So, you see... I intended to post these a week apart, on Sundays. But then we traveled a bunch and it got put on the back burner. So, uh, sorry for the delay. I'm hoping for two more chapters ('hoping' being the key word). The fourth is pretty much done, but I'm struggling with the third.

I wake to fingers poking my ribs and a quiet "mama". I open my eyes and see bright green beaming back at me with a bright smile. The sudden intrusion makes me jump. The face has changed drastically in the past twelve years, but those eyes are the same. I turn my head slightly and see another set of eyes looking at me expectantly. Giggles come from the twins, which causes Maura to stir from sleep. Before I know it, two five-foot-nine sixteen year olds are climbing into our king size bed. With an accidental knee to my bladder and an elbow to Maura's sternum, the four of us are situated in the bed.

Each twin has picked one of us to koala to. Its a term we've been using for years, koala. It means that they have their arms and legs wrapped around us like a koala. Though the term koala is a noun - a name for an animal - Maura quickly started using it as a verb when the girls were younger.

"I remember this being much more comfortable." Maura grunts as she twists her hips to get more comfortable, Allie never easing up on her grip of her mother.

Alannah giggles into my neck and I can't help but smile at the feeling. It's been at least four or five years since the girls have woken us up on a Sunday like this. Ever since they entered middle school, they were involved in sports and clubs, which wore them out enough that Sunday became a day to sleep in, not cuddle with their mothers.

"What brings you two in here this morning?"

Allie looks over Maura, at me, "You have today off, right?"

I nod.

Allie looks to her sister for confirmation to proceed, "Well, we were thinking maybe we could do something. You know, like we used to?"

Alannah tightens her arms around me, "Yeah, maybe like go to the Franklin Park Zoo."

"Or the park." Allie suggests

"The MFA." Alannah says excitedly

"Fenway Tour." Allie retorts

And suddenly the battle is on between the twins on who can come up with the better idea.

Maura clears her throat and they suddenly still, "Ok." she says, "How about we have some breakfast first, and we'll decide then."

They reach their hands out to each other and high five.

I chuckle and go to get up, but Alannah holds me down, "Can we stay here…for a few more minutes?"

I turn to the clock on my bedside table and see the numbers, "Five AM?!" I exclaim, "You woke us this early?"

The twins just shake their heads, "Calm down, Mama." Alannah sighs, sitting up and both twins get under the covers with us. Alannah burrows her head into my collarbone, her arms around my torso and her body snuggled up next to me. Allie does the same to Maura and after a few minutes, my body relaxes.

Its Sunday, and I'm surrounded by all my girls for the first time in a long time.

We got up a few hours later, at a more acceptable time. Maura and I made brunch while the girls went online to see what exhibits were at the MFA. With Constance being on the board of directors, we have instant access to any exhibit in the museum. After a hearty meal, we all change and set off for a day together. Constance, who had permanently moved to Boston, gave us a personal tour of all the newest exhibits. Then she treated us to lunch and we took a long walk through Boston Common with ice cream cones. Once we were walked out, we took a cab to the harbor and ate at our favorite seafood place.

By the time we got home, we were all exhausted, but happy. As we walked through the door, I called up to the girls, who had already rushed upstairs to change, asking if they'd finished their homework. It was, after all, a school night. They both yelled down an exasperated 'yes' and then I followed Maura into the kitchen.

She pulled out a bottle of our favorite wine from the rack and grabbed the well loved corkscrew from the drawer. Her jacket and been shed when we walked in the door and now her shoulders and a good portion of her shoulder blades were bare for my viewing pleasure. I watched her shoulder muscles, entranced, as she screwed the corkscrew in, then both shoulder blades squeezed together as she used both hands to flip down the sides and pull the cork out of the bottle. Even after all these years, my wife still looked gorgeous, from head to toe. Her morning yoga kept her body fit and toned. I slowly walked up behind her, my arms encircling her waist and my hands resting on her hips.

She gasped, then leaned her full weight back into my body.

I placed gentle kisses down her neck and right shoulder; my hands slowly moving to more intimate places before I heard the stomping of feet down the stairs. It was like a cold shower. My hands returned to their previous positions on her hips just as the girls came into the room like a hurricane.

"Eww." One exclaimed

"Gross. Get a room." the other chimed in

I turned, "We do have a room. We have a whole series of rooms." I sighed, turning my body to look at them, "But apparently we have to keep you two indoors. We can't just build little dog houses outside."

In utter twin mode, they both stuck their tongues out at me and plopped down onto the couch.

Maura's hand intwined with mine, "Come Jane, let's go change." she turned to the girls, "Pick out something to watch."

After we changed, Maura poured us both a glass of wine and we four snuggled onto the couch with pillows and blankets galore, our feet resting on the large ottoman I'd convinced Maura was necessary when I realized the girls were going to be tall and lanky like me.

The girls had agreed on a documentary on the process of making a piano from the selection of trees for wood all the way to shipping it to the store to be sold. About an hour in, I turned my eyes to my family. Allie had reversed her body so that her head was on the ottoman and her feet were somehow burrowed under the back cushions of the couch. Her head was leaned against my legs, and from her steady breathing, I knew she was asleep. Alannah was snuggled up next to Maura, her head tilted back against Maur's shoulder, clearly knocked out dead asleep. Maura herself had a medical journal in her lap, her finger holding the place as she had fallen asleep, her glasses on the armrest.

I couldn't stop the smile that grew on my lips nor the unadulterated love that filled my heart. My life; my everything was right here in front of me. My eyes went from Maura, to Alannah and finally to Allie. Allie suddenly turned and reached an arm over my legs and snuggled closer to me. A lone tear fell down my cheek as the emotions surged through me. It had been a long time since I'd taken a moment to appreciate my life and my loves.

"Mama?" came a whisper

I turned to see Alannah staring back at me with her sleepy brown eyes.

"Yes, baby." I whispered back

"You alright?" her hand reached over to me, and I took it in my own, our fingers intertwining.

I nodded, wiping away the tear stain on my cheek, "happy tears, baby, happy tears."

Her eyes slowly close again, a smirk on her lips, "love you mama." she mumbled as she fell back asleep.

I picked up the remote, and set a timer on the TV. As I rested my head on the back of the couch, I saw the clock in the hall.

11:58.

I closed my eyes, letting reality kick in. Sunday was almost over. Monday would come soon enough and our busy, hectic lives would start anew. Maura would head to BCU for her Monday classes, I'd head to the precinct and the girls would head off to school and we'd be off on a new week.

But I had two minutes left. Two minutes to savor the last bit of my Sunday.