's arm and fell back onto the bed. Brandon joined Stella in the bed and wrapped his arms around his wife, her back against his chest and her butt tucked into the dip between his torso and legs. She could feel the hard bulge growing in his boxers as she snuggled against him.

"And here I thought that you were tired." Brandon whispered into Stella's ear.

"I am never too tired for you, Brandon." Stella giggled. Her hips began to grind harder against Brandon, a moan releasing from his lips. His half hard erection became stiffer and stiffer as Stella moved. It had been over a year since the couple had been intimate at all. Stella had no intentions of making any kind of move on Brandon, but the minute that she felt him against her, she felt a rush of pleasure overcome her body.

Brandon grabbed Stella's hips and flipped her around to her back before he bent down and pressed his lips to Stella's. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she moaned as the kiss heated up. She missed this.

His hands roamed around her body, taking in every curve and the dips in the skin of her hips caused by the stretch marks. Stella shuddered under his touch and did her best not to pull away as his strong hands ran over the evidence of her changing body. Soon, his hands moved underneath the shirt that Stella was wearing and his hands cupped her breasts.

Stella began to move her hips against Brandon's and his hands moved back down towards her hips right away. He pulled down her cotton underwear and threw it across the room to land unceremoniously in the corner.

Stella raised a leg and with her foot, began to kick down the hem of Brandon's boxers, desperate to rid him of the intrusive fabric. Brandon quickly came to Stella's aid and took off the boxers and they joined Stella's underwear in the corner.

"Wait," Stella panted as she pulled away from Brandon. She rolled over to the bedside table and opened the drawer, pulling out a wrapped condom and handing it to Brandon, "Flora might be able to handle popping out babies one after another but I don't have half of her patience."

"You don't have to tell me twice. Lucia and Ciaran are more than enough...for now." Brandon smirked before he ripped open the wrapper and slid the condom down his hard shaft.

Lining himself up with Stella, Brandon pushed in and did the best he could not to collapse over Stella. Both of them were still as they became reacquainted with the feeling of being connected with one another in such an intimate way.

After a few moments passed, Stella began to move her hips and Brandon followed suit, pushing in and out of Stella. His movements were slow and deliberate as they became more and more used to the sensations. A moan tumbled out of Stella's mouth as the uncomfortable feeling became more and more pleasurable. The sound of Brandon's breathy groans did nothing to calm down Stella's pleasure. She loved being the cause of those sounds and she better be the only one if he knew what was good for him.

Brandon began to move his hips faster and faster, his movements becoming stronger. Stella's moans became louder as Brandon kept moving.

"Oh...Brandon...ah...ah...ah..." Stella screwed her eyes shut as she focused on everything Brandon.

"You feel just as amazing as you did before."

"Good...so do you...mmmm..."

Strong hands gripped on Stella's hips as he continued his thrusts into Stella. Her breasts moved under the shirt of his that she was wearing and Brandon felt his head spin at the sight of his wife moving underneath him. She really was a vision, as perfect as the day that she had met her. But after giving birth to their children, Brandon had to believe that there was something better than perfect. If there was, it was Lucia, Ciaran, and Stella. They were more than anything that he could have ever hoped for. But right now, he was enjoying his beyond perfect wife panting and moaning underneath him.

"Stella..." Brandon moaned her name as his abdomen tightened and he felt his imminent release.

"Yes, Brandon..." Stella urged, "cum for me."

He didn't need to be told twice as his hands tightened around Stella's hips and he threw his head back as he came. Stella gasped as she felt her own release and her muscles spasmed around Brandon's throbbing cock.

Brandon collapsed on top of Stella and he quickly pulled out and rolled over to the side as he struggled to catch his breath. He tore away the condom, tied it up, and placed it back inside of the torn wrapper the best he could. Too tired to get up and dispose of it properly. That was a morning problem. Right now, he just wanted to catch his breath next to Stella.

"That was...amazing." Stella sighed as she rolled to her side and faced Brandon. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. "But I don't wait another year before we do that again."

"I agree," Brandon remarked, "wholeheartedly."

"But now I am worn out and ready for a quiet night of sleep." Stella laughed as she curled into Brandon, his warm body surrounding hers.

"Well with all that moaning that you were doing, I barely noticed that we had a quiet house." Brandon chuckled, earning another slap from Stella.

"Like you were any quieter." Stella rolled her eyes.

"Touché." Brandon placed a kiss on the top of Stella's blonde head, "But there has been one lesson that I have learned tonight."

"And what lesson would that be?"

"Ask Bloom and Sky to babysit more often."