Chapter Text
“Mamma! Papà! Wake up!”
Three young voices rouse you from your dream and you groan, burying your face in the closest pillow. It feels as though it was only an hour ago that you managed to finally fall asleep. Between waking up a hundred times to pee and your 37 week pregnant belly feeling like a cannonball strapped to your torso, it was becoming more and more impossible to get a full night’s sleep. The sleep you did get was only possible due to sheer exhaustion. Why had you agreed to get pregnant again? You and Melone already had triplets!
Your children crawl onto your bed and jump, causing your breath to come out in tiny miserable huffs. “Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!” they chant almost in unison.
“D’accordo, ragazzi, calmatevi,” your husband says.
“I’m hungry!” one responds, still jumping.
“Can we have strawberries and yogurt?”
“I want biscotti!”
Melone chuckles. “You can have whatever you want. But right now, you need to be quiet. Mamma needs her rest. Her body is working real hard making your new siblings.”
You assume they’re pouting because you hear Melone tsk and say, “Come, give papà a hug and go wait for me in the bathroom. I’ll be there in a minute to help you brush your teeth.”
“Okay!”
Lifting your head, you watch them hug Melone in turn and race out of your bedroom, their bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor.
“Thank you,” you say.
Melone turns to you with a hungry smile and ties his lavender hair back with a hair tie from his wrist before leaning down to kiss you. “How are you feeling?” he asks after pulling away.
“Mmm. Tired.” You yawn, and let your head drop back down on the pillow as you gaze up at him under heavy eyelids.
Scooting closer, Melone places a hand on your belly. One of the twins kicks at the weight of his hand and he smiles again, rubbing the spot gently and admiring the movement within.
How amazing you are, to create life inside your own body. To take what little he gave you and turn it into a living, breathing human being. He’s made many children with Baby Face, and loved each one of them, but the children that come from your body are something else entirely. They are concrete proof of his love for you, and your love for him.
He stays there for a minute, his warmth and gentle touches lulling you back into slumber, but when he shifts to leave the bed, you wake again, reaching out to grab his arm.
“Please, stay a little longer.”
Something shatters downstairs, and Melone laughs through his nose. “I wish I could. But it sounds like they’re causing some trouble.”
You sigh, hoping it wasn’t your grandmother’s tea set.
“Sleep, amore,” he says quietly, placing another, chaste kiss on your forehead. “For as long as you need.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Your body needs rest. You’re making two babies after all.”
You gaze at him, your chest tightening. What had you done to deserve a man as wonderful as Melone? You know what line of work he’s in. You know that many lives have ended by his hand. Yet he is still a fantastic husband and father, striving every second to make you as comfortable as possible. That is the reason you agreed to have more children with him, you realize. And you would give him one hundred more if it meant he would be with you forever.
“Okay. I’ll go back to sleep,” you say, then wince, one of the twins having kicked you directly in the bladder. “But first I need to go pee.”