SWNOVELS Chapter 18 Chapter 18
An hour later, Luca had to leave so it was just Leo, the kids and I snuggled up on the sofa.
"Daddy, can we play donkeys?" Cato questioned tugging at Leo's hair. "Yesss, Daddy pwease pwease pwease,” Mathias pleaded.
"Okay, okay," Leo said.
"Donkeys?"
"Cato and Mathias's new favourite game," Leo replied handing me
Lili and putting Francesca, who had been on his lap, beside me.
He then got onto his hands and knees on the floor and our two three- year-olds, Cato and Mathias, scrambled onto his back.
"Ohhh," I said, realising hitting me. "I see.”
"Go donkey! Go!" Cato squealed as Leo began to crawl around the living room floor.
"Hold on tight boys," I said as Cato threw his hands up in the air with glee. "We don't want a trip to the ER this evening.”
Cato, in his short life, had already been to the ER four times on account of accidents. On one occasion he fell off a chair, another he swallowed a lego brick, the third time involved little fingers and a heavy door and the fourth was an incident that followed spinning round in circles in a furniture filled room whilst Mommy was in the shower. And I dread to think what went on whilst I've been away.
In other words, I was very cautious of him ending up there again for fear of Doctor Amanda beginning to question our parenting skills. I blame it on the Alpha blood in him. He has too much energy and I can't keep up.
"Mama, look! I can stand!" Cato said slowly getting to his feet.
"Cato, no," I said sternly. "I just said that we don't want to see Doctor Amanda tonight, do we?"
He looked slightly disappointed for a second before sitting back down next to Mathias and squealing with joy again.
After Leo had been made to carry his sons on his back for what felt like hours, they were finally beginning to tire. We fed them some dinner and began the marathon that is bedtime.
"Cato!" I called as he ran down the hallway still dripping from his bath. "I swear that kid has ADHD," I muttered under my breath and Leo stifled a laugh.
"I was the same at that age and my mother used to call it “future Alpha syndrome’. I'll get him,” Leo replied heading out of the bathroom where the twins and Silas were still bathing and Mathias was brushing their teeth.
A minute later, Leo returned with Cato slung over his shoulder.
"No more running away, okay?" He scolded sternly as he put him down on the closed toilet seat and handed him his pyjamas.
"But Mama's allowed to," he protested and I immediately paused midway through changing Lili's diaper.
There were a few agonisingly quiet moments where the only sounds were the splashing of the twins in the bath.
"Mama is a lot older than you Cato. She can defend herself,” Leo replied.
"So why were you so angry when she went away?"
"Because I was worried about her. Just like I would be worried if you ran away," Leo said lifting Cato into a hug.
"I pwomise I won't ever ever ever run away, Daddy," he stated as he wrapped his arms around Leo's neck and hugged his father. "Never ever."
"Good boy," Leo said kissing him on the cheek. "Now, who wants a bedtime story?”
"Me, me, me!" Cato shouted very loudly causing Leo to wince and put his hand to his left ear where Cato’s mouth was still situated.
"Me!" Mathias added through toothpaste.
"M!" Silas squealed from the bath, who not even being two old years old, was still at the making mostly noises that vaguely sound like words stage.
When Mathias was finished with his teeth and Silas's was finished in the bath, Leo took the three of them upstairs for their favourite story “the noisy dinosaur’ whilst I got the younger ones ready for bed.
There were no tears tonight. Just giggles, laughter and tiredness. The twins and Lili fell asleep the seconds I put them in their cribs which was around the same time that Leo came back from reading to the boys. "6/6 in their own beds and asleep before 7 o clock. No tears, no tantrums,” he said laying back on our bed with a satisfied sigh. "We have this parenting thing under control.”
"It's tiring and exhausting but I've missed this the most. Them and you and all this harmless chaos,” I said resting my head on his chest.
"I've missed doing it with you. Luca isn't a good substitute when trying to conduct six kids."
I giggled and snuggled further into his warmth
"They love him though. I saw the drawing that Mathias drew on the fridge earlier. The one of you and Luca at the park with him and all five of his siblings. It's adorable,” I said.
"That day a woman mistook Luca and me for a gay couple with our six adopted kids," Leo said with a sigh. "It was mortifying.”
I tried to withhold the laughter in my throat but it broke out in the most tremendous way.
"There is nothing wrong with that,” I giggled resting my hand on his chest.
"Yeah...if we were a gay couple. But we are not and how someone could imagine Luca and me together, I do not know. The thought of it makes me feel sick to the stomach,” Leo said.
"Why on earth would she think that?" I asked.
"I don't know!" Leo replied before narrowing his eyes in thought. "I mean at the time, we were holding hands BUT only because the boys wanted to play circle games and-"
"You were holding hands with Luca?" I said cracking up.
"Yes, but she still jumped about three miles to a conclusion!"...
I looked up at him as he continued to rant and just watched his face as he formed words and delivered them. It was so defined and carved and his features were so bold and perfect. No matter how long I spend away from home, I will never forget his pure beauty.
"What?" he asked bringing me out of my trance. "Are you even listening?”
"You are just so beautiful. I doubt I will ever get used to it," I replied with a sigh. "And I've missed listening to your voice so much.”
He smiled and leant into my lips before kissing me gently. His hand slowly drifted down my side until it reached my hips and his eyes followed.
"And I've missed that ass," he whispered in my ear.
"Charming," I replied after he grabbed my butt. "Way to ruin a heartfelt moment."
"I'm sorry but I've got serious blue balls after 94 nights without any of this," he replied before rolling on top of me and kissing me passionately and roughly.
"Not like you've been counting or anything though,” I said trying to withhold another giggle.
His hands found their way down to my pyjama shorts and for a moment he withdrew from the kiss and paused.
"Can I?" he asked looking me in the eye.
I chuckled and nodded before running my hands through his hair as he kissed me again.
He always insisted on asking no matter how obvious it was and I respected that. If only all men, *cough cough* Luciano, were more like him.