Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3) (69 page)

He shook his head. "You’re pregnant
and need your rest, she knows that. Besides, she loves those kids almost as
much as we do."

I smiled and nodded. Aidan buried his
head into my hair and breathed deeply, his words still swirling in my head.

Yes, Aidan adored and loved the twins,
they were his angels. However, Cole was a different story. I could sense a
resistance in Aidan. I understood the struggle, but I couldn’t help but feel
sad when I watched it in action. Cole still struggled with Aidan and I was sure
it was because he could feel the same tension I could.

I had tried to help them bond multiple
times, but it never works out the way that I would like. We only talked about
it once and, after Aidan shrugged it off, I didn’t want to bring it back up to
him again. I could only hope that someday it would happen on its own.

Two weeks later that moment finally
arrived. Cole had picked up calling me ‘mumma’ from the twins and he used it
frequently. We were all in the newly designed playroom, where all of the toys
had been moved, when Aidan arrived home one Friday evening.

I was quite large but nowhere near the
size I’d been with the twins. As I was trying to stand up to greet him, he
rushed over to me.

"Don’t get up." He ordered and
kissed the top of my head as he sat down next to me.

Once he was seated, I pulled his face to
mine and kissed him fiercely.

"Mmm…Mrs. Iverson, don’t start what
you can’t finish." He laughed out.

We both knew that we could finish, but I
was so uncomfortable at this point that it wasn’t a very pleasant experience. I
may have been smaller this time, but my body seemed to be out to get me. First
it was the morning sickness that lasted up to my seventh month. Second, was the
extreme constipation that hit me at eight and a half months and, third, was the
sciatic nerve pain that I would experience when the baby would shift into a
certain position.

Seated on the floor, he held me as we
watched the twins push Cole around in his riding car. We laughed as Livy argued
with Walsh about something not being right and Walsh hanging his head in
defeat. Livy was a quiet, shy girl, but if you made her angry she would unleash
a can of whoop ass so fast it was mind boggling.

Unfortunately, during their argument, we
didn’t notice Cole trying to crawl out of the play car until Livy went to push
it again. I tried to move but that was a joke. Aidan got to him first, right
before his head hit the floor from the jarring movement. I sighed in relief as
I climbed onto my knees. Aidan held him in his arms. Cole was giggling like it
had been a game and Aidan just shook his head laughing at him.

"Ded." Cole blurted out and
patted Aidan’s chest with his hands.

I froze, waiting for Aidan’s reaction. A
few long minutes passed before Aidan smiled and ruffled his hair. He put him
down and walked back to me. The next thing I knew, Cole was pulling himself up
on the car and holding on as he walked something he had been doing for weeks.
However, he took a step away from the car and I gasped. Aidan turned around
quickly and watched wide-eyed as Cole wobbled over to him, taking five steps.

"Ded." He said with his arms
up.

"Mumma…Cowl say Ded." Walsh
ran over to me jumping, smiling and clapping.

"Cowl walk to ded." Livy ran
to me and pointed with excitement on her face.

"I know." I smiled back at
them. "Isn’t that exciting?" Clapping with them, we bounced a little.

I turned back and saw that Aidan had
picked up Cole and brought him over to our little group. He sat down with Cole
on his lap.

"Good job, Cole." I cooed at
him.

"Goo jub, Cowl." Livy said
sternly. I kissed the side of her head and smiled. Walsh climbed onto the other
side of Aidan’s lap. A little jealous, I assumed.

Watching Aidan kiss Cole on the top of
his head seemed to be the point that drew us together as one big family.

Chapter Eleven
New Beginnings
Aidan

It had been difficult for me to connect
with Cole. Yes, he is my biological son, but, in my mind, he wasn’t my child.
My Lilli had not given birth to him, Loreley had. It was tough to accept that.
I tried to relate to him as I did with the twins, but I still didn’t feel the
bond a father should. I felt affection toward him, but I was terrified that the
love only a father could have for his children would never come.

The moment that Cole walked to me, I relived
the moment that Livy had walked to me for the first time. I couldn’t help but
let my heart swell with his actions to come to me and call me dad. Sitting
together in a group as the twins cheered on Cole and praised him, finally I felt
like we were a family.

Everything with Loreley stayed fresh in
our minds for weeks and I was pretty sure that Lilli would always think about
her. I knew that deep down Lilli wished that she could have talked to Loreley
or gotten to her before she went to Gideon. In some weird way, she felt as if
she were partly to blame for her death.

I watched Lilli pad around the bedroom
getting dressed for dinner. Her stomach was in full bloom, yet still nothing
compared to when she was carrying the twins. She looked as beautiful as always.

"Are you going to get dressed or
are you going to stare at me?" She lifted an eyebrow at me and smirked.

"Can I help it if you are so
amazingly beautiful?" I climbed off the bed and headed toward her.

"Yeah, okay, cause an elephant is
so hot!" She snorted.

I rolled my eyes.

"Do we have to go through this
again?" I wrapped my arms around her from behind, my palms on her firm
belly. "You are not an elephant. You are my very pregnant wife and, if I
wasn’t scared that you would beat the shit out of me, I would bend you over
that chair and take you over and over again." My voiced had dropped into a
low growl.

She groaned.

"Don’t talk like that." She attempted
to pull away, but I pulled her back to me. "You know how horny I am right
now and you are killing me." She giggled.

"Hmmm…you’re horny, huh?" I
pulled her back around so that her back was against my chest. My hands slipped
down to her hips and I rotated my hips into her lower back.

She gasped.

"Aidan…stop." She breathed
out.

Moving her hair from her neck, I ran my
tongue up the side until I reached her earlobe. I sucked on her lobe and nipped
at it, causing her to press her ass firmly into my erection. That was the green
light I needed.

Quickly, I walked us to the bed, laying
her down.

"Aidan." She tried to protest.
I pulled her robe open and began sucking on her large swollen breasts. "Oh,
fuck…" she growled.

I ran my hand over her stomach, caressing
her skin, before I trailed kisses over the bump and rested between her legs.
One lick, two lick, and she was moaning my name. Needing to be buried inside of
her, I pushed down my pants and boxers. Positioned at her entrance, I slid into
her swiftly but gently.

"Ohhhh…." She breathed out
heavily.

"Shit baby, you…uh…yes…" I
growled as I thrust in and out of her tight center.

I could already feel her reaction to my
motions and knew that she would soon be pushed to her release. This was a good
thing. It had been so long that I knew I couldn’t control myself much longer.
The moment her hot, wet walls clenched around my throbbing erection I screamed
out her name. A few more thrusts into her orgasm and my release flooded my
senses and took control of my body. Lying beside her as we both caught our
breath, there was a knock at the door.

"Mr. and Mrs. Iverson, your guests
are arriving." Jay’s muffled voice made Lilli giggle.

"Poor guy is always subjected to
our indiscretions." She laughed and started to pull herself up.

I got up quickly and helped her. She gave
me a quick kiss and headed into the bathroom. I followed and jumped into the
shower to rinse off before getting dressed.

Lilli was dressed and out of the bedroom
before me. Once I was dressed, I looked at the crumpled blankets on the bed and
smiled widely.

I could hear our guests before I reached
the living room; Dixon’s loud laugh, James yelling at Dixon, the girls
giggling, the sound of the children’s noises. Standing in the doorway of the
living room, I took the whole scene in. It was truly the picture of perfection,
even if a lot of craziness had just passed through our lives.

Phoebe, Celia and Elora were all rubbing
Lilli’s stomach as she swatted them away. Lilli reached over and rubbed Elora’s
stomach in retaliation. Elora simply laughed.

"You can rub Celia’s too."
Dixon smiled widely at Lilli.

"What?" Phoebe sat up straight,
looking at Dixon.

Lilli turned her eyes on Celia.

"Really?" Celia nodded
nervously and Lilli pulled her down into a large hug.

"Congratulations, Big Man." I
entered the room.

"Well, it’s about time you got one
in there!" James goaded with a chuckle.

"Hey…perfection takes time to
create." Dixon boasted. "Just because you fuckers are reproducing
like bunnies, doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t know how to use a
condom." Dixon smirked at both James and me.

James scoffed.

"Why the hell would I use a condom?
I’m married. And, fuck, if my wife isn’t hot when she is pregnant." James
smirked back at Dixon.

I laughed and shook my head at them.
Then I turned my head toward Lilli, catching her eyes on me. With a small
knowing smile, she turned back to Celia. She knew that I felt the same way,
having just taken her upstairs in our room as everyone was arriving.

Soon, Liam and Viola entered with Abby,
Ryan, Maggie and Jason. Okay, I had been taking the whole Jason situation
lightly, but he seemed to be working his way in as a permanent fixture with
Maggie. I didn’t know if this was something I should just accept or if I should
intervene. The problem is, I’m not sure that I like the idea of her being in such
a serious relationship already. Lilli had had to calm me down the last time we
went to Viola and Liam’s for dinner. I walked in on Maggie and Jason’s full on
tongue battle.

I eyed him sternly and felt a little
smug when I could physically see him squirming next to Maggie as she talked to
Lilli and then to Celia. Liam was quickly a part of our little male group and
had a drink in his hand.

"So, Uncle Liam, you really approve
of this Jason kid?" I sneered.

He chuckled. "Aidan, I assure you I
have given that boy the ‘I have a shotgun and a shovel’ speech enough times for
you to calm down a little."

I shook my head. "Still…"

"Dude, Maggie is almost freaking
eighteen, would you prefer that she was dating a different guy every week?
Think about that!" James snorted out.

"No, but…"

"Think about you at that age."
Dixon raised a knowing eyebrow.

"Okay, I get your point." I
grumbled.

Liam laughed and patted my shoulder.
"Just wait till it’s your daughter."

I sighed at the thought and looked down
at the kids as they all played on the floor. Walsh and Livy always close to
each other, even if they were playing different things. Walsh was playing cars
with Jimmy and Livy was playing with her doll. Cole was playing blocks with
Adeline. Then, I glanced up one more time to the women across from us. All of
them attractive, smart, having created one of the little people on the floor
and a few that were currently carrying children. A content sigh escaped my lips
as I turned back to the conversation James and Dixon were carrying about
college days.

Rachel announced dinner and, as we were
heading to the dining room, Aunt Anne and Uncle Henry arrived.

Everyone sat down and started passing
food around the table. The conversation was pleasant and sometimes funny. Maggie
spoke of the colleges she and Jason had applied to. I internally did a happy
dance when I realized that there were a few that were far away from Maggie.
Lilli had made sure that Jay, Rachel, Alex, Kimberly and Peter all ate with us,
since they were a part of the family too.

After dinner, everyone headed back to
the living room. It was the most cleared out area for the children to play. We all
sat, continuing our former conversations; baby names, birthing plans, bottle or
breast. This was, of course, when Dixon jumped into the baby conversation.

"I have always preferred
breast." Celia smacked his shoulder. "What? It’s better for the
baby." He smiled slyly. She eyed him, letting him know she wasn’t buying
it.

After sitting, talking, and some of us
having a few drinks, the night began to wind down. The kids were getting tired
and Kimberly took the twins to bed, I followed with Cole. Lilli protested, but
finally agreed to just stay with our guests and relax.

One my way back to the living room, I
heard a crashing sound and quickened my pace. I got closer to the spare room on
the second floor and heard a knocking noise. Moving quicker to find out what,
or who, was in our house, I got to the door and threw it open.

"Who’s—?" I froze and then the
sight in front of me registered. "Oh, Fuck no!" I slammed the door
shut and walked away rubbing my eyes.

Before I could get down the hall, I came
face to face with James and Dixon.

"What happened?" James asked.

"You don’t want to know." I
shook my head.

"Dude, you alright?" I shook
my head and then heard a loud thud. I groaned again and rubbed my eyes.

I felt movement but, before I could stop
him, James had headed toward the spare room.

"James…" I warned. It was too
late.

"Fuck! Mom! Dad! What the..? Oh
God, I’m gonna throw up!" James ran to the bathroom.

"I tried to tell you!" I
shouted.

Dixon burst laughter. Tears forming in
his eyes.

"It’s not funny! I think my corneas
are burnt now!" I scowled at him.

"Oh…fuck…yes!" He exclaimed in
between fits of laughter. "This is the freakiest fucking family, I swear.
He lifted one hand in the air like he was swearing in and laughed louder. I
couldn’t help but join in laughing when I heard James throw up.

"What is going on?" Elora
appeared in the hallway. "Is that James?" Her eyes widened and she
headed toward him.

Dixon put an arm around my shoulder and
we headed back to the living room. On our way down the stairs we could hear
James and Elora in the bathroom.

"Baby, are you okay?" Elora’s
voice was full of worry.

"No, baby, come here. Please, just
make it all go away." He groaned.

Dixon was biting back more laughter. By
the time we got to the bottom step, we both burst into laughter again.

"What the heck is going on up
there?" Lilli asked me from her lounged position on the couch.

"Ummm…." I rubbed the back of
my neck.

"Aidan and Jimmy boy both walked in
on Anne and Henry doing the horizontal mambo." Dixon chocked out with
laughter.

Lilli’s eyes widened before she covered
her mouth and started laughing.

"Really?" She looked at me and
laughed out. I nodded and moved to sit next to her. Her body was shaking with
giggles.

I could hear Oz snort and Phoebe
laughing her tinker bell laugh. Celia was chuckling with Dixon as he hung onto
her, laughing uncontrollably.

Liam snorted and started to laugh.

"It’s about damn time she listened
to me!" Viola blurted out and sipped her wine with a sly smile.

"You put them up to this?"
Liam looked at her with a smirk on his face.

She shrugged. "They really needed
to get laid, and I don’t mean ‘soft, make love to me sex’. I mean dirty, hot,
fuck me sex!"

"Viola!" I groaned loudly and
put my head on Lilli’s knee, she ran her fingers through my hair as she laughed.

"That’s my girl." Liam leaned
over and kissed Viola’s cheek.

I didn’t think Dixon could laugh any
harder, but I was wrong.

"I’m gonna pee my pants!" He
laughed out and, with that, I had to chuckle.

James and Elora returned to the living
room, James still white as a ghost and Elora trying not to laugh too hard.

Aunt Anne and Uncle Henry appeared
briefly to say good night, their clothes disheveled and wrinkled. The image
that flashed through my head was like torture. I groaned and covered my face.

"Have a good evening." Liam
spoke with and evident smirk.

"I believe we already have."
Uncle Henry quipped back. James groaned and Dixon kept laughing.

"Well, if your night is already
through then what the hell are you leaving for?" Viola snorted.

"No one said it was over."
Anne blurted and then turned red before excusing themselves for the evening.