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*Dominics POV*

"Which do you think mommy will like more," Teddy asked as he held up a Batman card and a Superman one.

I attempted to hold back my chuckle, but he always seemed to amuse me.

He couldn't read of course, but once I pointed him towards the right category he placed his little fingers to his chin and looked at the selection in deep thought.

"Which one do you like? Mommy likes when you pick from the heart," I reminded him even though I knew he didn't really care. He loved Genevieve, but he was a male and males don't typically get the reasoning behind needing to get cards. So, at the young age of five, he was no different.

He liked both Batman and Superman at the moment though, so picking between his two favorite super hero's was really throwing him through a loop.

I decided to distract him.

"I was thinking I'd get mommy something like this," I said as I handed him a card with dainty cursive writing. Something that would surely make her cry and hug me and she'd state that it was the best one she'd received yet, but she said that every year. I had a feeling she meant every word.

"Do you always want to make mommy cry," he asked as he looked at the card the only way a five-year-old boy could, with disinterest.

He knew that from the pastel colors and the writing and the small angels printed on the front that she would be a sucker for it though. He already knew her so well, just like me.

I had picked the card specifically because the angels were a boy and girl, both with dark brown hair. She'd like the sentiment, I just knew it.

"I think she'll like it," he said thoughtfully, "She always likes it."

Well, as thoughtfully as a five-year-old could.

He was me. A little miniature version of me with his mother's nose and her lips, but his eyes were mine, he was mine. There was no doubt, not that there ever had been, and I loved him so much.

"What did Olive get mommy," he asked as he gave the card back to me, effectively taking my mind away from my adoring thoughts.

"Something to do with princesses," I said as I thought of her.

Olive. My little girl. My little miniature Genevieve. She had her long, wavy dark brown hair, her nose, and lips as well, but again, my eyes.

The Blackstone eyes. And Olivia had already perfected the Blackstone smirk whereas Teddy was mostly quite expressionless as I usually was.

He took his cues from me. Smiled when I did, kissed his mother when I did, laughed when I did. He also scowled when I did, clenched his teeth and tiny fists when I did and, unfortunately, swatted his mothers behind when I did.

So, I had to stop. At least in front of the kids.

Which was and still is difficult because she is still as sassy as ever and she uses the kids to her advantage.

I had taken Olive and Teddy to the store separately so that they wouldn't be influenced by the other. They were inseparable and if allowed would come up with one card they both like, but I knew Genevieve liked getting a card from everyone.

I also knew for her birthday she liked being woken up in bed with breakfast made by me and the kids.

Always the same, every year. And I loved it.

Pancakes decorated with crooked whipped cream smiling faces made by Olives artistic hand, the blueberry eyes mashed too hard into the breakfast cake, the eggs a little too salty because Teddy couldn't be trusted with the salt shaker for too long, and the coffee a little too sweet because Olive liked the way the dark liquid turned light with the French vanilla creamer.

Genevieve would eat every bite and drink every drop with a smile because for whatever reason she couldn't hurt their little feelings...

And neither could I.

"So, which one did you decide on," I asked him as I took myself away from my thoughts.

"Hmm, Superman," he said as he put the Batman one back and grabbed an envelope.

"And what made you decided that," I asked as I put the card and envelope in the basket that was in one hand and grabbed his tiny hand in the other.

"Superman has actual powers, dad. He can fly, he has x-ray and heat vision, and he's super duper strong like you. Batman just has cool gadgets. I still like him though. I hope he isn't mad about my decision."

I didn't think Batman would care that my son had decided to go with a Superman card for his mother's birthday but I wasn't about to say this out loud.

"A wise decision," I stated, "Well thought out."

He was my pride and joy, along with my Olive.

They were the greatest gifts Genevieve had ever given me and I would go through all the bullshit she and I went through a million and one times if it meant I would get Teddy and Olive every time.

"Your son is so precious. Is he your only child?"

I looked up from Teddy at a blonde woman with lips painted too red and eyes painted too dark. The shirt too tight, the skirt too short. She smiled at me, her eyes gleaming with want, but all I saw was desperation.

This is how I viewed women now. No one caught my eye and no one compared, ever.

"No, my sisters at home with my mommy. It's her birthday and daddy plans to make her cry," Teddy said, effectively stating I had more children and a woman, my woman, at home.

And maybe that I was a sadist, which I was but Teddy didn't know that.

"With a card," I held them up in my left hand, showing off my gold band as well, "She's a sucker for a sappy card."

The woman nodded and a frown set into her features, "Most women usually are."

"We have to go now. We don't like being away from mommy very long. Daddy gets ank-shush," Teddy stated and his trying to pronounce 'anxious' warmed my heart.

"Well...happy birthday to your wife," she said awkwardly and turned on her heel.

I let Teddy hand the money to the cashier and I let him keep the change to put into his piggy bank.

And with a, "Let's go, Ted. I'm feeling a little antsy," we set out for the SUV, both ready to be home.

***

"Here," I handed him a pen and his card before I took him out of his booster seat, "Sign your full name as neatly as you can. Show mommy how good you've been doing. You remember how to spell it, don't you?"

He smiled brightly, rendering me breathless at how much he looked like Genevieve in that moment, and nodded as his little fingers wrapped around the pen and etched out a big and squiggly but legible ′Theodore Alistair Blackstone'.

He held the card out to me with a triumphant, "Look, dad! I did it!"

"Perfect," I breathed as I looked at his smiling face.

Truly, magnificently perfect.

"Daddy! Teddy!"

I put Teddy down and shut the car door as my beautiful little girl came running out the front door to meet us, leaving Genevieve standing in the doorway with a bright smile.

"How'd it go," she asked as we got closer.

"There were some tough decisions to make, but ultimately I think we came to the right conclusions. Right Ted," I looked down and gave him the sealed envelope containing his hand-picked card.

He nodded, "We missed you, mommy. Daddy especially."

If it was something that I did, I would probably be blushing from the truth behind his words.

I hated being away from her, from my kids. I hated it so much that I didn't leave for work until Genevieve and I dropped the kids off at school and we left work when it was time to pick the kids up.

I was obsessed, possessive, and territorial over my family.

And the fact that Olive had her very first sleepover at one of her little friends' houses this weekend was sending me to an early grave.

"You did," Genevieve asked as I leaned down and placed a soft kiss to her lips.

"I did. I always miss you when you aren't near me," I stated.

As I placed the bags on the counter, Teddy and Olive climbed up on the stools across the island and put their cards in front of their mother.

All eyes were on me as I took the cake from the bag and opened the top.

"What kind," Genevieve asked.

As if she didn't know. This was tradition, woman.

"You'll see," I said instead.

A small half-chocolate half-vanilla with a vanilla icing sheet cake that wished Genevieve a happy birthday was what I got every year.

We were a half and half family so I wanted to make sure that no one was left out.

"You're getting old," I teased her as I lit the '2' and the '8' candles and placed them in the cake in front of our twins. It was also a tradition that they blow her candles out for her, not that she ever complained.

"Oh, hush," she swatted me on the arm, "I wouldn't talk if I were you. You're in your 40s now."

And I knew I couldn't fight the smile on my face.

As I sang 'Happy Birthday' to my wife with my children I couldn't help but thank whatever higher being there was, if there was one, for my life.

I had everything I wanted.

I wasn't alone anymore. I wasn't stuck in a never-ending cycle with someone I despised.

I was in love with a beautiful woman who was the mother of my children and even though she didn't know that I knew...

She was pregnant again.

We hadn't been trying but we hadn't been preventing for the last few months and from all the sex we'd been having I knew from the early morning trips to the bathroom that she'd been trying to hide and the fact that her period was late by about two months that we were expecting again.

I even knew by the look of her body. I studied her, worshipped her, knew every inch, every dimple, every mark, every freckle, every curve, and every slope.

She was mine and I knew more about her than I knew about my self. There were never any secrets I couldn't find out.

After having a small piece of cake, we put the twins down for a nap and snuck away to our bedroom, with the door locked of course, for a little mommy and daddy time.

But the question felt like it was itching to get out.

"Why haven't you told me yet," I asked in a whisper against her neck as I tilted her hips to hit that one spot inside of her that I knew would always make her toes curl.

"Told you what," she panted as her nails drug down my back.

"About the baby," I stilled as she did, our bodies still connected.

"You know," she asked with tears in her eyes.

I smiled and leaned down to kiss her full lips before leaning back to look into her eyes, "I know everything about you, Genevieve. It's my job to know why you're throwing up at seven in the morning or why you haven't asked me to get you any feminine products from the store."

"I was going to tell you soon. I wanted to do some big reveal or something," she confessed as a beautiful blush spread across her cheeks and down to her chest.

I leaned back down and connected our lips and immediately my tongue sought out hers as I began to move in and out of her again.

But after a moment my lips left hers in search of her neck, "I don't need a big reveal."

"I wanted it to be special," she moaned as I bit her neck lightly, leaving goosebumps in my wake.

It still amazed me how she reacted to my touch, even the slightest, after all these years.

"I don't need special, Genevieve. I just need you," I said.

"You're so cheesy," she teased and I brought one of my hands between us to strum her clït, making her bite her lip as a loud moan threatened to escape.

"You like it," I leaned back on my knees and wrapped my arms around her thighs, bringing her back to me to meet every thrust.

"Cüm for me, Princess," I commanded and like the good girl she was, seconds later I watched her eyes roll, felt her walls pulse around me, and listened to the sweet sound of my whispered name rolling off her tongue, signaling her climax.

"That's my girl," I praised through clenched teeth as I tilted her hips to the side to slap her ass.

Her walls tightening helped me to finally fall over the edge. I let out a groan as I pushed in a few more times and then stilled as I spilled myself inside of her.

"I love you, Dominic," she said with a satisfied smile playing on her lips.

I'd never be able to get enough of her. She was it. There would be no one else, even if she left me, which I'd never allow, there would never be a rebound or a second chance.

This was it and I was damned thankful for all that I was given, even if I didn't show it enough.

"I love you more," I said truthfully. There was no way her love matched mine. I'd fight any war for her, I'd stand in front of any bullet for her...

Hell, I'd even fight Superman for her. I'd lose, but at least Teddy could say I tried.

"What are you thinking about," she asked as we got up from the bed and headed toward the bathroom.

"My family."

Was there ever anything else on my mind these days?

***

After we spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool, had dinner, and another very small piece of cake—Because who can say no to a Blackstone?—Teddy was out for the count in his superhero-themed bed and I had Olive in my arms as I gently rocked us in the chair we still had since we brought the twins home.

It was the only thing that seemed to help her fall asleep and Genevieve liked to think I was spoiling her...

But I lived for these moments.

I lived for Olive's tiny arms wrapped around my neck, her heartbeat against mine, her shallow breathing against my shoulder as I finished the book I read to her every night.

I knew she fell asleep halfway through, but I couldn't make myself put her in her bed just yet.

The back of my shirt was curled in her little fists and I didn't seem to want to let her go.

I had to savor these moments because they'd fly by in the blink of an eye of I wasn't careful.

I feel like it was just yesterday we were bringing the twins home from the hospital and I was scared to even hold my children because they were so tiny cradled in my arms.

They'd grown into little people right before my fucking eyes and I wanted to freeze time. I wanted to live in these small moments.

They wouldn't ever be this small again and I needed to imprint these moments into my brain, take a snapshot and tack it to the walls of my mind.

"You coming to bed soon?"

I looked over and there in the doorway stood my wife, the mother of my children, in a white silk nightgown looking like a God damned angel.

And fuck if my chest didn't tighten at the mere sight of her.

"Just a few more minutes," I whispered out my plea.

She nodded with a knowing smile, came and placed a kiss to Olive's forehead, then disappeared down the hall, softly shutting our bedroom door behind her.

And I readied myself to let go of my little girl as I smoothed my hands down her back, gently untangling the mass of wavy dark hair.

"I love you. I love you three—well, four—so much it hurts sometimes," I whispered and kissed the top of her head as I stood up and walked across the room to the small princess themed bed.

I've done a lot of fucked up shit. I've taken lives, beat people to the near brink of death, made people pay for mistakes their family made, taken shit from no one and never seemed to bat an eyelash but nothing could bring me to my knees faster than my family.

I wasn't the same man I had been before I met my Genevieve. She changed me for the better, gave me my humanity back, gave me something to live for and that's exactly what I was doing.

Living instead of just surviving like I had been for so long and it was all thanks to her.

If she hadn't walked into my office all those years ago, if she hadn't worn that pendant, if she hadn't been so forgiving, if she hadn't picked me...

I shuddered at the thought of where I'd be without her now, without my children now.

I was complete, no longer a shell of a man just going through the motions.

Genevieve gave me a life worth living and I was trying my best to remind her, Theodore, Olivia, and then now the new baby of how grateful I was every day for them.