I wake up to the sunlight. Gabrielo is next to me and hugs me. The children are being brought into the room by one of the midwives. I thank her as quietly as possible and she smiles at me.

- Hey," I say as my husband wakes up.

- You were told not to speak yesterday," he reminds me, running his thumb over my lips.

- They brought the children back," I whispered, nodding to him. Look.

Gabrielo turns and looks at the two children by the bed. He hands me our son first before taking our daughter. Who would have thought this day would come so soon? I still remember our wedding day, our honeymoon and our time in Spain. I feel like I've stepped forward in time.

I put the children down to wash and dress. I get up all sore and go to wash up. I come out all clean and Gabrielo does the same. I watch my children on their beds. Gabrielo comes out of the bathroom and sits on the bed.

- What's up? he asks. How does our new mum feel?

- Full of love and joy. And the new dad?

- I'm so happy I feel like I'm going to explode," he laughs, holding me close.

He places a kiss on my shoulder and stares at the children. We look into each other's eyes before smiling a little more. I hold Gabrielo against me and he kisses my forehead.

The doctor knocks before entering the room. He approaches the beds and smiles at the children.

- It's about time you fed your babies," she says, approaching the beds.

- But they are still sleeping," I pleaded, looking at them. You can let them sleep a little longer.

- They will lose weight if you let them sleep too much without eating. They need to eat every three to four hours, that's crucial," the doctor said. Between 5 and 6 weeks, they will be a bit older and their sleep will be more organised so they will probably wake up to eat on their own.

- They still need to nap in the afternoon," says Gabrielo.

- It's essential for their growth. It's best if they sleep every five hours or so," advises the paediatrician. You'll see in a month how they'll be.

She rolls the children's bed over to me.

- Go ahead and hold them. Are you going to breastfeed or bottle-feed them?

- Breastfeed them," I answered confidently.

She hands me my daughter first. Gabrielo accompanies her outside while I nurse my children. I position her and she starts to latch on. It hurts a little more than I expected. It's a peculiar sensation but I think I can handle it.

A huge smile comes over my face. I can't help it. My child is finally in my arms, eating. I finish nursing them both and Gabrielo enters the room.

We sit down on the bed and the children are already sleeping. Someone knocks on the door and Rosaria enters the room. She hugs me and congratulates me.

- What a wonderful surprise, Alma! she exclaims with a beaming smile.

- Keep it down, Rosa," her husband says. You'll wake up the children.

He sighs before turning to me.

- Congratulations, darling," he says, giving me a hug.

I sit comfortably on the bed watching my in-laws rave about my children. Gabrielo hugs me and I snuggle up to him.

- Don't you think it's a bit dark in here? My mother-in-law asks as we nod.

She opens the curtains covering the huge window in front of the bed we are in. All the faces of our loved ones are revealed before us. It brings tears to my eyes to see them all here, present for the occasion. Even my grandmother and my brother are present. Amber, Steven, Meavy, Cole, Alexia, Cordelia, Max, Matheo, Christian and Jayna. They are standing there smiling with bouquets of flowers and gifts.

Everyone enters the room at the same time and I hug them all one after the other. They all turn to look at the children with a few exceptions.

- Chiquita, how are you? Yuma asks, tousling my hair as usual.

- I feel like I'm on cloud nine. What more could I ask for?

- Right, what more could I ask for," my brother repeats, lying down on the bed as if nothing had happened.

- Get yourself a wife before you say that," I retorted, forcing him to sit down.

- Always talking about marriage," he complained. Take care of my nephews and leave my bachelorhood alone.

I laughed at his words and he got up to see the children. Since everything is fine, we can go home later. Gabrielo has already gone to sign the papers for us to go out. It's going to be a restful ride home.

__________

At least that's what I thought until everyone came home with us to celebrate the arrival of the twins. Everything was set up with balloons and decorations everywhere. We had a photo taken all together for the occasion. All the family and friends arrived afterwards. Gabrielo's aunts arrived with their noise and their children as chatty as ever this time.

Meavy approaches me and takes me in her arms. We are finally in a quiet place away from all the noise with the children.

- So what are you going to call them? my best friend asks impatiently.

- You'll know when everyone else does," I replied, raising my eyebrows.

- Alma, I am your friend! Tell me first," she demands.

- No way. I promised Gabrielo that we would announce it together. We even ordered a huge cake for the occasion. It must have arrived already. So, what about your bet with Cole?

- We changed the terms when we found out they were twins. We decided to bet on the child who was born first. I bet on your son and he bet on your daughter.

- Ah. So I guess he owes you money, right?

- Not at all," denies Meavy. He owes me a wedding with a wedding dress personally made by you.

- Are you getting ahead of yourself or is it already that serious between you?

- This is the first time I've liked someone so much and it seems to be mutual. He's meeting my parents next month and I've already met his.

We continue our conversation until Rosaria comes to pick us up, as the cake has just arrived. We join the rest of the people with the children. They are sleeping so peacefully, I envy them.

Gabrielo takes my hand and we both walk forward in front of all our guests. Gabrielo asks for their attention before he starts talking.

- As you all know, or rather you don't know, the names of the twins. We are going to announce them to you today.

He takes our son in his arms and smiles at him.

- This is Iyan (eye-an) Alessio Moretti," he proudly announces, giving our son a kiss.

This time I take our daughter in my arms. My gaze fixes on my maternal grandmother. I smile at her and she smiles back.

- This is Isla (eye-la) Olivia Moretti.

I see my grandmother burst into tears. I go up to her and she hugs her great-granddaughter.

- Thank you, Alma. With all my heart. Giving your mother's name was the best gift you could have given me.

- She reminds me a lot of her with her big blue eyes like the ocean and her little nose. I hope she will be as beautiful as her grandmother," I said, giving my grandmother a hug.

You have to know that Grandma turned some heads in her time. She was a Colombian who was simply divine. I wish I could be more like her, but you can't have everything in life.

Yuma takes Isla from my arms and walks over to a couch where he starts to watch her. He takes a picture before taking my son from the arms of my frowning husband. He starts his photo shoot and I roll my eyes. Just born and my children are already models. I had forgotten that Yuma's profession and great passion was photography.

In fact, Gabrielo hired him during our stay in Spain after seeing some of his pictures. They are now going to be in partnership since my brother already has his own photo studio. It looks like business is going very well on their side.

- Everyone get into position," Yuma writes with my children in his arms. We're going to take a big picture since you weren't all in the one before.

___________________________

We've reached the end of the story between Alma and Gabrielo! (〃￣︶￣)人(￣︶￣〃)

Hold on tight!

Would any of you like some bonus chapters? ヾ(≧▽≦*)o