AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“At least three kids,” Noah said decisively, and I nodded.
“There are three Foster brothers, so I’d say three is the magic number,” Leo said.
Madison beamed, “I wouldn’t mind having a little girl, too,” she said, “So maybe three, or maybe we try for four.”
I looked around at their smiling faces as we sat on the floor of our new home, talking over our future, and couldn’t imagine being happier.
EPILOGUE
MADISON - THREE MONTHS LATER
“Idon’t know,” I teased, “If I get a babymoon like this, maybe we’ll have to think about having more than four kids.”
I slipped off my sandals and wiggled my toes in the sand luxuriantly. The Caribbean getaway had been Noah’s idea. One of the partners in his firm offered us his vacation home for the week. It was a beachfront villa, gorgeous and romantic. We fell asleep to the sound of crashing waves every night. We ate fresh local fruit and sipped guava nectar with breakfast. I splashed in the ocean and had a fabulous prenatal massage and facial at a resort spa nearby.
It was our last night before going home. Ethan had ordered a lavish meal from a local restaurant and Leo set up a candlelight dinner on the beach for us all to share.
“See, I used the glass lanterns from the porch to put our candles in—shields the flame from the ocean breeze,” Leo said.
“Resident lighting expert right there,” I said, kissing his cheek, “It’s perfect.”
I stroked the curve of my rounded belly affectionately, savoring the silky fabric of my sundress. We talked over the wonderful time we’d had relaxing and sightseeing.
“We can all rest assured that the baby will have all the straw purses, sun hats and handmade baskets he could ever need,” I said, “Thank goodness we went to the market in town.” Everyone smirked at me. My enthusiasm for the local handicrafts had been a running joke for days.
“I’m sure that big straw bag will be great for him. Who wouldn’t want a diaper bag that doubles as a tropical souvenir?” Noah said, “And there’s the added bonus that the splinters from the bag can stab us every time we reach for the wipes.”
“It’s not for diapers,” I said, “It’s a beach bag.”
“And we go to the beach so often in Manhattan,” Ethan said wryly. “I see trips to the Jersey shore in our future.”
“Or the farmhouse.”
“You mean the farmhouse that has a pond?” Leo put in, “The pond I’ve been having nightmares about for a month because I dreamed that the baby toddled too close to the edge and fell in? No. We don’t need a beach bag for that. We need an electrical fence around the pond.”
“Are you suggesting that we won’t be watching him closely or that you want to electrocute the baby if he veers toward water?” I said.
“Neither. It just scares the hell out of me.”
“We’re going to take good care of him. We’re fencing the backyard, remember?”
“Yeah, but what if he’s a climber? I was a climber by the time I was three.”
“You didn’t have four parents watching you like a hawk all the time,” Ethan said. Leo smiled sheepishly. Of the four of us, he turned out to be the worrier.
“I’ve been thinking about names,” I said.
“We have four more months,” Noah said. “There's no rush.”
“There is if you want to start monogramming stuff,” Ethan said, “The straw market was just a gateway drug on the way to full-on nesting mode. Buckle up, brother.”
“What did you have in mind?” Noah said.
“Well, I thought about Stewart for a middle name, you know, my last name. But I also really like Maple.”
“The syrup?” Leo said.
“The tree?” Ethan said.
