"Daddy, Daddy look!" I heard a little voice call, pulling my focus from Vladimir's lips as I looked ahead of me. The sight in front of me made me laugh. Matt and Damien were playing in the sand by the lake making sand castles, their little hands and faces covered in sand as Damien looked at me expectantly.

I stood up and made my way over to them, watching as the closer I got the more excited Damien became. The little dances he did on his little feet made my heart melt as I knelt down beside them.

“Omg, what is this?” I asked, showing fake surprise, their faces lighting up with glee.

“We made a sand castle daddy, do you like it?” Damien’s little voice squeaked.

“I love it sweetheart, you're such big boys making a sand castle all by yourselves.” I opened my arms wide for Damien and he jumped straight in, wrapping his arms around my neck and hugging me tightly. Holding my boy never failed to put a smile on my face as his warmth engulfed me, I ran my fingers through his long blonde locks making him relax.

As it was a nice early morning, we thought the twins would enjoy some time outdoors by the lake behind our home. It was beautiful in the early mornings, with a little patch of sand next to the water with the rising sun shining down on us. The warmth it brought to our skin was still something I wasn’t used to but since the boys liked it I found myself just sucking up to it.

“Daddy, what about me?” Matt’s quiet whine made my eyes shoot up to him to see a little pout on his face, his black locks covering half of it as usual.

“Don’t worry bubs, I’ve got you.” I heard Vladimir say as he walked over to us and scooped Matt up into his arms making him instantly giggle. He swung him around until Matt was clinging onto him. “Are my hugs enough?” Vladimir joked to Matt with a little frown of his own that made me snort.

“Always Papa, I love your hugs.” I smiled as Vladimir and I made eye contact, that familiar feeling of butterflies filling my stomach every time we held each other's gaze, and seeing him holding our own flesh and blood made that loving and paternal feeling inside me flourish.

“We should head back to the house, get these little tummies filled.” said tummies let out quiet grumbles and with that we started walking back, leaving the sandcastles for another time with a twin tucked under each of Vladimir’s arms.

The twins were now six and growing fast. Damien was without a doubt the more talkative one, he was always running around playing or wanting us to do something with him. I wouldn’t say he was hard work but he definitely kept us on our toes, as well as everyone else in the coven. Matt on the other hand was rather quiet, it was only in the last year that he began talking more than a few words at a time. His head was always buried in some kind of book, the only time it wasn’t was when Damien begged him to play.

The two of them adored each other, never going anywhere without the other. I worried that in the future it would make it difficult to find their mates if they stayed glued to each other's hips, but I guess that was the bridge we’d cross when we got there.

“Perhaps food can wait awhile, it seems as though they’ve tired themselves out.” Vladimir said beside me pulling me out of my thoughts. When I looked I saw that they had both fallen asleep against his chest, their quiet snores filling the air.

We both chuckled as we entered the house, Vladimir taking them to our room whilst I got them some food. I grabbed the bottles from a cupboard in the kitchen and filled each of them with some fresh blood before fastening the rubber teats to the tops. They weren’t the best as drinking cleanly yet, most vampires at their age weren’t. So to avoid messes these bottles came as a lifesaver. They were recommended to me by one of our coven members and I’ve never looked back.

“Ooh look what Daddy has boys.” I heard my mate say as I entered our room a few minutes later to see two very sleepy boys on their backs. As soon as their eyes met me they both sat up and tried to reach out for the bottles.

“Gently boys, we don’t want upset tummies again okay?” They both paused and nodded their heads, waiting patiently until I placed the bottles into their hands and soon they began to drink. “Good boys.”

Vladimir and I pulled them into our laps as they suckled, resting their heads against our chests contently.

“We should spend mornings like this more often, don’t you think?”

I looked over at my handsome mate as a cheeky grin lay on his lips. “I guess.” I grumbled, “but not all the time, I still prefer the night.”

“I know, but thanks for giving it some thought.” he smirked, the bastard.

I wish I didn’t.

“You're welcome. We might as well get some sleep ourselves.” The twins had finished their bottles in no time and were now sound asleep again.

“Sounds good to me, they had me running laps around the house all night, I’m exhausted.” he said with a soft yawn, leaning over to give me a kiss on the forehead. We both lay our heads on the pillows, tucking the boys further into our chests as we all drifted off to sleep.

Maybe the mornings weren’t so bad.

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