Carter turned to her side and stared at the baby monitor screens sitting on the small table next to her. Her little men were still sleeping, but she knew that would only be for the next hour or so. That was all the time she had to get up and get ready for the day. Since they’d only woken up once at about three-thirty a.m. for a feeding, Carter had gotten a pretty decent sleep.
Reaching forward, she opened her drawer, removed a breath mint, and popped it in her mouth. It was now seven a.m. and Carter had about a minute before Nathan—
Before she completed the thought, his arm encircled her waist and he pulled her to him. Carter smiled; he was so predictable. His lips pressed against the sweet spot on her neck. Biting down on her lip, she inhaled a sharp breath as sensations shot straight between her legs. He always knew how to get her … admittedly, though, she was pretty easy when it came to her gorgeous husband.
They’d waited seven weeks before they started having sex again. Nathan had taken Carter out to dinner, just for a date night, while Angelo had come out and cared for the twins. She knew his intentions were pure. He hadn’t planned on getting lucky that night, and Carter definitely hadn’t planned on giving it up. Hell, Carter had planned on waiting until she felt good about herself again. Having twins did some things to parts of her body that she used to love to show off, her stomach being the main problem area. She just didn’t feel attractive anymore. But that night, Nathan had assured her with his actions that he was very much still attracted to her.
“Good morning, baby.” His voice rumbled against her ear.
She loved Nathan’s morning voice. It was so deep, sensual, and sinfully sexy. Carter rolled over to face him with a smile on her face.
“Good morning, honey,” she replied, stretching her arms above her head. “Sleep well?”
A lazy smile played on his lips as he pressed his hips against hers. “Do you mean before or after the infants woke me with their screaming?”
Carter’s eyes lit with amusement, but her expression was one of a fake anger. “Those infants are your sons, Nathan Salerno.”
He nodded. “Yes they are, and I love them very much. But please remind me to never go in there shirtless again. Baby B scratched the shit out of my chest.”
“Oh no.”
Nathan chuckled and nodded. “He just went at it. Probably pissed because I wasn’t you. Like, what the fuck is this? Where the hell is that woman with my milky?”
Carter laughed and hugged him around his waist. “So all I am is the woman with the milky, huh?”
He shrugged. “Well, it is baby B, Carterina. You know he doesn’t play when it comes to his sleep or his milky.” He lightly pinched her side, making her giggle.
“Stop,” she squealed, playfully slapping his chest. “You know you love our little Aleksandr’s antics.”
He smiled and kissed her lips softly. “Both of our babies are perfect.”
“They are,” she agreed, running her fingers through his soft hair. “You’re giving me a little girl next, bubby.”
“Now?” Smirking, he shrugged and rolled over until he was positioned on top of her.
She placed her hand to his chest and pushed him gently. “Not now!” she laughed. “Maybe some years from now. Ahh!” she squealed when he wrapped her legs around his waist and lifted her from the bed, sitting back on his heels.
“Now, I believe there’s a certain position that will help make the chances of you having a girl greater.”
He wiggled his hips around then shook his head no, deeming that position wrong. Then he tried another, then another, and another …
“Nathan!” she laughed as he toss her around, trying to find the position he was looking for. “Oh my God, Nathan, you’re going to drop me!” She was laughing so hard she couldn’t breathe, but she managed a short scream when he tossed her over his shoulder.
“Now I remember,” he said with exaggerated excitement, “it was the shower.” He quickly stood from the bed with her over his shoulder. “We have to have sex in the shower. Silly me, I can’t believe I forgot.”
“Nathan, the shower will not increase our chance of a girl.”
“True, but it will be fun.” He gave her behind a slap. “Now let’s go get some hair wet, shall we?”
Their sexy shower had lasted ten minutes longer than Carter’s schedule allowed, so she had to rush to do all of her morning preparations before rushing downstairs to get started on her, Nathan, and Gabriel’s breakfast before the babies woke up.
The moment she made it to the kitchen, Creature came running to her feet. Carter bent forward and kissed his furry head. “Morning, Creature. You hungry?” She walked over to his food bowl and filled it. After giving him water to go with his meal, she went about preparing a meal for the adults of the house.
She always liked to have a nice hearty breakfast ready for them because they had a lot to do during the day. Gabriel had classes, and Nathan had gone back to work just four weeks after the twins were born. He hadn’t had a choice. There was just too much going on for him to take off longer than that. He left by nine every morning, and didn’t come home until around seven or eight. That only left him a couple of hours to spend with the boys before they went to bed, so he always made sure to keep his weekends completely work free, which Carter appreciated.
Setting the baby monitors on the counter, Carter got to work on a quick breakfast, only stopping for a moment to open the back door and let Creature out. Playing outside would keep him occupied for a couple of hours.
She had just enough time to get the vegetable omelets, bacon, sausage, toasted pre-made croissants, fresh fruit, and turkey bacon for herself done before Maksim started crying. It was always Maksim that woke up first for his breakfast.
Racing up the stairs to the nursery, she opened the door and inhaled a deep breath. She loved the smell of her boys’ room. It always smelled like the baby oils and lotions that she massaged on to their skin twice a day.
Maksim immediately went silent when she walked into the room. She approached his crib to find him bright-eyed and looking up at her. A gum-revealing smile appeared on his face as he kicked his tiny legs and waved his little arms.
“Good morning, baby.” Carter reached in and gently lifted Maksim out of his crib. After she’d placed a soft kiss on his chubby, dimpled cheek, she hugged him to her chest. “How’s my little Maks doing this morning?”
Maksim cooed softly and made the cutest faces at her. This was Carter’s favorite part of the morning. The time when she got to bond with both of her precious little boys and just relax.
After changing his diaper, Carter headed over to her cushy rocking chair and nursed him until he was full. Once he burped, she laid him back in his crib and flipped on the spaceship mobile he loved to gaze at. The mobile rotated and projected stars on to the walls and ceiling. Maksim was so fascinated by them, it would keep him occupied the entire time Carter tended to his brother.
She went over to Aleksandr’s crib knowing that he was already awake. Aleksandr never really alerted that he was awake unless she left him in his crib too long and he got mad. Other than that, he’d just open his eyes and stare at the ceiling until it was his turn to be changed and fed.
Reaching forward, she brought baby Aleksandr to her chest and cradled him in her arms. “Good morning, baby, did you sleep well?” Aleksandr stared up at her with his father’s eyes and a lazy smile identical to Nathan’s playing on his lips.
Yes it was true that Aleksandr resembled her a lot, but he had Nathan’s smile and his deep dimples. Both of her babies’ had their father’s smile.
Carter kissed his plump little cheek twice. “Come, sweetheart, let’s get you changed and fed, shall we?” She bounced him gently in her arms as she walked to the changing table. “We can make it downstairs before your Papa, so you two can see him before he goes to work.”
She continued to talk to her baby boys while she changed Aleksandr, then sat comfortably in her rocking chair and nursed him also.
After he was fed and burped, Carter laid Aleksandr in his crib and went about gathering their clothing for the day. She was nearly finished when the doorbell rang.
“Shit,” she slipped, then quickly covered her mouth. Dammit. She was really trying to stop cursing, but she was failing pretty badly. “Lord please don’t let my babies’ first words be a curse word,” she prayed. “Mommy’s sorry, boys. No more cursing.” She really hoped this time there’d actually be no more cursing. We’re going to have to start a swear jar. She smiled at the thought. The damn thing would probably have the kids’ entire college fund in it by the end of the week. She laughed softly at her own joke right before the doorbell rang again. “All right, all right,” she muttered.
Setting the twins’ clothing on top of the changing table she reached for her wrap. With quick speed that she’d acquired from doing this ritual every day for the past six weeks, Carter assembled the wrap around her body then slipped both babies in their spot snuggly against her chest. The Moby wrap had quickly become Carter’s go-to when the boys needed to be held or fed while she had to do something else. The thing was amazing.
With both cooing babies now nestled securely to her chest, Carter gathered the clothing and diaper bag before she left the nursery.
“Nathan Salerno!” she called, not too loud to frighten the babies.
“I know, honey. I’ll be down in a minute.”
Sighing, she headed toward the stairs. “Hurry, Nathan. You won’t have time with the boys before you leave.”
“I’d go in late before I missed spending time with my sons, baby. You know that. I’ll be down in a minute.”
Carter smiled and headed down the stairs. They’d only been parents for eight weeks and Nathan was already proving himself to be an exceptional father. God, she loved him so much.
The doorbell rang a few more times before she made it down the steps to answer it. When she opened the door she was met with Mickey’s sly smile.
“Hey there, Mama,” he said in a deep baritone while wiggling his brows.
Carter grinned. “Hey.” Standing up on her tiptoes, and trying not to fall off balance, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Glad to see you back safely. How was your trip?”
He shrugged. “Same old thing as usual. She’s a drama queen, but she’s my mom and I love her.”
Some fun facts about Mikilo Valente … Three times a year he traveled to Mumbai, India to visit his mother, who was a former supermodel from India, and famous Bollywood actress. She had met Cesare when she was just nineteen years old, visiting New York for work. After taking off a year when she’d mistakenly gotten pregnant, she left and went back to her home country to further pursue her career. She was quite successful in her pursuits and still was to this day. To remain a part of Mickey’s life, three times a year she would send for him. They’d spend a weekend together, then he’d come back to America. The giveaway to Mickey’s Indian heritage was his skin color. His mother’s skin was a lightly tanned olive tone, and so was Mickey’s. Carter had thought it was just a summer tan when she’d first met him, but when winter rolled around, his skin remained the same. Other than that he looked just like his father and Kyle.
“I’m glad you got to spend some time with her,” Carter said sweetly.
Mickey nodded in agreement. “Yeah me, too.” He looked behind her, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. “So is Nathan around? I figured this would be a good time for me to come and see my butterscotch babies without anyone getting suspicious.”
Laughing, Carter shook her head.
“I heard that, jackass.”
Carter looked behind her and saw Nathan descending the stairs with a smile on his face.
“You wish you could make babies this beautiful. You wish you could make babies period,” he joked.
Mickey went out the door laughing loudly. Once his laughter reached a softer level, he returned and entered the house. “Don’t joke about that shit, man. It’s all fun and games till the day I come to your house crying.” Nathan laughed as Mickey feigned an agonized cry. “You fucking jinxed my dick, Nathan!” He let out exaggerated sobs while they all made their way into the kitchen.
“Don’t ever put my name and your dick in the same sentence again, Mikilo.”
Neither man could contain they’re laugher while they took a seat at the small booth table in the kitchen. Carter strolled over to them rolling her eyes.
“Are you two finished now?” she asked as she slowly began to uncover the babies. She removed Aleksandr from his side first. “Now you can spend some time with your sons, bubby. They want to see their Papa before he goes to work.”
“Oh my God!” Mickey exclaimed, staring at the Moby wrap with shock on his face. “There were babies in there?”
She put her hands on her hips and kiddingly glared at him “You thought I was just fat?”
“No. I mean, I thought it was like … a new way of holding laundry or something.”
Unsure of how to respond to that, they both simultaneously insulted him. Finally Nathan reached out for Aleksandr. “Come to Papa, bambino.” He kissed his dimpled cheek and spoke softly to him in Italian.
Carter handed Maksim to Mickey.
“You two made some good-looking babies.” He kissed Maksim’s forehead and then shrugged, a wry expression on his face. “I always knew you would.”
Carter and Nathan laughed softly. “Glad to hear you were thinking about what type of babies we’d make,” Carter said awkwardly as she walked over to the breakfast spread, happy she had made extra.
“We made a bet the night you two left the bar.” He sat Maksim up on the table in front of him, while still supporting the infant’s neck and back. “Uncle Mickey had to pay your Uncle/cousin Lucca lots and lots of money.”
Chuckling, she brought both of them breakfast. After grabbing her own, she took Maksim from Mickey and sat down next to Nathan and Aleksandr. Five minutes later Gabriel breezed through the back door.
“Mum here yet?” he asked, rushing over to the cabinet to reach for a container, which he quickly filled it with his breakfast. “I can’t be late today.” Gabriel was now a student at Columbia University.
Right after he’d said the words Anastacia’s voice rang out.
“Hello!” she called. “Where is everyone?”
“We’re in the kitchen, Mom,” Carter answered.
Gabriel made his way to the table. “Lift the babies.” They did as he said and he kissed each baby on the cheek. “Uncle loves you!” Then he kissed Carter’s cheek. “I’ll be home later, my love. Have a good day at work, Nathan, Mickey.” They all said their see you laters as he ran out of the kitchen past Anastacia who had just entered. “Hurry up, Mum! I can’t be late.”
Anastacia waved her hand in the air. “Get in the car. I must see my grandchildren first. Hi, babies,” she said brightly. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” they greeted her.
Anastacia gave Nathan, Mickey, and Carter kisses on their cheek, then gave her grandchildren big squeezing hugs. “Aww, my precious grandbabies. I will be back soon.” She handed Maksim back to Carter. “I’ll be back right after I take your brother to school and pick up Sofia from morning care. Your father will be here for your workout at three.”
Carter looked up at her mother with a smile. Anastacia had made Carter’s transition into motherhood so much smoother with all of her help and support. Every day Anastacia was right with her, keeping her smiling and happy, and making sure she didn’t become overwhelmed with all of her new responsibilities. Carter didn’t know what she would do without her mother. She felt blessed to have her in her life. “We can’t wait until you get back, can we, babies? We love spending the day with Grandmother.”
They all laughed softly when the twins smiled.
“See you soon, baby girl.” Anastacia kissed her forehead, then glanced over at Mickey. “When you get to work, tell your father to go straight home when he’s done. I’ll be ther
e.”
Mickey nodded. “Sure thing, Ana.”
“Also, tell him not to call my phone. I’m getting another one today.”
Carter immediately turned to her mother with a look of concern. “Is it him again?” That obsessive, stalking bastard.
Anastacia shook her head. “I’m not discussing it, Carterina. There’s no need to.”
“Mom, he’s stalking you.” The man called her every hour on the hour, seven days a week. It was like one of those crazy obsessions in the movies where at the end, someone always gets murdered. The more she ignored him, the more she tried to distance herself from him, the harder he pushed, and fiercer his threats became. Carter was afraid for her mother’s safety. Plus, she was pretty sure her mother was a little scared, too. She’d been changing phones nearly every day, she never went anywhere without protection, and she never stayed home anymore. In fact, since she’d stayed at Cesare’s house pretty much every night, they were now house hunting for a home together. “I don’t like this,” Carter said, trying to keep her emotions calm as to not frighten the babies. She always got worked up when it came to Silas. “He’s harassing you. Did you talk to Daddy about this? Did you tell him what Silas is doing?”
Anastacia sighed. “Carterina, enough, baby girl. Do not worry for me. As long as Nathan keeps him out of New York, I’m safe. His threats are meaningless.”
“I assure you, Anastacia, he won’t set foot in the city without me knowing,” Nathan promised. “However, I must agree with Carter. I don’t like how things have gotten.”
“Neither do I, Ana,” Mickey agreed. “I know what it looks like when a man is about to snap and do something stupid, and this is starting to resemble one of those situations.”
Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War Page 37