Life After Love: Part 10

MARLEY

Zander and Zack were both born at two pounds and two ounces, with beautiful dark wavy hair, brown eyes that were blessed with long lashes and a healthy complexion mixture of both Danny's caramel tone and Serena's fair tone. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't spend much time with the twins, since they've mostly been in incubators, growing stronger by the day for the last month and a half. The rest of the group and I came to visit them every day, and to make sure Danny and Serena had all the support they needed. Freddy and I had been busy making sure their house was stocked with all baby necessities since they came a little earlier than expected. Serena, Danny, and I were just about to decide on a final paint color for the nursery, when Freddy entered the hospital room, the twins tucked into each of his arms as he held them against his chest.

My smile widened when I noticed his bandages were finally off underneath his t-shirt sleeve and I got up to take one of the babies, tip-toeing up to kiss his cheek.

"I'm so happy for you, Freddy." I beamed and his smile only brightened as he glanced down at baby Zach, who was fussing in my arms. Baby boy must be hungry. Zander waved his little arm in front of Freddy's face, aiming to grip onto his full lips.

"Guys, quit hogging my babies," Serena complained, and I smirked as I handed Zach over to her first. Freddy handed Zander over to Danny, who began to make goofy faces at him, making his little lips curve into a wavering smile.

"I can't wait to have five of those," Freddy mentioned, sighing as he smiled at those beautiful baby boys and my ovaries practically exploded at the thought. I was in full baby fever mode and I wasn't sure it was going anywhere any time soon.

"Yeah, Marley, give the man some babies," Serena began her instigating, forcing my cheeks to burn in embarrassment as Freddy held back a smirk.

"Aw, look at them. Practically thinking about baby names already." Danny joined his wife on the teasing parade as he grinned down towards his own baby boy.

"Have we decided on a paint color yet? You're bringing those babies home the day after tomorrow. Time's running out." I changed the subject, praying they took the bait so they'd leave me and Freddy alone. We were friends, that's all. I was dating Michael now. If you could call it that. What does one call having multiple-orgasms a day with a man you enjoyed occasionally hanging out with?

"I still think teal is nice," Serena offered and Danny gave her an exasperated look.

"What's wrong with just plain blue?"

"Blue is boring."

"Guess what else is boring?" Danny countered with a playful smile. Serena glared at him in return.

"Well, this is going to take a while. Let's go get something from the vending machine," I suggested, looking towards Freddy. He nodded in agreement and we walked side by side down the halls of the maternity ward. There were babies and toddlers everywhere, and there was just a little too much cuteness for me to handle.

"I say we just paint the room teal. It's what the mamma wants and she's the one who'll be there most of the time," Freddy suggested and I nodded, hoping Danny would come around to the idea.

"We could do a horizontal band going around the room in white, with both their names written in a cool font," I added, pulling my cell phone out of my pocket to show him the idea I got from the internet.

"They're going to love it." Freddy complimented, his smile causing me to blush. He'd gotten a haircut, shaved his beard and bought a new outfit to go with it. But it was still the same old handsome and rugged Freddy. Man, we'd make some good-looking babies.

"Have they mentioned anything about baptism?" I asked him and Freddy grimaced as he placed his dollar bills into the vending machine, picking out a couple of candy bars for us.

"I rather not give them another reason to bicker right now," he replied, handing me my candy bar after opening it for me. I smiled up at him, and he sent me a wink as I took a bite from my candy bar, walking side by side back towards Serena's hospital room. The same pair of kids that had been running around all over this floor earlier had almost knocked me down on my ass, but thankfully, Freddy caught me just in time. Both his hands held my hips steady and I reached to touch the hand that been seriously injured during the fire. The large scars ran all the way up to his shoulder, and I pursed my lips, picturing how much pain he must've been in, and how he didn't bother to take it into account to save someone else's life.

I hadn't realized how long I had been touching him until I heard someone clear their throat. A nurse from the looks of it. She narrowed her eyes at the both of us and sent Freddy a sly smile as she returned to the nurses' station.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, pulling away from him and he shook his head, holding back his infamous smug grin. I rolled my eyes and smirked as we headed back towards Serena's room, only to find Michael resting against the doorway as he held Giselle's hand, his eyes looking back and forth between us as he straightened.

"Taking a stroll are we?" Michael's snarky comment only managed to irritate me, but I ignored it as I lowered to Giselle's level and gave her a big hug. She decided on wearing a blue dress today with white sandals and the baseball cap she refused to take off, even with the heatwave plaguing Texas right now in the middle of July. She was growing every day and I swear she held more maturity in her than the rest of the adults she was surrounded with.

"How's my peanut doing?" I asked her, straightening the hem of her dress and she waved it off, insisting it was fine.

"Uncle Mike told me a secret today," Giselle whispered loudly, making the rest of us chuckle as we listened.

"Well, what is it?"

"He told me I should make scary faces at boys so they won't play with me. He says I'll understand when I'm this many," she explained, spreading all ten of her fingers out for me to see. I chuckled and looked up towards Michael, who grinned proudly and sent her a wink.

"Are you still taking her in tonight?" Freddy asked, as he picked her up and held her closer to his chest. She melted right into him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I have no plans, so yes. Why?"

"I've got a date tonight. So I might not pick her up until morning," he answered, and while it shouldn't surprise me that he was dating, I was still taken aback by it, more than I should've been. Michael seemed to have noticed my grim expression and took it upon himself to pull me towards his side, placing a kiss on my cheek. Freddy rolled his eyes at him and turned to smile at Giselle as they entered Serena's room.

"I have a meeting with my lawyers in an hour. But I'm free after that. We can take Giselle to the carnival in town," Michael offered and I nodded at the idea. His court date was coming up, and he was going to need all the help he could get from his lawyers if he wanted to find a way to receive the most lenient of punishments for his crime.

"Sounds good."

"Looks good too. Damn, girl," Michael flirted, biting his lower lip as he spanked my behind lightly before placing a lingering kiss on my cheek as I turned and tried to shoo him away. Freddy's gaze settled on me and my smile faded, causing me to pull away from Michael.

"I'll see you later."

"Yes ma'am. See ya'll!" Michael waved his goodbye towards everyone else in the room, then blew a few kisses at me as he walked away. I knew Freddy's eyes were still on me, and I also knew he needed to keep his distance, just like I've been keeping mine. Or tried to anyway. We've been magnets since the moment we met, always running in circles until we stumbled upon each other again. I had no doubt he'd still be waiting at the finish line for me, no matter how many nights we spent in other people's arms.