"Daddy!"

Rosie is running full speed towards me, and I lift her up into the air before catching her. She wraps her arms around my neck, showing me her toothy smile.

"Hey cutie! You look so pretty today!" I exclaim, and she giggles.

Rosie wears one of the sparkly tutus that Alex bought for her as a surprise. Her dark brown hair flows to her shoulders, and her smile is incredibly wide.

"Thanks, Daddy!" Rosie exclaims, giving me a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

I laugh, and I spin her around. We both giggle loudly, and I pretend to slam her into the couch before tickling her.

Rosie hysterically cackles, and every single tooth in her mouth shows as she throws her head back.

"Daddy!" She squeals, trying to tickle me back.

Bruno jumps on the couch to join in on the fun, and his loud barking only adds to our boisterous laughter. Once we settle down, I resume my duties in the kitchen and begin to cook dinner.

"What are you making?" Rosie asks, trying to stand on her tiptoes and see what's on the stove.

"Rosie, back up. It's really hot, and I don't want you to burn yourself." I exclaim, and I shield her with one of my hands.

"Sorry!" She says, and she runs back over to where Bruno is.

"It's okay, I just want to make sure that you're safe." I explain, and she just nods before pulling on Bruno's ear.

Bruno begins to bark at her, and he runs away from her into a corner where his toys are. Rosie looks upset, and she rushes back over to me.

"Gosh, you're just attached to Daddy today, aren't you?" I ask, and her wide eyes look up at me.

"Yeah," She squeaks, and my chest warms up.

I lift her off the ground, putting her on my shoulders so that she can still be close to me. Rosie's tiny hands play around with my hair, and she's matting it with her fingers. Rosie begins to whine, and I furrow my eyebrows and stop what I'm doing.

"What's the matter?" I ask, and I can tell that she's pouting.

"I want chicken nuggets for dinner! Not this nasty stuff." Rosie complains, and I chuckle.

"What's so nasty about roasted lemon butter shrimp and asparagus?" I ask, and I take her off my shoulders.

"It doesn't taste good! Daddy, can we go get chicken nuggets?" She asks, giving me puppy dog eyes, but I shake my head.

"No, you've been eating a lot of chicken nuggets lately. You need some vegetables, too."

"No I don't! I could eat those for forever and ever, Dad!" Rosie debates, and I chuckle at how adorable she is.

Every person has that one food that they could eat for the rest of their lives and not get sick of it. Rosie's is chicken nuggets, without a doubt. They're extremely addictive, according to her.

Kind of like how an addict is obsessed with cocaine or LSD or whatever drug they ingest.

It's escalated to being completely addicted to chicken nuggets. It's all she ever wants now.

Rosie definitely doesn't take after Alex and I. We both like a lot of foods and tend to branch off and try something new, but Rosie's the complete opposite. Picky is an understatement when it comes to her.

Rosie's very over dramatic when it comes to trying new foods. Alex and I have been trying to introduce her to different tastes and textures besides chicken nuggets, yogurt, ice cream, and macaroni and cheese.

Vegetables are basically poison to her. She hates them the most out of the things we've had her try recently. No is the answer when it comes to spinach, kale, avocado, cabbage, and peas.

Surprisingly, she loves carrots and broccoli, but that's about it when it comes to vegetables that she's tried.

"That's not very healthy, you know." I add, and she sticks her tongue out.

"Who cares about healthy? As long as it tastes good, I don't care!" Rosie says, making me laugh.

Little kids can think that craziest things sometimes. It's so endearing.

"Sweetie, you really know how to make me laugh." I reply, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

As I finish the food, I hear the door open, and I see Alex enter. Rosie squeals, hugging her leg as Bruno comes and excitedly begins to cling himself to Alex. Relief washes over me because Alex had been gone for a lot longer than usual when she goes to Sacramento to discuss business with my mother.

Yes, I still worry about her safety.

No, I won't stop, either.

"Did you guys miss me while I was gone?" Alex asks, and she flashes her vivacious smile.

"Yeah!" Rosie says, and I smile at how excited she looks now that Mommy's home.

Alex picks Rosie up, groaning as she does. Rosie begins to play with single strands of Alex's hair, and Alex kisses her nose.

"Gosh, you're so cute! I see you like the tutu that I bought for you!" She exclaims.

"Can I sleep in it tonight, Mommy?" Rosie asks, giving Alex that innocent stare.

"If you want to." Alex chuckles.

"What did you do while you were with Grandma?" Rosie inquisitively asks.

"Just adult business things. Grandma, Uncle Brendan and I all worked really hard today." Alex explains.

"What about Auntie Vanessa?" Rosie asks.

"She's busy, and we didn't get to see her today. If you want, we can call her later." Alex offers, but Rosie shakes her head.

Alex steps closer to me, and her smile widens as we lock eyes. I place my hand on her waist, pulling her closer to me until our stomachs touch.

"Hey." I say softly, quirking my eyebrow at her for no particular reason.

Alex blushes, and I continue to smirk at her.

"Hey." Alex says back before leaning in to kiss me.

Alex and I didn't get the chance to kiss this morning before she left because we both couldn't be late due to extremely important things happening at our workplaces today. Now that she's finally home, and we finally get the chance to kiss feels amazing.

We get lost in the kiss, continuing a lot longer than we both intended to. Alex's lips are extremely soft, and the faint taste of strawberries mixed with peppermint is welcomed to my tastebuds. I smile briefly before resuming, and my lips begin to swell and become numb after a while.

"Ew! Ew, stop it!" Rosie exclaims, and we split apart.

Alex and I both laugh as we look at Rosie covering her eyes and pretending to throw up. She peeks through her fingers, sighing of relief once she sees that we aren't kissing anymore.

"No kissing!" Rosie objects, and I snicker.

"Why can't we kiss? Daddy and I kiss all the time." Alex says defensively, and I smirk before giving her another kiss on the lips.

"Because germs, that's why! Daddy, you're a doctor!" Rosie exclaims, and I laugh.

"Cooties?" Alex asks, and Rosie nods.

Oh, the imaginary disease of cooties.

"There's a lot of complicated things that I could say to you about how I could get sick from kissing, but I'll wait a few years until you'll fully comprehend it." I say, tousling Rosie's hair.

"Okay." Rosie says after a while of silence.

Alex puts her down, and Rosie runs to the dinner table and takes her seat.

"It smells really good. What did you make?" Alex asks, inhaling the aroma of the shrimp.

"Our favorite."

"Oh, baby. You didn't have to." Alex exclaims.

"I wanted to. Besides, I was craving it and we need to get Rosie to try something else." I say.

"You're right. Let's eat before the food gets cold."

Once we all have a plate for ourselves, Alex and I begin to dig in, but Rosie just sits there. We stare at her, trying to get her to eat.

We wish Rosie wasn't so stubborn when it comes to this, but there's nothing we can do about it.

Once a little kid makes their mind, they stick to it.

"Do I have to?" Rosie whines.

"Just try it, Rosie." Alex implores.

Rosie stabs the asparagus with her fork, and she sniffs it. Her face scrunches up in disgust before putting her fork down.

"No. I don't want it." Rosie says, stubbornly crossing her arms.

"Come on, Rosie. I'll be really happy if you try it." Alex exclaims, giving her those same puppy dog eyes with a pout.

Rosie hesitantly takes a small bite, and she puckers her lips at the taste before shaking her head. Alex and I sigh, because that's obviously something else that Rosie doesn't like.

Alex and I resume our conversation, and it might be considered boring to some people because we're just talking about how our days went, but it's the complete opposite of boring.

Talking with Alex about really simple things is actually really great. Getting the chance to just talk to her and not worry about work or anything else in this screwed up world is such a stress reliever.

Things haven't changed over the course of four years.

"Do you like the shrimp, sweetheart?" I ask, and I'm shocked when I see a small nod.

"Yeah, I like it." Rosie admits sheepishly.

"I told you!"

Rosie just laughs, and we all continue to eat our meal. Once we're finished, Alex lifts Rosie up.

"It's bath time, Rosie." Alex says.

"Can I please have the bubbles?" Rosie asks.

"Yes you can!" Alex says gaily, and Rosie cheers.

The two of them walk away, and I can still hear them giggling from upstairs. I postpone the dishwashing so that I can go upstairs and help Alex. My cheeks and chest warm up once I see Rosie's body submerged in bubbles, and her head sticks above them.

"Are you having fun in your bath?" I ask in a silly voice, and she beams at me.

"Yeah!"

I take the bubbles in my hands, plopping them on top of her head. Alex begins to spread bubbles on Rosie's cheeks to create a beard, and Rosie begins to giggle. She begins to splash, and some water gets all our pants, but it doesn't bother us at all.

Rosie's brown eyes are wide and they glitter with glee as she continues to play with the bubbles.

She smiles just like her mother.

Rosie has my dimples, and her smile just lights up her eyes so beautifully. It hasn't changed from when she would smile as a baby. The nostalgia comes back, and I remember how little Rosie used to be.

I can't believe she's already three years old.

Once bath time is over, Rosie is a bit sad but she knows that it's time for bed. She puts her tutu back on, spinning around for us in it.

"Wow, that was so good, honey!" Alex says, and we clap for her.

"Now I'm dizzy!" Rosie exclaims, trying to regain her balance.

"It's good that it's time for bed so you won't be dizzy anymore. C'mon!" I say, grabbing her hand.

We lead Rosie into her bedroom, and Rosie literally jumps into the bed before pulling the blankets over her body. Alex tenderly kisses her forehead before giving her a hug.

These are my girls.

"Goodnight, Mommy." Rosie says quietly.

I walk over, leaning down to hug Rosie as well.

"Good night," I whisper into her ear before kissing her temple. "Try to get some sleep."

"Okay."

We say goodnight to each other before quietly leaving her room. Once we're back downstairs, we both sigh.

Alex and I kiss each other on both cheeks before we embrace.

"I missed you while you were gone." I whisper into her ear.

"We were thinking about you all day." Alex says, and I grin.

We pull away, and I place a hand onto her stomach.

"Evan and Ethan moved around quite a bit today, I just wish you were there to feel them. It's like they were doing gymnastics." Alex says excitedly, and my smile begins to make my cheeks hurt.

Yes, Alex and I are having twin boys.

It was a total shocker when we had the ultrasound.

Alex is about five months along with Evan and Ethan. A couple of weeks after Valentine's Day, she began to feel those familiar symptoms like when she was pregnant with Rosie. This time, Alex and I were actually trying to have a child again. It wasn't unexpected or out of the blue like when I found out about Rosie.

We wanted to wait a couple of years before having another child, so we actually invested in condoms and birth control for a while. We obviously didn't go celibate, because we both lack the self control to do that. We both knew that we didn't want to raise two newborns at the same time, either.

Once Alex and I both agreed that we were ready, man we forgot all about protection.

Every chance we got we were in the bedroom. Or on the couch, or in the shower, or in the kitchen, or in the back of her car.

I could go on for ages.

We were jumping for joy once we found out that the pregnancy tests were positive, and we told our families right after. Happy is such a minor word compared to our reactions once we found out that we were having twins.

"Yeah, I can't wait for them to meet their big sister." I say happily, and she smiles.

"Me too."

I turn around, starting to wash the dishes. Alex wraps her arms around me from behind, and warmth spreads throughout my abdomen. Her soft lips brush against the nape of my neck, and her hands begin to glide upward. The closeness comforts me, and the warmth doesn't dissipate.

"I love you, Rian." Alex says suddenly, and I have a stupid smirk on my face.

I love you, too.

It's crazy how such a small endearment can mean so much. Her lips begin to drag up my neck, and her breath comes in small heated gasps.

"I don't say that enough." Alex whispers, sounding upset.

I dry my hands off before turning around so that we can face each other.

"Yes you do, Alexandrianna. At the end of the day we both love each other and it's not going to change."

Alex swallows an apology, shaking her head as well. She smiles up at me, and I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear before kissing her.

There's no greater feeling than her lips on mine. I don't care what anyone says, either.

This feeling isn't comparable to anything else I've felt.

Nothing else will change my life as much as Alexandrianna Hawkins did.