——
"Nadi."
A breathy, desperate moan pours from Harry's mouth like a fountain of devotion, paired with his two favorite syllables entwined with pleasure. The sight of his wife straddling him and gripping his ankles with her head thrown back in ecstasy is heavenly. Her nipples are perky under her tank top as she grinds in smooth motions, each movement making her angelically gasp.
Harry's cock aches from the way she's clenched so tight around him, so perfectly to the point that he's nearly seeing stars on the ceiling. His whimpers transpire faster as he edges closer to release what he's been patiently waiting for all day. As soon as Nadine's family walked out the door after a long day of holiday festivities, he quite literally begged on his knees to let her take care of him. She had been teasing him all night, and he didn't mind pleading like an insatiable madman while leaving fierce kisses on her thighs until she ultimately gave in.
Nadine currently rides him, her silver earrings swaying with every back-and-forth motion, and he can see on her face that her pleasure is coming from herself only. She doesn't even need to look at him, purely moving her body to get herself off by using his.
His physical daydream was soaking him with her divine rapture. How did he get so lucky?
Harry rasps another soul-stirring moan, then blindly reaches his hands upwards to take Nadine's shirt off. She stops him with a palm to his perspiring collarbone. "No, I'll get cold," she says, short of breath.
He doesn't argue and just sits up so he can pull her chest to chest with him, feeling her skin melt against his. The new position is easy to adjust to, and the pleasurable knot in his stomach tightens significantly due to the proximity.
"Please, Nadi. Tell me you're almost there."
"I'm waiting for you," she says before muffling a whine into his shoulder. "You've been such a good boy, ma lune."
When Nadine rocks one final, paradisiacal grind against him, Harry uses the last of his strength to gently push her onto her back so he can release inside of her while hovering over her. Eyes pinched shut, his vision swimming, he shudders through his intense orgasm with satisfied, broken moans. Behind his eyelids is a celestial kaleidoscope, which is all because of his Aphrodite lying beneath him.
She releases shortly after him, clenching around his cock as he rubs soothing circles on her clit to stimulate her even more. She always looks so ethereal when she falls apart from a lustful climax. Her tan skin acquires an alluring glow, and her eyebrows pinch together as she brings his head down to kiss his needy mouth.
Drowning in her euphoric sounds, Harry murmurs, "Come back to me, rêveuse. Nadi, look at me." The brown eyes of his goddess slowly gaze upon him. "There you are."
Once she comes down from her high, he places his palm over her haywire heartbeat, then pulls out from her and leaves the bed to start aftercare. He takes precious care of her in the following minutes, cleaning her with a warm, damp washcloth and then tying her hair into a ponytail. She's so beautiful even while simply lying on the sheets, dazed with serenity.
They switch places once everything is taken care of. Nadine slips on her black silk robe and strolls over to Harry, sprawled out on the bed in a post-sex haze. "Mon amour," she coos, stroking his dampened hair back. I almost forgot that I have more gifts to give you."
He sleepily blinks open his eyes and melts into her touch like snowbanks under sunlight. "For me? I thought we agreed to give each other an equal amount."
She smiles, lightly scratching his scalp. "I couldn't help myself."
He weakly hums, his eyes fluttering shut again. "You change your mind like the seasons. Do I have to get up?"
"Yes, you do. I left them in the greenhouse."
"Dove, my legs feel like that jelly dessert you made this morning. And it's chilly out." He reaches his arms out like a child. "Let me hold you for a while."
Nadine daintily grabs his limp wrist and leans forward. "Please," she whispers in his ear. "Please, moonflower."
The perennial nickname makes Harry's stomach flip. He hides the arousing effect it has on him by sighing heavily. He then says, "Nadi, Nadi, Nadi. You make me do foolish things, hmm? Give me a second so I can put some clothes on."
She plants a pert kiss on his cheekbone as he sits up with a delicious, spent groan. He doesn't have time to sift through his entire closet, so he grabs the first thing in sight: a pair of sweatpants and a white button-up crumpled in the hamper. They're both dirty and will definitely not protect him from the bitter temperature outside.
After they both shuffle into their respective pairs of slippers, Nadine hugs Harry's arm and leads him out the patio door. They walk down the shoveled pathway toward the smaller greenhouse of the three that Harry has built over the years they've lived together in the countryside of France. The wreath and garland hung on the white wooden door, and the bare evergreen tree inside were the only decorations they managed to deck the place out with.
"It's bloody freezing out," Harry says, cupping his hands together and blowing on them as Nadine opens the creaky door. Thank goodness it's heated inside.
The fluorescent lights flicker on, revealing the space where they store gardening supplies and project tools. There's a yellow sun hat that Harry wears in the summer hung on a rusty nail, a chipped ceramic birdbath in the corner, a burlap bag of red mulch slumped over on the ground, and a watering can patched with duct tape that has tipped over from the wind.
Nadine skips toward the countertop and grabs two equally-sized gifts, the boxes wrapped with sustainable brown paper bags. Snipped plants stick out from underneath the thin ribbons made of twine. "You have to open both at the same time," she says, holding them out to him.
Harry takes the gifts and peers up at her, narrowing his eyes with a smirk. "I'm suspicious," he says.
She leans forward to smear an eager, messy kiss on his mouth. "Promise me," she murmurs.
"Je promets," he says immediately, glancing between her doe eyes and perfect lips.
After delicately untying the twine bow on each one, he tears the tape on the paper and lets it fall on the floor. He then sets the shoeboxes on the counter so he can lift the lid on both of them simultaneously.
The first thing he comes face-to-face with is frozen peas—lots and lots of frozen peas—snap peas, to be precise. Swallowing down a laugh, Harry says, "I—I'm flattered, Nadi, but I don't quite understand."
She bounces in place with anticipation and points to her holiday enigma. "Keep looking!"
He leisurely sifts through the peas in both boxes, per his wife's request, until he feels a tangible material under them. Pulling the unknown items out, two blank and crisp envelopes find their way into his grasp. Nadine stands behind him and places her restless hands on his shoulders.
"Open the left one first."
Harry tilts his head to see her better, noticing an unreadable glint in her dark irises. He doesn't break eye contact with her as his pinky finger slips under the envelope's seal to neatly tear it open. Kissing Nadine on her nose, he looks back down and opens the paper wide to see what she has planned.
It's a pea pod with two little green peas in it. Harry finds himself smirking again. "Is this a riddle I need to solve?" he asks while taking out the tiny vegetable and inspecting it.
"It can be if you want to," Nadine says, standing beside him. "Or, you can open the other envelope."
Setting the peapod down, he picks up the other envelope and repeats his actions, including staring her down and kissing her nose. This time, he fishes out a small, glossy picture. He doesn't recognize nor understand what he's looking at until the black-and-white image makes something click in his brain.
"Nadi." His heart starts to thump rapidly as his thumb and forefinger tightly grip the picture. "Nadi, is this real?"
"Oui," she whispers, palms pressed to her cheeks. "Look closer."
Harry refocuses on the sonogram's computerized blob. "Pregnant." He looks up at her. "Are you pregnant? Are we having a baby?"
Nadine grabs his face and kisses the corner of his mouth. "Yes, but look closer."
"I-I don't," he stammers, rubbing a clammy hand across his forehead. "I can't believe this. Why... what's with the peas? Is the baby the size of a pea?"
"Mon doux garçon," she says softly. "Do you not remember? You told me we would have snap peas running around the garden."
Harry had said it while high up in the clouds, but he remembers. The dream never faded. "But it's winter—"
"I know I said no to getting pregnant in the winter," Nadine interrupts, "but I couldn't wait to have babies with you." She kisses him repeatedly. "You're going to be a papa, moonflower."
Exhaling shakily, he lets the reality sink in. "A baby. Our little baby."
"Not quite." She takes the pea pod and sets it on her open palm. "How many peas are there?"
"Two," Harry replies, his voice going up in confusion. Then it dawns on him, a sunny and glorious daybreak of emotions. He leans against the counter and covers his face with the sonogram. "Oh, mon dieu. We're having twins."
Nadine hugs him, squealing happily into his neck. Her heart pounds just as quickly as his. "Two peas in a pod," she says.
He begins laughing in disbelief. "Twins," he repeats incredulously, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her off her feet. "Thank you, Nadi. Merci beaucoup." He kisses her deeply in between his words of gratitude. "Merci, my love. How far along are you?"
"Eight weeks," she answers, her tiny dimples appearing when she smiles. "I waited to tell you after the pregnancy test since I had a feeling I was carrying two babies. Then I had the first ultrasound last week and found out it's twins."
"You had a feeling?" he asks, setting her down.
"Look at my belly." She raises her silk robe and turns to the side. "I've been trying to hide it from you since they're growing so fast."
That's when Harry starts crying. Seeing the smallest bump protruding from his wife's stomach makes everything more real. He drops to his knees and buries his face in the soft skin. "How..." he chokes out, shaking his head. "How did I not notice?"
"I'm sneaky."
He holds her every night, knowing each dip and curve of her figure. Worshipping each stretch mark on her skin like it's the only thing he'll ever do. He can't believe he missed every hint that she was hiding the physical change.
"God, dove." Harry marvels over her body, tears glistening in his eyes. "Look at you. Look at this belly."
"Two babies," Nadine says, wiping away the wetness in his waterline. "I will be enormous once spring arrives."
"I've dreamt of this." He tenderly kisses her bump. "You're going to be so beautiful. Do you know that?"
Surely, she does because she bites her bottom lip and smiles. "The next appointment is in three weeks. I want you to come."
"I'll be there." He exhales a thrilled breath before standing. "Twins. I can't wrap my head around it."
"Me neither," she says as she pulls her robe back down. She then points at the two blobs on the sonogram still in his hands. "Bébé un et bébé deux."
"Nadi," he breathes out, unable to comprehend the past ten minutes. "This makes me so, so happy. This is what I've always wanted with you."
Harry can vividly imagine the skin of her stomach growing into a taut and rounded home for his babies as spring makes her glow like an evening primrose. Then, when they're born in the summertime, he can envision holding a baby in each arm, bouncing them up and down while he shows them his gardens. He will teach them everything he knows.
"Je t'aime," Nadine says, kissing his cheeks until they turn the color of a cherry blossom. "I was nervous that the peas would get mushy, so I secretly wrapped the gifts while you were showering after lunch."
"Where did you get all of them?"
"I went to the farmer's market and bought every last bag. The old lady selling them looked at me funny."
Harry laughs, picturing his wife stuffing her tote bag with an egregious amount of peas. "You can make baby food using them," he suggests.
She gasps excitedly, and his heart feels like it's going to burst. "That's what I was thinking!"
He sets the sonogram aside and cradles the back of her head, resting his forehead against hers. "I love you. We're going to have so much fun. I'll plant each of them a garden, let them crawl all over me, make them leaf crowns. I'll let them bloom into whatever they want to be."
A tear gracefully trails down Nadine's face. "You are so sweet, mon ange. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas. This is the best gift—the best two gifts."
"I don't think I will be able to sleep tonight."
Harry kisses her. "We don't have to sleep. Let me show you how thankful I am. My wife is so nice for not making me wait until spring, isn't she?"
She enticingly sticks her thumb between her teeth, then removes it. "We just had sex."
"Please, sunflower," he says, his hand roaming near the dip of her spine. "Let me take care of you. Laisse moi arroser ma fleur préférée."
Nadine slides away from him and walks toward the door. "If you insist. I'll even let you take my shirt off this time since you know now."
Harry furrows his brows but quickly realizes what she's getting at. "Is that why you've been keeping your shirt on during sex for the past couple of weeks? And refusing to shower with me?"
"Oui," she says with a sly grin.
Growling playfully, he picks her up and carries her over his shoulder. "You little fox!"
——
One Year Later
"Sacré bleu, Nalin!" Harry whisper-shouts, scooping his baby boy from the countertop before he's able to put the bell-shaped bulb of a snowdrop plant into his mouth. "Don't scare your papa like that, oui?"
Now, both of his arms are occupied, restricting him from sowing any more scallion seeds into the soil. Holding two babies who try to grab anything they can get their hands on is proving to be a full-time job in the greenhouse kitchen lately.
His left arm holds Lily, named after the elegant flower that blooms on the reservoirs of Loire Valley.
His right arm holds Nalin, named after the Hindi name for the lotus flower that floats in French water gardens.
"You two are such trouble," Harry says under his breath as he bounces them on his hip. "Your papa is working so hard to plant a beautiful garden for you both, and this is what I get in return?"
He had made it a tradition to plant the twins a mini garden each season. He started immediately last winter when Nadine told him she was pregnant, and he doesn't plan on stopping until he runs out of room.
Speaking of Nadine, where has she frolicked off to?
Peering out the window, Harry finds her picking beetroots from the winter garden. She's bundled up in her puffy coat and harvesting the blood-red vegetable for whatever meal she has planned for dinner tonight.
Lily starts kicking her legs, happy staccato babbles leaving her mouth. She looks just like his Nadi. Her dark hair and deep-set eyes the color of maple syrup are so similar to his wife's that he often finds himself staring at his baby girl for an ample amount of time, noticing all the pretty parts she shares with her mother.
Nalin, a complete mama's boy, has more of Harry's features since Lily and Nalin were born as fraternal twins. He has his father's green eyes and curly hair, yet even that is as dark as Nadine's. Her strong features overpower his children, but he wouldn't want it any other way.
The door creaks open, causing a gust of December wind to blow in. Nadine steps inside with her hair and coat covered with snow flurries. "My babies!" she says brightly, setting down the woven basket filled with beets and reaching her arms out.
Harry passes Nalin over and watches her give him kisses all over his face until his plump cheeks lift with a dimpled smile. Lily still clings to his side, her tiny socked feet harmlessly kicking against his stomach in excitement.
"What are you using the beets for?" Harry asks, pressing a soft kiss to Nadine's forehead. Her skin is cold from the nippy weather.
"Hummus."
He raises his eyebrows and gapes at Lily. "Yummy in your tummy," he whispers while tickling under her belly button. Looking back at Nadine, he says, "I'm almost finished in here, and then I'll make a fire for us. Go inside and warm up, dove."
She directs her gaze to the twins. "Do you need me to take them from you?"
Harry smiles helplessly. "Oui, s'il vous plaît. They're trying to eat the plants."
Nadine laughs sweetly and takes Lily in her other arm. She then leaves a long, full kiss on Harry's lips before leaving, taking his little snap peas.
She can be any flower she wants and flourish in any condition. A winter's rose, each thorn representing the doting pain she feels from loving so passionately. A late spring larkspur, each purple petal protecting her family from harm. An autumn chrysanthemum, each stem rooting from the deep devotion she carries.
Most of all, she's a summer sunflower that thrives throughout every season. With a face that follows the sun, she stands tall and watches over her garden.
The sunflower to his moonflower.
——