Page 32 of Snowed In Sucker
“Oh gods, yes! This is why I needed my glasses!”
“We are so talking about your communication skills after this,” I murmur, carefully arranging the towel onto the floor beside the tub.
Landon adjusts himself so he can look between his legs at our babies. All four of them are still in their translucent eggs, their little tentacles flaring around their bodies, wiggling around. They’re so fucking beautiful it steals my breath.
Two of them are a gray that’s very similar to my eyes. One of them is a light blue, like fresh water. The last one is a dark green, almost black color. All of them have various markings on their tentacles. Each one of them is different and unique and beautiful in their own way.
“Wow,” Landon says and I understand his tone because I’m feeling it too.
“Yeah,” I breathe out. “I don’t even know them yet but I already love them so much.”
Landon nods, reaching out and touching our light blue baby. As soon as his hand touches them, they shift from their octopus shape into that of a human. As they change, their shell breaks away until Landon can pick them up and draw them out of the water. He holds our baby against his chest, kissing the top of their head which is covered in dark hair.
“A girl,” he says, his eyes shining. He hands her over to me and I carefully dry her off and get her wrapped in a towel.
Landon does this again, touching the baby that came out last, our biggest baby. This one is a pretty gray color with markings that look very similar to my own.
“Another girl,” he says, his voice breaking. “She’s beautiful.”
“They all are,” I say, taking her as well and repeating the process.
The next baby he touches is our little green one. This one surprises me by only doing a half shift at first before those tentacles are disappearing a moment later. A little over achiever.
“Oh gods, Jett. Another girl. Just like that we’re overrun,” he says with a grin. He gives her head a kiss before passing her over.
Our final baby finally shifts and breaks out of their shell. Landon picks them up and looks at me.
“You’ll never guess.”
“Anothergirl?”
He nods his head. After giving her a kiss, he passes her over. I wrap her up with her sisters. I have them all lined up in the order they were pulled from the tub.
“We’re girl dads,” I say with a grin. “Gods, you did such an amazing job, Landon. I am so proud of you.”
Landon grabs me by the back of the neck, pulling me into a forceful kiss. “I love you,” he says against my lips. “I love you, Jett. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you by my side.”
“You wouldn’t have had to if it weren’t for me,” I tell him, trying to make a joke.
“I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I love you. I love them. I love the life we’re making. If I had the chance to replay my life, I would choose this life every single time.”
His words settle within my chest. I feel them the same way I feel my heart beat.
Instead of trying to speak, I kiss my mate again. Then again. Then again just because I can. I kiss him until our children start to stir and whine, no doubt hungry after everything they’ve been through.
I pick them up, two by two, and bring them into our bedroom where four bassinets are set up and waiting for them. Then I get Landon out of the tub and help him into bed. After that, I work at warming up some bottles.
Once the six of us are settled into bed, the babies all between our legs as we each feed two of them, I ask, “ready for some names?”
“I suppose that would be better than ‘that one’.”
I chuckle. “I like the name Tayah.”
“I like that one too.” He nods to our biggest baby, the one that left his body last. “I think that belongs to her.”
“Perfect,” I say, pulling the bottle away from the baby who left the tub first. I bring her to my shoulder and pat her back. “This one feels like Ruby to me.”
“That’s really pretty. Approved.”
