Flimsy leaves drifted down in clusters. Grand oak trees with prickly branches cast long, lean shadows. Whispers from bees and butterflies wove through the meadow.
This was our favorite park: Monarch Park. It was always quiet here, quiet enough to hear the murmurs of squirrels as they bit their tiny acorns- and the dripping of the stream at the other end of the park.
Darcy sat in Harry's lap and rested her head against his chest. Juliano sat quietly in my lap while Des sat on top of Harry's shoulders and grabbed fistfuls of his curls. (Yes, Harry and I named our sons after our fathers. It was harder for Harry but I told him it would help him mend the relationship he had with his father).
Juliano (JD) and Darcy listened quietly as Harry read them a fairytale, the same one my father had read to me when I was Darcy's age.
Darcy was nearly 7 years old. She was just as bright and bubbly now, as a kid, as she was when she was a baby. And as for the twins, I'm just glad you all didn't have to witness me blow up like a whale.
I lost the weight from the twins a few months after giving birth. But Harry was still eager for more. I nearly took him to a doctor because his addiction to babies was getting just as severe as my fixation on his rusty leather jacket.
I refused Harry until he used contraceptives and I took birth control. There was just no way I would even have the time to write my name on the next story if I had another kid after the twins. (Yes, I've been writing a lot recently. Random snippets of ideas. Mostly short stories). But it's been nearly five years since the twins and poor Harry waited patiently before I let him officially try again. And now I'm pregnant.
Juliano and Des are about to be 5. JD is older than Des by a few minutes but he is by far quieter. Darcy and Des were the loudest babies while JD was soft and sweet. He only cried faintly when he needed a diaper change or milk. He clung to me the way Darcy clung to Harry.
Des stuck to neither me nor Harry, he sort of went to whichever one of us wasn't mad at him for ripping Darcy's dresses or for sneaking cookies before dinner.
"And the handsome knight saved the good-hearted princess and they rode off into the golden sunset," Harry finished with a grin.
JD curled up in my lap while trying not to press too hard against my stomach. I'm nearly eight months into my pregnancy. No one can become a professional at being pregnant or have a set way for raising children but I think Harry and I have learned quite a bit since we had Darcy. Even so, every kid is different; just when you've cracked the code on Diva Darcy, the next baby is painfully shy and requires the opposite treatment.
"I like the story, momma," JD smiled up at me.
"Me too, baby," I kissed his cheek.
"I like stories. They make me feel like I'm in another world," he whispered to me and me alone. He looked up into my eyes the way Darcy looked up at Harry. I didn't like to think that JD doesn't love Harry but he definitely preferred me.
Harry reacted very differently to the twins. He cared for them just as he cared for Darcy but he wasn't that delicate with them. He sort of expected them to be tougher, to be mini versions of himself. JD was far from tough. The boy cried when butterflies died. He was sentimental, like me. Like Harry when he was alone with me.
I patted J.D.'s hair to the side and kissed his forehead. He looked quite a bit like me. Like my dad. He had my straight, dark brunette hair but he had my dad's hazel eyes. It was strange sometimes, it felt like I was holding a little boy version of my dad.
J.D. loved to read and write, too. He had started reading a few months ago. I found him under the covers, sitting with one of Darcy's books, reading and re-reading. He was so modest he didn't even tell me he could all the nights that I read to him. He pretended like he couldn't because Darcy was having trouble and he didn't want to make her feel bad by being better than her.
"Your daddy likes stories, too, baby," I told JD. JD glanced carefully at Harry, as if Harry were some fire-breathing dragon.
"Harry, you like stories, too, don't you?" I raised a brow.
Harry looked at me, then down at J.D. in my lap.
"Yes. Of course I do," he nodded.
"Wanna hear another one, Juliano?" Harry asked.
That's the other thing, Harry only calls JD, 'Juliano,' which sounds so formal. I keep telling him to call him his nick name or at least 'honey' or 'baby,' but 'baby' is strictly reserved for me and Darcy.
"I wanna play football with Uncle Tony," Des complained. He jumped down from Harry's shoulders and plopped down on the ground, exaggerating his boredom.
"Well Uncle Tony is with your Aunt Becky. She's having a baby, just like me, remember?" I smiled.
Tony and Becky got married about a year after Danny and Gem. Gemma was set on her 'no baby' policy but Danny coaxed her into just having one. Well, they have two kids now and Gemma modeled for maternity wear and mommy clothes all through her pregnancies.
Becky is about as far along as I am. She's having a girl but she hasn't told Tony yet. Tony was set on a boy. Hell, if he could, Tony would adopt Des as his own son. They spent most everyday together. They were both loud and 'macho' and more or less obnoxious.
Des sighed loudly and poked J.D.'s sides teasingly. Des leaned against my lap and looked up at me, then down at my round belly. Des' eyes were marble-like and green, exactly like Darcy and Harry. Des' hair was dark and curly, just like Harry's. Hell, he was a baby Harry, right down to the grin line. But Harry and Des butted heads nearly everyday; they were both opinionated rule-breakers.
"But momma, I wanna play with Uncle Tony. Not Aunt Becky," Des reasoned. He tried that 'innocent smirk' on me, the same one Harry used to convince me we should have just one more baby.
"Honey, Uncle Tony is busy. Play football with your father," I told him.
Des looked up at Harry and their eyes met. If you looked at them for too long, you'd think that Harry were looking in a mini mirror.
"Fine," Des grumbled. He poked at my stomach as if blaming the baby for making him miss out on football.
"You don't wanna play ball with your old man?" Harry teased.
"Well I've neva seen you play football. How do I know you aw any good?" Des raised a brow. He was always dancing on Harry's nerves.
Harry laughed loudly.
Des folded his arms over his tiny chest and stared at Harry. Harry knelt down closer to Des and stared him straight in the eyes.
"Never question your father," Harry declared grimly. He and Des glared at each other for a long minute before moving on.
Des coiled back closer to me and pushed at J.D. to get a spot in my lap. I carefully scooted J.D. over to let Des have space.
Harry started to close the book but Darcy placed her hand over the pages.
"Daddy," she spoke up slowly. Darcy had been unbelievable quiet. There was never a dull moment with these three but Darcy always made sure to have the first and last word.
Darcy looked up at Harry and I realized that the resemblance between them had magnified in the ten fold since Darcy was a baby. She still had her gold ringlets and Harry's green eyes and dimpled grin. She still loved Harry just a tad bit more than she loved me but he's her daddy, he's her first knight.
"Yes, baby," Harry smiled down at her.
"Haha Dawcy is a baby," Des teased.
"No I'm not!" Darcy retorted. She curled up in Harry's lap and looked up at him. "Daddy, I'm not a baby," she shook her head slowly.
Harry laughed and rocked her back and forth in his arms, as if she were a newborn again.
"Yes, you are, baby," he grinned.
"Daddy," Darcy complained.
Des quietly reached for her pig tail and was about to tug when I stopped him.
"Daddy, where's my knight?" she asked sweetly.
My heart jumped into my throat. I looked at Darcy and up at Harry and I saw myself, at her age, sitting with my father.
Harry cleared his throat anxiously. He looked over at me and back at Darcy. He took the feather necklace he had given her as a baby and kissed it.
"Baby, I'm your knight," he smiled.
Darcy shook hear head.
Harry's heart sunk in his chest.
"Dawcy doesn't have a knight," Des laughed.
"Des," I whispered. He settled back in my lap and watched on with JD.
"But you're just my daddy. I mean my real knight. When is he going to save me?" Darcy asked plainly. She had no idea she was breaking Harry's heart with every word.
Harry swallowed hard. I could feel his heart throbbing his chest. Either that or Des was poking at his little brother/sister in my belly. (Harry and I want to keep the baby's sex a surprise. Nonna has her suspicions for a little girl...)
Harry knelt down on his knees and took Darcy's hands in his. He kissed them softly.
J.D. stared at Harry in terrified awe.
"Darcella, I will be your daddy and your knight and your protector and anything you want me to be," Harry told her.
Des yawned loudly. I covered his mouth to muffle his rudeness.
"Am I still your baby angel?" Darcy whispered, just loud enough for Harry to hear and for me to make out.
Harry's dimples peaked through.
"Forever and always," he nodded.