Page 85 of 7+Us Makes Nine

“I love you too,” I said as I opened my eyes.

The birth of our quadruplets was synonymous with the healing taking place between our families. The children were coping with the absence of Anya again and Catherine was slowly on the mend from her harsh pregnancy. She was repairing things with her own family, guiding me into their fold and wrapping me in a love I knew all of them had missed out on over the years. It wasn’t perfect, but it was filled with love. Her parents treated my three older children as if they were their own grandchildren. Hannah loved playing with them and I could tell she would enjoy spoiling our four new additions.

But it was the light in Catherine’s eyes every time she saw her parents. It was the way she melted into their embrace whenever they hugged her. It was the way her father kissed the top of her head and the way her mother smiled at her that made all of this worth it. That made all of the stress and the phone conversations and the late-night talks with tears and tissues worth it.

We were all becoming a family again. We were all falling in love with one another again.

And I could see Catherine finally becoming complete.

Twenty-Eight

Catherine

6 Months Later

“Our first night out,” I said.

“Are you excited?” Jace asked.

“Very. You’re paying the nanny overtime for this, right?”

“Per your rules.”

“Good. Because wrangling seven kids is enough of a job. But to do it at night? With four little ones getting up every two hours? That requires overtime.”

“You never asked for overtime,” he said.

“Because you asked me to be a live-in. Plus, I’d like you think you were paying me in other ways.”

I threw Jace a playful wink as his hand slid over my knee. I’d had the quadruplets six months ago-- Abigail, Christina, Nadia and Langley-- and they kept Jace and I very busy. Nadia, the smallest spent the longest in the NICU, nearly three weeks, but the rest of the babies had come home right away. I pumped whenever I could so Jace could help with the feedings. That made the nighttime adventures into their nursery a little more bearable. But even though we loved our kids, I had to admit that running behind seven of them was taking a toll on our personal relationship. Not in a bad way, but I missed Jace. I missed his touch and his longing glances. I missed those moments when it was only the two of us.

I was glad to be going to the theater with him again. It had been months since I’d gone.

Come to think of it, I’d only been one other time since our first date.

“What’s on your mind, beautiful?”

Jace parked the car as I smiled and looked over at him.

“I’m still beautiful after having four kids?” I asked with a grin.

He leaned over and captured my lips, not wasting a second of his time.

“You’re more beautiful than the day you first walked into my office for that job, Catherine. Don’t you ever forget it,” he said.

I melted into his touch as his hand rose to cup my cheek.

“I’m really glad we’re getting to go out tonight. Dinner was fantastic,” I said.

“So you liked that new restaurant?”

“I really did. They’re soup was phenomenal. Though I wish we would’ve stayed for dessert. I still don’t understand why we couldn't. We’re forty-five minutes early.”

“I thought we could have dessert in my office,” he said with a grin.

I had to admit, that type of dessert sounded delicious. I smiled at him and kissed his lips once more, then followed him up to the enclosed space. This was his favorite place for us to get together and have some alone time. I’d come in, he’d lock the door, then his hands would be all over me. His lips on my neck. His hands on my hips

. His body pinning mine to the wall. To his desk.

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