Monday 20th October, 8am

Tom had left for work, and Fletch had just arrived to stay with Sam to give him something to do whilst he was suspended for something that he didn't do.
"Right, let's get to know you lot first, who's the troublemaker?" Fletch queried as he paced up and down the row of three cots where all babies had awoken and were alert.
"More like troublemakers," Sam corrected as she came out of the ensuite bathroom dressed in leggings and a hoodie to hide her abdomen, and her wet hair was up in a messy bun. "And it's all three of the boys." Sam stated. "The girls are little angels."

"And what makes the boys troublemakers?"
"No matter how slow you are, they always wee when you open their nappies, and they're the loudest which results in waking up their sisters in the nights." Sam stated. "Listen, when they have their 10 o'clock nap, are you alright to stay in here while I go for a run in the gym? It's only just down the hall." Sam queried. When they had gone shopping with the magazines money, they had changed the games room into a home gym with a rowing machine, treadmill, cross trainer, exercise bike, yoga mats and weights.
"Yeah sure, but you're not gonna push it too hard are you?" Fletch said caringly.
"Nah, an hour's nothing." Sam stated, though she was feeling a little apprehensive at having her first run since the c section. And she was only doing it while Fletch was there, because she was worried about what Tom might say if he knew. "Right, breakfast is served." Sam announced as she picked up Bella and Ellie without a glitch and then sat on the bed with the two girls on her lap.
"You want me to..." Fletch trailed off as he pointed to the door whilst she began to unzip her hoodie.

"No, it's fine." Sam stated as she pulled down her white vest top and then unclipped her bra. "In fact, would you mind changing the boys into short sleeve romper suits? They're folded up in that basket." Sam stated and Fletch quickly turned around because as Sam was feeding two girls, she had her entire chest out. He grabbed three of the clothing items requested, and set about dressing the three fidgety boys. "Oh and be careful on the changing table, they wriggle a lot." Sam warned.

In the largest of the four living rooms, Sam and Fletch had brought down the octuplets because they had spent most of their lives in NICU, and then in Sam and Tom's bedroom because it was hard for them to be transported. Sam had left Fletch in charge with most of them in their car seat/carriers, and Charlie and Jonny on a play mat whilst she went upstairs to get Summer's toy, but when she came back down, the two boys on they play mat were on their bellies, and Fletch was on his back as he held Aaron on top of him on his stomach.
"What are you doing?" Sam smirked.
"Tummy time, they love it." Fletch smiled, and he looked just like Tom as both males were childlike. "Have you got any spare blankets? Becuase if you roll them up and then put them under their chests then their neck and back muscles get stronger." Fletch suggested.
"Can I trust you with them for another few minutes?" Sam joked before she left the room and soon returned with a stack of blankets. Fletch began organising the babies in a circle as they laid on their stomachs, and all eight were there but one of them became distressed and started crying.
"Which one's that?" Fletch queried, as it was taking him a while to understand who was who.

"Ellie, she's pretty clingy. She probably just thinks I've gone." Sam stated as she knelt behind the young girl and placed a soothing hand on her back which settled her immediately. "There." Sam concluded.
"You're a natural." Fletch stated.
"Well I have had 12 weeks of them to practice." Sam stated. "Well actually, Ellie's only been home a couple of days." She corrected.
"See, don't make excuses, you're a good mum." Fletch stated kindly.

"Right, I'd better go and make up eight lots of formula." Sam stated as she placed her hands on her thighs and then stood up. But Ellie started getting distressed again as she couldn't see or feel her mother. "And I suppose I should take you with me eh?" Sam smiled as she picked Ellie up off of the floor and held her against her chest.
"I thought you breast feed." Fletch said confusedly.
"I do, as much as I can. But it's impossible to make enough milk for eight of them. I've tried but Mr Solis said I need to supplement their diet with formula because they need a lot of nutrients." Sam explained solemnly.
"Right, of course. Sorry I didn't think." Fletch apologised.
"No, it's fine. But you're feeding them too." Sam added sheepishly before she left the room.

"Right, you do Megan and Summer first, and I'll do Ellie and Bella, and then I'll warm up the other formula and you can do Aaron and Jonny, and I'll do Leah and Charlie." Sam announced as she entered with Ellie clambering on her mother's shoulder and four bottles of formula.
"Sounds like a plan." Fletch nodded as he put the four babies who were to be fed second back in their carriers to keep them safe. And then he grabbed Megan and Summer and sat down on the sofa. "This brings back memories." Fletch smiled as he sat both girls on his lap facing him and he held the bottle at a tilt for them as they began suckling.
"How are your kids?" Sam asked curiously.
"Good thanks. They're all growing up really fast. Evie's nearly ready for secondary school, she can't wait but I'm petrified." Fletch laughed a little when Sam glared at Ellie for holding on to her breast whilst she suckled from the bottle. "What's wrong with that?"
"What?" Sam said confusedly and innocently.
"You were giving her evils." Fletch stated.
"Was I? Oops, I glare a lot and I don't even realise. I blame Tom." Sam smirked as she teased Ellie's hands off of her, however within seconds she replaced her hands on her mother's breast whilst she made direct eye contact with her mother with her bright blue eyes.

"You're giving her evils again." Fletch stated and Sam rolled her eyes. "Just let her hold you, she's not doing any harm."

5:30pm
Tom had zoomed home straight after his shift because he longed to see his wife and children after a long day at work. He was silent as he entered because he didn't want to risk waking any sleeping babies, and as usual, it took a bit of exploring to find his wife. Sometimes, she'd be downstairs cooking dinner, whilst her children were taking their late afternoon nap upstairs and he'd always go and say hello to his wife first, however when he entered the kitchen, it was empty, though there was a dish in the oven that looked like lasagne, and there was a timer on that still had a while to go.

He then went into the living room where he found an adorable sight: Sam was sleeping on the sofa with Jonny and Charlie asleep on her chest and they were still latched on with her bust on show. Aaron was below his brothers on Sam's lap curled up and fast asleep. And Fletch entertaining the girls quietly on the floor. He had Megan, Summer and Leah in his lap facing their sisters Ellie and Bella who were in their carrier facing them and Fletch was softly reading them a book as they fell asleep.
"Hello." Tom smiled as he went and sat next to Fletch on the floor.
"Oh hiya, I didn't hear you come in." Fletch stated quietly.
"I didn't want to wake them."
"Well I managed to convince Sam to have a nap, she was knackered with these lot but she thinks she has a never ending energy supply like Duracell bunny." Fletch stated.
"Mm, tell me about it." Tom smirked. Sam slowly opened her sleepy eyes and saw Fletch and Tom sitting cross legged on the carpet besides her, but as soon as she heard her name being mentioned, she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. "Has she said anything to you about returning to work? Because I'm worried that the longer she leaves it, the harder it's going to be for her to settle back in. I mean don't get me wrong, I love knowing that Sam's at home with our kids all day rather than a few nannies, but I just don't want her struggling when she goes back to work after being off for months." Tom admitted.
"Well she hasn't said anything to me, but I'm sure Zoe will ease her in gently. Besides, she's entitled to a year off, I'm sure she'll go back in her own time, and hopefully being a doctor is like riding a bike; you never forget the skills." Fletch replied quietly.

"Listen, can I ask you something? I mean, I know you're best friends with Sam, but can I ask you something and you promise you won't say anything to her?" Tom asked quietly as he glanced over at Sam to ensure that she still appeared to be sleeping - though he didn't know that she was listening to every word.
"As long as it's not something that she really needs to know." Fletch replied and Tom took a deep breath before he began explaining.
"Ash, is leaving. And Zoe has given me a proposition, of applying to be the new consultant. I mean, I'd still have to go through the interview process, but she said as an inside candidate, I'd almost certainly get the job. It's better pay and I'd get my own office, but I'm just worried about what Sam would think. Because she's still a registrar, and I'd be in charge over her, but... Well, I'm 32, and a chance like this to be made consultant isn't going to come around for another few years at least. And even then it wouldn't be in our area probably." He explained.

"Jesus Tom, you had me worried there! I thought you were ill or something." Fletch admitted. "Why don't you talk to her about it?"
"Because I'm worried she might get jealous that if she hadn't had the babies, she would be able to apply for the job too, and that I don't know how she's going to deal with me earning that much more money than her. At the moment, we earn the same give or take a couple of hundred pounds a year." Tom stated.

"Look Tom, Sam might be a proud person, but she'd be proud of you if you got the job. And yeah, she'll be annoyed that you're a consultant and she isn't, but she'll put that aside because she'll be proud of you, and she'd never want to hold you back." Fletch stated and Sam internally let out a sigh of relief as Fletch knew exactly what she was thinking.
"So you think I should go for it?" Tom asked.
"Definitely. I mean, talk to Sam first, but it's a brilliant opportunity for you, and I'm sure the money will be needed as these lot grow up." Fletch stated and Tom knew that fletch didn't know about the mass amounts of money that they had made from selling the photos and the magazine interview etc.
"Thanks mate." Tom smiled.
"No worries. But I'd better get back to Nat and the kids soon." He stated and Tom took the hint so he took the book off of Fletch and put it aside, before he took Megan, Summer and Leah and put them in their carriers.

"That's fine, and thanks for staying with Sam today." Tom said gratefully as he showed Fletch out.
"No worries. I kinda didn't tell Nat that I was suspended becuase I didn't know what she'd say, so I'm just glad I've got a place to go during the day." Fletch admitted and Tom smirked.
"So you're telling me to speak to Sam, but you haven't even told your own wife that you're suspended? Hypocrite." Tom stated jokily.
"Yeah yeah." Fletch smirked as he walked down their large driveway and got into his car. Tom waved him off, then locked the door and headed back to the living room where thankfully, all babies were fast asleep.

He bent down, brushed a bit of hair out of his wife's face, and pecked her softly on the forehead, and Sam felt that that was the time to pretend to wake up.
"Tom?" She enquired sleepily.
"Good evening." Tom smirked. "Open house is it?" He joked as he gestured her chest where Jonny and Charlie were still latched on, but fast asleep.
"Shut up." Sam muttered jokily as she used her little finger to tease their limp mouths off of her, and then clipped her bra together and pulled her shirt up which didn't even remotely unsettle the two sleeping babies.

"I see we've got lasagne for dinner." He smiled.
"Oh, yeah. I was bored so I just messed about with the stuff we had in the cupboards so it's not a precisely followed recipe." Sam admitted.
"Well I'm sure it'll be a lot better than my attempts at a lasagne." Tom joked and Sam smiled.

"How was work?" She queried as she hoped that he would speak to her about the upcoming consultant's post. She gently stroked the two boy's backs as they rose and fell to the rhythm of their breathing.
"Um... Hectic, as usual." Tom smirked. "Listen, I've got something I need to talk to you." He admitted.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, but I'll wait until dinner. Don't worry, it's nothing serious." He stated as Sam creased her eyebrows in mock confusion.
"Okay..." Sam replied hesitantly, though she knew exactly what it would going to be about.
"How have these lot been today?" Tom asked to change the subject as he picked Jonny and Charlie off of Sam, so that she could cradle Aaron off of her lap, and then sit up properly.
"Um... Alright I suppose. Ellie's still being really clingy though, she wouldn't lie on her stomach without crying unless I was talking to her or I had my hand on her back."
"Well maybe we should start looking at nannies." Tom suggested. "I mean, when you go back to work, we want them to know the nannies and to be comfortable with them don't we?"
"Yeah, but I'm not going back to work yet." Sam stated sternly. "And you said nannies. As in plural." She stated.
"Well we're going to need more than one nanny for these lot aren't we?"
"I manage by myself when you got to work and Fletch isn't here." Sam stated smugly.
"Yes but you're their mother. I think we're going to need highly skilled nannies to look after this lot. They can be a handful when they're not around you."
"A handful? Tom you can't even hold four with both arms let alone all eight of them." Sam joked.
"Haha, very funny." Tom said sarcastically.
"Oh c'mon, that was pretty funny." Sam said smugly.

With all of their babies upstairs in their cots fast asleep, Sam and Tom were sitting with a long range baby monitor besides them at the table for ten in the dining room, opposite each other with a plate of lasagne and tomato salad.
"Right, c'mon what was this thing you wanted to talk about?" Sam demanded.
"Ah right um... Well, Ash is going to be leaving soon, so there's going to be a consultant's vacancy going." Tom explained slowly.
"And you want to go for it." Sam concluded.
"That was a lot easier than I expected." Tom admitted to himself. "But yes I do. But I wanted to ask what you thought about it first." Tom admitted. "I mean, I'd be earning a six digit wage every year, I'd have my own office and Zoe said that i'd get more holiday off per year, but I would have to be oncall sometimes, and I would have to do unpaid overtime to catch up on paperwork." He explained.

"Go for it." Sam ordered. "If that's what you want, then go for it."
"Really? You'd be okay with it?"
"Of course I am. We're both registrars, the sooner we get made consultants the better, and although I'm not going to even get a chance for another few years or even a decade because of my age, I want you to go for it if that's what you want." Sam explained because they both knew that the average age of being made consultant was around 40 years, and Sam was only 29, whilst Tom was 32.

"Thank you, I mean there's no guarantee that I'll get the job, but I've definitely got an interview." Tom said excitedly.
"When?" Sam queried.
"Um, Zoe said they're going to accept applications for this week and next week, and then interviews will start a week or two after that." Tom stated.
"Well then get an application form tomorrow and I'll help you fill it out."
"Who said I can't fill one out by myself?"
"Fine, I won't give you my expertise." Sam shrugged.
"No, no. I will want some help." Tom stated.
"Oh right, and how much is some?" Sam smirked.
"Depends what I actually have to fill out." Tom admitted sheepishly. "You sure you're okay with this?"
"Definitely." Sam nodded confidently.
"Thanks, and thanks for the dinner too, it's lovely." Tom smiled.

"Would you like a shower or bath together?" Tom suggested as they had just cleaned the kitchen up, and decided to call it a day.
"You heard what I said last week about being intimate." Sam sighed.
"Alright, how about I give you a back massage with those oils you got as presents?" Tom suggested and Sam's face lightened up as she contemplated the idea - he would only see her back, not her front. "Go on, go and get comfortable in bed and I'll be up in a minute." He ordered gently, as he decided that it would be best to give her a moment to undress alone. Sam smiled at her husband before she made her way upstairs and into their bedroom where their babies were all fast asleep.

A few minutes later, Tom arrived in his bedroom to find Sam laying on her front in the middle of the bed with nothing on her top half, and her pyjama shorts on her bottom half. He could see the sides of her breasts to which he smiled, however the more prominent thing was the stretch marks that she had on the sides of her hips.
"Right, you're lucky I've got warm hands." Tom said softly as he switched off the main light, leaving just the bedside light to give the room a warm glow. He assumed that Sam had already chosen the oil because there was a small bottle of lavender oil on her bedside table so he picked it up, and then got on top of her so he was lightly sitting on her bum with his knees either side of her taking most of his weight. "You comfortable?" He asked curiously.
"Mmhmm." Sam mumbled sleepily into her pillow so Tom proceeded to put some oil into his hands, rub them together to warm the oil up, and then he began massaging her body from the neck downwards.

As he sat on her bum and caressed her body, he couldn't help but long to have intercourse with her once more - they hadn't for months - and at times, he felt desperate as a young male to pursue his urges, however he would never force Sam into anything that she didn't want, so he was being patient with her.

Once he'd rubbed all of the oil into Sam's skin, he leant forward and gave her gently, soft kisses around the back of her neck and behind her ears which gave her goosebumps. Slowly, Sam turned over so she was facing him, but as he went to look down at her chest and abdomen, she put her finger under his chin and stopped him from doing so.

He lunged in and gave her a passionate kiss, and just as Sam was putting her hands down his boxers, a baby began to cry.
"Ellie." Sam and Tom sighed at the same time. Tom thought they were finally getting somewhere, but he couldn't leave his baby to cry alone - it broke his heart to hear her distressed. He got off of Sam who quickly pulled her pyjama top on to cover herself, and lifted Ellie out of her cot however after several minutes of rocking and bouncing, she wasn't having it.
"Pass her here." Sam ordered as she laid down on the bed on her side, and patted the mattress besides her. Tom laid Ellie down and Sam used her arm as a barrier around her body.

Within seconds, she was silent, she grabbed onto Sam's breast through her shirt and fell asleep.
"She can sleep here tonight." Sam whispered.
"What?"
"C'mon, she's at a clingy stage. If she sleeps with me, she'll sleep through the night hopefully." Sam stated. "I'm a light sleeper and I don't fidget unlike you so it'll be fine." She added as Tom came around and slipped into bed besides his two girls. "I-"
"Alright, I'm convinced. She can sleep with us." Tom said quietly as he snuggled up behind Sam and wrapped his arms around her, and held a hand with his daughter. "But this is not happening every night." He warned.
"We'll see about that." Sam thought to herself.

Thanks for reading, please review :)