It had been a tense flight. Once the pediatrician had signed off on the babies flying, they had been on their way. Sofia took Andre, and Alicia and Ricardo had kept ahold of the twins, since it had only seemed fair. The babies, all in all, were fine. They cried and fussed a little, especially when there was abrupt turbulence a couple of hours in, but for the most part, they slept through the flight. It was Ricardo, eyes darting between his three children, watchful and wary, who had made things a little more anxiety-ridden than they needed to be. "I'm sorry," he whispers to Alicia upon a safe landing.
She smiles, shakes her head. "Nothing to apologize for, I was nervous too." She kisses him on the cheek lightly, then jostles Mariana. "Hey, we're in Los Angeles," she murmurs to the baby, who is blinking sluggishly around, fingers curled around Alicia's thumb. "It's where your daddy grew up. Maybe some day we'll take you around to where I spent my childhood too." She kisses the baby's nose, grinning when Mariana scrunches up and lets out a quiet huff.
Clara is still asleep so Ricardo just holds her quietly, watching as Sofia and Andre giggle together a few seats down, the housekeeper looking up and sharing a small smile with him. When it's their turn, they line up and depart together, Ricardo reaching out to hold Andre's hand while Sofia wrangles their carry on bags. "Not a bad flight, right?"
"Right, mi hijo," Sofia says cheerfully. "Andre was on his best behavior, weren't you, mi nieto?"
"Si, Grandmama Sofia," the little boy says, peering up from where he's pressed against Ricardo's leg. They had discussed it, the four of them, with Ricardo's actual mother, over Zoom not long after the twins had been born, and she had agreed it was fine to share grandmothering duties with Sofia considering the distance between them, and how Sofia doted on the entire family already for so very long.
"This way," she had said wisely, "I know for sure my grandbabies are being properly spoiled!" Ricardo had groaned softly, then laughed when Sofia gently nudged him at his mother's instruction.
So now they're in LA, and Sofia smiles as Andre and the twins are immediately commandeered by Ricardo's mother and sister, the babies being coo'd over and Andre held tightly between them, eyes wide as he's told all about the presents waiting for him at home.
"Shouldn't those wait for Christmas?" Ricardo protests weakly, quieting immediately when his mother clucks at him.
"They're a big brother gift, Ricardo. I gave you one when your sister was born, and she gave her daughter one when her brother was born."
Ricardo glances at his sister, who shrugs and nods. "I didn't know it was some sort of a family tradition," he mumbles, resting a hand on his son's head, mussing his hair gently.
As they all head for the cars, Alicia slinks up close to him and presses a soft kiss to his mouth. "It's ok," she murmurs to him.
"Is it weird I already miss Pennsylvania?" he breathes back to her, and she shakes her head with a small smile, reaching out and lacing their fingers together, lifting his hand to press a kiss to his knuckles.
"Not at all," she tells him with a quick wink, leading the way. They, thankfully, have a rental car to themselves, wanting to be able to go around to see all of their friends at their own leisure without feeling like they're overstepping by needing to borrow cars all of the time.
They spend the first day with Ricardo's family, quiet and enjoying the company, as desperate as Ricardo gets sometimes when his mother or sister get too pushy with their ideas for the twins or Andre- which doesn't happen often, but feels like they're doubting his fathering skills whenever it does- and the rest of the time spent in LA is divided up between meals with Mike and AJ, John and Taya, and a quick visit with Heath and Maryse, Andre delighted to spend time with their children while the adults talk and cradle the twins.
"Ah man," Heath coos over Mariana. "Twins. What a wonder." He peers from one baby to the next, a wide grin on his face. "They're gorgeous, guys. Really."
"I love their names," Maryse muses, kissing Clara on the forehead and laughing softly when she waves her fist, squirming in response. "Similar without rhyming or starting with the same letter. Ingenious, really."
"Thank you," Ricardo and Alicia say, wide grins on their faces as they watch their children surrounded by love and adoration. They exchange glances, smiles growing on their faces as Andre laughs and laughs in the background, Madison and Monroe giggling along with him.
-x
"So," Alicia says softly, the lights turned down low in their bedroom as she wanders around, skin glistening faintly, entrancing Ricardo.
"So," he echoes softly, watching her from his place on the bed.
"Before we came here, I had a quick follow-up with my doctor," she says, simply, as if speaking about the weather. He's immediately on alert, however, watching her slowly slip out of her dress. "We had a nice conversation."
"Oh?" he asks, frown eased as she turns towards him, eyes gleaming as much as her skin. "Good news, I hope?"
"Yeah, you could say that," she says, slowly shimmying up the bed on her knees. He lays very still as she crawls up his body, resting a hand on the button of his jeans. "You're wearing too many clothes," she murmurs against his lips and he immediately scrambles to rectify that. She giggles, shifting to give him room, and then once his clothes are scattered in the general vicinity of her own, she eases down so they're flush, skin to skin, and he sighs, grazing his fingertips gently over her.
"You're sure?" he asks against her jaw, thinking about how long they waited after Andre, and she nods.
"Yep, she said-" Alicia gasps as he kisses down her throat. "Said long as I was comfortable with it, and nothing hurt, that I was all-clear-" He touches her, fingers warm and steady, and she moans, rocking up into his hand. "Oh, god."
He smiles against her skin and whispers, "I love you so much," before kissing her deeply, swallowing her response.
