by Lexi Blake
Ian and Sean watched the babies through the glass as the pediatrician checked them out. Kenzie, daughter number two, was lying peacefully while his firstborn had already kicked out of her swaddling and was currently giving the doctor hell. Baby girl didn’t like the eyedrops. She didn’t like the shot. She didn’t like being poked and prodded, and now the whole hospital knew it.
“That one’s going to kick a little ass, Sean.” He smiled as his daughter screamed her head off. He could already tell that scream wasn’t about pain. She was pissed.
And then her sister tuned up with her, as though crying in sympathy.
Damn but they could make a racket.
“Any idea of what you’re going to name her?” Sean asked.
“Yeah. I think I got that all figured out,” he said with a smile.
Epilogue
“Kala? Isn’t that like the goddess of chaos in Hindu mythology?” Adam stared at Ian like he knew something was going on. Adam followed him out on the porch, away from the rest of the team who were now getting ready to sit down to Charlie’s welcome back dinner.
She’d only been in the hospital for two days, but Ian had made them wait two weeks before getting together in a big group. Charlie needed peace and quiet, but now she was ready to show the babies off to their family.
Naturally, Kenzie had gone to sleep right after her feeding and Kala had fussed, so Daddy was holding her close, cuddling her so she could rest. His Kenzie and his Kala.
Adam was always far too perceptive. It was precisely why Ian loved to give him shit. “I think you’ve watched too much Indiana Jones. And no. That’s Kali. Kala is a perfect little name for a precious baby girl. In Sanskrit it means virtue.”
Adam’s eyes narrowed. “You looked it up?”
Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned that part. At the time it seemed like a really good way to throw people off the scent. Charlie had accepted his explanation of Kala without blinking an eye. She’d told him she loved it and that it was perfect.
If only she knew how perfect it was…
“I can look things up, Adam. It’s my daughter’s name. It’s important.”
Adam took a drink off the coffee he was holding. This little dinner party was booze free since Charlie was breastfeeding. Sean and his sous-chef had made a grand Italian dinner for the group. The smell made Ian’s stomach rumble. “I don’t believe you. You’re the man who wanted to name them Bruce and Arnold.”
Ian shrugged, patting his daughter’s back. She seemed to like to sleep on his shoulder for some reason. Kenzie preferred being cradled, but Kala always wanted to be up high. “I have a deep affection for 80’s cinema. What can I say?”
Adam frowned. “I’ll figure it out in the end. Hey, Charlotte. Did the other little princess wake up?”
His wife stepped out onto the back porch with Kenzie in her arms. “She never sleeps for long if Kala isn’t close. We tried to force them to sleep in separate beds, but they cried until we put them together.”
He loved to watch them sleep. Honestly, he kind of loved to watch them do everything. He’d never understood until he looked down at a baby that was equal parts him and the woman he loved more than life. He would sit there like an idiot and watch those babies sleep, cuddling together like they had in the womb.
“I’ll go see if I can help with the prep work, but I meant what I said, Tag. I’ll figure it out and I’ll find some way to use it.” Adam grinned as he walked back in the house.
It would likely be fitting if Adam was the one who took him down. He gave Adam more crap than all the others, but he was fairly sure his friend wouldn’t figure it out.
God, he hoped Charlie never figured out he’d named their daughter an anagram for Kick A Little Ass.
“What was he talking about?” Charlie said, suspicion in her voice.
Ian gave her his most innocent look. “No idea, baby. You know how he likes to torment me.”
Charlie laughed and sank into one of the two rockers on the back porch. “Yeah, Adam torments you. That’s one world view. Sit down for a minute. Sean will come and get us when dinner’s ready.”
He sank down beside her. “Too many people? I can throw them all out.”
She shook her head. “Don’t you dare. That’s our family in there, but I wanted a couple of minutes where it’s just us.”
Us had been him and Charlie, and now that one word meant something more. Us meant two sweet girls who would likely drive their father utterly mad.
He reached for her with his free hand. He always wanted the connection with her. “Think you’ll ever want more?”
Charlie’s eyes widened. “Eventually, yes. I thought I would have to fight you on it.”
He shook his head. “No. I get it. I think I thought if we had kids, I would have to share you and I do, but I also thought somewhere in the back of my head that I wouldn’t be me anymore. I’m just a different me. I like this me, Charlie. Best thing I ever did was to open that door and welcome you home.”
Her jaw dropped. “You are such a liar, Ian Taggart. You gave me hell.”
Sometimes it was good to be him. “Not how I remember it.” He was good with his revisionist history. When she started to argue with him, he hushed her. “You’ll wake the babies.”
The gorgeous gleam in her eyes promised retribution. And he would take it. He would take everything he could get from her and give her back all of himself.
He held her hand and rocked while inside his family waited.
A man couldn’t ask for anything more.