Ricardo wakes up quietly, squinting through the darkness to Alicia's softly sleeping face, smiling at the sound of her breathing. He slowly sits up, carefully tucks her back in, and walks down the hall to Andre's room. He's stirring, ever so slightly, as Ricardo pushes his door open.

"Daddy?" he mumbles, reaching out for Ricardo.

"Hey, buddy," Ricardo greets him, hoisting him up out of his crib. "How are you doing, little guy?"

"Fine," he mumbles, pressing his face into his father's shoulder. "it's early."

"It is!" He squeezes his son close and chuckles into his hair. "You know what else it is?"

"What?"

"It's Mother's Day," Ricardo says, bouncing him up and down lightly. "A day where we do nice things for your mommy, and we make her feel really special." He watches as his son wakes up a little more at this, peering back at him. "Do you want to help me do this for your mommy today?"

"Yes," Andre says, grinning wide up at Ricardo. "What do we do?"

"Breakfast is the first thing," Ricardo tells him. "We go cook something mommy really likes, and then we go wake your sisters up and tend to them while mommy eats breakfast in bed. Let her rest a little later than usual, then we all get together in the living room and watch mommy's favorite movie and order something to eat from her favorite restaurant, then we open gifts, and-"

Andre looks a little sad. "Mommy gets a gift?"

"Yes," Ricardo says, blinking. "Is something wrong?"

"I didn't get her anything," the little boy says, well accustomed to birthdays and Christmases by now, how Ricardo had helped him pick gifts out for various family members the past year. "Daddy, why-"

"No, no, this was a special year because of the twins so I decided the four of us should all go together on something. Is it ok that I picked it out?" he asks his son. "Trust me, Mommy will love it."

Andre peers up at him, then nods. "Ok, daddy. I trust you."

-x

The day mostly goes perfectly. The twins fuss a little, but Ricardo soothes them with some help from Sofia and between the two of them, the kids are kept occupied and Alicia gets to have a nice, peaceful breakfast in bed before joining them all in the living room. Ricardo and Sofia keep snacks and drinks at the ready, moving easily from one movie to the next until it's late and almost time for the kids' bedtimes.

"Before we begin the nightly rituals," Ricardo says, gently handling over Clara to Sofia and standing up, "There's one last thing I want to do. When we began our life together, neither of us knew that our family would grow to this extent." He kneels down in front of Alicia on the couch and smiles up at her, requesting her hands quietly.

She blinks, her lips trembling a little as she clings to his fingers and holds onto him. "Ricardo?"

"So when we made promises to each other," he says, "it worked, it still works, it probably always will work, but now I want to change them a little bit. Include our babies. The five of us, vowing to always have each other's backs, to always make each other happy and taken care of." He holds up a ring box to her. "This ring, proof of our conviction as a family, you, me, Andre, Clara and Mariana."

She takes the box from him, pulling out the ring and taking in the soft stones indicating all of them. "I love it, Ricardo. I love you. Yes, of course, I accept and echo your vow," she tells him, her gaze drifting lovingly over their children. "We're so lucky. This is the best Mother's Day I've ever had."

He chuckles a little, kissing her cheek. "Well, I guess we're going to struggle to outdo this every year after this, but we'll do our best, I promise."

She smiles at him. "I have no doubt you'll figure it out. Now put this ring on my finger."

"Yes, ma'am," he says, doing as requested and kissing her knuckles once it's in place. "It looks so beautiful on you."

She leans her forehead against his and smiles. "Thank you."