Epilogue

"Theo, no more jumping off the back of the couch." Amy yelled from the kitchen just a moment before her nearly four-year old son launched himself off the back of the couch. He and Gabriel had recently discovered free running and parkour. Yes, her twin boys were literally mini versions of Carlos.

Amy walked over to the intercom panel in the kitchen, and pushed the button for the home gym where her husband was currently working out, "CARLOS!" She yelled into the microphone, "IF YOU DON'T GET YOU'RE ASS UPSTAIRS AND MANAGE THESE HEATHENS, YOU'LL BE SLEEPING IN YOUR OFFICE…IN TRENTON!" She walked away, well more like waddled away and went back to preparing dinner. At seven and a half months pregnant, Amy didn't really do anything gracefully these days.

The twins' birthday was coming up in a couple of weeks. Then Amy would be able to focus on the impeding arrival of the next two Manoso babies. Evidently she and Carlos could only reproduce in pairs. Not that she had any intentions to test out the theory a third time.

Amy was chopping up lettuce for a salad to go with their grilled salmon and veggies when Carlos came down the hallway. He was sweaty from his workout.

"Boys." Carlos' tone was firm but he didn't yell. "Theo and Gabriel, come over here right now." The two boys scurried over to their dad, who had just stopped next to their mom in the kitchen. He squatted down so that he was at their level before speaking. "We've talked about this. The furniture is not a jungle gym. When your mother tells you to stop, you need to stop."

"Yes daddy." They both said to their feet.

"Look up at your mama and apologize to her." He instructed them.

"Sorry mama," Theo wrapped his arms around one of her legs.

Gabriel tried to look contrite, but just ended up looking mischievous, "I'm sorry mama."

Amy ruffled the hair on their heads before carefully squatting down next to Carlos, "You boys need to listen, mama can't chase you around as easily as she used to." She pulled both boys into a hug, first kissing one little cheek and then the other. "After supper you can go play in the yard."

With some help from Carlos Amy stood back up and continued on with her dinner preparations. "We can only hope that these girls are much calmer than those two boys." She said to Carlos.

He drained his bottle of water before refilling it, laughing as he did. "What makes you think it's girls this time?"

"I just know. Call it mother's intuition." Amy set the salad to the side and started turned to the oven to check on the vegetables that were currently roasting inside. "Supper should be done in about ten minutes."

"Okay, I'll go shower." Carlos leaned down and kissed Amy, one hand rubbing on her belly feeling one of the babies kicking at him. "Active little bugger today." He said as he pulled back.

"Every afternoon like clockwork, they go crazy for a couple hours. Then they're pretty chill the rest of the time." She just smiled. "Two more babies Carlos, we really are crazy."

Carlos just shrugged as he backed out of the kitchen, "I still say we should try for one more after these babies come."

Amy scowled. "That is NOT happening."

Carlos chuckled as he walked down the hallway to the master bedroom.

Five weeks later Amy had another quick and drug-free labor. Isabel Marie and Jessa Estella joined the Manoso crew via an unplanned homebirth. Dr. Sayre had warned Carlos and Amy that for as fast as her last labor and delivery had gone, they probably didn't want to wait at home for very long. However Amy hadn't realized she was in labor until her water broke, Carlos had barely made it home on time to catch the babies. Instead of calling an ambulance, they called Dr. Sayre who had a midwife come out to them. The midwife spent a few hours at the house. She checked on Amy, made sure there weren't any complications or that the babies didn't need any medical care at a hospital. She even weighed and measured the girls. After giving everyone a clean bill of health the midwife left.

"Still want to do this all over again?" Amy teased as she nursed the girls for the first time.

Carlos was still in shock from literally delivering his baby girls on their bathroom floor. He shook his head and firmly said, "No."

Amy couldn't hold back the laugh, which startled the babies. It took a minute for her to get them settled back down to eat.

"I think five is good." Amy admitted quietly as she watched the girls and gently brushed their dark, already long hair back from their foreheads.