Martina POV
I watched in awe as my twins blended in smoothly with their cousins. Briana’s triplets, as usual, are a rambunctious lot.
But they are cute in their antics.
I also loved how they included my twins in their play.
Everyone is having a good time.
The three older ones supervise the four younger ones.
Of course, while the Ford siblings were busy talking about business, Hanna and I hovered over the children. We sat on the opposite sides of the mat, smiling shyly at each other.
I h
Martina POV“I will. Will you look after Macy for me?” I asked.“Of course.” When I stood up, I saw Marcus follow my movements with his eyes. Our gazes connected. It was as if that one look already clued him on what I set out to do. Marcus let Flint carry Marky.“Don’t let my baby girl cry, or I will call your girls to tell them that you farted in your sleep when we were kids.” He warned when Macy hopped on Flint’s arms, too. Flint gave him the flip. Rowan playfully punched him on his biceps. “There are kids here, Flint. Stop that.” “Sorry,” Flint said, making the peace sign instead. He was late because now Riley wanted to mimic him. He pointed his middle finger upward and the rest of his fingers pointing down. “See?” Rowan admonished Flint, taking Marky away from him to hand my boy to Hanna. Then, he let Charles take Macy out of harm's way. When the coast was clear, Rowan straddled Flint and playfully punched him. The triplets found it funny. They started punching and hit
Martina POV“We are going to sleep over here.” Riley declared when their father told them to pack up so they could retire to their house across the street.“Yeah, daddy. Uncle M is here with his babies with Aunt Martina.” Brixx seconded.“Daddy R is also here with Aunt Hanna and Rohan Joy. We can’t leave.” Mason declared.Noah could only scratch his head at times like this.“We are going to miss playing with our cousins,” Riley added, enough for their father to relent.“Okay, but Mommy and I will go home
Martina POVMarcus made love to me gently, and tears blurred my eyes. When we finished, he gathered me close to his chest while both our gaze shifted to our twins who lay peacefully in the cot Briana ordered for them. “Why are you crying?” He asked. He raised his torso a little higher to better check my reaction. “I am just overflowing with happiness.” “Me, too.” Sleep comes easily now that we don’t have anything to worry about.We are together and on our way to building the family we both wanted. The next morning, I was surprised to find the twins in bed with us. Their cot was connected to the bed, and they crawled between us.They were facing Marcus while their backs were to me. “Dada!”“Dada!”They kept hitting Marcus’ face when he did not wake up.Macy turned her head to look in my direction, and I quickly closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep. “Mama. Mama.” She hit my face lightly with her palm, but I did not open my eyes, wanting to know what they would do next. Ma
Marcus POVI saw the hesitation on Martina’s face, and I realized I mishandled things.“Goldstone, can you please give us a minute.”I did not wait for Anthony’s reply. I pulled Martina to her feet and brought her back to our room.I made a signal to Marie, and she understood. She will take care of the twins while we are gone.“I am sorry.”I told Martina when the door to our room closed.She bit her lip.
Marcus POVMy eyes widened in surprise. Martina pre-empted me. That should have been me kneeling on the floor, proposing marriage to her, not the other way around. But instead of pulling her up, I kneeled before her.If I can’t beat her, then I must join her.Martina’s eyes widened when I pulled a box out of my pants pocket. “Since I have the ring, let me do this properly, love.” I opened the box to take out the diamond solitaire ring.“I bought this in Europe two years ago.” Martina’s eyes flared in wonder while she lapped up my words. She opened her mouth to comment, but I put my index finger to shut her up. “Yeah, we were divorced by then. But when I saw this ring, I could not help thinking that this should belong to you. I bought it with you in mind.” Martina teared up at my confession.She bit her lip, trying to choke back a sob, but failed miserably. She was openly crying now. Her face contorted in regret. Despite that, she was still the most beautiful woman I had ev
Marcus POVMy brothers started to make a racket. They kept chanting, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”Briana’s twins kept crying, “Gross!”They would try to cover their eyes with their fingers, but you could see that they were peeping from the gaps between their fingers, waiting for me to kiss Martina before groaning.“Ewww!”“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” My brothers continued to chant.Their hecklings put a frown on my son and daughter’s face, but after a while, with a lot of prodding from their older cousins, joined in the merriment.They abandoned their toys and stood from their playpen, hands on its padded fence for balance.They were jumping, more like bouncing on their feet in time to the claps made by my notoriously troublesome brothers.Martina shyly covered her face with her palms.She was blushi
Martina POVAfter our impromptu wedding at the mansion Marcus purchased from Briana, and the breakfast we shared with his family in the garden area, the Ford siblings started to split, claiming they had appointments or plans for the day.Briana was the last to leave.“We’ll go ahead. The triplets have school, and Elijah is getting fussy.” Brina explained.She kissed Marcus on the cheeks, then the twins. When she neared me, Briana gave me a warm hug.“Welcome to the family, Martina. One day, let’s have coffee and chat.” She patted my back.
Martina POVMarcus’ one-month leave flew by swiftly. Today was his first day back at the office. After a heated lovemaking, I sighed and rolled out of his embrace.“Why the long sigh? Do you want me to file another leave of absence?” Marcus abandoned the comforter when he turned to his side to face me.The appalling suggestion made me turn around and go face-to-face with his naked chest. I gulped. “Rosewood Hotel will go bankrupt if you skip another day. Go to work, Marcus!” I pressed my palms to his chest to push him away when he inched closer, snaking his arms around me. The heat of his body sent tingles up my spine. “We are rich. We won’t go poor just because I don’t want to work.” Marcus groaned when I evaded his grasp and sat up on the bed. But that was a wrong move. Now, my naked body was fully exposed to his lustful eyes. Immediately, my hands gripped the ends of the comforter to wrap it around my body. “Why so shy? I’ve seen your body countless times, love.” His com
Hello, my loves, As usual, when you see this page, it means you have reached the end of another installment of this story. And as usual, I wanted to thank all of you for walking with me up to this point. It was a marvelous journey, reading through all your comments, requests, and suggestions. After the high Flint’s story gave me, I didn’t realize that you would continue to receive Brent’s story with enthusiasm, but you did. So, thank you all. I am sorry, but I cannot accommodate all your requests because I have to align them to how the story should flow. I got a request for a Riley-Krizzie story, but I already told you earlier that Charles’ story will be the last installment of this book. I can not add more because I realized I have been writing non-stop since December 2023. I needed to take a breather, too.I hope you understand. Plotting a story is easy, but thinking of the scenes, and the dialogues and making all the chapters come up seamlessly was what makes it a bit diff
Beth POVIn the next few months, Brent and I quickly settled into married life.It was not always a bed of roses because he was stubborn, and so was I. We had arguments, but it was not something we resolved later.Besides, Krizzie always reminded us that life with each other may be crazy but it was wonderful.Brent worked at the hospital, overseeing its daily management and operations. At the same time, I remained in the ward, working as a NICU nurse.Most of the time, we sneak out during my break to have cuddles in his office. Sometimes, it gets hot because my husband can't get his hands off me, but that was alright. I love it. "Beth, you are looking pale. Are you alright?" One of the staff nurses asked. I just got back from a bathroom break because I feel nauseated. My stomach churned unexpectedly, and I had to rush to the bathroom to vomit. I still don’t feel fine. "I must have eaten something that upset my stomach," I told her and resumed working. I picked up the tray of m
Brent POVSomeone cleared his throat, and not long after, I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Dude, that is too much public display of affection.” It was Flint, the Prince consort of Arkadia, with his wife, the Queen. There was a hush in the hospital lobby, and I knew exactly how everyone felt right that moment. There was this reverence as they eyed the royal couple. I felt it, too, even though they are my friends.It also did not help that the rest of my friends trickled in. Noah and his wife Briana came in, followed by Rowan and Hanna. Then Charles and Jenna came next. Last to appear was Marcus and his wife Martina. This time, the people in the lobby began to get noisy. They gushed over Marcus, who looked like he stepped out of the page of a magazine cover. I could not deny it. The Fords and Hunters gathered so much attention. It was a rare event to see them all together in one setting.The who’s who of Redwood City gathered in one place, making it hard for everyone not to react
Beth POVThe romantic date set the tone for the rest of our one-week leave until it was time to return to our real lives.“Goodbye, baby!” Brent called out to Krizzie’s departing figure while we watched her walk toward her building. We waited and watched until we saw her figure disappear when she entered her classroom. “She is growing.” I can’t help but be teary-eyed.Last night, Krizzie surprised us when she decided to sleep on her own bed. Brent and I stared at each other when she kissed us both goodnight and then returned to her room. “Krizzie?” I called her, feeling weirded out. “What Mommy?” She walked back to the bed where I sat. “Aren’t you going to sleep with us?” A frown marred my face when I asked.I patted the middle of the bed, urging her to climb in, but Krizzie only shook her head and smiled at me. “The Hunter triplets said I am old enough to be sleeping with Mommy and Daddy. They don’t.” She informed me. I nodded, feeling a little stuffy inside. I knew that it
Brent POVJust like what Noah said the night before, they were not at the hotel to see us off, but he gave instructions to his people to assist us. We got ready very early because Krizzie had classes. “Are you free today?” I asked Beth after we sent Krizzie to school. “You were the one who talked to my supervisor about taking a leave. How long did you apply for my leave?”“A week. You still have two more days of rest. Don’t worry, you won’t be alone. I want to spend more time catching up. What do you think?” I wiggled my brows at her, grinning mischievously. Beth slapped my chest.“I don’t like that look, Brent. I want to rest.” She warned me. She looked so d*rn cute that I stepped forward, arms spread to encircle her in my arms, and hugged her tight. Beth struggled in my arms. “Brent, people are staring.” She warned me, but I don’t care. I am too happy to care about what other people would think.“Let them.” I urged her and held her in my arms for a while longer. When I got
Brent POVKrizzie got back into our room right after, halting our talks. She knocked repeatedly on the door, prodding me to rise to my feet and open the door for her. Behind Krizzie, I saw Noah. “Thank you, Uncle Noah.” She said, turning her back on me to wave at Noah, who patted Krizzie’s head before meeting my fist for a bump. “Will you be alright here?” He checked on me, and I nodded. “Okay then. I will go ahead.” He told me.“Thanks, man! We will be checking out tomorrow morning.” I informed him while looking at the bed, where I saw Krizzie climbing in and snuggling with Beth. “Okay. I will inform the concierge in case we are not here. We are going home tonight.” Noah informed me before sauntering away. I went back to my family to join them in bed. Krizzie was asking Beth where we had been, and Beth was showing her pictures of us in the resort. “You went to the beach?” Krizzie exclaimed.I could see the dismay on her face. Beth hugged her. “We went on our honeymoon.
Beth POVI looked down from the chopper that was going to bring us back to Redwood toward the beach resort that served as our honeymoon getaway for three days and two nights and felt all the good things filling my heart. Without hesitation, I gave the property a little wave as we embarked on the journey back home. “Are you tired?” Brent asked when I leaned back on my seat and closed my eyes. I smiled naughtily. “Who wouldn’t? You did not give me a rest, Mr. Anderson.”The reprimand had no sting which was what I intended.It was the truth anyway. Brent grinned. “Did I wear you out, Mrs. Anderson?” He asked softly, but I could see the warmth in his eyes.I lifted my hand to flick his nose playfully. “I love you, Brent. Thank you for not giving up on me.” I told him.It was the truth. If Brent gave up on me, I think that would be a point of no return for the two of us. If he did not fight for us, I don't know if I would have the strength to stay and be with him. Brent did all t
Brent POV“Welcome to paradise,” I murmured in Beth's ears when the chopper drew close to the beachfront property that Rowan gifted us and prepared for landing.I held Beth close and motioned for her to look out the window so she could see what I meant. Her involuntary gasp was the response I was expecting and much more. "This is so beautiful Brent." She told me, eyes shining bright in awe. I nodded. "Indeed. The most beautiful." I agreed. Though I was not referring to our honeymoon getaway but to the woman before me. Beth, without a doubt, is the most beautiful woman my eyes have ever laid on, I decided. At the same time, I took my fill of her beauty, most especially her expressive eyes. “Your friends are wonderful.” She said evasively. She pulled her gaze away from me to avoid meeting my hot gaze, but I knew exactly what she was feeling. Her body became rigid next to me, and I smiled. Beth was self-conscious about the attention I was giving her. I took pity on her and gav
Beth POV“Ouch!” Brent grumbled when I nudged him hard on the ribs.He turned while rubbing his side to meet my glare. “Who told you to make bets on me?” I sounded stern.Brent looked nervous, and I smiled inwardly at the worry that registered on his face. “He was drunk, frustrated, and full of remorse that night, Beth. It was the time he learned about you dating that doctor. Brent felt threatened and felt cowardly. We need to do that to spur him on.” I did not realize Noah had been listening to our conversation. I did not hear his approach until he butted in to explain Brent’s side. Doubts covered my features as I stared at Brent to confirm. “Who won?” “I did!” Brent replied arrogantly. I pursed my lips. “How much did you win?” I asked, curious.“Apart from the beachfront property, close to ten million.” My eyes widened in shock. “Ten million for a bet? Wow!” My eyes rounded.“It started as a dare, Beth. But Brent did not start it. We did. We had hoped that it would bec