The babies are fussy tonight. Once they get one of the twins down, the other starts crying. They get both girls settled, then Andre starts calling for them. Of course it would be the one night they'd given Sofia to go out and have some fun. Ricardo sighs and drops his head down on the table as Alicia stares into the shadows, waiting for the next round of crying to begin.
"I love our kids, there's no doubt I do, but man, sometimes," Alicia murmurs.
"Three of them are a lot," Ricardo muses. "Fun though."
Alicia chuckles. "Yeah, it's fun. Sometimes." She reaches over the table and Ricardo meets her halfway, squeezing her hand. "When they get older, it'll be even better. Old enough to play together and be absolutely loud little menaces."
Ricardo smiles. "Like when my sister was old enough to play. I used to pretend it was super annoying because I was her older brother, but I really did have fun when she was old enough." His mind drifts as he thinks about his childhood. Not always great, between his various injuries, and issues with his parents, but he'd never trade the good moments away for anything.
Alicia smiles at him, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. "Yeah," she says quietly. "I hope our kids are as close as you and your sister are."
He smiles. "Imagine if the nieces and nephews all get along well too," he says. "Not that they'll be able to see each other that often since we all live so far apart, but you know. When they do. That'd be nice."
"It really would," Alicia agrees, lifting Ricardo's hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles. "A big happy family."
Ricardo chuckles, about to say something else when soft crying comes from the baby monitor. "Well, there's Clara again," he says, slowly getting to his feet. "We'll return to this visualization of our slightly more peaceful future in a few minutes."
Alicia smiles up at him. "Alright," she says softly, watching as he heads down the hallway to go check on the babies and tend to whatever they might need this time.
It's exhausting, but it's worth it. She loves their little family.