Hello everyone. I'm sorry it's been such a long time since I updated this story, I was struggling a little bit for inspiration but I feel I'm back on track now. I hope you enjoy this next part!

Chapter 18

It was an unseasonably warm afternoon and Sylvie found Antonio dozing on a chair on the back patio with a beer in his hand and a case report on his lap. She woke him up with a kiss.

"Hey" he said with a smile. "You're home."

"I am."

"That was a nice greeting. Good shift?"

"Long shift. I can't wait to grab a shower and some sleep."

"Don't. I didn't get off work until 5am, I've had like 3 hours sleep and I can't get anymore until I've finished this ton of paperwork."

Sylvie more or less ignored his complaining. She removed the pile of papers and placed them on the table, before sitting in Antonio's lap and kissed him again. "I told Boden about the baby today. My last shift at 51 is at the end of the week."

At this news, Antonio put down his beer and wrapped both arms around Sylvie, giving her his full attention. "Oh really? Are you sure? About finishing work, I mean."

"I don't want to take any chances. Not after…" Sylvie looked away and swallowed, and her mind drifted back to that day. But a second later a bright smile was back on her face and her eyes sparkled. "I'm sure. I'm excited to spend more time with Gabe and Matty before this baby gets here."

"Ok then" Antonio said, smiling too. "Does that mean it's out in the open now? Can I tell everyone at work?"

Sylvie smiled, happy at how excited Antonio was about the baby. "Absolutely. Hey, are the twins still at your Mom's?"

"Yeah, she said she didn't mind keeping them until this evening. I can pick them up on the way back from the boxing gym with Diego."

"Will you be late?" Sylvie asked. She ran her hand down Antonio's face and grinned. "I was hoping for some quality time together." She leaned in closer and her voice changed to a whisper. "Just us."

Antonio raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. I think all the pregnancy hormones are making me horny."

Antonio laughed and leaned down for a kiss. "Sounds perfect. But…" He paused, reluctant to put a stop to this interaction. He liked where it was going. "I really need to finish this report before Diego gets home from school."

Sylvie sighed. "Fine." She got up to go back inside the house. "I've got to take a shower." She shot a suggestive look over her shoulder as she walked back into the kitchen and smiled wickedly.

Antonio reached once again for his report, shaking his head. There was no way he'd be able to concentrate now.

"Sorry" was the first thing Antonio said when he stepped through the front door that evening. Sylvie closed the door of the closet under the stairs where she was putting away the vacuum cleaner and looked at him apprehensively. Gabe shot past his father, punching the air and making 'pow' noises. Matty followed, also at speed, and they ran into the living room together and dive bombed the couch. Sylvie sighed.

"I'm sorry" Antonio said again, putting his gym back down in the hall. He walked slowly towards his wife. "Gabriel saw my gloves in the back of the car and started asking for his own again."

"Antonio, we've talked about this."

Antonio took hold of Sylvie's arms. "I know. Don't worry, I told him no."

"I know boxing is important to you, but you know how I feel. Maybe when they're older, but I don't want my sons learning to fight before they've even started school. They're only 4, it's too young."

Antonio kissed Sylvie on the lips to stop her talking. "Babe, I know" he said again. "I respect that. I would never make a decision for our kids without asking you first. We might just have to put up with this for a day or so."

Both of them turned towards where their boys were play fighting with sofa cushions. Eva's cat, woken up from her nap by this sudden burst of noise, darted indignantly out of the room and up the stairs to hide.

"It's gonna be a nightmare getting them to bed" Antonio said. "At least Mom fed them so we won't have the aftermath of a food fight to clean up."

Diego came in from the car and closed the door behind him. Sylvie turned to greet him. "Hey. How was school?"

"Good. I got an A on my English paper."

"Nice."

Diego grinned. "Thanks." He too ran up the stairs.

"Are you hungry?" Sylvie asked.

Antonio leaned in closer to his wife. "Yes. But not for food, I'm hungrier for something else."

Sylvie smirked, but pushed him away reluctantly. "Hold it. Let's wait until we get those little terrors over there to bed before we start those thoughts."

Antonio leaned in so close that Sylvie could feel his hot breath on her ear. "Those thoughts never stop for me."

Wow. Sylvie had half a mind to go upstairs right now and leave her toddlers to run riot and destroy the house, but a loud yell coming from underneath the dining room table snapped her back to her senses. She flashed Antonio a meaningful look that plainly said 'later' and went in search of her children.

She found Matty lying on the floor underneath the table wailing and clutching his foot.

"Okay okay" Sylvie said, bending down and dragging him out. "Enough now, calm down."

"It hurts" he moaned.

Sylvie picked him up. They were getting heavier by the minute and the days when she could carry both boys at once were long gone. "That's what happens when you run on polished wood floors with socks on." Matty just looked at his mother blankly, his face contorted in a frown. "I think it's bath and bed time, don't you?"

Matty shook his head. The irony of the fact that she couldn't wait to get to bed and her son was flat out refusing was not lost on her. Ignoring Matteo's struggles, she walked towards the foot of the stairs and heard Antonio having a similar struggle with Gabe behind her.

"I've got this" Antonio said when they reached the top of the stairs. He took Matteo from Sylvie and gave her a peck on the cheek. When he was half way up the stairs, nudging the protesting twins ahead of him, Antonio turned and gave Sylvie a suggestive look of his own.

"I've been dying to get you to myself all afternoon." Sylvie peeled off her sweater and pushed Antonio onto the bed.

Antonio was exhausted. He needed to sleep. But there was no way in hell he could say no to this, he did not have the willpower. He held Sylvie's face in his hands as she kissed him hard, pausing only to pull his shirt over his head. "I could get used to this" he said, smiling.

"Make the most of it" Sylvie said between kisses. "It's only a matter of time before I'll feel tired and bloated all the time and grow as big as a house. Sex will be but a distant memory."

Antonio put his hands on her shoulders and kept her at bay. He wanted to look into her eyes. He had made the most of every single minute he'd spent with Sylvie since the day she'd walked into his boxing gym and changed his life. He still couldn't believe his luck, and there wasn't any size, shape or mood that Sylvie could be in to make him anything other than madly in love with her. Antonio realised how lame that sounded in his head, there was no way he'd ever say it out loud, he'd never hear the end of it. He just hoped that Sylvie understood the depth of his feelings for her without having to say it, hoped that his every action and gesture told her he would love her no matter what.

Antonio was pulled from his inner thoughts by Sylvie burying her fingers in his hair. It drove him crazy and he let out an involuntary moan. Sylvie's smile widened. She pulled away for a moment to brush her hair out of her face, but as she turned her head she let out a frightened scream.

Pixie was sitting on the window ledge, partially hidden by the drapes. She sat almost perfectly still staring straight at Sylvie and Antonio with her large eyes in that unnerving way cats had of watching you. Only the tip of her tail flicked from side to side.

"Jesus…" Sylvie breathed heavily, her heart thumping. "Bloody cat."

Antonio was startled too but now he was laughing. Sylvie scowled at him, and climbed off the bed. She scooped the cat up rather roughly, opened the door and dumped her unceremoniously into the hallway. She closed the door again decisively.

Antonio was still laughing but had his face pressed into his pillow in an effort to stifle it.

"It's not funny." Sylvie protested, but she too had begun to laugh. "She frightened the life out of me!"

Antonio sat up and pulled Sylvie back on top of him the second she was back within arm's reach and she sank into his arms, still laughing. Antonio smiled too, but then he always did when Sylvie was around. She brought sunshine with her wherever she went, and just being close to her lifted his mood. But still, he couldn't banish the nagging feeling that tomorrow would be hell if he didn't rest.

"It's late, maybe we should get some sleep" Antonio said, his sensible voice of reason struggling to the surface for a brief moment.

Sylvie looked down at her husband with a naughty glint in her big beautiful eyes. "Do you want to stop?"

Antonio shook his head. Work be damned. "Definitely not."

But a few hours later, Antonio woke just as Sylvie climbed back into bed. He waited until she was back under the covers before wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her on the cheek and Sylvie turned to face him, smiling apologetically at him in the dim light.

"I'm sorry I woke you."

"Don't be silly. I want you to wake me. Are you sick again?"

Sylvie nodded. "Yeah. I thought I'd got over morning sickness but I guess not."

Antonio kissed her again. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's not your fault." Sylvie paused. "Well, I guess it kind of is, but I'll let you off. It's just what happens. Go back to sleep."

"If you're sure."

Now it was Sylvie's turn to kiss Antonio. "I'm sure."

Sitting in the car the next morning cradling a very large coffee in both hands Antonio regretted not getting an early night when he had the chance. Not that he blamed Sylvie for waking him up in the night when she was sick, but he certainly could have got to sleep a lot earlier than he actually did before that.

Antonio was waiting for Burgess in the car park of a diner while she talked to one of her CI's. She insisted on going in alone, Antonio was not going to object. He was too tired to talk to strangers. A playful smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he remembered last night. On second thoughts, he didn't regret his lack of sleep for the second night in a row for a moment.

Kim left the diner and jogged back over to the car. She climbed into the driver's seat and closed the door behind her. Antonio stifled a yawn and sat upright in the passenger seat. "Did you get any good intel?"

"It's too soon to tell. Maybe. Here, I bought you a pastry." Kim tossed the brown paper bag onto Antonio's lap, and looked up. Catching the look on Antonio's face, Kim's eyes narrowed at her partner. "What's got you in such a good mood?" she asked.

Antonio stifled a yawn and sat up. "Thanks for breakfast" he said, ignoring the question.

"Dawson, spill."

Antonio turned to Kim. He was doing a bad job at hiding his happiness and he knew it. "Sylvie's pregnant again."

"Get out! Really? Antonio, that's amazing. Congratulations."

"Thanks" Antonio replied. "And thanks for the breakfast."

"You're leaving me?" Em was being uncharacteristically melodramatic, but her coffee hadn't kicked in yet and she was grumpy. Sylvie would have rather waited a few more hours before breaking the news but Sylvie couldn't stop smiling and Em knew something was up.

Sylvie raised her eyebrow at her partner. "Because this is all about you, of course."

"Well, obviously it's amazing news and everything. Who doesn't love babies? But when I think about who the department are going to send over to replace you…"

"Stop it" Sylvie said, shaking her head. "You'll survive without me."

"Yeah, but it won't be as much fun."

They were parked up at the side of the road eating breakfast and waiting for their next call.

"So what are you going to do?" Em continued. "Get a desk job?"

Sylvie took a bit of her muffin. "I don't know. When I was pregnant last time I worked in dispatch for a while. I'll probably get bored in a couple of weeks sat at home but for now I think I'm just going to spend some time with the twins. Try and prepare them for the new baby's arrival."

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Sylvie shook her head. "Nope. I don't think we're going to find out either."

"Do you have a feeling one way or the other?"

"Well, I know Eva wants a sister. But no, not really. I've spent so long surrounded by dinosaurs and trucks I'm not sure what I'd do with a little girl."

"Don't look at me" Em said. "I didn't understand little girls when I was a little girl. Give me dinosaurs and trucks any day."

"So how did your date with Nick go last night?" Sylvie grinned. "Look at that, I changed the topic."

Em gave Sylvie a look which clearly told her the change of topic was not appreciated. "It didn't. Put it this way, there won't be any babies for us because the man never stops working."

"Em!" Sylvie laughed. "That's what you get for dating a doctor."

"I know. But he's so pretty."

Sylvie smiled. "I'm happily married to a very attractive man myself, but if I may say so, yes, he's very pretty."

The radio crackled to life. With a sigh, Em reached for her radio to respond. "Go ahead control."

"Police requesting assistance at 419 Ashworth, domestic dispute in progress."

"Copy that control, we're on our way."

Sylvie had turned the key in the ignition and pulled into the flow of traffic before Em had even confirmed their response.

"Back to it" she said. "We'll have to figure out how to fix your love life later."

"Antonio?"

Sylvie grabbed the kit bag out of the back of the ambulance and was surprised to see her husband across the street when she turned. Two uniformed cops were forcing a struggling man into the back of a patrol car in handcuffs, and another was leading a woman with a bloody nose down the front steps. They stopped at the curb where Antonio and Kim were standing.

Antonio turned at the sound of his name. "Hey."

"What have we got?"

"Domestic dispute. Mrs Johnson here needs some patching up."

Sylvie turned her attention to the woman who was holding a cloth to her forehead and had blood dripping down her face. With help, she made it over to the ambulance and sat down on the back of the rig. Sylvie crouched down. "Let me have a look."

The woman grimaced as she peeled the cloth away from her head. "Call me Tricia. The son of a bitch threw a dictionary at me." She turned to Antonio. "A dictionary! I should have thrown it back. He could use it to look up the word 'divorce'." She shouted the end of the sentence in the direction of the patrol car, but it was already half way down the street on the way back to the district. "I want him charged with assault."

"Hold still" Sylvie said.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of it" Antonio reassured her. "An officer will want your statement once you get to the hospital."

"My pleasure" she said, still clearly furious.

Sylvie disinfected the wound and applied gauze. "What are you doing here anyway?" Sylvie asked Antonio. "This isn't your usual type of call."

"We were just around the corner grabbing breakfast. We heard the call over the radio and thought we could help. How's your shift going? Are you okay? You look good."

Through her good eye Trisha eyed Antonio suspiciously. "I'm bleeding here, now's not the time to be flirting."

"Sorry Ma'am" Antonio said, but flashed Sylvie a sly grin.

Trisha turned to Sylvie, indignant. "You're going to let him objectify you like that? I wouldn't stand for it."

Sylvie laughed. "I'll teach him a lesson later, don't worry." Sylvie caught Antonio's eye and grinned, before bringing her focus back to Trisha. "It's alright. He's my husband."

"Really?" Trisha sighed. "I hope your marriage is going better than mine."

"It is" Antonio said, and Sylvie would have bet any money that Antonio was having flashbacks to the first part of their night, between the cat and the morning sickness, when he answered. Because she was having similar thoughts.

Trisha winced as Sylvie wrapped the wound tightly and secured the bandage with tape. "Ok Trisha, it doesn't look too bad but you will probably need stitches. Can you climb up into the ambulance for me?"

Em had been watching this exchange between the three of them from a distance but now stepped forward and took Trisha's arm. "You drive" she said, knowing that being in the back of the ambulance when she was feeling nauseous was the last thing Sylvie would want.

"Thank you" Sylvie said. When Em and the patient were inside she closed the door and pulled off her gloves.

"Back to it then" Sylvie said. She gave Antonio a peck on the cheek as she passed him. "Stay safe."

When Antonio got home, Sylvie and the twins were cuddled up on the couch watching cartoons already in their PJs. Gabe was the first to see his Dad through the living room archway.

"Daddy's home!"

He clambered off the couch and ran to Antonio. "He certainly is" Antonio said, scooping his son up into a hug. "Hello family."

Matty grinned, but was far too comfy hugging his Mom to move. Antonio walked around the back of the couch and ruffled his hair before kissing Sylvie on the forehead. "Hello. What are we watching?"

"Peppa Pig!" Gabe answered loudly. His arms and legs were wrapped around Antonio and his mouth was only inches from his face.

Antonio grimaced. A headache had been threatening to come on all day due to lack of sleep and a pre-schooler shouting in his face certainly didn't help, but instead of telling Gabe to hush, he lifted him over the back of the couch and deposited him in a heap in amongst the couch cushions. He protested with a yell, but was soon laughing.

"There's a marathon on." Sylvie said, her eyes were wide in mock despair. "Do you know how many hours of this show there are?"

"Weeks probably" Antonio replied. He turned and headed for the kitchen.

"Oh no you don't" Sylvie said. She twisted her body as best she could without disturbing Matteo and shot a warning look at her retreating husband. "If I have to suffer, so do you."

Antonio stopped and headed back to the cough. He didn't need to be asked twice, and he didn't care what was on TV. Being snuggled up with his wife and sons was the exact opposite of suffering as far as he was concerned. It was exactly what he needed after two gruelling days at work, even if he'd seen so much of this show that the family of cartoon pigs were burned onto his retinas whenever he closed his eyes. He picked Gabe up so he could sit next to Sylvie, and settled down with his son on his lap.

Sylvie rested her free arm over Antonio's shoulders. "How was your shift?"

"Seeing you was absolutely the highlight. It's was pretty uneventful. Thankfully."

"Diego's gone to the movies with Olivia and won't be home for dinner. Eva's upstairs."

"Did you tell her to keep her cat under control?"

Sylvie smirked. "No. We'll just make sure to shut our bedroom door from now on."

"Mommy, can I have some juice please?" Matty peeled his attention away from the screen and turned his body to face his parents. In doing so, he accidentally dug his elbow into Sylvie's stomach and Antonio was quick to react.

"Be careful, Buddy" he said, urgently. Matty looked from his father's anxious face to his mother's with concern.

"I hurt you?"

Sylvie stroked his hair. "No, it's ok. Sure you can have some juice." She looked at Antonio and wordlessly asked him the same question that he seemed to be asking her. Was this a good time to bring up the baby with the boys? Antonio shrugged. They could try. Sylvie smiled apprehensively and looked at Matty and Gabe, trying to decide if they'd be able to understand. "Just one minute, ok?" She paused the TV and lifted Matteo onto her lap.

"You have to be careful with Mommy now, ok?" Antonio said. Gabe looked up, listening. "It's very important to be gentle."

"Why?" Gabe asked.

"Well…" Antonio looked at Sylvie for help and she laughed.

"Because you're both going to have a new little brother or sister soon, and right now it's in Mommy's tummy."

Sylvie saw Gabriel's brow furrow in an effort to process this information. It looked like he was about to ask another question, but then decided against it. It was Matty who spoke, twisting in Sylvie's lap to try to see. She let go of him and he slid to the floor. He stood facing her, his hands on her knees, and pointed to her belly.

"In there?" He sounded confused.

"Yes. In there. It's only very tiny now, but it will grow and grow and then there will be a brand new baby in our family."

Gabe struggled to be set free as well, and slipped out of Antonio's arms to stand beside his brother. Antonio watched his little boys trying to understand this news. Sylvie put her hands on her stomach showing them where the baby was and then guided their hands to the same place. The picture made Antonio's heart soar and he wished he had a camera to capture this moment.

"You're going to be big brothers" Antonio said to his sons. "Is that exciting?"

Gabe looked at his Dad. "Yeah" he said. "Can we watch Peppa now?"

Antonio laughed. Not such big news to a four year old then, not at the moment anyway.

"I'm thirsty" Matty said, his own little brain moving quickly on from impending monumental changes in his young life back to thoughts of a juice box.

"Sorry little man, let's go and get your juice." Sylvie stood up and took Matty's hand. Gabe ran after them into the kitchen.

"That went better than it could have done" Antonio said later, when they were both standing side by side at their bathroom mirror.

"I don't think for a moment there won't be tantrums further down the line, but yeah, it did." Sylvie reached for a towel to dry her face.

Antonio watched her in the mirror. "I'm just waiting for one of them to ask how the baby got in there."

"Antonio!" Sylvie hit him playfully with the towel. "God, I'm hoping I won't have to deal with those sorts of questions until at least junior high." Sylvie hung the towel back on the rail and draped her arms around Antonio's neck. "We'll talk to them again. Or I can, on my own. I'll have all the time in the world after this week to help them understand."

"You've amazing" Antonio said, seemingly out of the blue. "I'm so lucky."

Sylvie's smile stretched the whole way across her face as she leaned in for a kiss. "You better believe it."