Page 135 of The October Arrangement

The second I heard a cry, everything inside me stopped. My son. The doctor lifted him up and handed him to one of the nurses. I gripped Bella’s hand as tears fell from her eyes.

“Is he okay?” Bella whispered.

I looked at the doctor.

“He’s doing great.” She smiled.

I leaned down and kissed Bella’s forehead. “You did great.”

“We’re only halfway there,” she said.

“Right.”

Christ. I’d almost forgotten there was another baby coming.

“And here’s your daughter,” the doctor said.

I panicked because my daughter wasn’t making a sound. Every muscle in my body locked with fear.

“Is she okay?” I looked at the doctor.

Suddenly, a sharp cry filtered through the room. I let out a breath and closed my eyes.

“That’s our girl.” I smiled.

“Our daughter, Simon,” Bella whispered.

Tears streamed down my face when the nurses set the twins on Bella’s chest. I reached my hand over and touched them. They were so small and so beautiful.

“Hi, Julian Simon Montclair. I’m your dad,” I whispered. “Hello, Olivia Renae Montclair, my beautiful princess.”

The feeling that swept over me was something I wasn’t prepared for. The love that poured out of me was something I never thought was possible.

“I love you, Bella.”

“I love you too.” She smiled.

“No.” I shook my head. “I mean, I fucking love you.”

“I gathered that when you married me.” A smirk crossed her lips.

“You made them, Bella.”

“You helped.” She smiled.

“I only contributed. You did all the work.” I softly stroked her forehead.

“That might be the smartest thing you ever said, Dad.” She grinned.

‘Dad.’ That word knocked the wind out of me.

Chapter Forty-Nine

Two Weeks Later

Bella

Two weeks after bringing Julian and Olivia home, I’d learned several important things about motherhood. Sleep was no longer something I did for eight hours straight. I could change a diaper with my eyes closed. I could tell which twin was crying from another room. And my husband, the controlling man who once needed absolute order and silence in his penthouse, had become obsessed with his children who peed, pooped, spit up, and screamed all over everything he owned.