Noah POVI took my family to my office first while Chris made an appointment with an OB-Gynecologist.Surprisingly, Riley, Brixx, and Mason were quiet while they watched their favorite cartoon series.Briana, on the other hand, looked tired.I made a mental note to buy a recliner Briana can use when she stays in my office.“Are you sleepy?” I asked.She nodded and looked at the children sitting comfortably on the three-seater couch, which meant she had nowhere to lie and rest.“I’ll have the Penthouse ready,” I told her.The Penthouse used to be my residence. It was convenient since I did not have anyone to go home to before.When I learned about the children, I bought a house directly across from Briana’s home to be near them. The Penthouse has remained unoccupied since then.“I don’t want to inconvenience anyone.” She told me.I shook my head.“Don’t worry about it. It’s no big deal.” I assured her.Briana shook her head and leaned back on the headrest of the single-seater couch
Noah POVI watched Briana’s back, heaving a sigh of relief.It was close.At least, she did not think anything about it.The car parked in front of Briana. The driver got out, but I beat him to the door and opened it for my wife while the triplets ducked from under my arms to get in.They found their slots, and I strapped them in. “If you are tired, you can rest,” I told them, seeing that one of them was already yawning.They had a full afternoon, and I don’t think the kids will be resting anytime soon because of the party tonight.I sat down beside my wife and ordered the driver to go.“If you are tired, you can take a nap,” I told Briana and pulled her toward me.She rested her head on my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her.“You smell nice.” She commented and continued to sniff me until she found my neck. She even raised her body a little to be able to reach the crook of my neck and took a deep breath.“Briana.” I protested because her nearness was doing things to my body that
Noah POVIf anything, my admission added to my wife’s nervousness.When the car stopped, I got busy waking up and unstrapping the triplets from their seats.Riley saw Briana march out of the car.She went ahead of us without looking back.“What happened to Mommy? Did she forget about us?” He asked.I shrugged because I didn’t know what was going on inside Briana’s head.I took Riley’s hand on my right and Mason’s on my left. Brixx held hands with Mason.At the hospital lobby, people stopped and stared at us.“Why are they looking at us?? Riley’s voice echoed in the hall.Briana walked back to us. She took Brixx’s hand and walked to the information section to inquire about her doctor’s clinic.The receptionist gave us the information and smiled.“Thank you.” Briana muttered, and again, she took Brixx"s hand in hers. When he saw what happened, Mason wiggled out of my hold and took his Mommy’s free hand, leaving Riley with me.At the doctor’s clinic, Briana and the triplets sat in the
Briana POVSo that was it?I could not hide the dispiritedness from my eyes, and Noah quickly pointed that out."What is wrong, wife? You do not want to marry me?"Noah's stricken look matched the dismay in his voice. For a moment, it made me feel guilty about my reaction.The disappointment on his face mirrored my own.I shook my head to dispel any negative thoughts.Noah already declared his love for me on national television.It was more than an average woman could ask for.But somehow, it felt lacking to me.I felt cheated because the world knew his proposal before I did. Would it make me too fussy to admit I wanted to be romanced, too?I want flowers, balloons, and the whole shebang of a proposal.Certainly not something he
Briana POVAt the Penthouse, Noah showed me to the master’s bedroom.“I want to take a shower,” I told him and went straight to the bathroom.
Briana POVAs I looked at the grinning faces of the people dear to me, I could not help but feel so much joy in my heart.“Thank you everyone!” Noah got the microphone, and he was talking to our guests.There were too many.I could see our family – the triplets, my brothers, and Jenna, my sister-in-law.I also saw familiar faces in the crowd, like my best friend Hanna, and Noah’s friend, Brent. Then, there was Langley, Chris, Belle, Ed, and so many more.While Noah talked, the large LCD monitor that serves as our backdrop plays a video of us – a compilation of our photos since we were younger, our first marriage, up to this moment. Whoever made the video collage did not fail to include my brothers and the triplets, too.While I took in everything around me, Noah regaled the gue
Briana POVI thought Noah’s explosive revelations would stop there. The people are getting into the groove of the party, and everyone is happy.Aperitifs were served while a pop band played.There was laughter all around.“Have you been planning this?” I leaned close to whisper in Noah’s ears.“I had been planning to marry you for a while now, but I don’t think you were ready. When I asked you to marry me, I wanted to give you a grand proposal, but Riley stole it from me.“Noah snickered, and I giggled.Then, he continued. “I had to make this night memorable for us.”“Thank you, hubby,” I replied with all the love in my eyes.“All credit goes to Chris and the
Noah POV“Dearly beloved, we have gathered together to witness Briana Ford and Noah James Hunter in holy matrimony. We rejoice in their delight of finding love with each other and support their decision to commit themselves to a lifelong relationship ….”I looked at my wife, who was openly crying at the start of the ceremony.I was teary-eyed, too.“Excuse me, father.” It was Mason. He stood from his seat.He looked so solemn that the
Speechless! This word best describes what I was feeling right now. Do you know that you were amazing readers? Yes, you who stayed with me until this page. When I first started writing this story, I had so many trepidations. I did not think I would be able to pull this through. First, it has a little similarity to my previous novel, Billionaire Ex Wants Me Back, but my editor believed so much in my draft that she encouraged me to consider doing this. (My heartfelt thanks to Lyra Pinter, who had been a constant source of support.)My feeling of uncertainty magnified when I received so many attacks when the story was first published. Too many detractors lashed out at my characters that I had a hard time concentrating.I know what I wanted to do, but the first people who were vocal about the story did not give me enough encouragement. They did not give my characters a chance to redeem themselves as the story progresses. Fear grips me everytime I face the blank screen of my computer
Briana’s POVThe soul always knows how to heal itself. I had often heard that phrase before but it was never more gratingly obvious til now. After I volunteered to be Charles and Jenna’s surrogate, I had not counted on the pain the act would invariably inflict on me. At the start, it was all too easy. For 40 weeks, I would be carrying their baby in my womb, and that was it. Jenna and Charles will have that baby they desperately wanted. Of course, Noah and I submitted to counseling before I did this, but I never expected that when the time came that I had to turn over baby Amira to her parents, it would hit me so hard. I had not counted on how my self-sacrifice would backfire on me. It hurts so much. I was so heartbroken when I realized that Amira would no longer be a part of my life. Noah took me to several sessions of counseling, and with his support, I was able to get past the hurt and accept that Amira was not mine.The rest of the family helped. My brothers hovered over me
Hello my loves, Jenna and Charles’ story was one of the most painful stories I had written so far. It was because I had to dig up long-forgotten events in my life.But I had to do it for you to be able to understand the motives behind Jenna and Charles’ actions and the pain they invariably inflicted on each other. Jenna and Charles were both non confrontational. They keep things in stride and hope for the best, but sometimes even with the best intentions, our pain could not lay hidden for too long. It needed to be addressed and voiced out, not because you wanted to lash out at your partner or give them the same pain they were giving you.Sometimes, our silence is our cry for help. Or it was a way to protect ourselves. We retreated into the inner recesses of our soul to find solace and comfort because the people we expected to comfort and provide solace for us could not hear our cry for help.But all’s well that ends well. Am glad for those people who had requested me to do a story
Charles POVOne year later…I was standing behind the french windows of the room I was occupying at the Rosewood Hotel, eyes looking outside toward my wife.This past year was a crazy one.Just as Briana predicted, Jenna and I barely had time for ourselves. The kids were growing, and they were beautiful to watch.Jenna’s laugh made its way to where I was.As I watched Jenna play with our children, I could not help comparing her to a rose in bloom.I could not help feeling proud of the changes in her.&nb
Charles POVWe placed our babies in a customized baby carrier that could fit the four of them, and Jenna and I walked out of the suite that had been our temporary home for the past month.At the lobby, we looked like we were on a parade with our nannies in tow and bodyguards, but that’s a small price to pay for the security and safety of my family.“Jenna! Charles!” Beth called out to us.We stopped when we neared her.“Where are your kids?” I asked after she and Jenna hugged each other.I learned this past month that Beth chose to be a stay-at-home m
Charles POVThe next day, our other two babies were born one after the other.Jenna and I were also there to witness everything and become part of our children’s birth.Jenna’s eyes were puffy when she held our two other newborns in her arms. She had been crying nonstop since yesterday because it still had not sunk in that she was a mom of four babies.When we visited Briana, she and Jenna had a long talk.Briana was smiling, but I could see that she was at a loss when it was time to take the baby away from her.I realized that this ordeal put a lot of strain on
Charles POVThe phone in the delivery room rang, and a nurse went to answer it.“Dr. Martin, it’s delivery room 2.” She said from across the room, allowing us to hear.Dr. Martin went to answer it. Her face was serious when she placed the phone back in its cradle.Then, she turned her head back to her medical team.“Are you still up for another delivery?” She asked her team.Their high spirits rubbed off on Jenna and me. We were smiling when they shouted, of course.
Charles POVIt was a crazy day.We were having a meeting when I heard that Briana had been rushed to the hospital.“Brie is having our baby,” I told my brothers and friend after I dropped the call.It was Jenna. She, Noah, and Biana were already in the hospital because Briana's water broke.My face contorted as emotions I could not name assailed.A mix of fear, excitement, nervousness, worry, and happiness barraged me.Briana, my baby sister, was going to deliver my and Jenna's baby right now. 
Jenna POVThe days quickly passed by.Though we did not talk about it, it seemed as if Charles and I were in tacit agreement to take things slow concerning our careers and concentrate more on each other.We go out of town and do things we had never done before as a couple.It was marvelous.“It’s good that you spend more time with each other because I tell you, once the four babies arrive, you won’t get even a wink of sleep,” Briana told me when I came to her house that afternoon to catch up and to check on her.It’s the baby’s