Page 70 of Twin Babies For The Grump

There is applause as I put the microphone back in place and hug my soon-to-be wife.

“I love you,” Tess whispers.

“I love you, too,” I whisper back.

And that’s all that matters.

Epilogue

Tess

FourYearsLater

There’s nothing cuter than having your kids and your dogs play together, and nothing scarier than all four of them being completely silent.

Tipsy and Blanc are very caring and careful with how they handle the twins and seem to have left their old habits in the past, but I can’t say the same for my children.

Lily and Luke are too young to understand that there are some things you simply cannot do—no—should not do because they clearly can.

“What’s wrong?” Owen asks.

He’s sitting across from me at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in his hand, his hair messy still. We woke up late today, even for a Sunday, and neither of us plans to go out. Lazy days like this are the best, especially with all the work we’ve had these past few months.

Not that I’m complaining—we’ve worked our asses off to reach this level—but I like days like this where it’s just us and the kids, and the dogs.

“It’s too quiet,” I say and make my way to the living room. Owen follows behind me but I gesture at him to wait, then peek inside from the doorway. Sensing my presence, four heads turn in my direction.

Lily is the first to speak, giving her brother time to hide whatever he was holding.

“Hi, Mommy,” she says innocently, staring back at me with those huge blue eyes. Her hair is the same shade as mine, her curls a bit more defined, and has a perfect mix of Owen’s and my characteristics.

Luke, on the other hand, is an exact copy of his father but with green eyes.

“Hi, sweety. What are you doing there?”

“Nothing,” they say in unison.

“Mhm, I see.”

I go around the couch and sit between them. Blanc makes the same movement in the opposite direction.

“See this, Mommy,” says Luke and hands me the drawing he’s made. It’s our house, and the four of us on one side, along with the dogs. On the other, there are huge trees with grapes hanging from them.

I chuckle at that and give him a kiss on top of his head.

“And what did you draw, Lily?”

There are dozens of colored pencils on the coffee table, and blank papers scattered on it and beneath it.

“It’s a surprise,” she says with a shake of her head.

“I love surprises,” Owen chimes in from the doorway and comes to sit with us. “Where’s the surprise?”

The twins look at each other and then Lily nods at her brother. Luke then bends down and reaches for something under the couch—it’s a bunch of drawings. He hands them over to his sister.

“I made new wines, for you and Mommy,” she informs Owen and places the papers between us.

Each page has a drawing of a glass filled to the brim. The colors of the “wines” vary from red, pink, and orange, to shades of purple, and then green and blue. And of course a rainbow one.

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