Page 76 of 5+Us Makes Seven

this was the only time I was going to get, then I wasn’t going to hold her to a bedtime.

Her sobs quieted down as I rubbed her back rhythmically. Her shoulders were shaking and she was drawing in shaky breaths, but her tears were running dry. I scooted her closer to my body, trying to get her weight off my stomach so I could hold her more comfortably.

Then she slid off to the side and landed in the crook of my arm.

“Would you like some ice cream?” I asked.

“No,” Clara said.

“Do you wanna watch a movie?”

“No.”

“Do you want to talk?”

I watched her nod her head ‘yes’ and my heart began to flutter with hope.

“What would you like to talk about?” I asked.

“Will you love them more?”

I furrowed my brow as I sank down into the covers.

“Love who more?” I asked.

“Them,” Clara said.

She rested her hand on my stomach as my eyes filled with tears.

“Why in the world would you think that?” I asked.

“Because they’re inside your belly.”

“That doesn't mean I would love them more than you, sweetheart.”

“But you didn’t grow us.”

“That doesn’t matter,” I said.

“It doesn’t?”

“No. There are children all around the world who are adopted all the time, and they are loved just as much as children that other families grow,” I said.

“I’m adopted?” Clara asked.

“No, sweetheart. It was just a comparison. Just because I didn’t grow you in my tummy doesn’t mean you are somehow less to me. In my eyes, you are my child. You and Joshua and Nathaniel. And the two inside of me? They’re going to be part of our family soon. And I’ll love them just as much as I love you. But not more. Never more.”

I watched Clara process what I’d said to her before her eyes rose to mine.

“Do you love Daddy?”

The question caught me off guard as I cocked my head.

“Why do you ask?”

“Daddy says people who love each other get married and have babies. But you only have babies,” she said.

“Are you asking me if I want to marry your father?” I asked.

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