Page 99 of Shattered Union

I open the door, and my beautiful family is exiting the car. All of them wearing bright smiles. "Mama," Gareth growls, reaching out for me.

I laugh and take him from Denis's arms, pressing kisses to his chubby cheeks. "Hey, baby boy, did you have a good time with granny?" I ask as I pepper more kisses on his face, making him giggle.

My bump has grown so much over the past three months. My back aches sometimes if I overdo it, but I love feeling my babies moving about inside. But nothing compares to when Denis stands behind me and places his hands on my bump. Something about having his breath hot against my neck and his body pressed against mine while cradling the bump where our babies lie really gets to me.

"Granny bought me this, isn't it pretty," Chloe says, shoving her wrist into my face and I see the beautiful intricate silver bracelet.

I nod. "It's gorgeous, darling," I reply, kissing her cheek.

"Mama, look," Mary says, showing me she too got a bracelet.

I give Denis a chaste kiss, letting him know with my eyes that I'm happy they're all here, and I reach down and pick Mary up and swing her around. "You look beautiful, honey."

She beams at me and grabs my face, pressing wet kisses against my nose.

"Okay, who's ready to see their room?" I ask, placing Mary down on her feet.

Of course my question gets a loud response from Chloe, which makes Mary laugh, and Gareth, not one to be left out, chuckles along with his sister.

Denis scoops Mary off the floor and carries her toward the staircase where I currently have a stair-gate set up. "I'll take her," I tell him as I open the gate.

He presses a kiss against my mouth, nipping at my lip. "You can, but you won't. You're seven months pregnant, Callie."

I gesture for him to walk upstairs, and Chloe follows behind him. I take my time, taking each step one at a time. I'm slower than I'd like, but carrying twins is hard.

"Okay, first, let's see Gareth's room," I tell them as I lead them to the room beside mine and Denis's. I push the door open as Denis walks up behind me and pulls me into his embrace. "What do you think?" I ask him.

He takes in the cool blue room with dinosaurs on the walls and smiles. "Perfect, baby. He loves it."

I look down at my boy who's crawling on the floor, getting the lay of the land. Chloe laughs and picks him up into her arms. "Let's go see Mary's room, shall we?"

Gareth adores his big sister and smiles at her with his toothy smile.

I lead them to Mary's room, who's closest to the bathroom, which is needed now that she's being potty trained. She loves to strip down out of her clothes, pull off her nappy and run around the house naked. She tried to do it one day in the shop and I couldn't stop laughing.

Mary's room is painted a pale pink with glittery fairies that are on the walls, wardrobes, curtains, and bedding.

"I love fairies," she gasps as she runs into the room and jumps onto her toddler bed. She moves around the room like a crazed person, looking at everything, taking each thing in, all the while smiling brightly.

"Okay, honey, it's time to see Chloe's room now," I tell the busy little girl.

Mary grins at me and rushes over to her big sister, taking her hand and dragging her from the room.

Chloe's room took me the longest to decide what and how she wanted it. She's unlike most girls her age. So she let me decide. I settled on cream and gold for her room. I know as soon as I open the door that I chose right. I'm slightly jealous of how her room turned out, it's something I would want for myself. Denis's arms once again wrap around my waist, his lips at my neck as he presses light kisses to it.

"Fucking love you,mo ghrá," he says hoarsely.

I close my eyes. I'm so bloody lucky.

"Callie," Chloe says with tears in her voice. I open my eyes and see she's crying. My heart sinks. Did I do wrong? "This is amazing," she tells me and runs over to me, throwing her arms around me. If only for Denis tightening his grip on me, I would have gone down on my arse. "Thank you," she cries.

I hold her against me as she cries softly. I'm just happy that they're happy tears.

"Okay, I'll show you where mine and your dad's room is." I tell them with a smile. I made a few modifications to the house, knocking down one of the bedrooms to make ours bigger. But I also transformed the attic into a room as well. One I think Chloe may want when she gets a little older.

"This house is amazing," Chloe says when we walk out of our room and toward the twins room. "I can't believe we all live here now."

I smile at her happiness. Since the misunderstanding with Holly, she's been better. She's no longer afraid to be heard in case she upsets me. She realises this family is here to stay.

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