I hated to admit it but I was becoming an old man. I didn't feel old, I was healthy and fit for forty three years old but I was looking more and more like my father every day. With sprouting grey hair, wrinkles engraving themselves on my face and the infrequent back pains that struck... I was officially becoming an older man.

Being a forty three year old with salt and pepper hair and wrinkles and then being married to a thirty six year old woman who still looked the same as she did ten years ago was hard. Everyday she would point out my grey hairs while her hair was still lusciously brown and not a single permanent wrinkle on her smooth and creamy face. How? I didn't know how she looked so young but it was annoying.

I blamed my old age features on the kids.

"Look there's another one!"

Groaning, I glare at her from my seat on the kitchen stool. "Baby please stop pointing out my grey hairs. I get it, I'm ageing but you don't have to tell me everyday."

A frown makes it way on to her beautiful face. "You're not old. I think you look better with grey hair... it's very attractive and you are still, and always will be, exceedingly handsome. You look the same as the first day I met you."

Instantly my sour mood vanishes and a grin takes it place. Gripping her waist, I pull her inbetween my legs, placing a searing kiss on her lips. "Say it again."

Her angelic laugh is music to my ears. Even after all these years I'm still so deeply in love with her, falling in love with her a little bit more every single day. "You're handsome."

"Sexy?" I wink with a teasing grin. Blushing, she nods and pecks my lips. Just when she's about to pull away I grip her neck, devouring her plump lips with mine, caressing her tongue with mine, erupting a moan from both of us.

"Ew!"

Pulling away, I glare at the interruption. "Aurora... go away."

With a laugh, Oaklee playfully swats at my chest and moves away. I pout at the distance. I hardly get my alone time with my wife anymore, I have to sneak kisses when they're not looking which is rare. I love being a father but I miss being able to kiss my wife whenever I please.

Our first daughter, Aurora, now eight, is absolutely beautiful; dark brown wavy hair, a tiny stature but my eyes and a mixture of our two skin tones.

"Mummy! Can I go over the fields?" Aurora skips closer, a hopeful grin on her face. She's the spitting image of Oaklee even at only eight years old, the only difference is that Oaklee has the paleness of an eskimo and Aurora has beautiful and creamy dark caramel skin.

"Do you want all of us to go?" Oaklee asks and our eldest nods with a grin. "Silas! Grab your coat and shoes. We're going on a walk."

Footsteps awaken from above and not a minute our six year old only son runs in, coat in one hand and trainers in the other. My only boy looks exactly like me when I was that age.

Am I bias in saying our children are absolutely gorgeous?

"I need you all to get ready yourselves while I get Clara, can you all do that?" God, why is she so sexy when she's in mamma mode? I can't keep my eyes off her as she walks out the room, her hips swaying. Having another kid wouldn't hurt...

I help Aurora and Silas with their coats and shoes, double knotting Silas' laces and watching Aurora do hers perfectly, smiling when she grins at my praise. My two babies.

A few minutes later Oaklee comes back down, dressed in her winter coat and trainers with our five month baby Clara strapped to her chest.

"I'm so proud of you two." She smiled brightly at our children, kissing their foreheads and messing up their coily hair. "Babe can you-?"

"Get the dogs." I finish for her, standing up and kissing her lips lightly, ignoring the kids' protests. "Of course baby."

We were lucky when it came to the dogs, Zeus was at the ripe old age of twelve which was pretty uncommon for Great Danes and Loki was at the same age, hopefully having a few more years in him. Dionysus was nine and most Dachshunds lived up to sixteen so we knew he had quite a while left.

We were both dreading the day we came downstairs and Zeus didn't wag his tail. He didn't jump up at Oaklee anymore and the first time that happened I'm sad to say we both cried a little and fussed over him a lot more than we normally do. But for now we were spending as much time with him as we could, knowing he didn't have long left.

That was the heartbreaking truth about having dogs. We only have our dogs for a portion of our lives and when that portion came to an end, it was crushing. You don't realise how much you love your dog until there's an empty dog bed in the house.

"Zeus." Our old boy wagged his tail and couldn't keep still while I tried to put the lead on him. "Loki." He sat patiently for me to attach his lead. "Dionysus." He barked, his tongue lolling out while he lay down.

Oaklee and Clara follow me a few minutes later, Oak bending down carefully to stroke their heads. As usual, just like our dogs did the day they met Aurora, Silas and Clara, they press their snouts to Clara's chubby cheeks, kissing her. Clara giggles, grabbing at Loki's fur while he licks her cheek.

Morning dew lay upon the fields, the grass wet yet crunchy from the cold weather of the winter months. The blue sky hid behind a layer of grey, fog clouding the views of countryside from our sight.

We loved living on the outskirts of a city, we both loved our privacy and living like we were in our own separate bubble away from the world. We loved waking up, looking out the window and watching sheep, cows and horses grazing on the fields surrounding our house and hearing the babbling brook and river near our house. The kids loved our picnic days in the summer on the fields and in the winter when we would go sledging on the snow topped hills.

Our three dogs especially loved the fields surrounding us, Loki trotting around, Zeus running wildly and every now and then rolling around in the wet grass and then Dion who took charge as protector and stuck by Oaklee. I didn't know if he wanted to protect my wife and baby or just couldn't be bothered to run around.

"Daddy! Look!" Aurora shouts, pointing at a couple of horses that were eating the wet grass.

"Percy and Piper." I nod to the horses, walking up with my children to stroke them.

"How do you know their names?" Silas questioned, his little face screwing up.

With a smile, I pick Aurora and Silas up easily, resting them on either hip. "Well you see... they're ours."

"What?!" They both erupt.

A small chuckle escapes me at the same time as a giggle escapes my wife. We share a smile. "Well they're yours. Your horses."

"Mummy did you know?!" Aurora pouts and demands from her mother.

Laughing, Oaklee nods at her eldest. Our childen had been talking about wanting horses since they first saw a few horses on one of the other fields two years ago and after asking every time we saw them, I finally broke down and bought them. Now with a stable near the house, our own field that was now private property and a couple of horses, they could ride them freely.

"Thank you mummy and daddy!" Silas shouts and Aurora follows suit, hugging me before wanting to be let down and running over to Oak, hugging her legs.

We spend the morning with the new horses and on the fields before taking a walk down the river. After heading back home in the afternoon, I make the tea and put the kids to bed while Oaklee washes up.

Coming up behind her in the kitchen, I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her to my chest. "Let's have a bath baby."

"But the kids-"

"Are asleep. Come on baby." I pull her jumper down, covering her shoulder in light kisses.

After a few more shoulder kisses and a couple neck ones she agreed to have a bath and ten minutes later -after insisting on checking in our sleeping children's rooms to see if they're okay- we're sat in the bath, my wife against my chest.

"Let's have another one."

Her head swivels to glance at me, a look of confusion masking her face. "What?"

Nuzzling my head in to her neck, I lay a few more kisses. "Let's have another baby."

"No."

"Why? Let's have another one."

"It's easy for you to say. You're not the one who has to carry it for nine months, push it out of you and then deal with the aftermath." She scoffs with a frown but I can see the hesitation in her eyes. She's considering it.

I dealt with some aftermaths... not being able to make love to my wife for weeks after her giving birth. I decided not to voice that fact though, knowing I'd end up sleeping on the sofa.

Cupping the side of her cheek, I peck her lips. "I know. I have no idea what it's like but I'm here every step of the way. Come on baby... let's have another baby."

"We've already got three."

"Well noticed."

"We only had Clara five months ago."

"You can count."

She huffs. "Why do you want another baby?"

"Because I can't get enough of you and I want to have as many children with you as I possibly can. We both said we want a big family."

"We can still have..." She glances around our bathroom as if someone could hear us, her cheeks blazing. "Sex without having children if that's what you're thinking about."

A smirk makes its way on to my face. "Believe me I know Oak."

She swats my naked chest, crimson lighting up her cheeks like rudolphs nose. "Shut up."

"Oak... I want another kid and I know you want a big family. Come on... let's have two more."

"Two?!" She exclaims with wide eyes. "You want five children?"

Shrugging, I tuck a loose tendril behind her ear. "I just want more with you. Why don't you want more? You can't say money is a problem and we both want a big family. Baby... have another baby with me."

She sighs, standing up and grabbing her towel. "We'll talk about this later."

With an exhale, I follow suit and we both get dressed and lie in bed. I knew it would be a long shot, knowing we've got three children all under the age of ten and adding a couple more to the mix might cause her too much anxiety and stress. She needs to focus on her books now so I wouldn't push the subject any further.

I pull her to me, kissing her lips lightly. "I'm sorry for pushing it baby. We have three beautiful children. That's enough."

I try to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach. I never wanted kids before, to be frank I never thought about it, but now that I have Oak I want a whole football team. I love her and I want a giant family with her. But it never occurred to me that Oaklee might not feel the same and I wouldn't force her to have a conversation she didn't want to have.

She smiles thankfully and opens her mouth but before any words come out the door opens. Three dogs come running in, Loki and Zeus jumping on the bed while Dion barks on the floor. Silas enters, picking up Dion with a grin and jumping on the bed himself. Then Aurora comes in, holding a giggling Clara. She hands Clara to Oaklee and then squirms between Oaklee and I with Silas.

As much as I want to get annoyed at my family for interrupting our limited alone time, I can't help but smile and wrap my one arm around my children and wife and stroke Dion, watching as Zeus and Loki lie in front of Oaklee and a babbling Clara, their noses pressed to our youngest daughter's stomach.

"Okay..." Oaklee sighs and glances at our family before turning to me. "A few more wouldn't hurt."

I grin, leaning over and kissing her lips then kissing every one of my children's heads before finally kissing Dion, Zeus and Loki.

My love and my family living in solitude... and it's all thanks to Loki and Zeus.