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lastbluetardis · 5 years

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Family of Six (8/14)

After James and Rose bring their newborn twins home, they work to find a balance between all four of their children, and each other. Ten x Rose AU, Soulmates AU.

This chapter: Explicit, 7800 words

Ages of the Tyler-McCrimmons at the start of the chapter: James: 39, Rose: 33, Ainsley: 9, Sianin: 6, Twins: 1 month

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Next update: October 1st

AO3 | TSP | FF | Perfectly Matched Series

Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Ch7 | Ch8 | Ch9 | Ch10 | Ch11 | Ch12 | Ch13 | Ch14

As promised, James and Rose made arrangements to take Ainsley out for some one-on-one time. Consumed with lingering guilt that their daughter felt alone in the family, they asked Robert to stay at home with Sianin and the twins for a few hours so they could both spend the evening out with their eldest child.

“I wanna come!” Sianin whined as they prepared to leave after dinner.

“I know you do, but this is an outing just for me, Mummy, and Ainsley,” James said patiently. As Rose and Ainsley made their way to the car, he crouched down in front of his six-year-old. “You know how you’re feeling a bit upset because Mummy and I are a little bit busier now that the twins are here?” Sianin gave a brief, grudging nod. “Well, Ainsley feels a little like that too. She’s bit sad like you.”

“But I wanna come. If we’re both sad, then why can’t we both go out with you and Mummy? It’s not fair.”

James was impressed with his child’s reasoning skills. The pout she was wearing nearly broke his resolve; but the memory of Ainsley’s nervous explanation of her anxieties and loneliness bolstered him.

He kissed Sianin’s forehead. “We’ll make plans to go out alone with you, too. Eh? But it’s Ainsley’s turn tonight.”

Sianin grumbled a bit more, but eventually said, “You promise?”

“Cross my heart,” he said gravely, making an ‘X’ across his chest, before he copied the letter onto Sianin’s chest.

She huffed out a sigh but kissed her father goodbye and went to pester her grandfather.

“We’ll be back by bedtime,” he called out, then joined Rose and Ainsley in the car.

Their first trip was to an ice cream shop, where they bought the largest sundae and all shared it. James and Rose scooted their chairs beside Ainsley’s, crowding around one half of the small, circular table, passing the spoon between them as they made absent conversation.

Their next stop was to the library. They went to the one a little further out of town—it had a much larger selection, and Ainsley’s library card worked there too.

The moment they stepped through the doors, Ainsley bolted for the Young Adult section; they soon lost her amidst the shelves.

“Notice how it’s supposed to be a family outing, and she goes and leaves us behind,” James whined half-heartedly, mostly to make Rose laugh. It had the intended effect—she chuckled and bumped her hip into his as she threaded her fingers through his.

“I wish we could do this more often,” Rose said, strolling casually through the labyrinthine bookshelves and perusing a few titles. “But I feel bad for always calling on Dad to babysit.”

“Oh, you know he loves it,” James said.

“I know. It’s not so bad for now, since the twins are just babies. But when they’re toddlers, it might be harder for him to keep up. He’s not getting any younger.”

Her words stopped him short, twisting something sharp in his chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Catching the bite in his words, Rose stopped and face him. Her brows knitted together. “Nothing. I didn’t…”

“My dad’s fine,” James gritted out. “He’s in perfect health and condition.”

“I know that,” Rose said patiently.

“The twins’ll be toddlers in only a couple years. It’s not like he’s gonna deteriorate that quickly.”

“James, I know,” Rose said, her voice soft. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m sorry I upset you.”

Her thumb brushed against the back of his. The movement drew his attention to their hands, where he’d been squeezing until their knuckles went white. He released her fingers.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Sorry, I… He’s seventy, Rose. I know he’s in perfect health but still. Seventy.”

“I know.” She reached up and cradled his cheeks, making him look at her. “I’m sorry I said that. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

James tilted his head into her touch before pressing a kiss to her palm.

“Let’s find Ainsley before she decides she’s moving in,” James said wanly.

Rose scanned his face for a moment, but nodded. She tucked his hand in hers again and hugged his arm to her chest. As they patrolled the aisles searching for their daughter, he felt Rose’s gaze flick to him every now and then.

“I’m fine, Rose,” he said after the dozenth time. “I’m not upset with you.”

“I feel bad,” she admitted. “I spoke carelessly.”

“But you had no ill intent. I forgive you.” He ducked down and kissed her forehead. “Seriously.”

Ainsley interrupted them a moment later. “Is this one all right for me?”

They had a rule that if she wanted to read a book above her age bracket, they needed to check if it would be suitable for her. She was pretty good about censoring her own material—they’d rarely had to reject any of her book choices.

“Let’s see,” James said. He took the book from her, and as Rose Googled it, he idly flipped through the pages, on the lookout for too much gore, violence, or sex. Nothing in particular caught his eye, so he peered over Rose’s shoulder to skim the book blogging site she tended to use to get feedback on a particular book.

“Seems all right,” Rose said, glancing up at him.

He handed the book back to Ainsley, who beamed and tucked it under her arm before disappearing amidst the shelves again.

“I love that she loves to read.” Rose smiled at their daughter’s back.

“Me too. If only we could get Sianin as excited about it.” Whereas Ainsley had learned to read by age four and often took over her bedtime stories, Sianin still preferred being read to and rarely took initiative to read by herself. They would soon need to enforce Sianin reading aloud to them for at least a few minutes every day.

“She’ll get there,” Rose said, patting his arm. “And if not, that’s all right too. She’ll find something else she’s passionate about.”

They found Ainsley in one of the many cushioned chairs by the wall of windows. She sat sideways, her back against one armrest and her knees draped over the other. A small pile of books was on the floor beside her, and she was engrossed in the book she’d asked them to vet.

She jumped when Rose rested a hand on her shoulder, not having heard them approach.

“I know this is a safe, public space,” Rose said, “but you really should stay more aware of your surroundings.”

Ainsley smiled sheepishly.

“Good thing we’re not here to lure you into the back of our van,” James teased. A middle-aged woman glared sharply at him, and his face flushed. “I’m her father, don’t worry.”

The woman appraised them for a moment before turning back to her magazine.

Ainsley was biting her lip to smother her laughter; Rose had a similar expression on her face.

“Oh, shut up,” he said, knocking his hip into Rose’s and tugging gently on a lock of Ainsley’s hair. “Are you ready to go, darling?”

“Can’t we stay a little while longer?” Ainsley asked. “It’s so calm here. Besides, I need you to okay those for me.”

She pointed to the stack of books on the floor. So James and Rose sat by Ainsley’s sofa, perusing the books slowly to give their daughter a bit more time. When they finally couldn’t justify dawdling any longer, Rose said, “When you reach a good stopping point, we’ll leave.”

“The end of the book does not count as a good stopping point,” James amended.

Ainsley poked her tongue out at him. Five minutes later, she stuffed a bookmark into the pages and moved to the front desk to check out her little stack.

When they returned home, Hannah and Maddie were asleep on a blanket in the living room, their fine hair damp from a recent bath. Sianin’s hair was likewise wet, and she was curled with Robert on the couch, watching television.

James couldn’t help but observe his father for a moment. He didn’t look his age at all: his hair was more gray than white, and his skin, while lined with wrinkles, was fairly taut rather than loose and saggy. His body was strong, his eyes bright with intelligence and life. James couldn’t imagine his father ever being a hunched, weak old man.

Rose must’ve caught on to his silent observations—and the reason for them—for she gave his hand a small squeeze.

Robert stayed long enough to put Sianin to bed per the six-year-old’s request. Sianin had hugged and kissed her parents before tugging her grandad to her bedroom to tuck her in and read to her.

“Thanks for tonight,” Ainsley said, skipping up to kiss her parents on the cheek. “It was a lot of fun.”

“You’re very welcome,” James replied. “You know, your bedtime isn’t for another half hour.”

“I know. I’m gonna sit in bed and read for a bit.”

“You can do that in the living room, if you’d prefer,” Rose said. “You can always use nighttime for a bit of one-on-one time with me and your dad.”

Ainsley cocked her head to the side, as though she’d never considered that. “Oh. Yeah, I guess I could. But I really want to keep reading. Maybe tomorrow. Can we forgo reading aloud tonight?”

“Just for tonight,” James said.

“How long will I have to read aloud to you?” Ainsley asked curiously. “Like… will I be seventeen and you guy’s’ll be squeezed onto my bed as I read to you?”

James laughed. “No, probably not that long.” He then stuck his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “I haven’t really thought about it. Are you getting sick of it?”

Ainsley’s eyes widened. “No! Not at all. I was just wondering.”

“Then probably until you officially get sick of it,” Rose concluded. “God knows you read enough on your own as it is.”

Ainsley smiled and with a parting kiss, departed to her room.

James and Rose retired to the sofa, with Rose giving the twins their nightly feeding and James working on a Sudoku puzzle booklet beside her.

“Why don’t you skip the easy and medium puzzles?” Rose asked when he’d breezed through the first ten pages of the puzzle book in the time it took the twins to nurse. “Start on the hard levels?”

James shrugged. “Seems a waste to not do the earlier puzzles. Besides, sometimes a tricky medium sneaks in there and stumps me for a bit.”

“One of these days I’ll buy you a book that contains only hard ones,” Rose said as she shifted Hannah to one shoulder.

It was past Ainsley’s official bedtime by the time both babies were asleep. While Rose put the babies into the bassinets in her and James’s bedroom, James went to check that their eldest had put her book away and settled down for the night.

“She was already asleep,” James announced when he and Rose settled onto the sofa again.

“Brilliant,” Rose said, tucking herself into his side.

He hummed and opened an arm for her, enjoying the warmth of her smaller body against his.

“How can we manage going out one-on-one with all of our kids?” James mused, tipping his head back to rest against the sofa.

“Well, if it’s just one of us going, the other stays behind with all the other kids,” Rose answered.

“Yes, yes, I surmised as much,” he said. “But if we wanted to do something like this again with Ainsley? Obviously, we probably can’t do it frequently, but every couple of weeks?”

“We can keep asking Dad,” Rose said. “Or look into having a proper babysitter. When I start working again, we’ll probably need one. At least for a couple hours when the kids get home from school.”

That caught James’s attention. “Do you want to start working again?”

“I told you ages ago I’d hoped to open my own photography studio someday,” Rose reminded. “That’s way off in the future, but something to keep in the back of our heads. I love being a stay at home mum, but I miss my art. And the thing about running my own studio, I can keep my own hours and take on the projects I want to do. There’s loads of flexibility there.”

James nodded and brushed a kiss to the top of her head. It wasn’t as though he’d forgotten about Rose’s dream of opening her own studio, but it had been well over a year since she’d last brought it up—he assumed she’d abandoned that particular dream.

“Well, whenever you decide to start, we’ll talk logistics,” James said.

Rose hummed wordlessly and turned her body into his. She slipped her hand underneath his jumper to rest at the skin just above the waistband of his jeans, and she caressed the sensitive skin with her thumb while she pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw.

“Love you,” she murmured.

“Love you, too,” he breathed.

“Head back.”

Following the command mindlessly, he groaned softly when she planted long, open mouthed kisses to his neck and jaw. Her lips, tongue, and teeth traversed his neck, and when she got to his Adam’s apple, her weight shifted.

“Scoot over a bit,” Rose ordered, her voice husky, and James couldn’t help but obey.

He wriggled over a few inches, far enough for her knees to be planted on either side of his hips as she straddled him.

“This is nice,” he squeaked out, his voice higher than he wished. He cleared his throat.

“Indeed,” Rose agreed, before she ducked down to continue laving her attention across his neck.

“What... What’s this for?” he asked, his eyes fluttering shut.

“Has it been so long that you’ve forgotten what foreplay is?” she teased.

His eyes snapped open. “But… you… we…” It had only been a month since she’d given birth. As much as he ached to make love with her, they couldn’t. Not yet.

She sat back on his lap and he smothered his whine of protest. “Is this all right?”

“Of course,” he said, swallowing against a dry mouth.

“Then can I continue please?” she asked, quirking up an eyebrow. “It has been two weeks since I’ve touched my husband. Remember?”

James’s brain flashed back to that morning in the kitchen, and the throbbing pressure at the front of his trousers pulsed sharply. He nodded dumbly.

She beamed at him, then took his hands—which were fisted uselessly at his sides—and placed them on her bum.

“No boobs for a while, unfortunately,” she lamented.

“I… is this all right?” he rasped, rubbing his thumbs across the soft fabric stretched taut across her bum.

“I put them there, didn't I?” she drawled.

“I just meant…”

His body screamed at him to pull her further into his lap, but he needed to know what she wanted before he took any liberties.

“Let’s see where this goes, eh?” she suggested. “Try not to think too hard if you can help it.”

“Oh, you know me,” he said with a shrug.

“I do,” she agreed. “But I really, really want to snog you.”

Rose leaned down and skimmed the tip of her nose down his, hovering her lips a hair's breadth from his. Her breath puffed tantalizingly against his mouth; he chased the sensation until their lips met.

She exhaled through her nose as she tilted her head to the side, deepening the kiss. Her hands went to his hair while his moved from her bum to her hips to her back, repeating the circuit again and again as he lost himself in Rose.

She was everywhere—there was nothing in the world but him and her and their heated kisses. Their lips pulled and yielded; their tongues danced; their teeth scraped and nipped; their fingers wandered and traced and teased.

Heat boiled in his stomach the longer they kissed, and he longed to carry her to their bedroom to make love thoroughly to her.

“Arms up,” Rose commanded, popping her lips away from his.

“Hmm?”

“Arms. Up,” she repeated, tugging at the hem of his shirt.

He scrambled to work with her, but soon his shirt was on the floor, hers following a few seconds later.

“Don’t touch the tits,” she warned, keeping her bra on as a reminder.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

Rose wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing their naked fronts together. James shivered and clutched her tighter, latching his mouth to her collarbone. She moaned and tipped her head back, fisting her hands in his hair to keep his mouth where it was.

He gladly paid attention to her neck, focusing on the place where her neck met her shoulder. That had always been sensitive for Rose and was his go-to erogenous zone for her, especially now that her breasts were out of commission while the twins were nursing.

“James,” she whimpered, her hips working clumsily against him.

He was completely hard and throbbing in his pants, and he bit her neck harder than he intended to when she rubbed against his erection. Rose’s resulting guttural, garbled cry made his apology die on his tongue. Instead, he began sucking harder. He was fairly certain that there was going to be a mark there tomorrow.

“T-touch me,” she gasped, circling her hips against him.

He nodded and slipped a hand down the front of her pajama bottoms. He groaned when his fingers were immediately met with her slippery wetness.

“Tell me to stop if anything’s wrong,” he said.

“Just… not inside,” she said.

James nodded and gently slid his fingers against her; Rose tightened her grip in his hair and hummed low in her throat. He worked his lips and tongue across her throat to give attention to the other side of her neck.

He kept his pace slow and steady, trying to draw out her pleasure for as long as he could. But inevitably she grew impatient and started to grind herself faster into his touch. He arched his hips in time with her rhythm, straining to get friction against his erection. He was on edge but not quite close enough to tip over into pleasure.

But still he kept up with her rhythm, stroking her and kissing her and mumbling filthy nonsense into her skin. He shuddered with need as the sounds of her moans grew more urgent, before she tensed above him. Her body bowed back as she clapped a hand over her mouth to smother her cries of pleasure. He’d nearly forgotten they were on the couch where their kids could not only over-hear them but walk in on them.

He continued his ministrations against her as she panted harshly.

“God, James.” She tugged his face away from her collarbone to crash their mouths together. He hissed into her lips as his arousal snapped sharply into focus. Before he could plead with her, she murmured, “Your turn.”

Rose’s fingers went to the front of his jeans, fumbling with his button and zip. He was so hard and so worked up that even that slight bit of pressure was enough to send him careening towards the abyss.

“Rose,” he panted urgently. His cock throbbed. “Rose, I… I’m… oh, shit.”

Rose covered his lips with hers, smothering his expletives as she stopped trying to get into his jeans and instead rubbed him through the fabric. Whispering words of encouragement that he didn’t need, Rose wrapped her fingers around him as best she could, giving him unbelievable friction that felt so, so good.

James stiffened and grunted against her lips as he released helplessly, embarrassingly, into his pants. His pulse roared in his ears as pleasure surged through him, making his skin sing. Rose stroked firmly through his jeans and pants, prolonging his pleasure as his cock gave a few final, feeble twitches.

Eventually his vision cleared and he popped his lips away from Rose’s to gulp down lungfuls of much-needed fresh air. She still had her hand on his softening cock, not stroking, merely holding. It felt wonderful, but soon the mortification took over.

“Well… that didn’t last long,” he muttered, rubbing a finger into his eyes.

“Did you enjoy it?” Rose asked, pressing lazy kisses to his jaw.

“Very much so,” he said, his body thrumming with the aftershocks of pleasure.

“Then that’s all that matters,” she said simply, tucking her cheek against his shoulder, seemingly content to stay in his lap. He was happy with the arrangement, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her close.

“Did you enjoy it?” he asked after a moment.

“You couldn’t tell?” she drawled.

He shrugged. “It’s always nice to have confirmation, y’know. Positive reinforcement and all.”

“In that case, I enjoyed it very, very much. Though I fear it’s going to make these next couple weeks impossible to wait through. I want to drag you to our room and make love with you ‘til dawn.”

He hummed in agreement and nuzzled closer to her. “It’ll go by faster than we think. For now, this is more than enough.”

They sat on the couch for many long minutes, basking in the glorious afterglow. James’s mind was blissfully blank of anything that wasn’t Rose, and he held her tighter, enjoying the press of her body against his.

After a few minutes, James began squirming uncomfortably against the cold wet patch at the front of his boxers.

“Ants in your pants?” Rose asked, her voice thick as though she’d been dozing against his shoulder.

��Something a little more microscopic,” he replied with a grimace.

“Don’t insult yourself like that,” she said, picking her head up to wink at him. Her cheek was pink from being smooshed into his shoulder and her eyes were bleary with sleep.

“Oh, shut up,” he said, pinching her bum. “You knew what I meant.”

Rose stuck her tongue out at him, then slowly clambered off his lap. When she was standing, she held out a hand to pull him up. He stood on shaky legs then glanced down at the front of his jeans. Despite the cooling wetness he felt, there was no outward evidence of the mess in his boxers.

“I’ve always enjoyed making you lose it in your pants,” Rose admitted, bending down to pick up their discarded shirts.

James stared at her in surprise. This was the first he was ever hearing of this.

She shrugged. “It turns me on to know you were so turned on that you couldn’t even wait to be properly naked.”

“And here I was thinking it was a sign that my stamina had gone to shit,” James mused.

Rose snorted. “If the past is any indication, I could work you up again for another round in about twenty minutes or so. My husband’s a bit of a stud.” She winked.

James’s cheeks heated with pride at her compliment.

She bit her lip, then confessed, “And… and it was the first way I’d ever made you come, when we were first exploring our intimacy. I’m probably being weirdly sentimental, but…” She trailed off with a shrug.

His heart squeezed with love for her. He wrapped her in a hug and pressed a long kiss to her cheek.

“I love you.”

She hummed and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. They stood there for a minute, simply holding each other. When they finally broke apart, Rose sighed, “I wish we could have a naked cuddle.”

James bobbed his head in a nod. So did he. Cuddling Rose after a round of lovemaking was one of his favorite post-coital rituals. But with Sianin creeping into bed with them…

“We’ll figure something out,” he promised.

He took her hand in hers and guided her through the house to do their normal nighttime checks: the doors were locked, the lights were off, and both kids were asleep in their beds.

They rushed through their bedtime routine, eager to get back to their cuddle. James put on a fresh pair of boxers and forewent a shirt, while Rose put on a pair of boy shorts and a vest top.

“Not entirely naked, but close enough,” she said as she wriggled into bed beside him.

They tangled together in the middle of the mattress, and James groaned as he held her tight.

“God, this feels great,” Rose said.

He rumbled out an agreement, then he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I love you.” He kissed her temple. “I love you.” He kissed the skin beneath her ear. “I love you.”

He continued his mantra as he pressed kisses to every inch of skin he could reach. Rose hitched her leg over his hip and used it to drape herself closer, to James’s enjoyment. The beginnings of renewed arousal bubbled deep inside him and he knew Rose felt the evidence of it.

“Mr. Impressive,” she whispered, rolling her hips slowly against him.

He exhaled raggedly. “You make me feel like a teenager again.”

“Good. It’s only fair since you make me feel like one, too.”

Though there was very little intent behind it, Rose kept her hips pressed firmly to his, nestling his partial erection against her. James enjoyed the pressure, too; it felt nice, especially when he or Rose shifted their hips a little bit.

“Do you want to do something with this?” Rose mumbled when he let out a quiet, involuntary groan.

“Nah, it’ll be fine,” he answered, breathless. “I’m not even properly hard. It just… God, it feels so good, love.”

“I’m glad. It feels really nice for me, too. Can we stay like this forever?”

“Absolutely.”

She tilted her head up, and he ducked his head down, knowing what she wanted. Their lips met in a gentle kiss. Their mouths parted and met again and again, sharing dozens of little kisses that conveyed all of the love and comfort and happiness they felt.

But all too soon, the sound of whimpers invaded the quiet, intense intimacy they created.

“If we pull the sheets over our head, they’ll stop, right?” James asked, tucking his face into the curtain of her hair.

“Definitely,” she replied, fumbling with their blankets to haul them up over their shoulders and heads.

James giggled in the stuffy darkness; Rose echoed the noise. Unfortunately, the soft cries grew louder and more insistent.

“You’re all right, baby,” Rose cooed. “You’re all right. Sleep. Just sleep. Daddy and I are right here.”

Silence greeted them, then a quieter whimper.

“Sleep, baby girl,” Rose coaxed. “Just sleep.”

“It’s bedtime, darling,” James crooned. “Time for dreaming about all the pleasant little things in your pleasant little life.”

The baby let out a whine and a few coos before she quieted down.

“I can’t believe that worked,” Rose said into the darkness.

“Bet you anything that was Maddie.”

“Not taking that bet,” Rose snorted.

James pulled the sheet off their heads and draped it over their shoulders as they resumed their cuddle. Rose rested her hands at the small of his back, tucking her fingers beneath the waistband of his boxers while he drew long, broad lines up and down her spine.

“D’you ever get hit out of the blue by how much you love me?” Rose slurred, sounding half-asleep.

“All the time.”

“Good,” she murmured. “‘Cos that’s happening to me right now. I love you so much, James.”

James beamed into her shoulder and pressed a kiss to her neck, making her shiver. He did it again to see if he could make her moan. She did, and then retaliated by rubbing herself firmly against his partial erection.

He scraped his day-old stubble across her neck, delighting in the full-body shudder she let out. She tightened her grip around him, one of her hands flying to the back of his neck to hold him where he was.

“Like that, do you?” he purred, repeating the motion.

“Wanker.”

She fisted his hair in her hand, and pleasure sparked across his scalp when she began to massage her fingers through his hair.

They continued their teasing touches for many long minutes, playing a game of trying to pull a reaction from the other until it was no longer a game. Their lower halves tangled together restlessly, unconsciously writhing and thrusting together until Rose buried her face into the crook of his neck and ground herself hard against him.

“Shit,” she squeaked. Her back bowed and her hips jumped clumsily through her release.

James muffled his moan into his pillow. “K-Keep moving like that. Please, Rose. Oh, God.”

He had become more aroused than he’d thought, and listening to Rose panting and grunting in his ear hurtled him toward an edge he hadn’t realized he was at. His balls drew up close to his body and he inhaled sharply as his pleasure mounted.

“Come for me,” Rose whispered, her hot breath tickling his ear.

He shuddered and grabbed her hips, arching against her once… twice…

“Rose,” he rasped as his cock spurted messily into his pants for the second time that night. He didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything but the love and pleasure that threatened to drown him. But what a marvelous death it was. La petite mort indeed.

When his head stopped spinning, he opened his eyes to see Rose grinning guiltily up at him. He smiled stupidly at her in return, then started giggling. She echoed the sound, and soon they were laughing madly into each other’s shoulders, trying to keep quiet enough to not wake a baby.

“I can’t believe we did that,” Rose gasped.

“I can’t believe I ruined two sets of boxers in one night.”

“That was amazing,” she sighed, nuzzling close to him. “My God, I’ve missed this. To hell with having more babies if it means I can’t make love with you for six weeks afterward.”

James grinned and kissed her deeply. She groaned against his lips and when they popped apart, she chastised, “You’re gonna make me all hot and bothered for a third round!”

“Problem with that?” he asked sweetly.

Rose smacked his shoulder lightly, but hauled him in for another kiss.

Their kisses, though heated at first, cooled to sweet, soothing little presses of lips on lips. They became drowsy in their afterglow, drowsy enough that neither of them could quite manage to get out of bed to clean up again.

They fell into a deep sleep, still twined together.

When James awoke the next morning to gray light streaming through the window, he was surprised that he and Rose were alone. He peeked behind himself, then over Rose’s shoulder, but no, Sianin wasn’t in bed with them.

He carefully extracted the arm that was beneath Rose’s neck. It was utterly numb. He flexed his hand to get the blood flowing again, and hissed as pins and needles set in.

“All right?” Rose opened her eyes, blinking blearily at him. “What time is it?”

James squinted at the clock on the wall. “Nearly six.”

“Six?” Rose repeated dumbly, then she pushed away from him and scrambled out of bed.

Frowning, James sat up and rubbed at his eyes. When he saw her making a beeline for the bassinets, he realized the babies hadn’t woken in the middle of the night. A band of anxiety squeezed his chest, but loosened when he saw Rose’s shoulder’s slump in relief.

“I hate the first time they sleep through the night,” she grumbled, kneading the heel of her hand into her forehead. “It always scares me half to death.”

“Me too,” James said. “I assume they’re not dead?”

Rose stuck her tongue out at him, then reached into the cots to pick up the babies before settling into the rocking chair to nurse them.

“I’m gonna shower,” James said, realizing with a grimace he was still in his soiled boxers from the night before.

“M’kay,” Rose said, rocking gently as the twins nursed. “Love you.”

“Love you,” he replied. He strolled up beside her to press a kiss to her upturned face, then to the loo for a shower.

oOoOo

James walked Maddie around the car to where Rose was strapping Hannah into the twin pram. He placed the baby next to her sister, then locked the car once Rose had the baby bag out of the back.

Rose wrapped her arm loosely around his waist as he began pushing the pram towards the hospital.

“I’ll get them checked in, you can go sit,” Rose said, pushing him towards a row of empty seats in the waiting area.

James nodded and saved a seat for Rose while she signed in.

“How precious!”

James turned and saw a heavily-pregnant woman toddling towards him.

“How old are they?” the woman asked, peering into the buggy while making cooing noises.

“A month,” he answered.

“They’re adorable,” she sighed, rubbing her belly.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling genuinely. His babies really were adorable. He reached in and played with Maddie’s foot, bopping it up and down. It resulted in a huge grin—not that he was trying to show off his baby…

“Oh! She’s smiling already?” the woman gasped, grinning down at Maddie.

“Yep,” he said, puffing up slightly as though he himself were responsible for his baby smiling so young.

“She’s beautiful,” the woman said, clasping her hands in front of her chest. “Are they identical?”

“Yep,” he said, nodding. Then he jerked his head at her huge stomach. “When are you due?”

“Last weekend,” she said with a grimace. “I’m hoping they’ll induce me soon. Or just cut him out. I’m tired of being pregnant. He’s my fourth. Bit of an uh-oh baby, but my husband and I are excited nevertheless.”

“These are our third and fourth as well,” James said.

“Are you here by yourself?” the woman asked sympathetically.

“No, my wife’s right over there.” He pointed to Rose, who at that moment caught his eye and beamed at him. He smiled and waved.

“Wow, she looks amazing!” the woman said. “I’m so jealous. And after giving birth to twins, no less! Wow.”

“Yeah, she’s incredible,” James said proudly.

A name was called by a far-off voice, and the woman looked away.

“Oh, that’s me. It was nice meeting you!”

“You too,” he said politely. “Good luck with your little one.”

“Thanks!” she said brightly, then she cooed one more time at the twins before waddling away.

“Make a new best friend, did you?”

Rose elbowed him lightly as she plopped down beside him.

“Pfft, no one can replace you as my best friend,” he said, elbowing her back. “She wanted to see the twins. They are the world’s cutest babies, after all.”

“Oh, really?” Rose drawled.

“Absolutely. No competition. I know all parents think their child is the cutest, but really, ours are the cutest children.”

Rose laughed at him and patted his arm reassuringly before she hugged it to her chest and rested her cheek on his shoulder to wait for the twins to be called back. They spent the next few minutes talking quietly to each other, debating what to make for dinner, their weekend plans, and a hypothetical discussion about what their lives might be like if they’d grown up in a different time period.

James was just describing how sexy she would look in a Victorian ball gown—making Rose’s cheeks and neck redden—when a nurse called their name.

“Later,” he purred into her ear before standing.

Following the nurse, he pushed the pram down the hall and into a sterile-smelling room that had farm animal wallpaper prints. The nurse efficiently gathered the twins’ measurements before leaving them alone, saying Elizabeth would soon be in to see them.

“Getting back to what I was saying, I think you would look positively irresistible in a ball gown. Especially if it pushed up your cleavage.”

“But back then, cleavage wasn’t that big of a deal,” Rose argued. “Now if I showed you my ankles…”

“Rose Tyler-McCrimmon, I’m scandalized!” he gasped theatrically, slapping a hand over his heart. “How dare you tease your poor, sexually-frustrated soulmate! He would have been doing everything he could to try and keep your virtue and innocence intact, and there you are, practically naked! An ankle! My goodness.”

Rose cackled out a laugh, which made him break into peals of giggles.

“It sounds like everyone is doing well in here.”

Their laughter cut off abruptly as Elizabeth stepped into the room. They hadn’t heard her knock.

“Yeah, we’re great,” Rose answered, her cheeks pink from her happiness.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Elizabeth said warmly. Then she stepped up to the baby buggy and cooed, “And how are you two sweethearts doing?” She returned her attention to James and Rose. “Can you lift them out for me?”

James and Rose each retrieved a twin, and, one at a time, Elizabeth performed the usual tests and checks.

“Are there any questions or concerns you have?”

“Actually, yeah,” Rose said. “Maddie doesn’t cry as much as Hannah. She whimpers a bit, but she very rarely goes into a wailing fit. Maddie seems… lethargic. She sleeps way more than Hannah does. It’s got me and James a little worried, because if it weren’t for Hannah making a fuss whenever she wanted something, we wouldn’t know that Maddie wanted anything.”

Elizabeth glanced over at the baby in Rose’s arms. Maddie was sucking contentedly on her dummy, safe and warm in her mother’s embrace. Elizabeth watched the baby quietly for a few minutes, poking and prodding every now and then. The baby flashed small smiles here and there, making Elizabeth beam right back.

“She appears to be a perfectly normal, perfectly healthy one-month-old baby,” Elizabeth said with a small shrug. “There could be a couple different explanations for her apparent lethargy. Firstly, she might simply be an easy, content baby. Secondly, Hannah might be beating her to the punch with crying for her needs. If Maddie weren’t a twin, she might be vocal, but has no need to when her sister cries before she gets uncomfortable.

“Thirdly, and I don’t think this is the case, there might be a legitimate medical problem. Visibly, she looks as healthy as any one-month-old baby. She’s not showing any signs that has me concerned that something is wrong, but keep an eye on her. If she’s still showing concerning behaviors in a couple months, we’ll run some metabolic activity tests on her. And obviously bring her in straight away if she develops new symptoms.”

Rose nodded, and reached over to run her fingertip across Maddie’s hand. Maddie flexed her fingers, and Rose let the baby clamp onto her finger.

“Any other problems?” Elizabeth asked.

Rose looked over at James, then back to Elizabeth. “Our six-year-old, Sianin, still doesn’t seem adjusted to the twins. She doesn’t really interact with them, unless her big sister is. She struggles to find nice things to say about them. I want her to bond with the babies, but I don’t want to force them on her if they’re truly making her so upset.”

Elizabeth frowned pensively for a moment. “Is she aggressive with them? Hitting them? Throwing things at them?”

“Oh, God no!” Rose said, horrified. “No, nothing like that. She’s extremely gentle with them, but it’s like she just… tolerates them being in the house rather than accepting that they’re a part of the family.”

Elizabeth relaxed. “Good. That’s good. As much as you might not like to hear it, this is a normal reaction to a child getting a younger sibling. Let alone two younger siblings. Sianin has been the baby of the family her whole life, but that position has now been usurped from her. She doesn’t need to love the twins, she just needs to tolerate them. And it seems like she does. The love will come in its own time, in its own way.”

She rooted around in the file folder on the desk before pulling out a pamphlet. “But if you become truly worried about Sianin, here is an excellent child psychologist service you can take her to. There are several people there who specialize in treating children and family matters. I honestly don’t think there is anything to be concerned about, but it’s ultimately your call. If Sianin’s behavior begins to deteriorate or if you’re concerned she’s going to hurt the twins or if you simply have a gut feeling, make her an appointment. But the best thing you can do it be there for her. Be patient and supportive. Let her help with the babies when she wants to, but don’t chastise her when she doesn’t. And be sure to praise her when she interacts positively with them.”

James took the pamphlet from Elizabeth, skimming the details on the front of it before he tucked it inside the baby bag.

“Well, we’ve discussed the twins and Sianin. How’s your eldest?”

“Ainsley’s great,” James and Rose said together.

“She wants to help all the time,” James said proudly.

“That’s wonderful,” Elizabeth said. “And you? How are you doing, Rose? Any emotional difficulties? You had a bit of trouble after Sianin’s birth, as I recall. And with how long you were trying to conceive, it’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed or sad or…”

“No,” Rose interrupted. “No, I feel absolutely fantastic. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”

Elizabeth smiled warmly. “That’s excellent to hear. And physically? Do you still have postpartum bleeding?”

“Nope, that’s been done for… what, a week?” Rose turned to look at James for confirmation, and he nodded. “Yeah, I feel perfectly normal.”

“As great as that is to hear, remember you might not be fully healed internally yet,” Elizabeth said, “so you need to refrain from sexual intercourse for another couple of weeks.”

Unbidden, James’s cheeks heated at the very frank decree over their sex life, and at the memory of what they’d done together on the couch and in bed a few nights ago. He caught Rose’s gaze out of the corner of his eye and saw her cheeks had pinkened a bit too.

Noticing their somewhat guilty expressions, Elizabeth frowned deeply at them.

“You are abstaining from sex, right?” she asked flatly, pinning them both with a hard stare that made James want to dissolve on the spot.

“Yeah,” Rose said quickly. “’Course we are. Er. Well. We’re abstaining from, er, intercourse, that is.”

“What activity have you partaken in, exactly?”

“There hasn’t been any penetration,” Rose mumbled. She glanced over at James apologetically. “Not even… fingers. Just a bit of…er, grinding. Rubbing.”

James was actually going to die. His cheeks were hot enough to fry an egg, and he would give anything to be able to teleport home.

Elizabeth’s stern expression relaxed a degree. “That’s acceptable. Birth leaves a raw, gaping wound inside the woman, as you both well enough know, and it’s not good for any external objects that might be carrying bacteria to be introduced. It takes four to eight weeks for that wound to heal.”

“If it’s four, I’m good to go, yeah?” Rose asked.

Elizabeth grinned to herself. “In theory. Since you seem so eager, I’ll schedule an appointment for you to possibly give you the green light to resume your sexual activities as normal.”

Again, James thought he might die of mortification, but a larger part of him was relieved that the end was in sight. He was dying to make love with his wife properly again.

Rose reached over for his hand. Sorry, she mouthed sheepishly.

He smiled and squeezed her fingers.

“I’ve got a slot next Thursday morning,” Elizabeth said. “It isn’t quite six weeks since you gave birth, but…”

“I’ll take it,” she said. “Thanks so much.”

“Right, so that leaves you, James.”

He frowned.

“Any issues on your end?” Elizabeth asked. “Emotionally? Physically? Are you back at work yet?”

“Nope,” he said, shaking his head. “On all counts, no. I feel fantastic. I’m incredibly happy. And I’m fortunate enough to not have to go back to work for another couple of months. Everything’s brilliant.”

“Excellent,” Elizabeth said. “Very excellent. Right. I’ve done everything I need to do. These two little beauties are perfectly healthy and on-track developmentally. Are there any final questions you have for me?”

When James and Rose shook their heads, Elizabeth walked them back to the front office. Elizabeth’s services regarding baby checkups only went out to the first month; after that, they would need to see a pediatrician. The doctor that James and Rose took Ainsley and Sianin to was a sister hospital to the birth center, so it was a very simple matter of sending all of the records to the new hospital, adding to the existing Tyler-McCrimmon file.

With a confirmation of Rose’s six-week exam and the proof of the twins’ records transfer, James and Rose walked back to their car. When the twins were buckled in, Rose said, “I’m sorry that got a little awkward... with Elizabeth asking about our sex life.”

“No worries,” he said, even as he felt the lingering embarrassment. “As awkward as it might have been, it’s an important thing to check with your doctor about. I’d rather be told we need to wait longer to have sex because your body isn’t ready for it, than to go ahead and shag anyway and possibly risk an infection or pain for you.”

“You are probably one of the only blokes on the planet who is so sweet about the six-week post-birth sex wait,” Rose said, skipping up to him to kiss his cheek.

“You really lucked out with me,” he preened.

“Aaaand you’ve ruined the moment,” Rose said, pinching his waist.

He stuck his tongue out, then they slid into the car and he drove them home.

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