Chapter Two-Hundred and Sixty-Nine
Clarissa placed a huge meal on the table, smiling as she looked around at the family. She lifted her glass, resting her hand on Jade's shoulder. "Well, it took a while with the Chicken Pox epidemic, but we're finally able to welcome four new lives into the world!"
John laughed, taking Flynn from Dominic's arms and holding him like a football. "Hey Hulk." He smiled, poking Flynn's belly as Claire leaned over his shoulder to see the baby.
Her brow furrowed slightly as she noticed something so familiar in Flynn's eyes, it was just a hint, almost invisible, but she could see it. "His eyes changed." She smiled, letting him hold her finger. "They changed like John's."
Dominic chuckled, looking at the still darkening circles around his cousin's eyes. "I think we both look like racoons right now…" He pointed to the circles around his own eyes. "A matter of fact, since there's so many of us around to watch the little ones, I'm gonna go crash in John's room." He pushed back from the table, already pulling his shirt over his head before he was even half-way up the stairs.
John stretched, rubbing his eyes as he looked at Jade and Dominic snoring in his bed. "Good thing I'm welcome in Claire's room." He smiled, closing the door before he walked across the hallway to Claire's bedroom.
Claire looked up from her sketch ideas for a new clothing line. "Hey." She yawned, noticing that his movements were sloppy as he stumbled over his own feet. "Need a nap?"
He nodded, crawling into her bed and laying beside her. "Haven't slept for a couple days…" He moaned, tucking his forearms under the pillow as Claire's fingers combed through his hair. "Nightmares."
She bit her lip, leaning down to kiss the hollow between his shoulder blades. "I wish they would stop." She touched one of the whip lashes on his back, her heart aching with the amount she could count on his skin. "I wish I could have stopped this…"
Asher bounced Iris in his arms, leaning back on the sofa as they all settled in to watch Snow White with the teens and babies. "They're cute little farts." He chuckled, blowing a raspberry on his great-niece's belly. "They make a good pair."
Thomas nodded, holding Clarissa's hand as they thought about the next step for the growing family. "Asher, I hate to ask you this… but do you think that you could help us build a small home for Dom, Jade, and the quads? We have the room for it in the back, it's just a matter of building it."
Asher grinned, letting Iris hold his finger in her hand. "Of course!" He kissed Sara's lips, thinking about their own child who was on the way. "I'll start on the blueprints tonight."
Sara let a laugh rumble in her throat. "Just don't stay up until three in the morning." She patted his cheek, the stubble on his chin rough against her hand.